The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 1 (of 5)
General
The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 1 (of 5)
Ballads, English -- England -- Texts; Ballads, Scots -- Scotland -- Texts
The Swedish ballad, 'Herr Hjelmer,' #A#, Arwidsson, I, 155, No 21; #B#,
#C#, Afzelius, II, 178, 226, No 74 (Helmer); #D#, #E#. Wigström,
Folkdiktning, p. 25, No 10 (Hjelman), has several points of agreement
with Ribold and the Hilde saga. The hero kills six of seven brothers
[also the father, in #A#], spares the seventh on oath of fidelity, and
is treacherously slain by him. The youngest brother carries her lover's
head to his sister, is invited to drink by her (in three of the four
copies), and slain while so engaged; reminding us of Hildina in the
Shetland ballad. Danish 'Herr Hjælm,' Grundtvig, Danske Folkeminder,
1861, p. 81, agrees with the Swedish, except that there are only three
brothers.
[113] Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar, ed. Grundtvig, 42-44, Ribold og
Guldborg, #A# 33, 34, #B# 46, #D# 46, 47, #E# 42, #Q# 24. The
observation is Professor Bugge's.
[114] Höttr, er Óðinn var reyndar, Hood, who was Odin really, Fornaldar
Sögur, II, p. 25. Klee observes, p. 10 f, that Högni [Hagen] is the evil
genius of the Hildesage. Sometimes he is the heroine's father; in
'Waltharius,' strangely enough, the hero's old friend (and even there a
one-eyed man.) Klee treats the introduction of a rival lover (as in the
Shetland ballad and Gudrun) as a departure from the older story. But we
have the rival in Helgi Hundingslayer. The proper marplot in this lay is
Blind the Ill-witted (Odin), whose part is sustained in 'Earl Brand' by
the malicious Hood, in several Norwegian ballads by a very enigmatical
"false Pál greive," in two other Norwegian ballads and one Danish by an
old man, and, what is most remarkable, in the Shetland ballad by the
rejected lover of Hildina (the Sir Nilaus of Danish #D#, Hertug Nilssón
of some Norwegian copies), who bears the name Hiluge, interpreted with
great probability by Conrad Hofmann (Munich Sitzungsberichte, 1867, II,
209, note), Illhugi, der Bössinnige, evil-minded (Icelandic íllhugaðr,
ílluðigr.)
[115] Inimicitias Othinus serit, Saxo, p. 142, ed. 1644. See Grimm,
Deutsche Mythologie, I, 120, note 2, III, 56, new ed., for Odin's bad
points, though some of Grimm's interpretations might now be objected to.
[116] Et de la tombe de monseigneur Tristan yssoit une ronce belle et
verte et bien feuilleue, qui alloit par dessus la chapelle, et
descendoit le bout de la ronce sur la tombe de la royne Yseult, et
entroit dedans. La virent les gens du pays et la comptèrent au roy Marc.
Le roy la fist couper par troys foys, et quant il l'avoit le jour fait
couper, le lendemain estoit aussi belle comme avoit aultre fois esté.
Fol. cxxiv as cited by Braga, Rom. Ger., p. 185.
8
ERLINTON
#A.# 'Erlinton,' Scott's Minstrelsy, III, 235, ed. 1803.
#B.# 'True Tammas,' Mr R. White's papers.
#C.# 'Robin Hood and the Tanner's Daughter,' Gutch's Robin
Hood, II, 345.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account