In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in Iceland, many of the Sagas or portions of them were turned into rhyming verse known as Rímur. Sagas of almost every class were subjected to this treatment—Íslendinga Sögur, Fornaldar Sögur, Fornmanna Sögur and others. It is supposed that in the first place these rhymed versions (Rímur) were made for the purpose of recitation at social gatherings. There is ground for believing that the Rímur were sometimes recited, as an accompaniment of dances in Iceland1; but this is not believed to have been the purpose for which they were originally composed2.
According to both Jónsson3 and Mogk4, the Rímur and other forms of rhyming verse in early Norse poetry originated in the Mediaeval Latin Church Hymns introduced into Iceland in the thirteenth century. The similarity between the rhyming metres of the Latin and many (though not all) of the forms of verse used in the Rímur is very striking. Whether the influence of Latin hymns in Iceland was directly responsible for the change, however, as Jónsson and Mogk believe, or whether the Latin hymns only influenced Norse verse indirectly through the medium of French poetry, is problematical. Perhaps these compositions owe their origin to the fashion of turning all kinds of material, likely and unlikely, into rhyming verse—a fashion which originated in France, and from the latter part of the twelfth century onwards gradually made its way over most of the West and North of Europe. The rhyming chronicles of the fourteenth century in England may be mentioned as one instance of this fashion, and the rhyming paraphrases of the splendid prose of Iceland are an outcome of the same movement.
The Gríplur, some twenty stanzas of which are given below, represent this stage in the development of Icelandic literature. It may be observed that, like other Rímur, they are the work of educated people—a fact which makes the wretched quality of much of the verse all the more striking, especially when they are contrasted with the ballads, which are, at least in most cases, the work of the unlettered. Unattractive however as they appear to the modern mind, it has been thought advisable to include a short extract from them here because it seems possible that in some cases the Faroese ballads may have derived their material from Iceland through the intermediate stage of the Rímur rather than from the Saga direct.
Reference is made to the exploits of Hromund in other Rímur besides the Gríplur, notably in the Málsháttakvæði, the Skíða-Ríma5 (which is interesting as being based, in all probability, on an earlier poem than the Gríplur) and in the Klerka-Ríma6. And he and Thrain the Berserk still live in the popular songs of the North. He is the Ungen Ranild7 of the Danish ballad; and in the Norwegian ballad Ramund den Unge8, Ramund (Hromund) and Hölgi (Helgi) appear as rivals for the hand of Svanhvit (who, however, is not mentioned by name). Like some of the Faroese ballads on the Hervarar Saga, these later versions are far removed from the story as we know it from early Icelandic sources9. They are of interest only to those who care for folk song and ballad for their freshness and their naïve simplicity10.
Footnote 1: Cf. Finnur Jónsson, Oldnorske og Oldislandske Litteraturs Historie, Vol. iii, p. 35.
Footnote 2: Cf. F. Jónsson, op. cit., Vol. iii, p. 36; also Eugen Mogk, Geschichte der Norwegisch-Isländischen Literatur (Strasburg, 1904), p. 722.
Footnote 3: Op. cit., iii, p. 26 ff.
Footnote 4: Op. cit., p. 722 ff.
Footnote 5: Ed. by K. Maurer, Munich, 1869; F. Jónsson, Carmina Scaldica (Copenhagen, 1913).
Footnote 6: Codex A.M. 604 H.
Footnote 7: S. Grundtvig, Danmarks Gamle Folkeviser, Vol. i, p. 367 ff.
Footnote 8: M. B. Landstad, Norske Folkeviser (Christiania, 1853), p. 189 ff.
Footnote 9: Cf. Kölbing, Beiträge zur Vergleichenden Geschichte der Romantischen Poesie und Prosa des Mittelalters, pp. 185-187.
Footnote 10: For further ballads on the story of Hromund Greipsson, cf. Andrews, Studies in the Fornaldarsögur Northrlanda, in Modern Philology, 1911, 1912.]
9. Olaf was a mighty Prince
Who governed Hörthaland.
The brave folk dwelling along the coast
He guarded with his hand.
10.° Gnöthar-Asmund, the Prince's father,
A peerless man was he;
By many a battle he reft from Kings
Their land and territory.
