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STORIES AND
BALLADS OF THE FAR PAST, Nora Kershaw
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 Gruntvig 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. 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 the Danish ballad is founded on the Saga of Hervör 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 thorough some intermediate stage, Icelandic, Faoese, or Danish, is problematical. A definite relationship 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.
ANGELFYR AND HELMER 187
Thus on the one hand both in the Danish and in the Faroese ballads translated above, Hjalmar and Angantyr are described as brothers, 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-relationship or of a common source, are afforded by a comparison of certain passages 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 identity can hardly be accidental in all cases.
The precise nature of the relationship 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 Samsø are mentioned, the names Offue and Uthiss-kier being substituted for them; 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
194 BALLADS
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 Hervör and Heithrek. Offue's revenge is peculiar to the Danish, and here too no mention is made of Ingibjörg'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 Samsø 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.
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.
ANGELFYR AND HELMER 189
Refrain: But the tempest from the North
Lashes dark and troubled billows
On the gleaming waste of sand
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 will 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 to 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.
190 BALLADS
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 noble 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 Uthis-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.
ANGELFYR AND HELMER 191
18. "O hearken, hearken, Young Helmer,
Beloved son of min:
Thy noble 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 Uthis-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 Angaelfyr,
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."
192 BALLADS
23. "O hearken, hearken, Young Helmer,
Beloved son of mine:
Why does the life blood from thy head
In streams come running down?
24. 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.
25. "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."
26. It was Alff in Odderskier,
And and oak he uprootéd;
He struck with the oak Young Angelfyr,
Till he lay on the earth stone dead.
27. Now both these warriors are lying dead,
And dead lie they in their grave;
And the King he is ready to give his daughter
To the man whom he himself will have.
Refrain: But the tempest from the North
Lashes dark and troubled billows
On the gleaming waste of sand
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