STORIES AND BALLADS OF THE FAR PAST, Nora Kershaw

NOTES

The numbers refer to chapters (sagas) and strophes (ballads, etc.)

THE THÁTTR
OF NORNAGEST

I. The Tháttr of Nornagest. A tháttr is a portion (episode) of a longer saga, in this case the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason which is found in the Flateyjarbók.

King Olaf Tryggvason, one of the most famous kings of Norway (r. 995-1000). He compelled the country to accept Christianity. Four accounts of his life and times, see the Story of Olaf Tryggvason in the Heimskringla, vol. I, pp.221-378; and also the longer Saga of King Olaf Tryggwason, translated by Sephton.

Trondhjem, originally the name not of a town, but of the entire district round the Trondhjem Fjord.

A man came to him. Cf. the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason (Heimskringla), ch.71.

Guest. Here a pun is intended, the word Gestr in Icelandic signifying a 'guest' as well as a 'stranger.'

The Contentious. The word in the text, 'þingbítr' seems to mean 'sharp in debate,' and to refer to his ready wit and astuteness in litigation.

Guest said that he had been prime-signed. To 'prime-sign' signified to make the prima signatio or sign of the Cross over a person, preliminary to baptism. People so 'prime-signed' were admitted to certain parts of the Mass and to social intercourse in Christian communities. See the Saga of Egil Skallagrímsson, ch.50 "King Athelstan [of England] was a good Christian . . . .He asked Thorolf and his brother to let themselves be prime-signed; for this was a common practice with both merchants and soldiers who took service under Christians. Men who were prime-signed had free

THE THÁTTR OF NORNAGEST       221

intercourse with both Christians and heathens, and followed whatever religion they liked best. Thorolf and Egil did as the King asked them, and both were prime-signed."

Svein Forkbeard, King of Denmark from 986 (?) to 1014, and of England also during the last year of his life.

The Emperor Otto, i.e. Otto II, 973-983.

Dane-work, i.e. the Danish Wall still partially preserved, which divided Jutland from the land of the Saxons and stretched from near the city of Slesvig to the marsh-land along the River Treene.

King Harold Gormsson appears to have reigned for about fifty years and to have died probably in 986. He was nick-named Harold 'Bluetooth' (or perhaps 'Blacktooth'). About 974 he fought the Emperor Otto II, and Earl Haakon of Norway aided him. Both Harold and Haakon were forced to accept Christianity, but Haakon afterwards renounced it.

Earl Haakon the Heathen, i.e. Earl Haakon the Great, or the Bad, who ruled over Norway, 975-995.

Guthmund. Cf. the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, ch.I. See also Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., pp.346-349, where Guthmund is described as a magician dwelling in the land of the Perms. But see Glasisvellir, below.

Glasisvellir, Cf. the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, ch.1. For the name of the tree or grove called Glasir beside Othin's abode in Valhalla, see Skáldskaparmál, ch.34: "Glasir stands with golden foliage before the halls of the God of Victory." See also Bjarkamál in Forna, str. 3.

II. Ulf the Red was standard-bearer to Olaf Trggvason at the Battle of Svöld (cf. the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason, Heimskringla, ch.56), where he slew great numbers of the enemy.

The Bay, i.e. Christiania Fjord and the adjacent coasts.

King Half. See Hálfssaga, ch.10; and Flateyjarbók, II, pp.136, 137. King Half had a chosen band of warriors numbering about sixty, who were subject to strict discipline

222       NOTES

and rules which Professor Craigie (TheIcelandic Sagas, p.94) suggests were modelled on those of the Jómsvíkings. For instance, "It was one of their customs always to lie off the ends of promontories. Secondly, they made a rule of never pitching tents on their ships and never clewing up the sail on account of bad weather." The incident referred to in the text is not mentioned in the Saga.

No halls had been built in Norway The writer probably means to contrast the stone halls of his own day with the wooden structures of earlier times.

The Harping of Gunnar, a lost poem. The legend here referred to is told in Völsunga Saga, ch.37 (and elsewhere), doubtles from an old lay.—'King Attila had Gunnar cast into a pit full of snakes . . .and his hands were tied. Guthrún sent him a harp, and he was so skilful playing, even with the hand[feet]. So beautifully did he play that all the snakes were lulled to sleep except one horrible big adder which crept up to him and stung him to the heart. Thus he perished with great courage.
Gunnar, the son of Gjúki, is the central figure both of the Norse story and of the German Nibelungenlied, in which he is called Gunther. In reality, he was overthrown and killed by the Hun in 437, after which the Burgundians moved from the Rhine to the district now known as Burgundy.

The Ancient Wiles of Guthrún. It is generally believed that this is the name of another lost heroic poem. But the title may possibly mean The Adventure of Guthrún, in which case the poem referred to may be the well-known Ancient Lay of Guthrún (Guðrúnarkviða hin forna). This latter poem is alluded to in ch.9 below under the title of Guðrúnarræða.

IV. The Land of the Franks, the Rhineland. As far back as the fifth century the Franks occupied that region—to the north of the Burgundians.

THE THÁTTR OF NORNAGEST       223

Sigurth the son of Sigmund. The story of Sigurth the Völsung is relate in Völsunga Saga.

Hundingsbani, i.e. 'Slayer of Hunding.' See Völsunga Saga, ch.9.

V. It chanced one day that, etc. Chapters 5 and 6 are mainly taken from the [*begin correction] poem Reginsmál of which strophes 13-26 are quoted in our text. Reginsmál is the first poem of a trilogy dealing with the early adventures of Sigurth. The two re­maining [*end correction] poems Fáfnismál and Sigrdrifumál are used only in the last two sentences of ch.6.

Yngvi is a name of the god Frey, from whom the kings of Norway and the early kings of Sweden were believed to have sprung.

Fafnisbani, i.e. 'Slayer of Fafnir.' Cf. ch.6 infra. See also Völsunga Saga, ch.18.

The Imperial Power had not, etc. This may mean either the refounding of the Western Empire by Charlemagne A.D. 800, or possibly the gaining of the Imperial throne by Otto I, King of the Germans, in 962.

VI. Sigurth prepared for battle, etc. An account of this battle is given in Völsunga Saga, ch.17.

The sea-king's steed. The text has Ræfils hestum, lit. 'Ræfil's horses.' Ræfil was a legendary sea-king. The names of such characters are frequently used in 'kennings' (i.e. poetic circumlocutions) like this.

Hnikar, a name of the god Othin in the Grimnismál (str. 47) and elsewhere.

The Moon's sister. The text has systur Mána, 'Máni's sister, i.e. the sun. Máni, the old word for the moon, is preserved in Iceland only in a mythological sense, the ordinary word in use for moon being tungl. Máni and Sól (the sun) were brother and sister. See Vafþrúþnismál, str. 23; also Gylfaginning, ch.11, 12.

Order their array, lit. 'draw up a wedge-shaped column'—a favourite battle-formation, the origin of which was ascribed to Othin.

224       NOTES

Stumbling is bad luck, etc. So Wilken (gloss. s.v. fyrir, 2.) Vigfússon and Gering transl. 'It is an ill thing to outrun one's luck.'

Friesland. In early times the Frisians occupied a much greater extent of coast than now, reaching from the boundary between Holland and Belgium on one side to beyond the mouth of the Weser on the other—apart from the Frisians inhabiting the west coast of Slesvig.