11. In the stern of the King's ship Kari stood,
And of heroes many another;
In strength of limb had he never a peer;
And Örnulf was his brother.
12. The King and his warriors reddened their swords
In the blood of wicked men;
But no man travelling with merchandise
Got any hurt from them.
13.° The Prince brought joy to his followers' hearts,
With Draupnir's beautiful blood.
A franklin who better were named a burgess
Beside the princes stood.
14. Grip was a man who stirred up strife,
Eager with blade for slaughter.
This hero's wife was a good woman:
Of Hrok the Black was she daughter.
15. Grip and Gunnlöth, his good wife,
They had nine sons in all:
(Clever verses are made about them)
And Hrök did they every one call!
16. Hromund was a son of Grip,
Eldest of the brothers was he;
His heart knew never aught of fear,
Nor faltered his valiancy.
17. Hrolf must I add, Högni, Haki and Gaut,
And Thröst with the other five;
Angantyr and Helgi whose lot it was
In the fortunes of war to thrive.
18. Logi was youngest (a tiny lad)
Of the sons of the worthy pair;
Hromund alone sallied forth to fight in battle,
And the rest stayed at home where they were.
19. The hero feared neither fire nor sword
When shields clashed in the fray;
His shoulders were broad, and shining his hair.
And kindly and keen was his eye.
20. He never fled or deserted the host,
But poured forth darts on the shield;—
Faithful and true in courage was he
As a hero should be in the field.
21. His wicked foe did he slay with might—
He knew no fear of pain;
And all his noble courage and valour
From his kinsman Hrök did he gain.
22. Two villains were there with the King,
Deep-versed in magic arts.
I swear those brothers Bild and Vali
Both had evil hearts!
23. The King of Vali council takes,
And a sad mistake made he;
A name had he gained for courtesy and valour,
But he never donned byrnie.
24. Less trusty warrior in the field
I never look to find;—
False he was and treacherous,—
Full of deceit his mind.
25. The Prince's troop, the Niflung men,
Along Norway's coast did sail,
Until they came to the Skerries of the Elf,—
Nor did their courage fail.
26. The troop had prepared for a mighty battle,
And against a promontory
Olaf's men in their warships there
Lay at anchor in the bay.
27. "Over the Island do ye go,"—
Thus to Kari spoke he,—
"To see if ye come on the vikings' ships,
And if they are like to fight fiercely."
28. Kari and Ornulf, clothed and armed,
With shield and polished blade
Examine the coast, and hastily
A search through the island made.
29. Six tall warships soon they see,
Under the sea-cliffs lay they;
And a 'Dragon' carved in wondrous wise
Beside the warships lay.
The Ballad of Nornagest was published for the first time by Lyngbye in 1822 in Færöiske Kvæder om Sigurd Fofnersbane etc. In his visit to the Faroes in 1847-8, Hammershaimb took down the ballad from oral recitation at Sumbø. He afterwards collated his version carefully with those of Svabo, Schrøter and Lyngbye, and published the result in Færöiske Kvæder, Vol. i, Copenhagen, 1851. This is the version of the ballad translated below.
Lyngbye points out that Nornagest has become a well-known character in modern Faroese legend. We certainly note his popularity in the ballads, which is no doubt due to his association with Sigurth in the original story. In some ballads he appears as a companion in arms of the latter and even as a great warrior himself. He it is who rides with Sigurth and Virgar to meet the giant in Holmgarth (cf. Rísin í Holmgarðum, v. 33), and in Ragnarlikkja (cf. v. 39 ff.) "the fierce Nornagest" sails with Sigurth, Brand, and Virgar to slay the King of Girtland; and so too in other stories.
It will be observed that the framework of the story differs considerably from that of the Saga, notably in the opening and closing scenes. The beginning of another story, dealing likewise with an old man, has been substituted for the original opening. The mention of the boat in verse 40 is perhaps reminiscent of some folk-tale; and the story of the leaden casket containing the soul of Nornagest which was sunk in the lake is an interesting instance of the external soul. I have no doubt that it is a reference to some folk-tale, but have not yet been able to identify it. Among many primitive peoples, who can hardly grasp abstract ideas, the life or soul of a man is regarded as a concrete thing which can be laid aside, and which, so long as it remains unharmed, will secure for him immortality. There is, for example, a Hindoo story of a princess whose soul was believed to be in her necklace.—One day an astrologer said to her parents: "This is no common child; the necklace of gold about her neck contains your daughter's soul; let it therefore be guarded with the utmost care; for if it were taken off and worn by another person, she would die1."
