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    Faroese Ballads — Index

Index

* Most of the items below have been written up in Japanese but are not available in English, and the links are disabled accordingly. But I have retained the links to some of the contents which are at least partially bilingual.

Pronunciation Guide
The Faroese Ballad
  ◊ Overview   ◊ Map of the Islands
Færeyinga saga
  ◊ Origins → sample etext of Rafn & Schrøter's Færeyínga saga.
  ◊ Summary
  ◊ Family Tree
  ◊ Grímur Kamban → Grímur Kamban was worshiped and sacrificed to by descendants, according to the Hauksbók version of the Landnámabók (see Hilda Roderick Ellis, Road to Hel, Ch. 4 . Grimm in Teutonic Mythology, Chapter 3: Worship) quotes it (Landn. 1, 14. 3, 16). Cleasby & Vigfusson's An Icelandic-English Dictionary, (p. 70) also gives the quote as example under the verb blét 'to worship' (Landn. 47, Fb[Flateyjarbók] ii. 7.)
    I am going to upload a short excerpt from the Hauksbók version of the Landnámabók where this Grímr Kamban sacrifice passage occurs. [pp. 12-13 of Finnur Jónsson ed., Landnámabók I-III: Hauksbók. Sturlubók. Melabók m.m. Udg. af det Kongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab. (Copenhagen: Thieles bogtrykkeri, 1900)].

Ballad Translations
  § The Sjurdur(Sigurd) Cycle
1. Regin the Smith
— Hammershaimb's version vs. my translation
—Patursson's recension vs. Smith-Dampier's tr.
(cf. #Kershaw's book)
  § Folklore-type ballads
  1. Skrímsli · translation
Please visit TJATSI's Ballads on Stamps section, and the page on The Monster stamps of 1986

  2. Lokki's Tale(Sub-ballad)
Try Northvegr or Boudicca's Bard for the English version.
Also, George Borrow's translation, "The Lay of Skrymnir" (06.06.8)

  § Historical Ballads
  1. The Elder Ballad of Sigmundur Brestisson
This concerns Sigmundur Brestisson, one of the principal characters of the Færeyinga saga.
    The Faroese text can be found at Finnur Hansen's homepage for Faroese music site, entitled Sigmunds kvæði eldra.
    An English rendition of this ballad can be found in the preface to F. York Powell's translation, The Tale of Thrond of Gate Commonly Called Færeyinga Saga (available online at Northvegr).
    Both the ballad in Faroese and the Færeyinga Saga translation are also available at TJATSI.

  2. Ormurin Langi
This is a ballad of Olaf Tryggvason, and the title refers to his longship, the Long Serpent. I decided to upload my translation of verses sung by the rock-group, Tyr.

English Translations of the Ballads
  • Nora Kershaw: Stories and Ballads of the Far Past
    . As of this writing, I have completely transcribed Part 2 which deals with ballads of the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Shetland. Part 1 which is the saga/thattur part is only partially transcribed.
  • E. M. Smith-Dampier: Sigurd the Dragon-Slayer: A Faroëse Ballad-Cycle
    Transcribed in full, and also available at Northvegr. Because this translation attempts to maintain the rhyme scheme and is concerned with a mellifluous metric flow, the endproduct is not as faithful a rendition as it could be. The base text used is Jóannes Patursson's Kvæðabók, Vol. 3, (published with the sponsorship of the Føroya Løgting [legislative assembly]).

    LINKS
    On Ballads, the Language, Stamps, Geography, etc.

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