The Bear and The Maiden fair

## Song

A bear there was, a bear, a bear!

All black and brown, and covered with hair.

The bear! The bear!

Oh come they said, oh come to the fair!

The fair? Said he, but I'm a bear!

All black and brown, and covered with hair!

And down the road from here to there.

From here! To there!

Three boys, a goat and a dancing bear!

They danced and spun, all the way to the fair!

The fair! The fair!

Oh, sweet she was, and pure and fair!

The maid with honey in her hair!

Her hair! Her hair!

The maid with honey in her hair!

The bear smelled the scent on the summer air.

The bear! The bear!

All black and brown and covered with hair!

He smelled the scent on the summer air!

He sniffed and roared and smelled it there!

Honey on the summer air!

Oh, I'm a maid, and I'm pure and fair!

I'll never dance with a hairy bear!

A bear! A bear!

I'll never dance with a hairy bear!

The bear, the bear!

Lifted her high into the air!

The bear! The bear!

I called for a knight, but you're a bear!

A bear, a bear!

All black and brown and covered with hair

She kicked and wailed, the maid so fair,

But he licked the honey from her hair.

Her hair! Her hair!

He licked the honey from her hair!

Then she sighed and squealed and kicked the air!

My bear! She sang. My bear so fair!

And off they went, from here to there,

The bear, the bear, and the maiden fair.

-The Bear and The Maiden Fair, often sung at taverns and brothels.

## Story

People often ask me if “The Bear” was real and I always love the look on their face when I tell them that “Yes in fact he was very much real”.

Ser Beric “The Bear” Dondarrion came from a simple upbringing as a farmer's boy around 5:60 exalted. The blight had tainted his families crops so he left home with his donkey at the young age of 16 to become a templar, promising to send money back when he did. Stories have been made about his initial adventure on his way to the circle tower but I have not been able to discover any sources that point to them being any more than fictionalizations.

Somehow he did manage to get accepted into the order and moved up quite fast! He made commander before he was 20, the first one to do so at such a young age in fact.

True to his word he personally took trips to deliver a cut of his wages to his family in Ostwick.

Now Ostwick had a certain festival, an old tradition where they invited the nearby Dalish to come and trade and enjoy the merriment. A night without prejudice or hate where everyone could learn to come together. It’s a shame they don’t celebrate this tradition anymore really, a real shame. But times change and so do people.

Anyway, Beric arrived at his home town during one of these celebrations still on his donkey. He had this strange conception about horses you see, didn’t trust them after one bit him as a child.

So there he came, The bear in full templar armor on an old donkey that could barely support him. It was a strange sight I’m sure.

Then he saw her, “The maiden fair” a dalish mage-craftswoman, carving toys that moved on their own for a gathering of children at her feet. He was infatuated by her and she by him.

The story continues to tell about  how they cunningly procured every item needed for a wedding within an hour.

As per dalish tradition The bear needed to gift her a pelt, the bigger the better.

So he caught a pregnant mouse and gave it to her. “Give this mouse and her litter a year and you will have a pelt big enough to cover the floor of the circle tower and then some.”

And as per chantry tradition she needed to convince a chantry mother to wed them. So she used her magical abilities to grow a winebranch and ferment it into wine within five minutes. She gave the wine to the mother and in her intoxicated state wed the two.

And to quote the tavern song “Then he licked the honey from her hair”

For having married a human the dalish girl was exiled and for marrying a mage The bear was stripped of his rank as templar and cast out as well.

The chantry version of the tale is a bit more biased, as you can imagine, and has the woman transform him into an actual bear and skin him. They often use it as a cautionary tale but I like to imagine them living happily ever after as most other stories go.

-An excerpt from The Templar order and those in it, by Brother Genitivi.