A ballad there is of Nornagest,-- _You dare not give counsel in trouble_-- In manly virtues among the best.-- _Let every lad do so!_ Twelve oxen were led to the Market Square, And onward thence to a castle fair.-- _Grani bore gold from the heath._ The King he thought to hew them to earth,-- _You dare not give counsel in trouble_-- With courage and joy does he sally forth,-- _Let every lad do so!_ The King he struck such a mighty blow, That the blood from the wounds did swiftly flow. _Grani bore gold from the heath._ 10. _The mightiest champion_, etc. In Lyngbye's version 10 and 11 are transposed. Hammershaimb's is no doubt the correct order. 15. _Was Hˆgni_, etc. Lyngbye here inserts a stanza: Hˆgni was a mighty man: Swarthy of hue was he as I ween. 16. _Rich, brave_, etc. The Suder¯ version of the ballad here substitutes at the beginning of the line: "They were old and grey." 31. _The saddle-buckle_, etc. In Lyngbye's version of the _Ballad of Regin the Smith_, v. 131 (omitted by Hammershaimb) the following stanza is found: [Grani] sprang across the pool And his saddle-buckle brake. And as I ween that saddle-buckle Nornagest did take. In the _Ballad of Regin the Smith_ we are told that the accident to Grani occurred when Sigurth was on his way home from GnÌtahei after slaying Fafnir. Grani was heavily laden with treasure and Sigurth also was mounted on him, so that the accident there appears perfectly natural. _In days_, etc. So Hammershaimb. Lyngbye has: In days gone by full far have I strayed In search of my candle and span of days. _In the land._ Here Lyngbye has: In the Land of the Franks is a lake broad and wide: O there does my span of life abide. O there does my span of life abide: And so for long I have wandered far and wide. But he adds a version corresponding to Hammershaimb's in a footnote and states that it is frequently sung so. 42. _The courteous man._ According to Lyngbye, by a 'courteous man,' the Faroese mean a _Scotsman_ and says that the origin of the word (_kurtis_) is unknown. It is of course the same as the Icelandic _kurteis_ which is a French loan-word. According to Lyngbye it was still part of popular Faroese legend in his day that Nornagest kept his candle in a little leaden casket which was sunk in a lake. Lyngbye says that Nornagest was regarded as the 'Nestor' of the Faroes, which is quite in accordance both with his "three hundred years" mentioned in the saga, and with the unusually long span of life often associated with the External Soul of folklore. THE BALLAD OF HJALMAR AND ANGANTYR