Rash promise
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The rash promise, also blind promise or rash boon is a promise given without considering its consequences. It is a common motif in medieval and folk literature, especially fairy tales. It is classifie
Salome with the Head of the Baptist (1761)
Loathly lady
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The loathly lady, is a tale type commonly used in medieval literature, most famously in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Wife of Bath's Tale. The motif is that of a woman who appears unattractive but undergoes
Rash promise
…a young rapist knight threatened with execution if he cannot answer the question "What do women want?," promises an older woman (the proverbial "loathly lady") anything she desires if she can provide the answer (she desires to marry him). In the chivalric romance Amadas, Amadas vows to a white knight that…
"Lady, I will be a true and loyal husband." Gawain and the loathly lady in W. H. Margetson's illustration for Maud Isabel Ebbutt's Hero-Myths and Legends of the British Race (1910)