Stories and Ballads of the Far Past Part 27

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 Hervor 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 relations.h.i.+p 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-relations.h.i.+p or of a common source, are afforded by a comparison of certain pa.s.sages 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 ident.i.ty can hardly be accidental in all cases.

The precise nature of the relations.h.i.+p 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 Sams are mentioned, the names Offue and Uthiss-kier being subst.i.tuted 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 Hervor and Heithrek_. Offue's revenge is peculiar to the Danish, and here too no mention is made of Ingibjorg'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 Sams 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 i 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. c.o.x (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 n.o.ble 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 n.o.ble 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. i 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."