Hildiga

The Norn Hildina Ballad from the Shetland Islands:
Scandinavian parallels and attempts at

reconstruction/translation
Mariano González Campo

St. Paul Gymnas
The Shetland Islands, together with the Orkney Islands, were until the nineteenth
century a remarkable reservoir of the so-called Norn language, an extinct insular variety
of Old Norse closely related to Icelandic and, specially, Faroese. Norn was preserved in
these North-Atlantic British islands in form of single words, proverbs, or prayers.
However, the longest and most complete text in Norn is the Shetlandic Hildina Ballad,
collected on the small island of Foula in 1774 by George Low and consisting of thirty-
five stanzas. In this article I intend to offer a comparative approach to this Norn oral
text refering to its Scandinavian parallels and the attempts at reconstruction and
translation carried out by several scholars such as Marius Hægstad, Sophus Bugge,
William G. Collinwood, Norah Kershaw, or Eigil Lehmann.
Keywords: Norn language; Old Norse literature; reconstruction; Scandinavian balladry;

Shetland Islands; translation
Eit lukkeleg tilfelle hev berga for oss den eller den visa
som elles vilde ha vore burtkomi.
Knut Liestøl (1937)
“Norn ballad deserves recognition, says linguist” stated the newspaper The
Orcadian on January 3, 2008 (p. 12). This headline was due to the then recent
publication of Gaeme Davis’ book The Early English Settlement of Orkney and
Shetland (2007), where this British linguist tried to prove, among other things,
that there was a Saxon settlement in both the Orkney and Shetland Islands from
as early as the fourth century AD. According to Davis, this early Saxon
Mariano González Campo, Selim25 (2020): 61–119.

ISSN 1132-631X / DOI: https://doi.org/10.17811/selim.25.2020.61-120
62 Mariano González Campo
settlement in the (now) Scottish islands had an important influence on the

language and culture developed there by Old Norse newcomers, i.e. the speakers
of what later was to be called Norn, a word which seems to have its origins in
the adjective norrœnn (Hægstad 1910: 53; Indrebø 1951: 279; Barnes 1984a,
1984b, 1998, 2004). In his book, Davis devotes some eighteen pages (out of 132)
to attempting a new approach to a long forgotten, and underrated, product of
the North Atlantic oral culture: the Hildina Ballad, the Norn ballad which
“deserves recognition”.
The Orcadian’s headline is quite striking because it is only now, almost two
centuries and a half after that Shetlandic ballad was written down, that it has
attracted some attention. The rather familiar story about an abducted princess
and the ensuing conflict, although unique in its form and language, had so far
usually gone quite unnoticed even in specialized academic journals.
In this article, then, I will try to offer a brief introduction to the Hildina
Ballad as well as an overview of the Scandinavian parallels and attempts at
reconstruction and translation that some reputed scholars have tried to make
since the nineteenth century. Thus, my aim is not only to offer an introduction
to this Shetlandic oral story, but also to substantiate Davis’ claim that the ballad
deserves recognition, as well as further research in order to understand better
both its particular origins and the dynamics of the transmission, composition,
and interpretation of oral literature within a general folkloric context.
1. The Hildina Ballad: Context of discovery

Of the 6,289 islands that form the British archipelago (Moore 2005: 1), only
one of them enjoyed the privilege of preserving one of the most interesting
documents for the study of Scandinavian balladry: the island of Foula (from Old
Norse Fugloy), located twenty miles west off Mainland Shetland and inhabited
nowadays by some twenty-five people.
From the point of view of ballad studies, this remote spot in the North
Atlantic was put on the map in 1774, when a Scottish clergyman named George
Low1 started a tour around the Orkney and Shetland Islands to collect
information on several matters related to natural history. However, many other
1
George Low was born in Forfarshire (now Angus, in the east coast of Scotland) in
1747 and died 49 years later, in 1795. He was appointed reverend in Stromness, in the
Orkney Islands.
The Norn Hildina Ballad 63
folkloristic, ethnographical, or simply antiquarian issues also attracted Low’s