Many similar folk-tales are known from Icelandic and Danish sources as well as from many parts of Europe and Asia.
The air to which the following ballad is sung will be found on pp. 117, 118 of Thuren's Folkesangen paa Færøerne.
1. A Ballad there is of Nornagest,
Refrain:—Be ready with a plan in trouble!—
In manly virtues among the best.
Refrain:—Every lad should do so!
2. Twelve oxen were led to the market square,
And onward thence to a castle fair.
3. The King he thought to hew them to earth,
And with courage and joy did he sally forth.
5. All the oxen fell down dead,
And the axe sank deep that he brandished.
6. All men praised his princely blow:
The blood from the wounds did swiftly flow.
7. A man there came with crutches twain:
With these he steadied himself amain.
8. The King to the man full mildly spoke:—
"O why, and O why, dost thou praise not my stroke?"
9. "O Sire, thou struckest full manfully;
But I saw a finer stroke in days gone by.
11. "Leaf and grove did tremble and quake
When Sigurth clove in sunder the snake.
12. "This may you tell of Sigurth the bold:—
'He was mightiest of all men in days of old.'
13. "This can I tell of Sigurth's fame:—
'I know no hero with eyes so keen.'
14. "Leaf and grove did tremble and shake
When Sigurth clove in sunder the snake.
17. "Wise too, and Gunnhild was like him, I trow.
Of heroes like him are there all too few.
18. "My father he had a homestead fair:
Herds of cattle were pastured there.
19. "And horses I tended as I sat in the wood.—
And blithest my heart when the weather was good!
22. "Over the mire-pit rode all and one.—
I was a lad, and I looked thereon.
23. "First sprang Gunnar's horse forthright.
Gunnar measured his leap aright.
24. "Högni's horse sprang after then.
Fast stuck Grani in the fen.
25. "The last to spring was Sigurth's steed.
Sigurth had given him so heavy a feed!
26. "Grani floundered in the fen:
His saddle girth brake in pieces twain.
27. "Down from their saddles each did glide,—
Childe Sigurth, and Högni, and Gunnar beside.
28. "They dragged at the noble steed amain;
But Sigurth pulled hardest the bridle rein.
29. "'Oft have I leapt o'er the pit aright
By day and eke in the murky night.
30. "'O Guest, a service of thee I pray:—
Wash from my courser the mire away.
32. "Forth they rode to a river then.
No-one was there to look to the men.
33. "I washed his poitrail and breast for him,
His thigh, his leg, and each long limb.
34. "The noble courser I made full clean.
Then Sigurth took me for his horse-swain.
35. "So rode we forth to Fafnir's lair.
Like the sun's own beams did the gold shine there.
36. "From Sigurth's steed did I draw a hair,
Of wondrous length and beyond compare.
38. "Well-nigh a foot and a fathom in height.
And it shone and gleamed like silver so bright.
39. "In days gone by, full far have I strayed,
Nor found I my candle and span of days."
40. The King he gave him pole and boat,
And directed the old man on his road.
41. "In the Land of the Franks is a lake broad and wide
Where thy candle and span of days do bide."
43. Körnar the priest baptised him anon.
When the candle burnt out his life was done.
44. When the light in the lanthorn had burnt away,
Refrain:—Be ready with a plan in trouble!—
Then ended too his own life's day.
Refrain:—Every lad should do so!
Footnote 1: For many interesting parallels, cf. Frazer, Golden Bough (London, 1911-1915), "Balder the Beautiful," ch. ii.
