Agnes and the Merman
Nov. 20th, 2010 12:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
noracharlesLet me tell you this story. I wanted to request it for yuletide, but I forgot. It has illustrations! It's about an English girl and her forbidden love with a creature of darkness.
Agnes stood on the bridge of the high land, and the merman emerged from the blue waves.
Ho, ho, ho, the merman emerged from the blue waves.
His hair was as if of the purest gold, and his eyes were so full of joy!
Ho, ho, ho, his eyes were so full of joy.
"Listen, Agnes, so pretty and fine, will you be my girlfriend?"
Ho, ho, ho, "Will you be my girlfriend?"
"Sure, I'll be your girlfriend, when you take me with you beneath the waves."
Ho, ho, ho, "When you take me with you beneath the waves."
He plugged her ears, and he shut her mouth, and then he led her to the bottom of the sea.
Ho, ho, ho, and then he led her to the bottom of the sea.
Agnes sat by the crib and sang, when she heard the bells of England tolling.
Ho, ho, ho, when she heard the bells of England tolling.
Agnes, she went to stand before the merman: "May I go just once to church?"
Ho, ho, ho, "May I go just once to church?"
"Oh, sure, you may. As long as you come home again to our little kids."
Ho, ho, ho, "As long as you come home again to our little kids."
"But when you step foot in the church, don't go to your mother's chair."
Ho, ho, ho, "Don't go to your mother's chair."
"And when the priest mentions the name of the one above, you may not bow down to him."
Ho, ho, ho, "You may not bow down to him."
He plugged her ears, and he shut her mouth, and then he led her to the grounds of England.
Ho, ho, ho, and then he led her to the grounds of England.
But when she stepped foot in the church, Agnes went to her mother's chair.
Ho, ho, ho, Agnes went to her mother's chair.
And when the priest mentioned the one above, Agnes bowed down to him deeply.
Ho, ho, ho, she bowed down to him deeply.
"Agnes, Agnes, my sweet daughter! Where have you been for so long?"
Ho, ho, ho, "Where have you been for so long?"
"At the bottom of the sea is my home, and there I am faithful to the merman."
Ho, ho, ho, "And there I am faithful to the merman."
"Seven sons have I born him, and the eighth is a little girl."
Ho, ho, ho, "And the eighth is a little girl."
"But now I want to stay on the green ground, and never again will I return to the bottom of the sea."
Ho, ho, ho, "And never again will I return to the bottom of the sea."
The merman stepped in the church door, and all the little icons turned away.
Ho, ho, ho, and all the little icons turned away.
His hair was as if of the purest gold, and his eyes were so full of tears.
Ho, ho, ho, and his eyes were so full of tears.
"Agnes, Agnes, come to the sea with me, your little children miss you!"
Ho, ho, ho, "Your little children miss you!"
"Whatever, they can go on missing me. I'm never going back to them!"
Ho, ho, ho, "I'm never going back to them!"
"Oh, think of the oldest ones! And think of the youngest ones! And most of all, think of the baby who lay in the crib!"
Ho, ho, ho, "And most of all, think of the baby who lay in the crib!"
"No, I'll never think of the oldest or the youngest ones! And least of all of the baby who lay in the crib!"
Ho, ho, ho, "And least of all of the baby who lay in the crib!"
Original lyrics, traditional.
Listen to the song, as performed by Alberte Winding and Povl Dissing. Unfortunately I was not able to find an intact version, so this one has a few barely noticeable skips in it. I love the pathos of the merman, and his sobs and shaking voice, and the way Agnes laughs at him.
Download it from sendspace.
In this version they changed Agnes' mother to her father, so Povl could sing his lines. I think you'll be able to understand the emotions, even if you don't understand Danish.
Agnes stood on the bridge of the high land, and the merman emerged from the blue waves.
Ho, ho, ho, the merman emerged from the blue waves.
His hair was as if of the purest gold, and his eyes were so full of joy!
Ho, ho, ho, his eyes were so full of joy.
"Listen, Agnes, so pretty and fine, will you be my girlfriend?"
Ho, ho, ho, "Will you be my girlfriend?"
"Sure, I'll be your girlfriend, when you take me with you beneath the waves."
Ho, ho, ho, "When you take me with you beneath the waves."
He plugged her ears, and he shut her mouth, and then he led her to the bottom of the sea.
