The affectedly antique spelling in Percy's copy (B) has given rise to vague suspicions concerning the authenticity of the ballad or of the language: but as spelling will not make an old ballad, so it will not unmake one. We have, but do not need, the later traditional copy (A) to prove the other genuine. 'Edward' is not only unimpeachable, but has ever been regarded as one of the noblest and most sterling specimens of the popular ballad. It has an exact counterpart in Swedish and Danish; also in Finnish, probably from the Swedish, but with traits of its own. The last stanza of 'Edward' is peculiar in implicating the mother in the guilt of the murder.
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