The following ballad was taken down by Hammershaimb from oral recitation in Westmanhavn in 1846, and published at Copenhagen in 1855 in Færöiske Kvæder, Vol. ii. He took down a second version of the same ballad, but consisting of only nineteen stanzas, at Sumbø in 1847, which he published in the Antiquarisk Tidsskrift, 1849-50. This second version differs slightly from the one given in our text. In it Arngrim is said to have twelve sons of whom Angantyr was the youngest. Hjalmar is not expressly stated to have been a brother of Angantyr, as he is in our version and in the Danish ballad Angelfyr and Helmer the Warrior (cf. p. 188 ff.). Moreover Angantyr is the first to learn of the franklin's daughter, and he forthwith builds a ship and sails away alone; and it is only later that Hjalmar also hears of her and sets sail, thus reaching the spot when Angantyr has already landed. More colour is given to the maiden's choice in the second version by the additional detail that
Hjalmar leapt so lightly to land,
He made no footprint on the sand.
This, however, it is to be noted, is the regular formula by which the landing of the hero is described in the Faroese ballads. Cf. Lokka Táttur, v. 78.
It is the opinion of Hammershaimb that this ballad was the original from which the longer ballad of Arngrim's Sons sprang. This would seem to be supported by Heusler's contention that The Long Ballad of the Marsk Stig Cycle was composed by welding together several shorter ballads1; and certainly the Ballad of Arngrim's Sons suggests that at least two distinct ballads have been run into one, especially when we compare the two varying versions of Svabo and Hammershaimb. Against this, however, we have to place the fact that something of the same invertebrate impression is given by the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, on which these ballads are ultimately based. Even if we assume a composite origin for the Ballad of Arngrim's Sons, there is no evidence that any portion of it was based on the short Ballad of Hjalmar and Angantyr, while the difference of metre diminishes the probability of a connection.
The air and refrain to this ballad are given on p. 124 of Thuren's Folkesangen paa Færøerne.
1. A man lived up in a high oak-tree,
Refrain:— Ye well-born men!—
Eleven warlike sons had he.
Refrain:— Arngrim's Sons from Africa,
They fought, they fought on Samsø.
3. A ship, a ship did these warriors man,
And swift 'fore the wind was the course she ran.
4.° They hoisted their sail to the mast so high:
They had faith in their strength and their valiancy.
7. Angantyr eagerly sprang on the strand.
Up to his knees he sank in the sand.
8. "I drew my hose from my legs so bare
To hide the sand from my lady fair!"
9. In the garden they busked them in cloaks of skin,
And so went up to the franklin sitting there within.
11. When Hjalmar stood before the board,
Angantyr straight took up the word.—
12. "Here sittest thou, franklin, drinking thy wine:
I beg that thy daughter so fair may be mine!"
13. In sorry plight was the franklin then,
For there at the board stood two mighty men.
14. "No choice so hard will I ever make;
The maiden herself must choose her mate."
15. "No choice so hard shall be made by thee:
The warrior Hjalmar shall wed with me.
16. "With Hjalmar the Brave would I wedded be,
Who is so lovely and fair to see."
17. "O franklin! Lend me a trusty blade,
We two must fight for the hand of the maid."
20. Till they reached a river they fought amain,
Down on their knees and then up again.
21. Down on their knees and then up again
Refrain:— Ye well-born men!—
Till stiff and dead lay those champions twain.
Refrain:— Arngrim's Sons from Africa,
They fought, they fought on Samsø.
Footnote 1: Lied und Epos (Dortmund, 1905), p. 41 ff.
Four different versions of the Danish ballad of Angelfyr and Helmer the Warrior are given by Grundtvig in Danmarks Gamle Folkeviser, Vol. i, number 19 (Copenhagen, 1853). Two of these, closely allied, are found in a ms. written in the sixteenth century1. The version which Grundtvig has called A is the one adopted for translation below.
An interesting study in ballad composition is afforded by a comparison of this Danish ballad with the Faroese ballads of the Sons of Arngrim. According to Axel Olrik2 the Danish ballad is founded on the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek. That the ultimate source of all the ballads of the Sons of Arngrim was the Saga there can be no doubt. But whether the Danish ballad is derived directly from the Saga or through some intermediate stage, Icelandic, Faroese or Danish, is problematical. A definite relationship between the Danish and the Faroese ballads would seem to be shown by several common features of the story which do not occur in the Saga itself, as well as by some striking verbal resemblances which have no foundation in the prose narrative.
Thus on the one hand both in the Danish and in the Faroese ballads translated above, Hjalmar and Angantyr are described as brothers3, whereas in the Saga they are not related. On the other hand the Danish and the two Faroese ballads are almost identical in their description of Angantyr and all his kin as "vile trolls," though Version A given by Grundtvig describes him in accordance with the Saga as a "half-troll" (i.e. on his mother's side).
