High on the hill above the village, behind Hazelfield, you will find a track that leads up onto the slopes of the Black Breast. It bears no sign; it has no name. But this track leads to the old stead of Standing Stone. And on the hill above the stead there stands the stone for which it is named, and that it older. Yet though the stead is called Standing Stone, the stone was called of old the Elfstane. It is by way of a waymark, a milestone, a road sign. Yet you will see no road by it.
For the Hidden Road cannot be seen by sunlight. It cannot be seen by moonlight. It cannot be seen by starlight. It cannot be seen by light of fire, nor yet by lamp light, nor yet by torch light. It cannot be seen while the year yet waxes, nor yet whilst it wanes. And all this is to the good, for the Hidden Road is the road to Elfland, as I shall tell you.
Once long ago, in this land where we now live, there dwelt a young man whose name was John. He lived in a pleasant house upon a sunny hillside with his mother, and his old grandfather. Yet he was not happy, for year by year the crops in the fields withered and died, and the granaries stood empty, and the children went hungry and sickened and died. And all this was because the Corn Maiden had gone from the people, taken by the elves, folk said, along the Hidden Road and under the Green Hill. And so the quick was gone from the land.
As it was coming Midsummer one year, the grandfather called John to him, and said:
"Tonight is Midsummer's night, and in this year it falls at the dark of the moon, which it does only once in every twenty-eight years. Go to the elfstane upon the hillside yonder, and bide there till the darkest hour; and if luck is kind, and clouds mask the stars, you shall see the Hidden Road. Take it without delay, and walk upon it. And you shall come, as I did when I when I and my brothers walked that path long ago, in the year when the Maiden was taken, upon the Cavern of the Sleepers. Wake none, for it is the Wild Hunt who sleep there, the Gods of War and Destruction. They sleep, waiting for a mortal youth to lead them forth."
"What if I should wake them?" asked John.
"Why, they will ride, and lay waste to the fields we know, as they did when my elder brother led them forth all those years ago. Then many of the people died before my brother was killed, and the Hunt returned to their cavern to await another mortal youth."
"And when I have passed the Cavern of the Sleepers, will I then come to Halls of the Elven King?" asked John.
"When you have passed the Cavern of the Sleepers, you will come to the Crystal Bridge. Do not ride a horse upon the Crystal Bridge, for the noise of its hooves will wake the Guardian, and he will slay you, as he slew my middle brother all those years ago."
"And when I have passed the Crystal Bridge, will I then come to the halls of the Elven King?"
"When you have passed the Crystal Bridge, you will come to the Gate of the Green Hill, and there you must pay the gatekeeper his fee."
"What is that fee?"
The old man sighed.
"I do not know", he said, "for he would not let me pass, any more than he would let your father pass. Yet he let both your uncles pass the Gate of the Green Hill."
"And if I pass the Gate of the Green Hill, will I then come to the Halls of the Elven King?"
The old man sighed again.
"I do not know", he said, "for neither of your uncles have returned. Now the evening is drawing on. Eat all there is, and drink all you can. For if you eat of elven food, or drink of elven drink, you shall never return to the fields we know. And when you have eaten and drunk, go up to the elfstane on the hillside yonder, and bide there for the darkest hour; and if luck is kind, and clouds mask the stars, you shall see the Hidden Road. Take it without delay, and walk upon it."
So John ate all that food that was in the house, which was not a great deal; and he drank deep of spring water. Then he went up to the elfstane on the hillside above, and sat him down and waited. And when it was come to the darkest hour of the night, and the clouds had covered the stars, he saw a track gleam out, glistening among the grass. And he strode upon it without delay, and followed it; and it led him northwards into the hillside.
On into the darkness within the darkness led the glistening path; and on into the darkness within the darkness walked John. After he had walked a time, he came into a fair hall, set all about with carven sieges. Upon each siege sat a fair grey knight, who slumbered lightly; by each siege lay a grey destrier, still as if carven from stone. At the further end of the hall, upon the greatest of the sieges, attended by the most powerful of the horses, sat a King.
