Clerk Colvill and the mermaid are represented by Sir Oluf and an elf in Scandinavian ballads to the number of about seventy. The oldest of these is derived from a Danish manuscript of 1550, two centuries and a half later than the Staufenberg poem, but two earlier than Clerk Colvill, the oldest ballad outside of the Scandinavian series. Five other versions are of the date 1700, or earlier, the rest from tradition of this century. No ballad has received more attention from the heroic Danish editor, whose study of 'Elveskud' presents an admirably ordered synoptic view of all the versions known up to 1881: Grundtvig, No 47, II, 109-19, 663-66; III, 824-25; IV, 835-74.[350]
The Scandinavian versions are:
Färöe, four: A, 39 sts, B, 24 sts, C, 18 sts, D, 23 sts, Grundtvig, IV, 849-52.
Icelandic, twelve, differing slightly except at the very end: A, 'Kvæði af Ólafi Liljurós,' 24 sts, MS. of 1665; B, C, MS. of about 1700, 20 sts, 1 st.; D, 18 sts; E, 17 sts; F, G, 16 sts; H, 'Ólafs kvæði,' 22 sts; I a, 18 sts; I b, 20 sts; K, 22 sts; L, 24 sts; M, 25 sts. These in Íslenzk fornkvæði, pp 4-10, A a in full, but only the variations of the other versions. I b, previously, 'Ólafur og álfamær,' Berggreen, Danske Folke-Sange og Melodier, 2d ed., pp 56, 57, No 20 d; and M, "Snót, p. 200."
Danish, twenty-six: 'Elveskud' A, 54 sts, MS. of 1550, Grundtvig, II, 112; B, 25 sts, Syv No 87 (1695), Danske Viser, I, 237, Grundtvig, II, 114; C, 29 sts, the same, II, 115; D a, D b, 31, 15 sts, II, 116, 665; E-G, 20, 16, 8 sts, II, 117-19; H, I, 32, 25 sts, II, 663-64; K, 29 sts, L, 15 sts, M, 27 sts, N, 16 sts, O, 33 sts, P, 22 sts, Q, 7 sts, R, 22 sts, S, 32 sts, T, 27 sts, U, 25 sts, V, 18 sts, X, 11 sts, Y, 11 sts, Z, 8 sts, Æ, 23 sts, IV, 835-47; Ø, 10 sts, Boisen, Nye og gamle Viser, 1875, p. 191, No 98.
Swedish, eight: A, 15 sts, 'Elf-Qvinnan och Herr Olof,' MS. of seventeenth century, Afzelius, III, 165; B, 12 sts, 'Herr Olof i Elfvornas dans,' Afzelius, III, 160; C, 18 sts, Afzelius, III, 162; D, 21 sts, 'Herr Olof och Elfvorna,' Arwidsson, II, 304; E, 20 sts, Arwidsson, II, 307; F, 19 sts, Grundtvig, IV, 848; G, 12 sts, 'Herr Olof och Elffrun,' Djurklou, p. 94; H, 8 sts, Afzelius, Sago-Häfder, ed. 1844, ii, 157.
Norwegian, eighteen: A, 39 sts, 'Olaf Liljukrans,' Landstad, p. 355; B, 15 sts, Landstad, p. 843; C-S, collections of Professor Bugge, used in manuscript by Grundtvig; C, 36 sts, partly printed in Grundtvig, III, 824; D, 23 sts, Grundtvig, III, 824-25, partly; E, 22 sts; F, 11 sts; G, 27 sts; H, 13 sts; I, 7 sts; K, 4 sts, two printed, ib., p. 824.[351]
Of these the Färöe versions are nearest to the English. Olaf's mother asks him whither he means to ride; his corselet is hanging in the loft; A, C, D. "I am going to the heath, to course the hind," he says. "You are not going to course the hind; you are going to your leman. White is your shirt, well is it washed, but bloody shall it be when it is taken off," A, D. "God grant it be not as she bodes!" exclaims Olaf, as he turns from his mother, A. He rides to the hills and comes to an elf-house. An elf comes out, braiding her hair, and invites him to dance. "You need not braid your hair for me; I have not come a-wooing," he says. "I must quit the company of elves, for to-morrow is my bridal." "If you will have no more to do with elves, a sick bridegroom shall you be! Would you rather lie seven years in a sick-bed, or go to the mould to-morrow?" He would rather go to the mould to-morrow. The elf brought him a drink, with an atter-corn, a poison grain, floating in it: at the first draught his belt burst A, B*. "Kiss me," she said, "before you ride." He leaned over and kissed her, though little mind had he to it: she was beguiling him, him so sick a man. His mother came out to meet him: "Why are you so pale, as if you had been in an elf-dance?" "I have been in an elf-dance," he said,[352] went to bed, turned his face to the wall, and was dead before midnight. His mother and his love (moy, vív) died thereupon.
Distinct evidence of previous converse with elves is lacking in the Icelandic versions. Olaf rides along the cliffs, and comes upon an elf-house. One elf comes out with her hair twined with gold, another with a silver tankard, a third in a silver belt, and a fourth welcomes him by name. "Come into the booth and drink with us." "I will not live with elves," says Olaf; "rather will I believe in God." The elf answers that he might do both, excuses herself for a moment, and comes back in a cloak, which hides a sword. "You shall not go without giving us a kiss," she says. Olaf leans over his saddle-bow and kisses her, with but half a heart, and she thrusts the sword under his shoulder-blade into the roots of his heart. He sees his heart's blood under his horse's feet, and spurs home to his mother. "Whence comest thou, my son, and why so pale, as if thou hadst been in an elf-dance (leik)?" "It boots not to hide it from thee: an elf has beguiled me. Make my bed, mother; bandage my side, sister." He dies presently: there was more mourning than mirth; three were borne to the grave together.
Nearly all the Danish and Swedish versions, and a good number of the Norwegian, interpose an affecting scene between the death of the hero and that of his bride and his mother. The bride, on her way to Olaf's house, and on her arrival, is disconcerted and alarmed by several ominous proceedings or circumstances. She hears bells tolling; sees people weeping; sees men come and go, but not the bridegroom. She is put off for a time with false explanations, but in the end discovers the awful fact. Such a passage occurs in the oldest Danish copy, which is also the oldest known copy of the ballad. The importance of this version is such that the story requires to be given with some detail.