Poetry · Chapter
The Proud Lady explained
A proud lady of Stävoren, the fairest in the land, sends ten captains to bring her the best gifts, promising to wed the one who brings the finest.
What happens
A proud lady of Stävoren, the fairest in the land, sends ten captains to bring her the best gifts, promising to wed the one who brings the finest. When Jan Borel brings her a shipful of Danzig corn, she scorns him and orders him to empty it into the sea. He obeys and sails away, never to return. The corn seeds the harbor with weeds, creating a shoal that blocks all ships, leading to the town's ruin. The lady dies in rags, but her ghost still walks the piers scattering corn.
Themes in this chapter
Grief and Memory
The lady's ghostly return to scatter corn reflects the haunting memory of her pride and the town's ruin.
Duty and Patriotism
Jan Borel's dutiful obedience to the lady's command, even in scorn, contrasts with the lady's failure to honor her duty to her town.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“Now out on thee, thou feckless kerl, A loon thou art,” she said. “Am I a starving beggar girl? Shall I ever lack for bread?””
She insults him as a worthless fellow and a fool, asking if she is a beggar who would ever need bread.
The lady's scornful rejection of the corn as a gift, showing her pride and blindness to practical value.
“But the grains of corn went drifting down Like devil-scattered seed, To sow the harbour of the town With a wicked growth of weed.”
The corn sank and spread like cursed seed, causing weeds to grow and choke the harbor.
The supernatural consequence of the lady's pride, leading to the town's physical and economic ruin.