This text is taken from "The World's Great Folktales", edited in 1953 by James R. Foster (Dewey Decimal #398.21 F81w). Mr. Foster, in turn, got the text from "Joseph Jacobs' English Fairy Tales" published in 1892.
Child
Rowland and his brothers twain
Were
playing at the ball,
And
there was their sister Burd Ellen
In
their midst, among them all.
Childe
Rowland kicked it with his foot
And
caught it with his knee;
At
last he plunged among them all
O'er
the church he made it flee.
Burd
Ellen round about the aisle
To
seek the ball is gone,
But
long they waited, and longer still,
And
she came not back again.
They
sought her east, they sought her west,
They
sought her up and down,
And
woe were the hearts of those brethren,
For
she was not to be found.
So at last her eldest brother went to the Warlock Merlin and told him all the case, and asked him if he knew where Burd Ellen was. "The fair Burd Ellen," said the Warlock Merlin, "must have been carried off by the fairies, because she went round the church 'widershins' - the opposite way to the sun. She is now in the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland; it would take the boldest knight in Christendom to bring her back."
"If it is possible to bring her back," said her brother, "I'll do it or perish in the attempt."
"Possible it is," said the Warlock Merlin, "but woe to the man or mother's son that attempts it, if he is not well taught beforehand what he is to do."
The eldest brother of Burd Ellen was not to be put off, by any fear of danger, from attempting to get her back, so he begged the Warlock Merlin to tell him what he should do, and what he should not do, in going to seek his sister. And after he had been taught, and had repeated his lesson, he set out for Elfland.
But
long they waited, and longer still,
With
doubt and muckle pain,
But
woe were the hearts of his brethren,
For
he came not back again.
Then the second brother got tired and tired of waiting, and he went to the Warlock Merlin and asked him the same as his brother. So he set out to find Burd Ellen.
But
long they waited, and longer still,
With
muckle doubt and pain,
And
woe were his mother's and brother's heart
For
he came not back again.
And when they had waited and waited a good long time, Childe Rowland, the youngest of Burd Ellen's brothers, wished to go, and went to his mother, the good queen to ask her to let him go. But she would not at first, for he was the last and the dearest of her children, and if he was lost, all would be lost. But he begged and he begged, till at last the good queen let him go, and gave him his father's good brand that never struck in vain. And as he girt it round his waist, she said the spell that would give it victory.
So Childe Rowland said good-by to the good queen, his mother, and went to the cave of the Warlock Merlin. "Once more, and but once more," he said to the Warlock, "tell how man or mother's son may rescue Burd Ellen and her brothers twain."
"Well, my son," said the Warlock Merlin, "there are but two things, simple they may seem, but hard they are to do. One thing to do, and one thing not to do. And the thing to do is this: after you have entered the land of Fairy, whoever speaks to you, till you meet the Burd Ellen, you must out with your father's brand and off with his head. And what you've not to do is this: bite no bit and drink no drop, however hungry or thirsty you be; drink a drop or bite a bit, while in Elfland you be, and never will you see the Middle Earth again."
So Childe Rowland said the two things over and over again till he knew them by heart, and he thanked the Warlock Merlin and went on his way. And he went along, and along, and along, and still farther along, till he came to the horseherd of the King of Elfland feeding his horses. These he knew by their fiery eyes, and he knew that he was at last in the land of Fairy. "Canst thou tell me," said Child Rowland to the horseherd, "where the King of Elfland's Dark Tower is?" "I cannot tell thee," said the horseherd, "but go on a little farther and thou wilt come to a cowherd, and he, maybe, can tell thee."
Then, without a word more, Childe Rowland drew the good brand that never struck in vain, and off went the horseherd's head, and Childe Rowland went on farther, till he came to the cowherd, and asked him the same question. "I can't tell thee," said he, "but go on a little farther, and thou wilt come to the henwife, and she is sure to know." Then Childe Rowland out with his good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went the cowherd's head. And he went on a little farther, till he came to an old woman in a gray cloak, and he asked her if she knew where the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland was. "Go on a little farther," said the henwife, "till you come to a round green hill, surrounded with terrace rings, from the bottom to the top; go round it three times, widershins, and each time say:
'Open, door! open, door! And let me come in.'
