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 Sams¯._ 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 Hervˆr 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.