"Surely", John said to himself, "I have come under the green hill, and this must be the Hall of the Elven King. Now all I need do is wake the King, and ask for the return of the Corn Maiden."
So saying, he went up to the foot of the throne, and halted, not knowing what to do, for he had never met a King before, still less woken one. He reached out with a hand, and touched the King's sleeve; and the sleeper snorted, and stirred. As he did so, his face was lit by the dim glow from the Road, and John saw his right eye was gone. Then John minded on his grandfather's words, and was much afraid. Softly he stepped back, a step, another step. The King's head fell forward on his chest.
Softly, softly, John walked the Road out of the Cavern of the Sleepers. Yet quieter still a grey shape came up behind him, grey as the rain of autumn morning, silent as snowfall. The great destrier paced behind him; and whiles, it paced beside him; and at last, it stood before him, and halted. And John looked upon the horse, on the dark wisdom of its eye, and the graceful curve of its neck, and the silken fall of its mane, and the great power of its haunches; and he said to himself "there is no horse as fine as this in all the lands about. If I ride up to the Hall of the Elven King on such a Horse, I shall be taken for a great lord, and be admitted at once".
So saying, John mounted the grey stallion, and rode onwards along the gleaming road. And so swift, and soft, and easy were the paces of the great horse that he soon became drowsy, and barely heeded where it bore him. But all at once he was aware that the darkness all about was less dark, and that before him was a magnificent bridge, soaring a great distance in a single span, and all made, so it seemed, of crystal.
All at once John bethought him of his grandfather's words, and reached to pull the stallion up. But then he saw -- as he had not noticed before -- that the horse had neither bit, nor bridle, nor rein. Then John called upon it to halt, but the horse instead broke into a trot, and then into a canter. And it came to the brink of the crystal bridge, and it's hooves fell like mallets on a cymbal. Then John cast himself from the horses back, and fell upon the gleaming curb. At once, the horse faded into the air, as mist does, and was gone. As the clear sweet ringing of the bridge fell into stillness, John heard a fearful roaring from below. Then he lay as still as he might. The sound of roaring died away in its turn, but still John lay still.
But the night was passing, and at length he found the courage to get to his feet, and walk on. When he reached the top of the arch, he saw, gleaming in the air before him, a great gate, defended by a wide moat, and a raised drawbridge, and a heavy iron portcullis. He walked down the further side of the bridge, until he came to the edge of the moat; and then he stopped, for he could go no further.
"Open to me", cried John, "for I have come to reclaim the corn-maiden, whom you have stolen".
From the tower above the gate a voice came back to him:
"I will open to you gladly, if you will pay my price."
Then John said:
"Name your price, and I shall pay it" --
yet he said it uncertainly, for he had little wealth. The voice from beyond the gate came again, saying:
"The price is a simple thing. Just, can you tell me what a thing it is to lie with a mortal maid?"
John looked at the gate, and though of the bairns that sickened, and the barren fields, and thought what lies he might tell. But the will was not in him; and he hung his head, and said:
"I cannot, for I have never done so."
Then the voice from beyond the laughed, and said:
"That is well, for the price I ask is your virginity. Mind that ye leave it here, before you may pass my gate again".
And with that, the drawbridge fell, and the portcullis rose, and the gate opened; and John passed within, fearing greatly, for all say that a man who lies with an elf maid will never return to the fields we know. Within the gate, he found himself in a passage lined with tapestries, and thence came into a fair hall, where stood the throne of the Elven King.
"Why come you here?" asked the King.
"I come to reclaim the corn-maiden", said John, "whom you have stolen".
"Why should I return your Wanton?" asked the Elf King.
"Return her in the name of justice", said John "for she is ours, and we need her."
"What is justice?" asked the Elf King. "If we return her, your fields will grow tall and heavy with grain. Your women will grow strong, and heavy with child. Your villages will spread across the land, until all the wildwood is felled. Is that justice? Is it justice for the people of the wildwood, the deer people, the wolf people? And as you grow many, you will grow proud and strong and confident. And then you will wake the Wild Hunt again, the Gods of War and Madness. No, I shall not return her in the name of justice, for there is no justice."
