INTRODUCTION TO THE BALLAD OF HJALMAR AND ANGANTYR
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 ballads[1]; 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.
The Ballad of Hjalmar and Angantyr
THE BALLAD OF HJALMAR AND ANGANTYR[°]
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.
2.[°] He had eleven sons so dear,—
The champions Hjalmar and Angantyr.
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.
5.[°] Their anchor they cast in the white, white sand.
Hjalmar hastily sprang to the land.
6.[°] Their anchor they cast in the white, white sand.
And Angantyr eagerly sprang on the strand.
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.
10.[°] "Here sittest thou, franklin, drinking thy wine:
I beg that thy daughter so fair may be mine!"
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."
18.[°] "O franklin! Lend me a sharp penknife:
Each of us surely must lose his life."
19.[°] They fought their way forth of the hall.
They bellowed louder than any troll.
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.
INTRODUCTION TO THE DANISH BALLAD OF
ANGELFYR AND HELMER THE WARRIOR
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 century[1]. 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 Olrik[2] 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 brothers[3], 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 them[4]; 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.
ANGELFYR AND HELMER THE WARRIOR[°]
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.