Canonfire! - The Ballad of Jack Raptureweed

Not even Deep Sashelas, god of aquatic elves, is unchallenged. The intoxicating and narcotic effects of the seaweed fronds known as rapture weed are discussed at length in module U3, The Final Enemy. In UK1, Beyond the Crystal Cave, it is provided: “Known by many regional names (of which the Green Man, John Barleycorn, and Mother Nature’s Son are but three … [he] is rarely found without a song upon his lips and never without one in his heart.” Wikipedia notes that there are more versions of the Ballad of John Barleycorn than any other song in the English language.

The Ballad of Jack Raptureweed
By: Wolfsire
Posted with permission. Do notrepost without obtaining prior permission from the author.

There were two kings below the sea, two kings both wise and wry

For they did swear a solemn oath, Jack Raptureweed must die

They took a shell and dug him down, put sand upon his head

For forsworn they would not be, Jack Rapture weed was dead

But tidal pulls went gently by, and silt began to fall

Jack Raptureweed got up again, and sore surprised them all

To shimmer-sun then through the waves, he reached within his bonds

Pale in green and thick of stock, grew tall his many fronds

But edged in gold he sickened so, and faded into age

And once again his enemies, did show their deadly rage

They took a weapon long and sharp, and cut him to his knees

Then gathered up his briny corps, to send about the seas

Jack Raptureweed a hero bold, who some now still despise

For if you do but taste his flesh, he’ll make your courage rise

Or make you all forget your woes, and set you at your ease

So you cheer Jack Raptureweed, as savior of the seas

But beware Jack Raptureweed, too often taste him not

For he might still have his revenge, and make a king a sot

Endnote:
While it is not universal, the archetypal Green Man is sometimes associated with the sea. The Green Hunter of Danish legend spears a mermaid. The Welsh fairy king, Gwyn ap Nudd battles for the sea god’s daughter yearly at the direction of King Arthur. Peter Pan has Captain Hook and the mermaids. Dionysus is taken by pirates and turns them into dolphins, and is represented as Oceanus. Oceanus is sometimes represented with the horns and/or as the foliate head. I would venture to say that it is purely coincidental that the Greek translation, Okeanos, can be pronounced Oaky-On-Nose.