"Why did you defeat the wizards?" "They tried to make me pay taxes" "Understandable"

The first time I heard this song Leslie Fish was singing it at a Loscon , under the strict proviso that the Audience sing the chorus to give her voice a break. There were many more choruses in that version.

This is like an entire book in 12 minutes. I'm blown away, holy crap

My father was a horse-tamer On the edge of Hali Plain. His work was good and his horses fine, But he got little gain, For few folk come now to Hali Town; The trade is gone away, And the distant glower of the ruined Tower Makes few folk care to stay. So poor we were, but free we were As the wild herds on the Plain. And I was a child as free and wild As the wind in my tangled mane. My Grand-dam told me cradle-tales Of the great days long ago When the wizards ruled and the land was taxed And the lords would come and go. "But the land was torn by war," she said, "The Tower was broken down, And the lords appear no longer here To rule over Hali Town. And neither do the wizards Come take our children, one in ten. So grateful be that we're poor but free, And you are not living then." My father had no sons at all, Nor could he pay the fee Of hireling men to help his work, So he turned to Mother and me. We helped him run the wild ones down, To catch and tame and train. And we lived thus free and merrily On the edge of Hali Plain. So well I loved the whispering grass And the children of the land, That in time I learned, as the seasons turned, To call them into my hand. As I rode out on Hali Plain, I would set my mind to fly 'Til I felt the grass below my feet And the birds high in the sky. I'd feel the wild ones running, And I'd bid them turn again. And a few I'd see would come to me: About every one in ten. I never called them to the rope; For their trust I'd not betray. And willingly they'd carry me On the Plain to run and play. There is a lake beyond the town. The Tower stands on its shore. Close by the Holy Castle looms, Where none may pass the door. But I always chose that ruined Tower As my favorite place to play. And I'd daydream long of my grand-dam's songs And the tales of the ancient days. The stones breathed wondrous tales to me Of the powers within the ground, 'Til within the stones of the Tower's bones A magic mirror I found. The mirror in its iron frame Was black as a winter sky. Never a sight it'd show to me, 'Til I set my mind to fly. Aye, then it showed me wondrous things, A window on the world: The Plains, the town, the land around, For as far as the oceans curled. I wore it tied about my neck So's to keep it always near: Besides the land and my wild-horse band Was the treasure I held most dear. But I'll never wear red robes. I'll never wear blue stone. The ruined Tower stands abandoned and alone. But when the moons are high And the wind is roaring free, When I send my silent call... Wild horses come to me! As we rode down to Hali Town One summer market day, I saw the folk in turmoil run, And I heard an old man say: "Go back, go back, you horse-tamer, The Wizards come again! They come, I fear, for the children here. They're taking one in ten. Go back, go back, you horse-tamer, And your daughter hide away. Go conceal your child where the land is wild, 'Til the wizards have gone away." Back I rode to Hali Plain, As fast as a horse could run. And I hid myself in the ruined Tower, Away from wind and sun. I gazed into the mirror's deeps To see what might befall, And close at hand saw the Wizards' band: So fierce and fair and tall. Then one of them raised up his eyes, And he said: "Who can this be?" And he turned his head, with its hair so red, And he looked straightaway at me. "What is this power that I feel," said he, "So clear and raw and strong? Ride up, ride up, my sisters all; My god, we've been searching wrong. More power's here than we thought to find. The gods so jest with men; It may be, still, that within our will, That Tower will awake again. 'Twas an ill-trained Keeper's mind I met, But I've rarely felt such power. We dare not wait lest we come too late. Make haste now to Hali Tower!" As soon as I thus heard their plan, I turned my mind away And I set it flying over the plains. To the wild ones I did say: "Oh, come to me, my free friends all! Oh, come to my right hand! We must prevent these lords' intent Of the claiming of our land. For if they should rule the land once more, We shall all be servant-men -- And you, my dears, will be captives here And will never run free again." I bound my mind to the wild ones' minds, And I called as I never did call, 'Til seven mares and a stallion bold Came into the ancient hall. Just seven mares, a stallion bold, A magic mirror and me, To stay the command of the lords' command And keep the Plains-folk free: So I bound my soul to the wild ones' souls As I'd never done before, And we raised our might in a ring of light, To fight in a wizards' war. We raised a shield about the Tower, All made of wind and thought. With hooves of light, through the mirror's sight, We battered, thrust and fought. The wizards flinched, the wizards fell, And they cried up from the ground: "Have done, have done, ye nine-and-one! Only tell us what we've found. How did your Star-stone hold intact When it should have burned away? What kind of men can stand up again Through the fires that we threw today?" "I have no stone at all," said I, "Just a mirror like the sea. You fought with never a man this day, Just eight wild horses and me. I am the horse-tamer's daughter The defender of the land -- And I know my kind were never inclined To live at a lord's command. So it is my wish ye shall go away, And shall leave us as we've been. Leave us free as we choose to be; We will never be ruled again." Up then spoke the Wizard-lord: "It shall be as you have said. Better to make us an eighth Domain Than to duel 'til we all are dead. With a Circle made of wild beasts And a plain first-level screen, You've all the power of any good Tower -- And much more than many I've seen. You are the Living Matrix then; That's all that you can be. It's clear your breed is of wizard-seed. Oh child, keep away from me!" So Hali Tower is tenanted now. Fresh straw lies on the floor. Tall wild horses come and go, Free through the open door. The Hali-folk bring corn and cloth And wood for the winter chill. The tales they tell are spreading well, And I fear they always will. I'm just the Horse-tamer's daughter, But they love me for my power. They've made of me what I feared to be: The Keeper of Hali Tower! I'll never wear red robes. I'll never wear a blue stone. The ancient Tower stands no longer quite alone. But when the moons are high And the wind is roaring free, When I send my silent call... Wild horses come to me!