The 'blood-eagle' was a form of vengeance practised by the heathen Scandinavians in battle when anyone captured the slayer of his father. The ribs were cut in the shape of an eagle and the lungs torn out through the opening. The Northumbrian King Ella (Ælla) is said to have been put to death in this way by the sons of Ragnar Lothbrók. Cf. the Saga of Ragnar Loðbrók and his sons, ch.18; also the Tháttr of Ragnar's Sons, ch.3.

Hugin and Munin were Othin's attendant ravens who gave him information. See Grimnismál, str. 20, Gylfaginning, ch.38, Ynglingasaga (Heimskringla), ch.7.

The story of Sigurth Fafnisbani The whole story of the loves of Sigurth and Brynhild is relate in the Völsunga Saga, ch.20-32. It is uncertain whether the reference here is to the Völsunga Saga as we have it or to an earlier form of the story.

VII. Gjuki is mentioned under the form Gebica in the Lex Burgundionum (c. 500 A.D.). Nothing more is known of him from historical sources; but he is mentioned in Skáldskaparmál, ch.41, Völsunga Saga ch.25, and in the Edda Poems, as the father of Gunnar and Guthrún. His name appears also (as Gifica, Gibicho, etc.) in the Anglo-Saxon poem Widsiþ, the Latin poem Waltharius, and in several early German poems.

Sigurth Hring, a legendary king of Sweden and Denmark, and the father of Ragnar Loðbrók. His story is related at length in a fragment of the Skjöldunga Saga; and he is probably identical with the Sigifridus who is mentioned in several Frankish Chronicles under the year 812 as carrying on hostilities against another Danish King Anulo.

THE THÁTTR OF NORNAGEST       225

The sons of Gandalf were in constant hostility with King Harold the Fairhaired and his father. They owned Alfheimar and Vingulmörk along the Swedish coast of the Kattegat. Cf. the Story of Halfdan the Black (Heimskringla), ch.1, 4; also the Story of Harold the Fairhaired (Heimskringla), ch.1 etc.

Gunnar and Högni. The story of the relations of Gunar and Högni with Sigurth is told in Vösunga Saga, ch.26f.

Iarnamotha. The locality is unknown. There were large forests in Holstein in the Middle Ages called 'Iarnawith' and 'Isarnho'; cf. Möllenhoff, Deutsche Altertumskunde, V, p.122.

hazlewood poles had been set up, etc. The verb hasla, used in the sense of 'to challenge (to a pitched battle),' means, lit. 'to enhazle' a battlefield, i.e. to mark out the space reserved for a pitched battle with hazel poles. Cf. the Saga of Egil Skallagrímsson, ch.52.

The Kurir were the people of Courland (perhaps Lithuanians). The Kvænir were the Finnish inhabitants of the northern portion of what is now Sweden. King Alfred, in his translation of Orosius, inserts an original account of Norway and the neighbouring regions which was given to him by a Norwegian called Ohthere. It is there stated that beyond the mountains which bound the northern part of Norway was 'the land of the Cwenas.' Cf. also the Saga of Egil Skallagrimmson, ch.14.

Starkath, the ideal warrior of old time in the North. Probably originally a historical figure, he became the center of much legendary matter, and, as often happened in such cases, he was even credited with the composition of many poems, notably that on the Battle of Brávöll—an event which probably took place long after his time. In Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist. pp.246-258, he corresponds to the unnamed "Old Warrior" mentioned in Beowulf, I. 2041 ff.

Fenhring, in Hörthaland in Norway, not far from Bergen.

Lund, the old ecclesiastical capital of Denmark, situated in Skaane in the extreme south of Sweden. Not only Skaane,

226       NOTES

but also the neighbouring provinces (Halland, etc.) belonged in early times to Denmark.

VIII. Starkath had committed a foul murder. For this story see Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p.314 ff. Saxo says that the rule of King Ali or Ole was so hateful to the Zealanders that twelve of their generals resolved to put him to death, bribing Starkath to join them. Although a personal friend of Ole, Starkath agreed to do so, and murdered him in his bath. He afterwards repented bitterly, "and to atone for his crime slew some of those who had inspired him to it."

Travels. I have followed the reading Ferða, 'travels,' adopted by Wilken, not Frænda, as in the Fornaldar Sögur, ed. by Ásmundarson. The latter would read: "The King wanted him to tell him much more about the history of his relatives."

IX. Germans say, etc. For the German story of the murder of Sigurth see the Nibelungenlied, str. 985. ff.

Guthrúnarrætha This is no doubt the poem commonly called Guðrúnarkviða hin forna, the opening of which narrates how Sigurth's horse came home riderless.

Brynhild and the ogress chanted, etc. The following lay is found in the Edda Poems under the title of Helreið Brynhildar ('The Hell-ride of Brynhild').

From the Land of the Romans, lit. 'From Valland'—the 'land of the Valar,' i.e. the Celts of Romans. Here the reference is doubtless to the Roman territories on the west bank of the Rhine. In the Nibelungenlied, Gunther (i.e. Gunnar) is represented as reigning at Worms. Cf. p.232 below.

Assigned me a home, etc. In the Codex Regius of the Edda Poems this passage runs as follows: "The courageous king had my swan-form and those of my eight sisters carried beneath an oak."

Hjalmgunnar. See Sigrdrifumál, the prose following str. 4. "She (i.e. Sigrdrifa) said that two kings were fighting. One was called Hjalmgunnar. He was old at that time, but a very great warrior, and Othin had promised him victory; but the other was called Agnar, the brother of Autha,

THE THÁTTR OF NORNAGEST       227

whom no being would protect. Sigrdrifa (who was a valkyrie) slew Hjalmgunnar in battle, but Othin pierced her with a sleep-producing thorn in punishment for this, " etc.

Fafnir was the serpent who guarded the gold hoard on Gnítaheið till Sigurth slew him and carried off the treasure.

All to long, etc. In the Codex Regius of the Edda Poems this passage runs as follows: "For far too long a time (?forever) will women and men be born into the world to overwhelming sorrow."

The Sons of Lothbrok. Ragnar Lothbrók was a famous king who flourished about the middle of the ninth century, and who, according to legend, obtained his name ('Shaggy Breeks') from the shaggy trowsers which he wore when he went to attack a serpent. His various exploits are told in the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrók, and in the Tháttr of the Sons of Ragnar, and also by Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., pp.368-380, etc. Among his other adventures he is said to have invaded Northumbria, but he was defeated by King Ella (Ælla) and thrown into a snake-pit, where he "died laughing," as we are told in a late poem (Krakumál or the 'Death-song of Ragnar Lothbrók'). His death was afterwards avenged by his sons who invaded England in 866. Practically nothing historical is known of Loðbrók himself, though the achievements of his sons, both in the British Isles and on the continent, are of great historical importance.

In the neighbourhood of the Alps. In 856, Björn Ironside, a son of Ragnar Lothbrók, with Hástein his chief lieutenant, invaded France, and during the years 859-862 made expeditions to Spain, Africa, the south of France, and Italy, capturing Pisa, Luna, etc. There can be no doubt that in their invasion of Italy in 860 the real objective was Rome; but for some unknown reason they returned without approaching it. According to Scandinavian tradition, when they entered Luna they were under the impression that it was Rome, and returned satisfied that their aim was accomplished.

Vifilsborg. This place is identified by Wilken with the modern Avenches in the Canton Vaud (Switzerland).

228       NOTES

Make their way there, lit. 'passover (the mountains) thither.'

X. Eric, a famous King of Sweden in the time of Harold the Fairhaired, King of Norway, in the latter half of the ninth century. He is frequently referred to in the Sagas and regarded as the typical great Swedish King of the past.