And the third time the door will open, and you may go in." And Childe Rowland was just going on, when he remembered what he had to do; so he out with the good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went the henwife's head.
Then he went on, and on, and on, till he came to the round green hill with the terrace rings from top to bottom, and he went round it three times, widershins, saying each time:
"Open, door! open, door! And let me come in."
And the third time the door did open, and he went in, and it closed with a click, and Childe Rowland was left in the dark.
It was not exacly dark, but a kind of twilight or gloaming. There were neither windows nor candles, and he could not make out where the twilight came from, if not through the walls and roof. These were rough arches made of transparent rock, incrusted with sheepsilver and rock spar, and other bright stones. But though it was rock, the air was quite warm, as it always was in Elfland. So he went through this passage till at last he came to two wide and high folding doors which stood ajar. And when he opened them, there he saw a most wonderful and glorious sight. A large and spacious hall, so large that it seemed to be as long and broad as the green hill itself. The roof was supported by five pillars, so large and lofty, that the pillars of a cathedral were as nothing to them. They were all of gold and silver, with freted work, and between them and around them wreaths of flowers, composed of what do you think? Why, diamonds, and rubies, and pearls, and other precious stones. And all these arches met in the middle of the roof, and just there, hung by a gold chain, an immense lamp made out of one big pearl hollowed out and quite transparent. And in the middle of this was a big, huge carbuncle, which kept spinning round and round, and this was what gave light by its rays to the whole hall, which seemed as if the setting sun were shining on it.
The hall was furnished in a manner equally grand, and at one end of it was a glorious couch of velvet, silk, and gold, and there sate Burd Ellen, combing her golden hair with a silver comb. And when she saw Childe Rowland she stood up and said:
God
pity ye, poor luckless fool,
What
have ye here to do?
Hear
ye this, my youngest brother,
Why
didn't ye bide at home?
Had
ye a hundred thousand lives
Ye
couldn't spare any a one.
But
sit ye down; but woe, O woe,
That
ever ye were born.
For
come the King of Elfland in,
Your
fortune is forlorn.
Then they sate down together, and Childe Rowland told her all that he had done, and she told him how their two brothers had reached the Dark Tower, but had been enchanted by the King of Elfland, and lay there entombed as if dead. And then after they had talked a little longer, Childe Rowland began to feel hungry from his long travels, and told his sister Burd Ellen how hungry he was and asked for some food, forgetting all about the Warlock Merlin's warning.
Burd Ellen looked at Childe Rowland sadly, and shook her head, but she was under a spell and could not warn him. So she rose up, and went out, and soon brought back a golden basin full of bread and milk. Childe Rowland was just going to raise it to his lips, when he looked at his sister and remembered why he had come all that way. So he dashed the bowl to the ground, and said, "Not a sup will I swallow, not a bit will I bite, till Burd Ellen is set free."
Just at that moment they heard the voice of someone approaching, and a loud voice was heard saying:
"Fee, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of a Christian man, Be he dead, be he living, with my brand I'll dash his brains from his brain pan."
And then the folding doors of the hall were burst open, and the King of Elfland rushed in.
"Strike then, bogle, if thou darest," shouted out Childe Rowland, and rushed to meet him with his good brand that never yet did fail. They fought, and they fought, and they fought, till Childe Rowland beat the king of Elfland down onto his knees and caused him to yield and beg for mercy. "I grant thee mercy," said Childe Rowland, "release my sister from thy spells and raise my brothers to life, and let us all go free, and thou shalt be spared." "I agree," said the Elfin King, and rising up he went to a chest from which he took a phial filled with blood-red liquor. With this he anointed the ears, eyelids, nostrils, lips, and finger tips of the two brothers, and they sprang at once to life, and declared that their souls had been away but had now returned. The Elfin King then said some words to Burd Ellen, and she was disenchanted, and they all four passed out of the hall, through the long passage, and turned their back on the Dark Tower, never to return again. So they reached home and the good queen their mother; and Burd Ellen never went round a church widershins again.