Ho, ho, ho, and then he led her to the bottom of the sea.
Apparently, he also undressed her
Agnes sat by the crib and sang, when she heard the bells of England tolling.
Ho, ho, ho, when she heard the bells of England tolling.
Agnes, she went to stand before the merman: "May I go just once to church?"
Ho, ho, ho, "May I go just once to church?"
"Oh, sure, you may. As long as you come home again to our little kids."
Ho, ho, ho, "As long as you come home again to our little kids."
"But when you step foot in the church, don't go to your mother's chair."
Ho, ho, ho, "Don't go to your mother's chair."
"And when the priest mentions the name of the one above, you may not bow down to him."
Ho, ho, ho, "You may not bow down to him."
He plugged her ears, and he shut her mouth, and then he led her to the grounds of England.
Ho, ho, ho, and then he led her to the grounds of England.
But when she stepped foot in the church, Agnes went to her mother's chair.
Ho, ho, ho, Agnes went to her mother's chair.
And when the priest mentioned the one above, Agnes bowed down to him deeply.
Ho, ho, ho, she bowed down to him deeply.
"Agnes, Agnes, my sweet daughter! Where have you been for so long?"
Ho, ho, ho, "Where have you been for so long?"
"At the bottom of the sea is my home, and there I am faithful to the merman."
Ho, ho, ho, "And there I am faithful to the merman."
"Seven sons have I born him, and the eighth is a little girl."
Ho, ho, ho, "And the eighth is a little girl."
"But now I want to stay on the green ground, and never again will I return to the bottom of the sea."
Ho, ho, ho, "And never again will I return to the bottom of the sea."
What's keeping her?
The merman stepped in the church door, and all the little icons turned away.
Ho, ho, ho, and all the little icons turned away.
His hair was as if of the purest gold, and his eyes were so full of tears.
Ho, ho, ho, and his eyes were so full of tears.
"Agnes, Agnes, come to the sea with me, your little children miss you!"
Ho, ho, ho, "Your little children miss you!"
"Whatever, they can go on missing me. I'm never going back to them!"
Ho, ho, ho, "I'm never going back to them!"
"Oh, think of the oldest ones! And think of the youngest ones! And most of all, think of the baby who lay in the crib!"
Ho, ho, ho, "And most of all, think of the baby who lay in the crib!"
"No, I'll never think of the oldest or the youngest ones! And least of all of the baby who lay in the crib!"
Ho, ho, ho, "And least of all of the baby who lay in the crib!"
The merman and his eight children are still waiting for Agnes.
A merwoman riding her kickass merhorse.
Original lyrics, traditional.
Listen to the song, as performed by Alberte Winding and Povl Dissing. Unfortunately I was not able to find an intact version, so this one has a few barely noticeable skips in it. I love the pathos of the merman, and his sobs and shaking voice, and the way Agnes laughs at him.
Download it from sendspace.
In this version they changed Agnes' mother to her father, so Povl could sing his lines. I think you'll be able to understand the emotions, even if you don't understand Danish.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-20 07:07 am (UTC)Jeg har aldrig brudt mig om Agnete og Havmanden. Til gengæld har jeg to gange sejlet over Agnete og Havmanden i København uden at kunne se den :o(
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-20 09:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-20 11:11 am (UTC)H.C. Andersen (okay, shuttup, I was BOUND to go there) did his own version of it in 1934, which emphasised Agnes as a creature caught between 'home' and 'away', defined by her desire to always be not-here and so unable to find peace and/or home. In his view, she was not of the earth nor of the water -- an amphibious in-betweener, destined for heartbreak. Oh, H.C. Andersen, ever the woobie Mary Sue-writer to end all. /geek
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-20 03:06 pm (UTC)And that's why we love him :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-20 03:53 pm (UTC)I love that guy so much! <3
Jens Andersen, as far as I remember, talks quite a bit about the poem -- drawing heavily on it and giving a cool biographical reading. I'm away from my book, so I can't check :o/
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-20 12:53 pm (UTC)I am stuck on "he plugged her ears, he shut her mouth" omg awesome -- falling, sinking, deaf to your surroundings, but also the flip-side - the danger of losing your own voice in succumbing to the other person.
I am intrigued by your "England" translation. The original could also mean Angel Land (two l's), no? As in, the bells are sounding directly from Heaven - calling her back to humanity. But your translation is supported by the following verse, when she literally sets foot on that land...