Other close verbal parallels, surely indicative of cross-relationship or of a common source, are afforded by a comparison of certain passages of the Danish ballad and the Faroese Ballad of Arngrim's Sons. Thus v. 5 of the Danish is practically identical with v. 74 of the Faroese, and we may compare v. 9 of the shorter Ballad of Hjalmar and Angantyr. May we also compare v. 6 of the Danish with v. 79 of the longer Faroese ballad; v. 8 with v. 81; v. 10 with v. 84; v. 14 with v. 79? Conventional as many of these phrases are, the identity can hardly be accidental in all cases.
The precise nature of the relationship between the two versions is not so clear. We may note, however, some of the features contained in the Danish version of the story which are not found in the Saga. In the first place neither Arngrim nor Samsø are mentioned, the names Offue and Uthiss-kier being substituted for them4; secondly, except in the refrain there is no mention of the sea or a voyage in the Danish ballad. Helmer bids them "saddle his steed," and both he and Angelfyr ride to Upsala. Finally after v. 11 of our text, the Danish ballad differs entirely from the Faroese version of the story and also from that of the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek. Offue's revenge is peculiar to the Danish, and here too no mention is made of Ingibjörg's death.
From all these changes, and especially from the transference of names and places, it is obvious that the Danish version of the story is considerably more remote from the Saga than either of the two Faroese versions. At the same time, the absence of any reference to Samsø or any other Danish locality renders it highly improbable that its divergences are due to any (Danish) local tradition independent of the Saga.
On the whole it would seem that at an early date (fifteenth or early sixteenth century?) a ballad had been made from this portion of the Saga, either directly or through the intermediate stage of a lost rhymed version; and that it was composed in the Faroes themselves or in Iceland or some other region—the Orkneys and Shetlands are a possible suggestion—and acquired by the Danes not very long afterwards.
Footnote 1: Cf. Grundtvig, Danmarks Gamle Folkeviser, Vol. i, p. 252. Also Axel Olrik, Danske Folkeviser í Udvalg, Vol. i, p. 263.
Footnote 2: Cf. Olrik, op. cit., p. 78. For general information on the Danish ballads the reader is referred to Steenstrup, Vore Folkeviser (Copenhagen, 1891), translated by E. G. Cox (Boston, 1914).
Footnote 3: See, however, the Introduction to the Ballad of Hjalmar and Angantyr, p. 182 above.
Footnote 4: So ms. A; but cf. below v. 1 and note.
1. Offue he dwelt in Uthiss-kier,
Both rich and bold was he;
And when two sons were born to him,
He vowed they should warriors be.
Refrain: But the tempest from the North
Lashes dark and troubled billows
On the gleaming waste of sand.1
2. It was Young Helmer the Warrior;
He bade them saddle his steed:
"I Ride to Upsala this day,
The King's daughter to wed."
3. Then up and spake Young Angelfyr,
Where he stood in scarlet so red:
"O never shalt thou this eventide
To the lovely maid be wed!"
4. Then up and spake Young Angelfyr:
He bade them saddle his steed:
"I will gallop today to Upsala,
Till the earth is rent with my speed."
5. Out of doors in the castle-court
They busked them in cloaks of skin,
And so went they to the hall gallery,
Where the King of Upsala sat within.
6. In came Young Helmer the Warrior,
And stood before the board;
"O King, I pray thee, give me thy daughter,—
I wait thy friendly word."
7.° In there came Young Angelfyr,
And gold shone on his hand:
"O King, I pray thee, give me thy daughter
And quit thee from this thy land."
8. Long and long stood the King of Upsala,
And pondered silently,
How those heroes who stood before him
He might answer fittingly.
9. It was the King of Upsala,
And he spake this word theretil:
"I give my daughter to that man only
Who has won him her goodwill."
10. "I give thee thanks, my father dear,
That the choice thou lay'st on me;
I give myself to Young Helmer the Warrior,
For a noble man is he.
11.° "I will not wed me to Angelfyr:
For he is half a troll;—
So is his father, and so his mother,
And so are his kinsfolk all."