restless attention. His four-month long trip (from May 4 to the beginning of
September) resulted in a posthumous book entitled A Tour through the Islands of
Orkney and Schetland Containing Hints Relative to their Ancient, Modern and
Natural History Collected in 1774, edited by John Anderson in Kirkwall in 1879.2
As Low himself narrates in the part of the book devoted to his visit to the island
of Foula (Low 1879: 95–117), he arrived there on July 4 and departed on July
11. During this one-week stay in the so-called “Bird Island”, Low collected most
of his material regarding the Norn language. This included, for example, a
version of the Lord’s Prayer (somewhat different to its Orcadian counterpart
published by James Wallace in A Description of the Isles of Orkney, 1683), a list of
thirty Norn words with their English translation, and, last but not least, the
only extant version of the now called Hildina Ballad, which was then titled The
Earl of Orkney and the King of Norway’s Daughter: A Ballad. Unfortunately,
George Low did not have any knowledge of the Norn language, so his
transcription of the ballad has a good amount of misunderstandings and,
probably, gaps. Moreover, Low was not a trained folklorist and studies in oral
tradition had not developed yet in his time. Therefore, it would be absurd to
expect from him a ballad written down or registered following highly skilled
methods, such as the ones suggested by Ruth Finnegan’s Oral Traditions and
the Verbal Arts: A Guide to Research Practices (1991). Nevertheless, Low does offer
us some useful —if scant— glimpses of information concerning the discovery
of the Hildina Ballad. As he points out:
The following song is the most entire I could find, but the disorder of some
stanzas will show that it is not wholly so. The subject is the strife between a King
of Norway and an Earl of Orkney, on account of the hasty marriage of the Earl
with the King’s daughter in her father’s absence. Here it is worthy to be observed
that most of the fragments they have are old historical Ballads and Romances,
this kind of poetry being more greedily swallowed and retentively preserved in
memory than any others, and most fitted to the genius of the Northerns. In this
Ballad I cannot answer for the ortography. I wrote it as an old man pronounced
it; nor could he assist me in this particular. This man (William Henry, a farmer
in Guttorm, in Foula) has the most knowledge of any I found; he spoke of three
kinds of poetry used in Norn, and repeated or sung by the old men; the Ballad
(or Romance, I suppose); the Vysie or Vyse, now commonly sung to dancers;
2
The book was reprinted in 1978 by Melven Press (Inverness) without the original
introduction. This entailed a remarkable loss of relevant information.
and the simple Song. By the account he gave of the matter, the first seems to
have been valued here chiefly for its subject, and was commonly repeated in
winter by the fire side; the second seems to have been used in publick meetings,
now only sung to the dance; and the third at both. Let it be remarked that the
following ballad [i.e. the Hildina Ballad] may be either written in two long line
or four short line stanzas. (Low 1879: 107)
In this short account, Low does not say a word about the Hildina Ballad’s
position among the three types of “poetry used in Norn” —or maybe it was
William Henry who did not provide the information. Was it considered a ballad
or a romance? Was it considered a vysie or a vyse (cf. Old Norse vísa)? Or was it
considered a song? On the other hand, his statement —or maybe again William
Henry’s3— that the Hildina Ballad may be either written in two long-line
(couplet) or in four short-line (quatrain) stanzas can be quite misleading, as
couplets and quatrains use different methods of composition concerning rhythm
and rhyme. It goes without saying that this poses serious problems when one
tries to reconstruct the Hildina Ballad. Scant as it may be, however, this small
piece of information is enough to bring the image of Faroese ballads to our
minds and allow us to make some comparisons with them (cf. Thuren 1902,
González Campo 2008).
After the transcription of the ballad, Low (1879: 113–114) gives a summary
of its contents, something which comes as a useful guideline to any attempt at
translating and/or reconstructing it:
A literal translation of the above I could not procure, but the substance is this:
— ‘An Earl of Orkney, in some of his rambles on the coast of Norway,4 saw and
fell in love with the King’s daughter of the country. As their passion happened
to be reciprocal, he carried her off in her father’s absence, who was engaged in
war with some of his distant neighbours. On his return, he followed the fugitives
to Orkney, accompanied by his army, to revenge on the Earl the rape of his
daughter. On his arrival there, Hildina (which was her name), first spied him,
3
As Rendboe (1993) remarks, it should be considered that, as stated in the original (not
John Hunter’s) introduction to A Tour through the Islands of Orkney and Schetland,
William Henry drank a certain amount of spirits while reciting the ballad. This might