Upsala., i.e. Old Upsala, the ancient capital of the Swedish kingdom, a few miles from the modern city.

King Harold the Fairhaired, c. 850 and to have succeeded as King of Vestfold c. 860. His conquest of Norway was practically completed at the Battle of Hafrsfjörth (c. 872). He is said to have retired in 930 and died c. 933.

King Hlothver, i.e. Louis I, King of the Franks and Emperor, 814-840.

The Saxons inhabited a large part of the north-west Germany and Holland; but the name Saxland is often used in wider sense, i.e. the German part of the Empire.

Nornagest, i.e. 'Gest (or guest) of the Norns.' The Norns were represented in Scandinavian mythology as women with the power of shaping human destiny. See Helgakviða Hundingsbana, I, str. 2; Gylfaginning, chs. 15, 16; Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p.223; the Saga of Burnt Njál, ch.156. Similar beliefs occur in Greek stories about the Fates (Κλωθς) e.g. the late Greek legend of the birth of Meleager. Cf. p.13 above.

XII. Three hundred. I have used round figures here as elsewhere. Strictly the Norse 100 is 120.

 

THE THÁTTR OF SÖRLI       229

THE THÁTTR OF SÖRLI

 I. Vanakvisl. The opening sentence may be compared with Ynglingasaga, ch.1, in the Heimskringla. From this it appears that Vanakvísl is the River Don, tough strictly kvĭsl means the fork (delta) of the river.

Æsir and Vanir, two sets of Scandinavian deities; but the references to the River Don and Asia are due to the learned speculations of later times, suggested partly by the resemblance of Asia and Æsir. According to Ynglingasaga, chs.1-4, there was war between the Æsir and the Vanir, which was concluded by an exchange of hostages. The Vanir gave to the Æsir three of their leading people—Njörth and his children Frey and Freyja. Othin made Njörth and Frey temple-priests, and Freyja a temple-priestess. What is said about Freyja here is not mentioned in Ynglingasaga; but from the poems of the Edda it is clear that she was the Aphrodite of northern mythology.

Asgarth. For a description of Asgarth, the home of the Æsir, see Gylfaginning, chs. 2, 9, 14, etc.

Men in Asia called Alfregg, etc. For Dvalin, cf. the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, ch.2 and note.

Lived in a rock; Cf. Völuspá, str. 48.

Necklace. For the Brísingamen, Freyja's treasure, see Thrymskviða, str. 12, etc. Cf. also Beowulf, l.1199

II. Nal, i.e.,'Needle.'

Loki See Gylfaginning, ch.33; and the Edda Poems, passim.

So much favoured by the great good fortune of his lord. Cf. Laxdæla Saga, ch 40 'Mun konungr [i.e. Olaf Tryggvason] vera giftudrjúgr ok hamingju-mikill.'

III. Frithfrothi, the mythical peace-king of the Danes. See Skáldskaparmál, ch.43. He is often split up into two different characters, as by Saxo Grammaticus. (See especially Dan. Hist., Book V, which gives and account of the great Frothi.)

Erling and Sörli. Their story is told in the Saga of Sörli the Strong (Fornaldar Sögur, III.).

Skerries of the Elf. Rocky islands near the mouth of the Göta Elv not far from Göteborg.

IV. Halfdan, surnamed Brönufóstri. See the Saga of Sörli the Strong, ch.11, where he is represented as King of Sweden.

Roeskilde, the old capital of Sjælland, now the ecclesiastical capital of Denmark.

230       NOTES

Ellithi. See the Saga of Thorstein Vikingson (passim), and the Saga of Friðjóf the Bold (passim).

Gnoth. The ship Gnoth belonged to Ásmund, who was called after it 'Gnoðar-Ásmund.' Cf. the Saga of Egil and Asmund, ch.17; and the Saga of Grím Loðinkinni, ch.3. See also the Saga of Hromund Greipsson, ch.1.

Long Serpent, i.e. the warship of Olaf Tryggvason.

As is told in the poem, etc. The poem is now lost.

The poem of which he is the subject. The Saga here quotes a difficult and obscure stanza which I have omitted.

Högni. . . went raiding in the Baltic, etc. In Widsið, l.21, Högni is said to have ruled the Holmryge, i.e., no doubt, the Rugii on the coast of Pomerania.

V. Hjarrandi is the name of Hethin's father in all the Norse forms of the story; but originally this would seem to have been the name of Hethin's minstrel—the Hôrant of Kudrun, and the Heorrenda of Deor.

Serkland, i.e., Africa, 'Saracen land.' It is only in this story that Hethin is said to come from here. Saxo Grammaticus calls him a Norwegian. Cf. also Widsiþ, l.21, which gives the name of an unknown people.

Göndul, the name of one of the Valkyries. See Völuspá, str. 31; Hákonarmál, passim; Skáldskaparmál, chs. 2 and 47.

VI. Heithrek Ulfham. For Heithrek Ulfham see the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, ch.16.

VII. She asked him. I have followed Rafn's text. The Reykjavík ed. Apparently has a misprint here—hann for hón.

He thrust the Queen down in front of the prow, etc. The murder of the Queen is peculiar to this saga.

VIII. This harrowing torment continued, etc. A good deal has been written on the subject of the Unending Battle, which many writers believe to have been of mythological origin. Very often, however, it appears in local traditions. See Frazer's Pausanias, vol. II, p.443 (the reference to the Battle of Marathon), where a considerable number of parallels are

SAGA OF HROMUND GREIPSSON       231

given. See also Panzer, Hilde-Gudrun, p.328. Cf. p.43, note I above.

Olaf Tryggvason. See the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch.1 and note.

IX. Jarnskjöld. Cf. Fornmanna Sögur, vol. III, p.125 ff. (Saga of Olaf Tryggvason).

Glance in his eye, etc. Literally, "He has the ægishjálmr." This is a poetical expression for a glance inspiring terror.

THE SAGA OF HROMUND GREIPSSON

 I. Gnothar-Asmund, i.e., Asmund of the Gnoth, who was so called from his ship 'Gnoth' (cf. p.230 above). For an account of him see the Saga of Egil and Asmund (in Fornaldar Sögur, vol. III), especially ch.17. He is mentioned also in the Saga of Grím Loðinkinni, ch.2.. A different account of Olaf's family is given in Göngu-Hrólfs Saga, ch.38.

Garthar in Denmark. The geography of the story is by no means clear. Elsewhere in the saga Olaf's realm would seem to be situated in Sweden, while references in other works, e.g., Landnámabók, I, ch.3, Hversu Noregr Bygthist, ch.2 (Fornaldar Sögur, II, p.7) etc., point to Norway, especially the provinces of Thelamörk and Hörthaland, as the home of Hromund and his family.

Hromund. According to Landnámabók, I, ch.3, Ingolf and Leif, the first settlers in Iceland (A.D. 874) were the great grandson of Hromund Greipsson. This would seem to show that he lived in the second half of the eighth century. See also the Saga of Halfdan Eysteinsson, ch.I.

Bild and Voli. For the se names, see Introduction to this saga, p.59, and the note to Mistletoe below.

Ulfasker. A corruption of Elfasker. Cf. Gríplur, str. 25, and note to Skerries of the Elf, p.229 above.

Dragon, a common term for a large type of warship in the Viking Age.

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Scoundrels. The text has Blámenn, i.e., lit. 'Black men,' negroes. But in the Romantic Sagas, owing probably to the influence of stories relating to the Saracens, pirates are described as Blámenn, even in stories relating exclusively to the North. Cf. The Ballad of Hjálmar and Angantyr (refrain), p.184, above.

