The song seems to be playing with the connection between speech and truth, name and identity. The narrator seems to mistrust speech, which can easily lie -- for example, girls who say "I love you" or swear they'll die for love. Instead of a name, the narrator is known in other ways throughout the song: first by firelight, a bed, and a night together, then later by the wind on the hill after she leaves, and finally by a stone on her grave.
Names are related to social identity, as a name connects someone to family, cultural heritage, past history, etc. The narrator's lack of a name thus symbolizes her disconnection from her past, her roots, and society in general. But through this disconnection the narrator gains freedom from traditional social and gender roles, as highlighted by the comparisons to more materialistic and domestic women in the second and fourth verses.
It's clear the narrator feels disconnected from society but there is some ambivalence in her attitude about it. Although she seems to lament her fate in the last verse, she doesn't seem to envy the other women she mentions. Does she intentionally reject society, has this disconnection occurred inadvertently due to her innate character, or has she been unwillingly cut off from society by others? Perhaps some combination of all three.
Some further reflections on this song...
The song seems to be playing with the connection between speech and truth, name and identity. The narrator seems to mistrust speech, which can easily lie -- for example, girls who say "I love you" or swear they'll die for love. Instead of a name, the narrator is known in other ways throughout the song: first by firelight, a bed, and a night together, then later by the wind on the hill after she leaves, and finally by a stone on her grave.
Names are related to social identity, as a name connects someone to family, cultural heritage, past history, etc. The narrator's lack of a name thus symbolizes her disconnection from her past, her roots, and society in general. But through this disconnection the narrator gains freedom from traditional social and gender roles, as highlighted by the comparisons to more materialistic and domestic women in the second and fourth verses.
It's clear the narrator feels disconnected from society but there is some ambivalence in her attitude about it. Although she seems to lament her fate in the last verse, she doesn't seem to envy the other women she mentions. Does she intentionally reject society, has this disconnection occurred inadvertently due to her innate character, or has she been unwillingly cut off from society by others? Perhaps some combination of all three.