12. Then up and spake Young Angelfyr
As he stood and pondered there:
"We both will take us forth to the courtyard,
And fight for the maiden fair."
13. It was the King of Upsala,
And answered he forthright:
"O the swords they be keen, and the lads they be bold,
And may measure them well in a fight."
14. Then up and rose Young Angelfyr
Where he his sword out drew;
And up rose Young Helmer the Warrior,
Whom he to the earth did hew.
15. Offue he stands in Uthiss-kier
And far and wide looks he:
"O somewhere is Helmer suffering pain,
For I feel such woe in the heart of me."
16. Offue he stands in Uthiss-kier
And looks o'er the wide, wide heath:
"O what can be harming my two sons today,
And why are they both so wroth?"
17. It was Offue in Uthiss-kier;
He sprang on his red-roan steed.
And so came he to the King's courtyard,
Ere Helmer was dead indeed.
18.° "O hearken, hearken, Young Helmer,
Beloved son of mine:
Thy noble sword from out thy hands
Why didst thou list to tine?"
19. "Eight are the mortal wounds I bear,
They are both deep and sore;
And had I only one of them
I could not live an hour."
20. O it was Offue in Uthiss-kier,
And he his sword out drew;—
And O it was Young Angelfyr
Whom down to the earth he slew.
21. "Lie thou there, Young Angelfyr,
And bleed till thou art dead;
So woeful was I in my heart
When I saw how Helmer bled.
22. "Lie thou there, Young Angelfyr,
And lose thy life-blood all.
So woeful was I in my heart
When I saw Young Helmer fall."
Refrain: But the tempest from the North
Lashes dark and troubled billows
On the gleaming waste of sand.
Footnote 1: The translation of the refrain is somewhat free; but cf. Olrik, D. F. í U., p. 78. Extreme condensation is a feature of all Faroese and Danish ballad refrains which makes a literal translation into English practically impossible.]
In ms. B of the Ballad of Angelfyr etc., vv. 1-11 correspond pretty closely to ms. A; but vv. 12-18 are different:
12. Alff he stood in Odderskier,
And listened over the field;
Then could he hear so far away
Where his sons their swords did wield.
13. Up then rose Alff in Odderskier;
He sprang on his red-roan steed;
And came he so to Upsala
Ere both the warriors were dead.
14. "O hearken, hearken, Young Helmer,
Beloved son of mine:
Why does the life blood from thy head
In streams come running down?"
15. It was Young Helmer the Warrior,
And his father answered he:
"My brother Angelfyr could not have the maid,
And therefore he wrought this ill to me.
16. "My body is pierced with fifteen wounds,
All tainted with poison full sore;
And had I only one of them
I could not live an hour."
17. It was Alff in Odderskier,
And an oak he uprootéd;
He struck with the oak Young Angelfyr,
Till he lay on the earth stone dead.
18. Now both these warriors are lying dead,
And dead lie they in their grave;
And the King he is ready to give his daughter
To the man whom he himself will have.
The Ballad of Arngrim's Sons was first taken down by Svabo towards the close of the eighteenth century. He never published it, but his ms. (iii. 9) is preserved in the Royal Library at Copenhagen. In 1848 V. U. Hammershaimb took the ballad down again from oral recitation on Sandø and published it in the Antiquarisk Tídsskrift, 1849-1851 (Copenhagen, 1852). He had, however, consulted Svabo's version, for he says in the prefatory note to the ballad:
It is entirely confused in Svabo's version in the Royal Library. I have therefore kept to the version which I got on Sandø, which in the main points agrees with the Saga. Only in the conclusion and two other passages have I followed Svabo's version.