II. I am going to be Othin's guest, is a euphemism for 'be slain,' and is equivalent to 'go to Valhalla,' the abode of slain warriors which belonged to Othin. See the Saga of Egil Skallagrímsson, ch.81, where Thorgerth, Egil's daughter, says that she will have no supper till she "sup with Freyja."

No blade would wound Hröngvith. It is not uncommon to hear that a warrior, usually an unsympathetic character, was immune through spells from wounds inflicted by weapons; cf. Beowulf, l. 804 , where this is stated of Grendel.

III. Hebrides. The word Suthreyjar, here translated Hebrides, properly means all the islands off the west coast of Scotland. The modern form of the word is Sodor, surviving in the name of the diocese of 'Sodor and Man.'

Ghosts. It will be seen from the context that the word draugr here translated 'ghost,' is in reality the animated corpse of the dead man. This is as common feature of Norse stories. (e.g. the Saga of Grettir the Strong, ch.18).

IV. Valland, i.e. France, lit. the 'Land of the Valar,' i.e. of the Celts or Romans. In Anglo-Saxon literature the French are sometimes called Galwalas, i.e. the 'Walas(Welsh) of Gaul.' See also the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch.9 and note.

And he added, etc., are we to assume a lacuna here? The composition of this saga is however far from perfect. In certain passages (e.g. at the beginning of this chapter) one is inclined to suspect that someone has tried to combine two different texts of the story.

Finger nails, etc. Cf. the physiological fact of the growth of the finger nails after death, and the legend of Charlemagne according to which his beard grew through a stone table after his death.

SAGA OF HROMUND GREIPSSON       233

Gunnlöth. Other documents appear to make Hromund a Norwegian,and this is what we should gather from Landnámabók quoted above (p.231, note). See Hversu Noregr Bygðist, ch.2.

Mistletoe, the name of the sword again connects this story with that of Balder who is stated in Vöspá, str. 32 and Gylfaginning, ch.49 to have been killed by a piece of mistletoe.

V. Dagny, the wife of Ingjóld, who was the friend of Grím Lothinkinni. See the Saga of Grím Loðinkinni, ch.3.

Hálogaland. See Hervarar Saga, ch.1 and note; and also the Sagas of Ketil Hæng and Grím Loðinkinni.

Voli and Bild, etc At this point the writer of the saga has omitted part of the dialogue in which Olaf threatens to hang Hromund. Cf. Gríplur, p.383, str. 20, 21.

VI. Helgi is know elsewhere as Helgi Haddingjaskati, e.g. in the short text called Hversu Noregr Bygðist, ch.2. (Fornaldar Sögur, II, p.7). According to the prose at the end of Helgakviða Hundingsbana, II, Helgi Haddingjaskati and Kara were reincarnations of Helgi Hundingsbani and Sigrún, the hero and heroine of this poem. Their story was given in a poem called Káruljóð which is now lost. See however Vigfússon and Powell, Corpus Poeticum Boreale, vol. I, pp.129 and 130.

On the frozen surface of Lake Vener. This story is perhaps taken from that of the battle reladed in Skáldskaparmál, ch.43 and Ynglingasaga, ch.33. Cf. Beowulf, l.2392 ff.

Kara, For the form Lara which appears in the printed editions see p.62, note, above. In the prose at the end of Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, Kara is called a valkyrie.

Hagail. the story of Hagal and Blind is given also at the beginning of Helgakviða Hundingsbana II; but here the person disguised as a grinding-maid is Helgi, the hero of the poem.

X. Who was also called Bavis; cf. Helgakv. Hund. II, str. 2, where he is called Blindr enn bövísi ('skilled in harmful doings').

234       NOTES

SAGA OF HERVÖR AND HEITHREK

 I. Finnmark, i.e. the northernmost part of the Scandinavian Peninsula.

Jötunheimar, i.e. the homes of the jötnar or giants.This name occurs frequently in Norse stories, though it is not elsewhere connected with Finnmark.

Ymisland, i.e. the land of Ýmir; see below.

Halogaland i.e. the northern part of Norway stretching from about lat. 65° as far as Finnmark.

Guthmund. Cf. the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch.1 and note.

Glasisvellir. Cf. the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch.1 and note.

Fields of immortality, i.e. lit. 'Fields of the not dead' (ódainsakr). Cf. the Saga of Eiríkr Viðförla, ch.1, and the Saga of Hálfdan Eysteinsson, ch.1. See also Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p.129.

Höfund. the name means lit. 'Judge.'

Ymir, i.e. the old 'Rime-giant,' the first being created out of Chaos, from whom the giants sprang; cf. Völuspá, str. 3; Vafþrúþnismál, str. 21; Grímnismál, str. 40; Hyndluljóð, str. 33; Gylfaginning, chs. 5-8.

Starkath Aludreng. See Gautreks Saga, ch.3, according to which this Starkath is the grandfather of his more famous namesake, for whom the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch.7 and note. See also Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., pp.224, 225.

Elivagara See Vafþrúðnismál, str. 31; Gylfaginning, ch.5; Hymiskviða, str. 5.

Alfheimar, a name given to the region between the Gøtaelv and the River Glommen, in the south-east of Norway (now mainly in Sweden). The royal family of this region is frequently mentioned in the history of Harold the Fairhaired and his father, and also in the stories of Sigurth Hring. See the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch.7 and note.

Ey-Grim Bolm, i.e. 'Grim of the Island of Bolm.'

SAGA OF HERVÖR AND HEITHREK       235

Arngrim. See Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p.203 ff.

Berserk See Ynglingasaga, ch.6.

II. Dwarfs. Cf. the story of Svegðir in Ynglingasaga, ch.15.

Dvalin is the name of a dwarf in Vöuspá, str. 11, 14; Hávamál, str. 143, and in other of the Edda poems. It is, in fact, the typical name for a dwarf. Cf. also Gylfaginning, ch.14, and Skáldskaparmál, ch.3, 57. Dulin does not occur elsewhere, though Durin is found in Vöuspá. str. 10.

Standing in the doorway of the stone, etc. Cf. Vöuspá, str. 48.

Your sword, etc. Cf. Skáldskaparmál, ch.49. "Now I have drawn Dáinsleif, which the dwarfs made and which must cause a man's death every time it is drawn, and never fails in its stroke."

Tyrfing. It has been suggested that this name is derived from tyrfi, 'resinous fir-tree,' owing to its flaming like resinous fir-wood. In early times it was customary for swords to be called by names ending in -ing. Cf. the swords Hrunting in Beowulf, l.1457, etc., Nægling, ibid., l.2680, and Mimming in Waldhere, l.3, etc., etc.

Perms. The text has um Bjarmaland ('in the land of the Bjarmar,' i.e. the Beormas of Ohthere's Voyage in Alfred's translation of Orosius. It is generally reached, not as here, apparently, by the Baltic, but by voyages round the North Cape. The name is generally supposed to be connected with Perm, and in early times may have comprehended the Zyrianians, as well as the Permians proper and the Votiaks. There is some evidence from place-names that this group of languages was once spoken as far west as the White Sea. Cf. Abercromby, The Pre- and Proto-historic Finns, p.10 f.

Svafrlami. The text (H) followed by the Reykjavik edition here has Sigrlami—which can hardly be right. Rafn's ed. Reads Svafrlami.