"Then return her in the name of pity", said John "for our crops fail, and our children starve."
"What is pity?" asked the Elf King. "If we return her, what shall we say to the people of the trees you will fell, when they talk to us of pity? What shall we say to the people of the clear rivers you will foul, when they talk to us of pity? What shall we say to the people of the green meadow you will fence, when they talk to us of pity? No. I shall not return her in the name of pity, for I have no pity."
"Then return her in the name of freedom", cried John "You took her from her people, from her fields, from her granaries. Let her go free!"
"What is freedom?" asked the Elf King. "We did not steal her from you. We have not bound her. She followed us for our beauty and our glamour, thinking our seed would make her grain grow taller. She is still here among us. If you can find her, if you can persuade her to leave we will not stop you. No. I cannot return her in the name of freedom, for she is free."
Sadly, the young man turned away, and began to wander through the carven halls. In a quiet chamber, he came upon a tall and slender maiden with hair like a waterfall in starlight, and eyes like the sea. "Come with me", she said, "and I will give you good food to eat, for I see that you are hungry. Come with me."
And as she said this his stomach clutched and growled with hunger. Yet he knew that any mortal who ate of the food of Elfland would not return to the fields we know. So he thanked her courteously, and went upon his way. In a scented garden, he came upon a tall and slender maiden with hair like a meadow in moonlight, and eyes like forest pools.
"Come with me", she said, "and I will give you rich wine to drink, for I see that you are thirsty. Come with me."
And as she said this his throat closed with thirst. Yet he knew that any mortal who drank of the wine of Elfland would not return to the fields we know. So he thanked her courteously, and went upon his way. In a gloomy cell, he came upon a short and crooked crone, with hair like cobwebs in winter, and eyes like frozen puddles.
"Come with me", she said, "and I will give you my body to lie with, for I see that you are virgin. Come with me."
As she said this, his manhood shrivelled. Yet he thanked her courteously, saying that he had heard that a mortal who lay with the women of Elfland would not return to the fields we know. Then he turned to go upon his way. But she stopped him, saying:
"Fool! Do you not know me? I am the Corn Maiden. Is it not a lifetime of men since last I walked the fields we know? How did you expect me to be? I am not immortal as the elven folk are immortal. Without the seed of the Barley King I wither, even as the corn withers in the drought. Come lie with me, and the harvest will be heavy."
He looked at her. Her skin was scaled as the snake at her girdle was scaled. As she loosed it and laid it down, it hissed, and writhed away under the bed. She cast off her gown, and laid herself upon the bed. Her leathern dugs lay flat and empty on her bony chest.
"The elf-men are all empty of seed, for where there is no death there can be no birth. Lie with me, mortal man", she said, "and the granaries will be filled." Then he did off his garb, and laid himself down by her. Yet he could not do the act.
"I followed the elf-men for their beauty, but I was fooled; for true beauty is in life, and where there is no death there can be no life. Lie with me, dying man", she said, "and the children shall not go hungry."
He shut his eyes, and thought upon the maiden with the hair like moonlit meadows, and his manhood rose, and he went into her. And when his seed went into her, he felt her shudder, and change under him. And when he opened his eyes, she was a maiden curved as the fertile hills are curved, with eyes like brown ale and hair like poured honey. And she rose, donning no garment but the viper that she girded round her waist, and said:
"Come! we will go back to the fields we know, and you shall be my Barley King."
So they went, out through the halls of the Elven King, out of the Green Hill, across the Crystal Bridge, and through the Cavern of the Sleepers, and out onto the open hillside beside the Elfstane, high above the fields we know. And John went blithe, for he knew the harvest would be heavy. He went blithe, for he knew the granaries would be filled. He went blithe, for he knew the children would not go hungry. And he went fearful, for come Lammastide John Barleycorn must die.
That is the end of my tale; but that is why, to this day, we light a fire on midsummer's night by the elfstane, that the hidden road should not be seen, that no-one shall walk it.
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