By 1855, however, it would seem that his view had changed. In his prefatory note to the Ballad of Arngrim's Sons, published in Nordiske Oldskrifter, vols. 18-19, Part II (Copenhagen, 1855), he writes:
The version given by Svabo is at variance with the Saga and has many internal discrepancies arising mainly from the fact that Hjalmar and Angantyr are here taken to be brothers, as in the Danish ballad. In the Antiquarisk Tídsskrift for 1849-1851 I published another version which I took down in Sandø in 1848, and in which I made some use of Svabo's version. My version corresponds exactly with the Harvarar Saga, but it is open to suspicion from the fact that it here forms the second part (tháttr) of Hjalmar's Kvæði, of which the first part (The Tháttr of Örvar-Oddr) is clearly of later origin; as is shown not only by the language, but also by the fact that the whole falls in with Suhm's story,—"The three friends, Hjalmar, Asbjörn and Örvarodd," etc. Many verses of Arngrim's Sons presuppose a first táttur to the ballad, for example that in which the sick Asbjörn complains that he cannot follow his companion to the fight on Samsø1. That the language in the second part is purer and older than in the first part is easily explained from the fact that the people of Sandø have utilised the older Faroese version which was taken down by Svabo. They only needed to transpose the verses and to make a very few changes to get the whole readjusted according to the Saga or Suhm's story. The verses which the Sandø version has in common with Svabo's could therefore be used for purposes of comparison. There are thus weighty reasons for giving preference to Svabo's version, in spite of all its imperfections.
Of the first part of Hjalmar's Kvæði I have unfortunately been unable to obtain a copy, though it is no doubt accessible at Copenhagen, as it is mentioned as number 60 ('Hjalmar's Kvæði, 2 tættir: a, Örvaroddur, b, Arngrim's Sinir') in a list of Faroese ballads taken down in the Faroes by Hammershaimb for the archaeological archives of the Royal Old Norse Text Society2. Hammershaimb says3, however, that the first part "deals with Hjalmar's youth, the counsel given him by his father when he leaves home, how he is taken into the retinue (hirð) of the Swedish King, how he distinguishes himself by his bravery against the vikings, and how he and Asbjörn and Örvarodd swear to be foster-brothers."
The translation which follows is made from Hammershaimb's second edition of the ballad, published in Nordiske Oldskrifter, vols. 18 and 19, Part II4—which is in fact Svabo's text; but the refrain of his first version has been adopted.
It will be noticed that the ballad differs in many points from the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek. In the first place, according to the ballad, it is Arngrim and not Angantyr who is buried with the sword Tyrfing5. Secondly, Hervik (the Hervör of the Saga) is described as a daughter of Arngrim and a sister of Angantyr. Hjalmar also is a brother of Hervik and of Angantyr according to the ballad, and actually accompanies Hervik on her quest of the sword Tyrfing, which according to the ballad took place before the fight on Samsø. Finally, Arngrim is said to have been killed by Örvarodd, and Hervik accordingly kills Örvarodd in retaliation. Another 'Young Odd' appears later as Hjalmar's companion in the true place of Örvarodd.
Thus we see that, as commonly happens in popular poetry, complex situations have become simplified, and, where simplification has not taken place, the people and events have become confused6. Both in the shorter Faroese ballad of Hjalmar and Angantyr, and in the Danish ballad of Angelfyr and Helmer the Warrior, the simplification has proceeded even farther, and a still more striking instance of rigorous simplification is to be found in the Ballad of Nornagest.
No Rímur dealing with Arngrim's Sons have been published, and I have not been able to ascertain whether any exist, though a passing mention is made of them in verse 74 of the satirical poem Skítharíma7, probably composed in the fifteenth century by Einar or Sigurður Fóstri. A priori it would seem probable that the ballads are derived from compositions of this kind rather than from the Saga direct. But it would be unwise to hazard even a guess as to the balance of probability without detailed knowledge of the relative circulation, distribution and popularity of the Sagas and the Rímur respectively.
The air to which the following ballad is sung on the Faroes has been transcribed and printed by Thuren in Folkesangen paa Færøerne, pp. 132, 133.
Footnote 1: Cf. also the introduction of Örvar-Odd in v. 29 of Hammershaimb's version (Antiq. Tídss., 1849-51, pp. 61-74); also vv. 28, 33, 58.
Footnote 2: Cf. Antiq. Tídss., 1849-1851, p. 28.
Footnote 3: Ib., p. 58.
Footnote 4: Copenhagen, 1855.
Footnote 5: So Svabo's version; the Sandø version of Hammershaimb's first edition, however, preserves Angantyr here.
Footnote 6: A still more striking instance of the latter development will be found in the Gátu Ríma (see p. 213 f. below) especially v. 22.
Footnote 7: Carmina Scaldica (a selection of Norwegian and Icelandic Scaldic poetry) by Finnur Jónsson, Copenhagen, 1913.