Twelve sons. For Arngrim's Sons, Cf. Hyundluljóth, str. 23, 24; Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., pp.203-205; Saga of Örar Odd, ch.14.

236       NOTES

Twins. See the Saga of Harold the Fairhaired (Heimskringla), ch.18, where again we find twins both receiving the same name.

Mistletoe. A sword of the same name occurs in the Saga of Hromund Greipsson (see above).

Hrotti Cf. Hrunting, the sword of Hunferth in Beowulf, l.1457 etc. See also the note to Tyrfing, p.235.

III. Yule, a festival of heathen times, approximately at Christmas, but rather later.

Feast, lit. 'At the Bragi-cup.' The custom of making vows in connection with these toasts was carried on into Christian times, an interesting example being found in the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason (Heimskringla), ch.39. See also the Saga of Haakon the Good (Heimskringla), ch.16; and Helgakviða Hjörvarðssónar, str. 32.

Angantyr made a vow. In the Royal MS. (see p.79) it is Hjörvarth who makes the vow and subsequently claims the bride.

Yngvi is the family name of the early Swedish kings. Collectively the early Swedish royal family were called Ynglingaar. Cf. Ynglingasaga, ch.20.

never did he, etc. Compare what is said of Högni's sword in Skáldskaparmál ch.49.

Samsø. The fight at Samsø is described in another MS. of this saga (which is translated in the appendix to Part I, p.145 ff. above and which contains also the Death-song of Hjalmar), as well as in the Saga of Örvar Odd, ch.14, and in Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p.205. The Island of Samsø is situated half way between Jutland and Djælland.

IV. Exposing the child, etc. For the custom of exposing infants, especially girls, at birth, so as to cause their death, see the Saga of Gunnlaug Ormstungu, ch.3, the Saga of Finnbogi Rammi, etc. A similar custom prevailed in Ancient Greece. Cf. Plato, Rep. V, 461; Aristophanes, Clouds, l. 530 f.

SAGA OF HERVÖR AND HEITHREK       237

Sprinkled with water. Sprinkling a child with water when a name was given to it appears to have been customary in heathen times. Cf. the Saga of Harold the Fairhaired (Heimskringla), ch.40; the Saga of Haakon the Good, ch.12; the Saga of Egil Skallagrimsson, ch.31; Vösunga Saga, ch.13.

She grew up, etc. Cf. the description of the later Hervör in ch.10.

Here is a poem, etc. The poem is probably earlier than the Saga in its present form. Heusler (Eddica Minora, p.xxi) refers it to the early part of the twelfth century.

I will give you my necklace, etc. Note the discrepancy between the poem and the prose at this point . In the former it would seem to be Hervör who offers a necklace, and this is what we should expect.

Foolish is he who comes here alone, etc. Cf. J. M. Synge, the Aran Islands, III: "We went up on the dun, where Michael said he had never been before after nightfall, though he lives within a stone's throw. . . .These people make no distinction between the natural and the supernatural."

V. Ghosts, i.e. the animated corpses of the people buried there.

No other kinsman. There is a lacuna in the text of the MS. at this point.

VI. Bring up the child, etc. It was customary for men in high station to send their children to be brought up and educated in the houses of relatives and friends.

Reithgotaland is here explained as Jutland; but in ch.9, Heithrek's subjects are described as Gotar, i.e. Goths; and in the latter part of the Saga, from ch.12 onwards, the subject is clearly a war between the Goths and Huns. The earliest occurrence of the word (in the Swedish Inscription of Rök; cf. also Vafþrúþnismál, str. 12) gives not Reithgotaland, but Hraithgotaland, which suggests that the name may be connected in some way with Hrethgotan, a name applied to the Goths in Anglo-Saxon poetry.

238       NOTES

VII. Divination The phrase means literally, 'The casting of bits of wood at the sacrifice.' Cf. Tacitus, Germania, ch.10.

Every second man. annanhvárn, apparently for annanhvern.

Hall of the Dis. It is not clear who the dís was, as the word is used rather loosely for supernatural female beings. Another reference to the Hall of the Dís occurs in Ynglingasaga, ch.33. One of the goddesses (Freyja?) may be meant; or it may be the guardian spirit of the family.

VIII. Land of the Saxons. Cf. the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch.10 and note.

Sifka and Hlöth. The names here mentioned, together with Heithrek and Angantyr, are believed by some scholars to recur in Widsiþ, l .116, where we find

Heaðoric and Sifecan, Hliðe and Incgenðeow,
mentioned as being among the followers of Eormenric. These names clearly come from Gothic tradition, but the passage would seem to suggest that Sifeca was a man, the Sibich of the German poems. Cf. Chambers, Widsith, p.32. For the name Lotherus in Saxo, see note to ch.12, p.242.

Holmgarth i.e. Novgorod.

IX. Wendland, i.e. the 'Land of the Slavs' (Anglo-Saxon Weonodland). After the expansion of the Slavs, from the fifth century onwards, this term came to denote an enormous expanse of country, including the coast of Eastern Germany, to which it is applied in the account of the voyage of Wulfstan in Alfred's translation of Orosius. In earlier times, when the Goths still occupied Poland and Galicia, the Slavs were restricted to the regions east of the countries.

His horse fell dead. Here the point of the story seems to be missed, or at least not clearly expressed. According to Höfund's fifth maxim (see ch.6), Heithrek was not to ride his best horse when he was in a hurry.

X. They had a daughter. From our text it would appear that Hervör was the daughter of Sifka; but the end of ch.9 is

SAGA OF HERVÖR AND HEITHREK       239

probably a late addition to the text. In the text printed by Rafn, Hervör is expressly stated to be a daughter of Hergerth.

Ormar is presumably to be identified with Wyrmhere mentioned in Widsiþ, l.119, in connection with the war waged by the Goths against the Huns in defence of their ancient fatherland, round the forest of the Vistula.

Gestumblindi For this curious name, cf. the Gestiblindus Gothorm rex mentioned by Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p.198 ff.

In the King's retinue there were seven men, etc. In the text (a) of this saga printed in Rafn's edition (Fornaldar Sögur, I, p.462), there are said to be twelve men here. This is no doubt the right figure, twelve being the regular number in the judicial councils of the North, whether historical or legendary. Thus, e.g. in the Saga of Olaf the Holy (Heimskringla), ch.96 we read of a council of twelve sages (spekingar), whose duty it was to advise the Swedish king, especially in the administration of justice. Similar councils existed In the Danish settlements in England. Thus Lincoln and Stamford had each a council of twelve (cf. Stubbs, Const. Hist., I, p.106, and n. 4). We may compare the twelve priests who officiated in the sacrifices at Mæren (cf. the Saga of Olaf the Holy, Heimskr., ch.115), and the story of the twelve gods who were appointed by Othin as temple priests (hof-goðar) to keep sacrifices and administer justice among men; cf . Ynglingasaga, ch.2 (Hyndluljóð, str. 30; Gautrekssaga, ch.7). In the Irish Lay of Magnus Barelegs, the Norwegians are referred to as Clann an dá ċom·airleaċ déag ('children or clan of the twelve councillors'). Cf. Laoid·Maġnius Moir (Reliques of Irish Poetry, by Charlotte Brooke, Dublin 1789, p.274)

King Heithrek worshipped Frey. One text quoted by Rafn (Verelius) has Freyja for Frey. The boar appear in stories relating to both these deities, e.g. Gylfaginning, ch.49; Skáldskaparmál, ch.35; Hyndluljóð, str. 5, 7.

