Tale of the Two Lovers

The Tale of Two Lovers (also known as the Tale of the Lady and the Bard) is a story in the Hylian Folklore. It's the story of a young woman, daughter of a wealthy Duke, who fell in a forbidden love with a bard. The tale has been adapted into a play of the same name, famously performed at the Mipha Opera House, in Sicyon.

Plot
In an unknown town lived a wealthy Duke, who had the most beautiful daughter in the region. The Duke planned to marry his daughter to a knight, son of a powerful sorcerer.Even then, the Young Lady did not love the knight, but a mysterious Bard she met at a farmers market nearby. The Duke did not approve of the relationship, and prohibitted her from ever seeing him, warning her that the Sorcerer threatened to destroy the land should she not marry his son.

Unbeknownst to the Duke, the Lady did not follow her father's orders. Every night, shrouded by darkness, the bard would climb up to the balcony of the Young Lady, and the two would dance until sunrise. Once the Duke found out about his daughter's affairs, he sent his soldiers to kill the Bard. The couple then fled into the woods, where they found an old hag, shackled to a tree. She presented her self as a powerful witch, captured and locked away by the Sorcerer. The couple then made a deal with the Old Hag: the Bard would kill the Sorcerer, freeing the Old Hag, and she would use her powers to keep the couple away from the soldiers.

The next day, the Bard and the Young Lady secretely travelled to the Sorcerers home, and the Bard shot an arrow throught the Sorcerers heart, killing him. Once they returned to the Old Hag, they found her free, she then revealed her true identity, Majora, Goddess of Darkness. As a gift for freeing her, Majora would keep her part of the promise, transforming both lovers into the Moons of Hyrule. They can now dance throught the starry sky every night, like they used to, without fear of being stopped.

History and Analysis
The ambiguous nature of the characters in this classical tale leaves many different interpretations.

The Sheikah interpretation depicts the Sorcerer as evil, in this version, Majorais is an ambivalent being, and had good intentions when she transformed the Young Couple. this version is considerated much simpler and child-friendly, showing the usual tropes of Good Guys and Bad Guys. One peculiarity of this version is the ambiguity in Majora, illustrating the Sheikah's position towards spirits, representing them with nuance and subtlety.

The Hylian intepretation, on the other hand, throws a much darker tone in the story. Unlike the Sheikah version, this one depicts the characters having conflicting morals, while downplaying the personality of Majora. The sorcerer did a great deed by capturing an evil goddess, but also wishes to forcefully wed the Young Lady to his son, an abusive partner in this version. The couple is depicted as naïve, and they regretted their actions once they found out the Old Hag's true nature. In this interpretation, love is seen as foolish and blinding, eventually bring about their own demise.