The Ballad of Brandur

The forest silent in dawns early hour
As the warming sun the night did devour
The small bird cried not unto its mother
For there in the shadows lurked another
Stranger was he to the forest of the West
His gleaming armor, his sword of the best
The man with the helmet searched for the trail
He had followed the beast with no avail
But now he drew near its shadowy berth
And soon he would test it for all its fierce worth
The horrid fiend with the maid did flee
Across mountains, rivers, plains, and the sea
To this shaded forest, to the architect of the deed
A fiery beast of ancient void’s evil seed
And now the brave knight drew near its dark cave
And before it he saw the wicked stone altar to the knave
These peasants of the woods, in stupidity and pride
Had not only saved but worshiped his beastly guide
But no moment for reflection on the ghastly rites
There stirred in the cavern a roar and strange red lights
A long serpentine head extended outside
Its eyes were black like some thing long died
Its scaly body was covered in grey
And from its nostrils came coals as red as the day
He stepped forth, with his brave sword drawn
And cried to the beast as the sun broke the dawn
“Ancient deamon, last living of your cursed kind
Know the name now that shall extinguish your mind
I am Brandur the Brave here to cleave you asunder
And your blood will flow freely, your wounds without number.”
But hearing the words of the Knight from the East
The ancient fiend chuckled for he feared humans the least
“Be gone, thou man, thy kind shall also fail,
Think not thyself safe, boy, with thy sword and thy mail.”
But Brandur charged with his sword drawn and gleaming
The vile fiend’s mouth opened with smoking and steaming
The fiery column flew forth from its jaws
But Brandur leapt aside with haste while avoiding its claws
Then he rolled forth quickly and with a quick swing
He drew his blade sharply across the tail of the thing
But though great was the wound no blood spilled free
The wound simply healed quickly and then saw he
The villain with pure malice and hate
Seemed to be smiling in his immortal state
But Brandur was wiser and knew right well the fact
That the beast would die only from one simple act
But before he could move to strike it so true
A claws hand descended and clove his shield in two
The young knight ducked, as the second hand flew by
Then he leapt to the side, but did not see the tail fly
It struck him hard, against the cave’s old ancient stones
Blood flowed from his mouth and he felt his broken bones
And then the creature with its talons of steel
Grabbed the knight and would have made of him a meal
But the knight in his courage and wisdom moved not
And the creature drew near to let him meet his lot
But as the large toothy mouth stood ready agape
The knight pulled forth his dagger from beneath his torn cape
And struck true and hard at the mighty beast’s face
And as the blade entered its eye, so died its race
For with the one blow, the villain was undone
And changed into nothing but smoke in the sun
The brave knight staggered forth, his wounds grave
But he had to endure for he had her still to save
And so he found her, bound in the dragon’s keep
He freed her, and bowed, then staggered into sleep
And so they returned to the castle by the sea
And all proclaimed his great act of bravery


This would be a shortened and more well known version of the tale of Brandur and Perlise (which I'm still working on), a well known legend in my imaginary world that still lacks a name... and a title... gosh I am so lame...