240       NOTES

XI. I would that I had that, etc. On these riddles see Heusler, Eddica Minora, p.xcff.; 'Die altnordischen Rätsel' in Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde, XI, p.117 ff.; Tuper, Modern Language Notes, 18, p.103; The Riddles of the Exeter Book, p.lii, etc. In the original the riddles are all in verse, while the King's answers, except the refrain wit hwhich they begin ("Your riddle is a good one," etc.) are in prose.

You went over a bridge, etc. The metrical text given by Rafn (Fornaldar Sögur, I, p.466), has: "A bird flew above thee, a fish swam beneath thee, thou did'st go over a bridge." The prose text given on the same page has: "Thou did'st go over a bridge, and the course of the river was beneath thee, but birds were flying over thy head and on both sides of thee, and that was their road."

Delling's doorway. Delling (perhaps from an obsolete word dallr, 'bright, shining') is mentioned in Vafþrúþnism6aacute;l, str. 25, as the 'father of Day.' Possibly he may originally have been a personification of day itself. The expression "before Delling's doorway" occurs in Hávamál, str. 160, where it has been thought to mean 'at sunrise.' See also the genealogy in Hversu Noregr Bygðist, ch.I (Fornaldar Sögur, II, p.6), where a certain Svanhild is said to be the daughter of Day, the son of Delling, and of Sól (i.e. the sun), the daughter of Mundifari (cf. Gylfaginning, ch.11).

Wolves are always struggling for it. See Gylfaginning, ch.12 (from Grímnismál, str. 39).

He who made it, etc. I have followed Heusler's reading and read er for ker and þó for þá.

Laying their eggs. For verja read verpa.

Have no husbands. For eigu, read eigut, as on p.121.

Game of chess. The text has hneftaftl, i.e. a game having certain features in common with chess which was played in Iceland till the introduction of the latter, probably in the thirteenth century. Game-pieces have been discovered in Iceland which were probably used for this game. Some are plain and hemispherical in shape, others are shaped with a

SAGA OF HERVÖR AND HEITHREK       241

man's head or a dog's head. For a full and interesting desctiption of hneftafl see H. J. R. Murray, A History of Chess, Oxford, 1913, Appendix I, 'Chess in Iceland,' pp.443-446.

Ægis meyjar. Ægir or Hlér, the husband of Rann, is a personification of the sea; but the kennings 'Ægir's daughters,' 'Ægir's steed,' etc. for 'billows' are common in poetry. See Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, str. 29, and Bragarræður, ch.55 (included in Brodeur's translation of the Prose Edda as Skáldskaparmál, ch.1)

Reefs. For brimserkum read brimskerjum.

Ocean-path. For brim-reiðar, read brim-leiðar. The passage is possibly corrupt.

That is the hunn. This stanza is difficult to interpret as we have no clear information as to the character of the game. It would seem that like the game of the Welsh tawlbwrdd, it was played between sides composed, the one of sixteen 'fair' (white) men, the other of a King (called hnefa or hunn) and eight 'dark' (black) men. Cf. note to Game of Chess above. See also Murray, A History of Chess, Oxford 193, Appendix I, 'Chess in Iceland,' pp.443-446.

Four walkings, etc. this riddle is found in a form almost identical with our text in Jakobsen's Dialect and Place Names of Shetland (Lerwick, 1897), p.53. The 'sow' is also found in the Exeter Book, while 'the waves,' 'the anchor' and 'hailstones' have certain affinities with the AS. riddles.

King Itrek's Game. The reference here seems to be to a game something like chess. The text (R) given by Heusler in his edition of the Eddica Minora, p.118, reads: "That is Itrek and Andath when they sit at their game."

Dead men, etc. In this strophe there seems to be an elaborate play on words. The phrase 'dead men' (dauðar menn) seems to be a disguise for val which means 'the slain' as well as 'hawk.' So also 'channel of blood' seems to be a disguise for æði which means 'vein' as well as 'eider-duck.'

242       NOTES

Sleipnir. Othin's eight-footed horse. Cf. especially Gylfaginning, ch.42.

Tell me lastly, etc. In Vafþrúþnismál, str. 54, Othin makes himself known to Vafþrúþnir by the same question.

XII. This pike, etc. This verse is generally supposed to come from a lost poem on Heithrek.

Mountains of Harvarthi. It is thought that Harvathi may be the early Teutonic name for the Carpathinas—a reminiscence of Gothic times.

Humli and Hlöth. These names may be compared with Humblus and Lotherus, two sons of Dan, the first kings mentioned in Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., p.1. For the name Hlöð, cf. also note to ch.7, p.238.

Poem. For this poem on the battle between the Goths and the Huns, see Heusler, Eddica Minora, p.vii ff., and notes. In part at least it appears to be very old.

Myrkvith. The forest Myrkvith is mentioned also in Atlakviða, str. 3, 5, and 13; and in Helgakviða Hundingsbana, I, str. 53.

Pillar, lit. 'stone.' I do not know what is meant. Possibly Guðrúnarkviða III, str. 3 may be compared.

Danaper's Shore. Danpr is treated as a personal name in Rígsþula, str. 49, but it is more likely to have been originally the name of the River Dnieper (mentioned by Jordanes, The Origins and Deeds of the Goths, ch.5, 52, as Danaper), which was within the territories of the Goths in the fourth century.

XIII. Gizur. There appear to be reminiscences of this story in Saxo, Book V, e.g. in regard to the numbering of the Hunnish forces. Gizur seems to correspondd to Eric in Saxo p.190 f. It has been suggested that he is Othin in disguise.

Hazel stakes. Cf. the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch.7 (note).

XIV. They rode forthwith. . . against the Huns. It has been suggested by Henizel that this battle between the Goths and the Huns was the great battle fought on the Catalaunian Plain in 451 A.D.; but the passage in Widsið cited on p.238 points rather to Poland.

SAGA OF HERVÖR AND HEITHREK       243

Drew. . . lips, lit. 'drew back his moustache.'

Dunheith and the other place names are unknown.

XV. The Goths were defending, etc. Cf. Widsiþ, l. 121 ff.

XVI. Ivar Vithfathmi. For Ivar Vithfathmi and his family, see Ynglingasaga, chs. 44, 45, and the first fragment of Skjöldunga Saga printed in the Fornaldar Sögur, I, p.285 ff.), chs. 1-3.

Harold Hilditönn. The fullest account of Harold Hilditönn is that given by Saxo Grammatidcus, Dan. Hist., p.296ff. See also the fragments of the Skjöldunga Saga, ch.4 ff.

Gautland, i.e. the Land of the Geatas in Beowulf, the modern Götaland (whether Vestergötland or Östergötland or both), comprising roughly speaking the southern portions of Sweden, exclusive of the Danish districts (Skaane etc).

Harold of the Red Moustache. He was King of Agthir. A daughter of his, also called Ása, was married to Guthröth, King of Vestfold —the Godefridus who fought against Charlemagne and died in 810. See Ynglingasaga, ch.53. Their son was Hálfdan the Black, the father of Harold the Fairhaired.

Sigurd Hring. See the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch.7 and note.

Battle of Brávöll. The chief accounts of this battle are to be found in the second fragment of the Skjöldunga Saga, ch.8 f. (see above); and in Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., pp.309 ff.

The Sons of King Ragnar. For Ragnar Lothbrók and his sons, see the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch.9 and note.

A sea-king. Cf. the Saga of Olaf the Holy (Heimskringla), ch.4.