Did you sign up for Yuletide?
The song I link to here is awesome even if you don't understand the lyrics, try it!
Date: 2010-11-20 03:04 pm (UTC)I think the song is a satire. There is the contrast between England (Land of the Angels) with its church (but funnily enough, the mother is a character, while the one above is never mentioned by name, so I'm thinking it's more "good" social mores than actual Good) and the pagan and ungodly merman (who funnily enough seems quite nice, and asks permission before abducting and enchanting Agnes, but he is still clearly not one of God's creatures since the icons turn away from him), and then there is the tension between what a good Woman and Daughter and Mother is and what Agnes does.
A good woman doesn't say "sure" when a man tempts her with sex. A good daughter doesn't fuck off and do her own thing for years without telling her parents what she's up to, and a good mother doesn't say "whatever" about abandoning her kids.
So the humor is in the transgressiveness of the Agnes character, and putting it into the Christian context makes her a humorous figure rather than a horrific figure, because technically she was probably enchanted, and she turns her back on the creatures of darkness in the end.
Seen from a modern perspective, Agnes is not horrifically transgressive, she could be a completely ordinary woman. It's not bad to make your own choices without consulting your parents, it's not bad to shack up with some dude, it's not bad to leave him when you find out you're not into it any longer, and it shouldn't automatically be the mother who gets custody of and primary responsibility for the children in a hetero relationship, so we're left with this tragic Nice Guy merman, with his slick pick up artist moves, who kinda sorta wants to control and dominate Agnes, but kinda sorta also wants to please her, and who feels bereft and out of his depth (bad metaphor for a merman, heh) when she leaves him, and the strong woman who has a dilemma, because her personal ambitions and her responsibility to her children are impossible to both fulfill.
There are many stories and layers in the song! I think you're definitely on to something about "he plugged her ears, he shut her mouth", it's a metaphor both for her own withdrawal from the world in the turmoil of her lust and his power and enchantment over her, as much as it is a practical matter for traveling between the worlds.
Povl Dissing is fantastic. He interprets his songs with incredible intensity and passion, and both genuine respect and sympathy for the characters and at the same time a certain gleeful ironic distance. I love Der er 25 minutter endnu, it's easily as good as the Johnny Cash version, and maybe even better. I absolutely adore Den Grimmeste Mand I Byen, such pathos and humor. And of course Kvælerslange, the cheeriest song about being eaten alive I've ever heard.
The first time I listened to Agnete og Havmanden, I seriously got chills when he sang about the icons turning away. I love, love, love his interpretation of this being something that hurts the merman. The merman can travel between the worlds on his own power whenever he wants to, but unlike Agnes, he could only ever live under the waves.
Re: The song I link to here is awesome even if you don't understand the lyrics, try it!
Date: 2010-11-20 03:47 pm (UTC)I envy you your Yuletide participation. One day, in a far-off gold-tinted future I hope I get to have time to play, too. I am excited to see what you get to write!
*chinhands*
and the pagan and ungodly merman (who funnily enough seems quite nice, and asks permission before abducting and enchanting Agnes, but he is still clearly not one of God's creatures
I love how he is a polite demon, but a demon with a 'bad'/uncontrollable/unacceptable sexuality nonetheless.
I like what you say about humor, even though it didn't feel very apparent to me, but it very much ties in with Shakespearean comedy, which also frequently uses enchantment to play with transgressive behavior -- he put a spell on her! And she did all this weird stuff! Hey, that weird stuff is kinda cool... But anyway! She totally comes to her senses, and you know all's well that ends well.
The merman as the one who gets left behind is exactly where it becomes interesting -- and pretty modern, since Agnes retains her agency throughout. The last part of the song is not working for me ;_; so I can't hear Dissing singing about the icons turning away, but it's interesting to think of it as something that saddens the merman. It's interesting to consider that the merman probably never thought of himself as bad/dirty/wrong until he's faced with the ostracism of the church... Again, Agnes has the power to cross between worlds - even if she needs his help, she can survive in both places, while the merman obviously can't, physically (maybe?) as well as socially.
Re: The song I link to here is awesome even if you don't understand the lyrics, try it!
Date: 2013-10-15 08:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-10-15 09:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-10-15 09:26 am (UTC)