Childe Roland
Preserved but no longer current.
Youngest brother of the "fair burd Helen" in the old Scottish ballad. Guided by Merlin, he undertook to bring his sister from Elf-land, whither the fairies had carried her, and succeeded in his perilous ex- ploit.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Childe Roland” mean?
Youngest brother of the "fair burd Helen" in the old Scottish ballad. Guided by Merlin, he undertook to bring his sister from Elf-land, whither the fairies had carried her, and succeeded in his perilous ex- ploit.
Is “Childe Roland” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.