The Ballad of Heortwulf

This short ballad is written in "literary English" even if quite personal. Composed with a simple metric scheme, it tells the story of Heortwulf (Old English for "wolf heart"), a knight who fights a dragon but is captured by the beast and taken to the mountains. Alone, unarmed and hopeless for himself, he thinks only of the girl he loves, who is safe in a secret village. One night, in a dream, he sees his house and his beloved girl. As he sleeps and dreams, he starts talking about the path he should take to go to his love. The dragon, who has heard the words of the knight, flies to the village and burns everything.
The main theme of the ballad is the tragedy of those who ruin themselves and what they love without realizing it