The dance weaves under the firethorn

Crown Tourney has a Tempore Cultura Atlantia trifecta going on - French, Norse, 16th cen.

Here is a list of 16th century Danish ballads.  (Norse, 16th cen)

Here is a "Medieval Scandinavian Encyclopedia" saying that ballads are derived from medieval French verse forms. (French, if you squint.)

Here is an Old Danish/modern Danish translation of one of the 16th cen ballads.

Here ("Elvir Hill," 2/3 the way down) and here (page 225, "Elfer Hill") are English or Scots-dialect translation of said ballad. In summary: young man pauses to rest on a elf-hill. Two elven maidens come out, sing and dance, promise him knowledge and prowess if he will dance with them. He stays silent, they threaten to kill him, but the cock crows and he is saved by the dawn.

And here is most of Sir Bela of Eastmarch's (Poul Anderson's) poem from his short story, "The Queen of Air and Darkness." Like the translations above, it leaves off the ballad's refrain (which is found handily in the post title).  And do you know, if you took out the references to alien plants and animals, it's more or less the same story.

Observation: Sir Bela's poem is much more... poetic.  He uses lots of very original and vivid imagery, whereas ballads tend to be formulaic.  "With starlight in her glance" is not a phrase you will ever see in a traditional ballad.

If I were going to Crown, I would looooove to perform this as an entry (if I could find the music).  It's by a Scadian - one of the Founders, in fact! - and it adheres very closely to a period source as far as narrative and even structure go.  (The Danish ballads evidently nearly always have refrains, while the English ones do sometimes, but it's hardly expected.)  

But I'm not going to Crown, so I'd have to write an original poem and send a non-performing art along.  I'm poking at the idea, looking for an angle that's more than a rehash of Elfer Hill, and also not a ripoff of Sir Bela.