Besides the wonderful story, what really MAKES this performance is Julia's wonderful vocal expressiveness--the various emotions conveyed in each line. I stand in awe.

I like this version much better than the more recent version (Album: "Horse Tamer"). And I knew it was long, but i had no idea it's almost THIRTEEN MINUTES LONG. Best 13 minutes in filk!

I had completely and utterly missed the title track. 'Just seeing 'horse tamers daughter' thinking it was album... so I never clicked on the horsetamers daughter horsetamers daughter link, my eyes did not see. Found Ecklars version and now I'am struck with awe.

Somebody, Please. Make this a movie. The scripts practically handed to you. Any of these fans would fall over themselves if you need actors. It'd be the best thing sense LOTR. You need someone to fill in the blanks, PM me. I'll write a freaking book for you.

I put off listening to this for so long, didn't realize it was so good. I think I might have to get the album now.

WHY DO I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH??

One of the reasons my beloved partner, Sheila Young (Brydon) and I, kept together for 24 beautiful years was that we shared a love of travel and exploration. After spending three wonderful years living and working in Paris, we had to return to Edinburgh. But her amazing skill in languages and extraordinary ability to make lifelong friends allowed her to study Chinese and travel around. I would come to her, first at and then at Kunming for four weeks travel. One area that this wonderful song reminds me of is the Grasslands of Inner Mongolia and the Chinese-Tibetan Beihei plateau. Deserted towns and cities, fortresses, Bon monasteries and wild grasslands for the horses, but sadly no great herds of horses. Lakes, mountains and ranges of land where Scythians and he ancestors of the 'mummies' of Xinjiang ranged and lived. An extraordinary blend of Central Asians and Europeans living this museum. Sadly, Xingiang is under the Iron Fist of The Party and when they will be avilable, Heaven only knows! Farewell, my beloved Sheila, you showed me so much and I wish there was some way to thank you! But death separated us, although my diaries contain much about what we did. Such a pity you never heard this! Every time I hear it, I think of you!!

I'm really glad I stumbled across this song. It is defiantly a new favorite of mine.