The Sons of Eric Björnson were Önund and Björn. These are probably to be identified with the Swedish kings Bern and Anoundus mentioned in Rembertus' Life of St Ansgar, chs. 11 and 19, in connection with the saint's missionary visits to Sweden. (c.830).

Bragi Skald was the great grandfather of Arinbjörn the friend of Egil Skallagrímsson. In the Saga of Egil Skallagrímsson,

244       NOTES

ch.59, he is said to have saved his life by composing in one night a poem in honour of King Björn. Some fragments of his poems have been preserved—the earliest datable Norse poems which have come down to us.

King Harold the Fairhaired. See the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch.10, and note.

Eric the Victorious. The battle won by Eric the Victorious over Styrbjörn at Fyrisvellir seems to have taken place between 980 and 985. Several Runic inscriptions contain references to it. The statement that Harold the Fairhaired died in Eric's time can hardly be correct; for Harold is believed to have died in 933.

Fyrisvellir, on the banks of the Fyriså, close to the site of the modern town of Upsala.

Olaf the Swede. The traditional date of his conversion is 1008.

Olaf the Saint, ex-King of Norway, whence he had been expelled in 1028, was killed at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 in an attempt to recover the throne.

He tried to put an end to, etc. An interesting account of the heathen ceremonies ofhte Swedes, dating from shortly after the middle of the eleventh century, is given by Adam of Bremen in his History of the Church of Hamburg, Boook IV., ch.26 f.

The sacred tree. The sacrificial tree I nquestion is presumably that mentioned in school. 134 to Adam of Bremen as standing beside the great temple of Upsala.

Eymund, c.1050 - c.1060.

Steinkel, 1060 - 1066.

Haakon the Red. 1066 ? 1079?

Ingi I, d. c.1110. He, Hallstein and Blótsvein were all reigning in 1081.

Philippus, d. 1118.

Ingi II, d. 1125.

FAROESE BALLAD OF NORNAGEST       245

GRIPLUR I

 10. Gnoth-Ásmund, etc. For notes on people mentioned in the Gríplur, see notes to the Saga of Hromund Greipsson, p.231 ff. above.

13. Draupnir's beautiful blood, a kenning for 'gold rings.' Draupnir was the name of Othin's ring which was made by the smith Eitri and sent to Othin by his brother Brokk. Its special value lay in the fact that every ninth night, eight gold rings dropped from it. Cf. Skáldskaparmál, ch .35. Cf. also Völuspá, str. 15, where Draupnir is mentioned in the list of dwarfs.

THE FAROESE BALLAD OF NORNAGEST

 Refrain. According to Lynbye the refrain should be:
You dare not give counsel in trouble, etc.
Others have it
Let them have in trouble,
Schrøter took down the first two verses as follows:
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 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 hearth.

246       NOTES

10. The mightiest champion, etc. In Lyngbye's version 10 and 11 are transposed. Hammershaimb's is no doubt the correct order.

15. Was Högni, etc. Lyngbye here inserts a stanza:
Högni was a mighty man:
Swarthy of hue was he as I ween.

16. Rich, brave, etc. The Suderø 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 fo 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 Gnítaheið 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

FAROESE BALLAD OF NORNAGEST       247

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

 I. In a high oak-tree. In the version of this ballad obtained by Hammershaimb at Sumbø the first line runs 'A man there lived on (lit. 'in') an island high,' whereas in the Ballad of Arngrim's Sons, v. 3, we are told that Arngrim and his sons lived 'under' and oak. Possibly the first line of our text is a confusion of these two versions. The error is made more comprehensible by the fact that there are no trees on the Faroes, and so the phrase must have been a meaningless jingle of words to the singers.

Arngrim's sons from Africa the text has 'Arngrim's sons from Bláland,' by which the Faroese ballads and the Fornaldar Sögur generally mean Africa. Here, however, we should more naturally have expected 'Norway,' and it is very probable that, as Hammershaimb suggests, we here have the refrain in a corrupt form as so often happens. Probalby 'from Bláland' (af Blálandum) should be 'from Bólmland' (af Bólmlandi), i.e. from the Island of Bólm, but the Faroese may have substituted the more familiar name for that of the island with which they were unacquainted.

2. The champions Hjalmar, etc. The Sumbø version has:
He has eleven sons so dear;
The twelfth is the warrior Angantyr,

248       NOTES

and also inserts immediately following a verse giving reasons for the voyage:
News then came to Angantyr
That a man there was had a daughter fair.

4. They hoisted their sail, etc. Cf. Sigmundar Kvæði, str. 13, 28, 48.

Their anchor they cast, etc.Cf. Magna Dans (Icelandic Fornkvæði) v. 3, with which this is practically identical.

Angantyr eagerly, etc. The lit. transl. of the text is 'Angantyr was the first to step,' etc.; but the following v. has 'Hjalmar was the fist to step!' The Sumbø version, which is undoubted ly better here, has
Angantyr loypur so tungliga á land
Angantyr leapt so heavily to land,

instead of
Fyrstur steig Angantýr fóum á land
Angantyr was the first to step with his feet to land.

10. Here sittest thou, etc. In the Sumbø version, Hjalmar7s request is not recorded. The repetition of Angantyr's request in our text, if it has any significance at all, implies that both Hjalmar and Angantyr made the proposal.

18. O franklin, lend me, etc. the Sumbø version here inserts an additional verse.
Angantyr is so vile a troll.
So are his kinsfolk and followers all.

19. Forth of the hall. In the Sumbø version the fight took place outside the hall, and only Angantyr is credited with the troll-like bellowing. Indeed one feels throughout the Sumbø version a more clearly defined hostility to Angantyr on the part of the balladisit, whereas the Westmanhavn version is mored detached in its attitude.

ANGELFYR AND HELMER       249

THE DANISH BALLAD OF ANGELFYR AND HELMER

 1. Offue he dwelt in Uthiss-kier, so MS. A, MS. B has "Alff. . . . Odderskier." MS. C has "Ulff. . . Oderskier." MS. D has "Alff. . . . Odderskær." Axel Olrik, however, in the version which he prints in Danske Folkeviser i Udvalg, p.105 f. has "Alf. . . Odderskær." He explains (Introduction, p.78) Alf to be 'a combination of Arngrim the father of the berserks and Hjalmar's foster-brother Örvarodd.

7. Gold shone on his hand. The phrase is not quite clear. It may possibly refer to some personal ornament, but in view of the following line, would seem more probably to indicate that Angelfyr offered money to the King of Upsala.

11. He is half a troll, So A, which is in accordance with Angelfyr's ancestry as told in the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, ch.1. B and D, however, like the Faroese, have 'He is so vile a troll.' A gives little sense, considering the second half of the verse, and the whole becomes a meaningless formula in all the versions in which Angantyr and Hjalmar are described as brothers.

18. Whom he himself will have. Possibly han, 'he,' is a misprint for h&oavute;n, 'she,' which is what we should expect. Cf. the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, ch.3. One hardly expects a cynical touch like this in an authentic ballad. But the whole of the latter part of B may be a later version than the original.

THE FAROESE BALLAD OF ARNGRIM'S SONS

 Refrain. I have adopted the refrain given in Hammershaimb's version of the Ballad, taken down on Sandø I n1848 and published in the Antiq. Tídss., 1849-1851, rather than Svabo's version which he afterwards adopted, but which is very obscure and possibly corrupt.

