Hi Barbara,
Try Funk and Wagnall - nice definition there. Reluctant to put it up (6 pages) but it covers all the salient points (happy to post it if you want).
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Narrative song developed in the Middle Ages in Europe.
Varies considerably with time and place......
A ballad is narrative; a ballad is sung; a ballad belongs to the folk in content, style and designation; a ballad focuses on a single incident; a ballad is impersonal, the action moving of itself by dialogue and incident quickly to the end.
A ballad is story. Of the four elements to all narrative - action character, setting and theme - the ballad emphasises the first.......
And there's more.
Jim Carroll