I am flustered and bemused by my own ineptness on this topic. I am fascinated by the songs we are discussing, and the Ballad form is so intriguing to me too. I have a fondness for the 'Child' ballads that seems to have begun at a fairly young age, and my love of fairport's "Tam Lin" was instantanious and permenent (If I could only play the fiddle tune...bg:)).

Thomas of Erceldoun was a real person, if what I have read is correct, and he did disappear from those who knew him for seven years... Although he returned a prophet to some, he also had a bit of a rough go of it after he returned... as anyone might guess...

For me, the apple is perplexing... not just because of the seemingly diametrically opposed meanings, but also, because the different meanings may NOT be so different after all. Poison from the tree of knoledge, The gift of truthful-ness (and the misery it can bring, the otherness in general existing in the "elfland"... All these point in a simalar direction, though I do not have it in any concrete opinion to express...

I personally can't understand the old English version well enough to find it's magical inferrences, but I can see that they are there... can anyone lead us to an accurate translation? Seems that these 'newer' versions have been somewhat recapitulated from more 'origonal',ie. ancient, songs.

I must add, that I just love the illusionary quality that these ballads have, and that they end mystically... which as you all know, is far from commonplace in the 'Child Ballads".ttr