Infografica Connettori Akihabara Cellulare

The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry

The ballad I will present today is entitled: The Great Silkie of Sule Skerryl

Time setting: The chronology of the ballad is deliberately vague, typical of folklore. The lack of specific time markers creates a timeless and dreamlike atmosphere, as if the events belong to an ancient mythological past.

Place setting:The setting alternates land and sea. The female lives on land, while the silkie resides in the ocean, particularly on the cliffs of Sule Skerry. This contrast highlights the tension between the human world and the supernatural realm of the sea, a recurring motif in Scottish folklore.

Structure : The ballad is composed of seven quatrains (four-line stanzas), which follow a linear narrative. The dialogue between the woman and the silkie reveals key plot points, steadily building towards a tragic conclusion. The compact structure mirrors traditional ballads, focusing on narrative and emotional resonance.

Rhyme scheme: The rhyme scheme follows the ABCB scheme: Example (stanza I): "An earthly nurse sits and sings, And yes, sing 'Ba lily wean, And I know little about the father of my child, E much less the land in which he lives." This pattern creates a lyrical and rhythmic quality suited to the oral tradition, enhancing the musicality of the ballad.

Rhetorical Devices: Anaphora: the repetition of phrases such as "I am a man on earth, I am a moccasin on the sea", emphasizes the dual nature of the moccasin. Symbolism: The sea represents mystery and the supernatural, while the gold chain symbolizes the bond between father and son. Irony: The woman marries a hunter, thus fulfilling the wolf's prophecy that her husband will kill both him and their child.

Semantic fields: Motherhood and Loss : Words like "nurse," "baby," "child," and "mother" highlight the emotional weight of a mother's love and its eventual loss. Fate and Death: Terms such as "fate", "painful", and "kill" emphasize the inevitability of tragedy and death in the ballad.

Plot: The ballad tells the story of a woman who gives birth to a child by a mysterious man, who turns out to be a silkie. The silkie returns after seven years to claim her son, offering the woman gold and prophesying that she will marry a hunter who will kill both him and their son. The prophecy comes true and the woman, overwhelmed by grief when she discovers that her husband has killed the silkie and their child, dies, either from a broken heart or by throwing herself into the sea.