250       NOTES

2. Bjarnaland, so sing the Faroese according to both Svabo and Hammerhaimb. By Bjarnaland they mean Norway. Contrast, however, the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, ch.2, where we are distinctly told that Angantyr's mother was Eyfura who had been carried off by Arngrim from Bjarmaland (i.e. the land of the Perms) where her father was king. See also the note on this passage. The Faroese have no doubt confused the unfamiliar name with one more familiar to themselves.

3. Beneath oak trees live they—a common ballad formula with no real significance. It is interesting, however, as a touch indicating the liteary origin of this and other stories told in the Faroese ballads. As has been remared (see p.247 above) there are no trees on the Faroes. On the other hand farm houses in Scandinavian lands stand frequently beneath the shadow of a large oak. Fo a discusiion of this subject, see Chadwick, Cult of Othin (Cambridge, 1899), p.72ff. compare the Scottish Ballad of Rose the Red and White Lily, v. 38:
Then out and spak' the King again,
Says, "Bonny boy, tell to me
Who lives into yon bigly bow'r
Stands by yon green oak-tree?"

4. Arngrim and the Earl's lady, etc. So Svabo. In Hammershaimb's version (Antiq. T&iacut;dss. 1849-1851) she is described as the daughter of Angantyr.

7. Better than fighting, etc. The incident of a boy playing too roughly with his companions and being told by them to go and avenge his father instead of maltreating them is very widespread. Prof. Ker notes its occurrence (On the History of the Ballads 1000 ? 1500, p.194) in the Irish Romance of Maelduin, in four Norwegian, five Faroese, two or three Danish ballads, in a Literary History of the Arabs and in New Guinea.

Water she cast, etc. the passage is obscure. It is not clear if Hervik had actually been fighting with the 'lads,' so

BALLAD OF ARNGRIM'S SONS       251

that the cleansing of her armour was an actual necessity; or if she had only been playing rather roughly. Leika can mean both 'to play' and 'to fight'; and leikvöllr may mean both a 'playground' and a 'battlefield'. If Hervik had only been playing, the throwing of the water on the armour was possibly a rite performed before undertaking vengeance.

9. Die on straw. To 'die on straw' is the regular idiom in Faroese and Icelandic for to 'die in one's bed,' of old age or sickness, as opposed ot death by the sword.

10. Isan's Grove. Hammershaimb suggests that by Isan's Land here and in vv. 20 and 21 below the Faroese mean Samsø. On the other hand there was a forest in Holstein in ancient times called Isarnho, and some such name may possibly be preserved here. There was a King Isung mentioned in the Danish Ballad De vare syv og syvsindstyve, as an opponent of King Didrik, but it is improbable that his land is here indicated.

13. She drew a shirt from out the chest, etc.—a common ballad motif. A verse almost identical with this is to be found in the Kvæði of Regin the Smith, v. 47.

14. Up then rose Hervik, etc. vv. 14, 15, 16 and 20 are identical with vv. 12-16 (inclusive) of Olufu Kvæði, the only change being that 'Hugin the King' takes the place of 'Hervik the Earl's daughter.' They are practically identical too with the Kvæði of the Jösvíkingar, vv. 6-8 (inclusive). Cf. also Sjurðar Kvæði (III, Högna Táttr, vv. 46-49), and Ragnarlikkja, vv. 40-48.

20. Striped gold on a scarlet ground. The text has Gull við reyðan brand, which is probably a mishearing of the line Gull við reyðan rand ('with a gold stripe on red ground'). Verse 39 of Brúsajökils Kvæði (which is otherwise identical with the above) gives in the second line Gull við ráum brann ('gold blazed on the yardarms'). In Hammershaimb's version of our ballad, vv. 10, 72, the line is Gulli vovin við rand ('woven with gold in stripes'), as also in v. 22 of the KvæðI of Ormar Torolvsson. The line also occurs in the form Gull við vágum rann ('the margin of the ship was gold down to

252       NOTES

where it touched the waves.'). This is no doubt corrupt, but it is difficult to conjecture as to which of all the variants was the original form of the line.

23. Cast she down her anchor, etc. vv 23, 24 are the almost invariable formula for the landing in the Faroese ballads. They are practically identical with v. 46 of Olufu Kvæði and vv. 24, 25 of the Kvæði of Ormar Torolvsson. Cf. also Sigmundar Kvæði, v. 32; Brúsajökils Kvæði, v. 41 and the Kvæði of Alvur Kongur, vv. 24-26 and Sjurðar Kvæði (Högni Táttur, vv. 71-73).

25. Herd and fee. Either the word jæge or the word fæ seems to have and unusual sense here.

28. Though quake now fell and fold. The original (kyk gekk jörðá fold) is not clear. I have merely adopted Grundtvig's translation of Hammershaimb's early text in the Antiq. Tídss. 1849-1851. The 1855 ed. Substitutes hon for jörð which is better.

35. All in the middle, etc. There is obviously a lacuna or transference of some kind here. For this and the following verses, cf. Olufu Kvæði, vv. 26, 27, which are identical except the names. Indeed it is a common formula in the Faroese and Danish Ballads, and occurs in the Kvæði of Ormar Torolvsson, v. 26; and the Kvæð of Alvur Kongur, v. 33.

36. A hundred men and five—a stock number in the Faroese ballads. Cf. the Kvæð of Ormar Torolvsson, v. 27, where we are also told that the King sat at the board 'with a hundred menaand five.' Cf. also Olufu Kvæði, v.27.

37. Mead or wine, etc. Cf. Sjurðar Kvæði (III, Högna Táttur, v. 181).

52. Perhaps we should here again assume a lacuna or transposition.
Uppland is the old name for the modern province of Upsala in Sweden.

60. Her cheeks they are as red and white, etc. Cf. the Kvæði of Finnur hin Fríði, v. 18. Cf. also the old Celtic romance of the Fate of the Sons of Usna; "I should like," said Deirdre,

THE FAROESE GATU RIMA       253

"that he who is to be my husband shold have these three colours: his hair as black as the raven: his cheeks red as the blood: his skin like the snow" (Joyce's translation). Cf. also Grimm's story of Little Snowdrop.

68. Forth then when his frigate, etc. vv. 68-84 are found in almost identical form in Olufu Kvæði, vv. 22-35.

69. Angantyr was the first to light, etc. A common ballad formula, both Faroese and Danish.

88. I would not that lady Ingibjörg hear, etc. Lit. "the lady Ingibjörg will learn that I fled." There is a suppressed condition. "If I let you fight, the lady Ingibjörg would learn, etc." Hammershaimb's text (Antiqu. Tídss.) v. 37, has a negative and no condition: "The lady Ingibjörg shall not learn," etc.

97. O Hjalmar, give me now a drink. This incident appears to be taken from Gunnlaugs Saga, ch.12.

THE FAROESE GATU RIMA

 9. Thunder is the red drum. probably reyða ('red') is a printer's error for reiða ('angry'), though the same form occurs also in the version of the ballad published in the Antiquarisk Tídsskrift. in v. 16, however, we find skarið wheras in v. 17 the word is written skarðið, the form used in both verses in Antiq. Tídss., and the two words are obviously identical in both verses. Moreover in v. 21 einir ('own,' 'single') which gives little sense, is surely an error for eingir ('no,' adj.) as in vv. 11, 17, 19. The negative is also found in v. 21 in the version in the Antiq. Tídss., in the form ei, 'they have not fathers or mothers.' Indeed the entire ballad would seem to be somewhat carelessly printed in Færöiske Kvæðer

HILDINA

 5. St Magnus, Earl of Orkney, 1108 to 1116. A cathedral was built at Kirkwall in his honour by one of his successors, Earl Ronald.

 
 
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