Beware the Lady of the Reach

If you touch that, the Lady of the Reach will get you!

— A parent to a child

Summary

On the isles of Retland, many parents tell their children about the Lady of the Reach and the draugr she summons. The Lady is a mythological figure who lives in the Reach, the name for the deepest depths of the ocean. She is commonly associated with storms and sea monsters. In common mythology, draugr are created when restless spirits drown at sea. Though the body dies and starts to decay, the spirit lives on in the animated corpse. Draugr can only be commanded by the Lady of the Reach, and she sends them out to eat living humans.

Variations & Mutation

In some versions, the Lady of the Reach only drowns disobedient children. The more popular tale includes her eating them and turning them into draugr. It's also unclear if the draugr she commands are only children she's turned or if they're drowned sailors.

In Literature

The most common form of the poem is in the children's book Lady of the Reach.

In Art

There are several woodcuts and watercolors of both the Lady of the Reach and her draugr. Many of them include a child walking the beach alone at night and are titled "Wanderer of the Beach". The Lady of the Reach is often imagined as a queen with seaweed for hair, shells for a crown, and fish nets for clothing. Unlike the draugr who are depicted as rotted undead sailors, the Lady of the Reach appears alive and somewhat healthy.

Beware! Beware! O Wanderer of the Beach
The draug! The draug! Sniffers they for thee
Summoned from deep O Lady of the Reach
Seeking little children, draug you too shall be.
Child! Mind your words and mind your deeds
The rocks, the waves, the wind, the trees
They hear your lies and watch your greed
For she who knows in the heart of the seas.
The Lady of the Reach was once a child, too
But she stole a boat and sailed far from home
Fool child, she drowned, her theft forever to rue
A bitter heart can never rest, our shores now she roams
Come night they walk ashore, these servants of the deep
In search of naughty children, for ye shall be a feast
The draug with empty bellies, a harvest they shall reap
And drown ye in the ocean, and turns your bones to beast.