I love songs like these; stories turned into songs, like The Highwayman, and lady of Shallot by Loreena McKennitt

Leslie Fish is a great hero. She is a fixture in the modern panteon.

Now, I don't exactly know what this is based off or whatever... But she beat them without a skystone - which seems essential or expected in spellcraft - and 'a plain *first level* screen.' Also no idea how much the horses helped, but that seems impressive.

tower of hali. keeper with red robs - these are from Marion Zimmer bradley Darkover. wonderfull song.

I remember seeing Julia Ecklar sing this at a long-ago Inconjunction in Indianapolis. Thanks for posting this.

I love singing along with these songs :)

This has always been a high favorite of mine!!

Thank you thank you for posting this! Thought I'd never it again. You made me a happy person indeed. Blessings

"And ye fought with never a man this day!" ...Shades of "I am no man!"

I am sure I have heard a version where the second last verse says “It’s clear your breed is of Hastur seed.” Rather than wizard seed but I cannot find it anywhere.

Reminds me of a certain Celtic horse goddess...

Hey Surfing God! Did you see the question I posted earlier if you could link to Julia's publisher's website on your videos of her songs/performances? (I can provide the link here, but YT seems to be screening out those posts.) It's been a huge help for her music (we'll have big news about her music in 2021 that's a direct result of all the KZfaq views) -- and she greatly appreciates it. Happy to talk further if I can help in any way. Thx so much.

And for anyone interested, we just posted a live version of Julia singing this in concert: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/obChn69kzMyxaI0.html

So good

Remember “responsibility is it’s own kind of prison”

12 wizards watched this

Is it just me or does this kinda fit the dark tower series by Steven 👑👑👑👑👑👑👑

Awesome song! And this is this definitive version..it is a shame that the only version of it is cassette. But thank you for supplying it!

Moral of the story: With great power comes great responsibility

For the love of all that is good someone animate a video for this...

The Scythians came originally from what is now Northern Iran and ranged as far as Siberia Romania and Bulgaria, then called Thrace. They, it was said, were born in the saddle, men and women, and were described by Herodotus. One of the symbols of rule was a mirror of polished metal, carried in a pouch at the waist. They worshipped spirits of various powers and elements. They and their successors, the Sarmatians were able to fire bows and arrows from horseback and taught their neighbours, the Parthians this lethal technique. So it became known as "The Parthian Shot". Ironically, it was punishable by death for Romans to pursue Parthian horse-archers, as, if you pursued such horsemen and women, they would kill you anyway

My friend sent me this song And I Have Instantly Fallen In Love With This Song Is Amazing Is There I Can Buy This Version

How the hell do I get a CD of this, anyone?

I've never liked the idea that one teenage prodigy can fight numerous adults who've had extensive training but there could be a deeper story here. I doubt that collecting tax from poor, backwater towns is glamorous so it's probable they sent a handful of 4th rate novices who couldn't be useful anywhere else. If that was the case though they'd come home and tell their masters what happened and fairly soon a real archmage would show up to take a new apprentice or a concubine to produce powerful babies or to just take the mirror. The fact that this didn't happen implies maybe these low-ranking wizards were exiles or runaways who'd been caught trying to cheat on a test or steal something and so they went on the run. They knew there was a remote town that wasn't worth collecting tribute from so they wouldn't cross paths with their vengeful former masters but they could collect the tribute for themselves and live off that. They met the horse tamers daughter who kicked them out and they hit the road again looking for a place they can stay. They don't have the power to take the horse tamers daughter or her mirror but the information of their existence/ location could be a valuable bartering chip in trying to convince a new tower to take in some strays IF anyone believed them.

Does anyone have guitar chords for this? I couldn’t find any and I’d like to sing it myself as well. 🙈

This is very " Joan Baez y" ! 👍🥰❤

Where does this come from??

The living matrix is it? Starstone is it? Hmmmm I smell darkover! Some one suggested this should be a movie. I thought you liked the song. why would you wish it ruined? You know the puke studios put out, and the subscriber base is not enough to support an independent production.

Ew ewwwww