have affected both the recital and the explanations he gave concerning the oral tradition
in Foula.
4
As Hægstad (1900: 31) remarks, in this summary Low gives data that are not in the
ballad or that are told there differently.
and advised her now husband to go and attempt to pacify the King. He did so,
and by his appearance and promises brought the King so over as to be satisfied
with the match. This, however, was of no long standing, for as soon as the Earl’s
back was turned a courtier, called Hiluge, took great pains to change the King’s
mind, for it seems Hiluge had formerly hoped to succeed with the daughter
himself. His project took, and the matter came to blows; the Earl is killed by
Hiluge, who cut off his head and threw it at his lady, which, she says, vexed her
even more than his death, that he should add cruelty to revenge. Upon the Earl’s
death, Hildina is forced to follow her father to Norway, and in a little time
Hiluge makes his demand to have her in marriage of her father; he consents, and
takes every method to persuade Hildina, who, with great reluctance, agrees upon
condition that she is allowed to fill the wine at her wedding. This is easily
permitted, and Hildina infuses a drug which soon throws the company into a
dead sleep, and after ordering her father to be removed, set the house on fire.
The flame soon rouses Hiluge, who piteously cries for mercy, but the taunts he
had bestowed at the death of the Earl of Orkney are now bitterly returned, and
he is left to perish in the flames.’
Such is the subject of the Ballad, which might have been built on a true
story, tho’ now lost. It, however, shews the genius of the people, that tho’ they
were cut off from the rest of the world they had amusements, and these
correspondent to the manners of the Northerns, among whom nothing was more
common than the recital of the acts of their fathers. Most or all of their tales are
relative to the history of Norway; they seem to know little of the rest of Europe
but by names; Norwegian transactions they have at their fingers’ ends.
The fact that, as Low himself claims, “most or all of their tales are relative to
the history of Norway” makes us think that the Hildina Ballad might have a
Norwegian origin. Furthermore, the action taking place in Orkney makes it
quite feasible that the ballad as we know it nowadays was originally shaped there.
Orkney was indeed a very productive cultural centre during the Middle Ages, as
some poems composed by Orcadians —such as Bjarni Kolbeinson’s
Jómsvikingadrápa, Rögnvaldr Kali and Hallr Þórarinsson’s Háttalykill, and the
anonymous Málsháttakvæði and Krákumál— show, not to mention the
Orkneyinga Saga, one of the most important Icelandic documents concerning
Orcadian history and politics (see, for example, Jesch 2005, 2006b; Renaud
1988). Its preservation in the Shetlandic isle of Foula might thus be due to
fortuitous circumstances, not because that island was the original place of
composition of the ballad —although the local culture might have reshaped or
influenced it.
According to its plot and motifs, the Hildina Ballad was included by Jonsson,
Solheim & Danielson (1978: 239) among the so-called “ballads of champions”,
representing the “blood revenge” type,5 with the following classification and
description:
E97 Hildina-kvadet — Woman’s lover killed by rival, and she takes revenge
Shetl
The earl of Orkney Islands takes Hildina, a king’s daughter, to his home while
her father is away. The king returns and pursues them to the Orkneys. Hildina
advises the earl to become reconciled with her father. The earl tries to, but
Hiluge, who wants Hildina for himself, prevents reconciliation. Hiluge kills the
earl, cuts his head off and throws it on Hildina’s lap. He then asks for her hand,
and the king gives his consent and tries to persuade his daughter. Hildina gives
in on the condition that she may serve the wine at their wedding. She gives all
the men a sleeping-draught. They fall asleep, and Hildina has her father carried
out of the house and then sets fire to it. Hiluge and his men lose their lives.
2. The Hildina Ballad: Scandinavian parallels

The fact that the Hildina Ballad was recited and written down in Foula does not
necessarily mean that it is an original product from that or any of the other
Shetland Islands. Despite the efforts of Jakob Jakobsen (1897, 1928–1932) and
Hugh Marwick (1929),6 our data about the Norn language are so scarce that it
is almost impossible to put the lexicon of the Hildina Ballad within the wider
context of the set of Western Scandinavian dialects known as Norn, which were
mainly spoken in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, but also in Caithness
(Thorsen 1954) and the Hebrides (Christiansen 1938). Be it as it may, it seems
quite clear that our ballad has a chiefly Scandinavian background concerning not
only its language but also the plot and most of the motifs it uses. Although
5
The other “blood revenge” types of ballads of champions in The Types of the
Scandinavian Medieval Ballad are: Ásmundur sterki, Tróndur Jógvansson, Virgar
Berkilsson, Sjúrður av Nøríki, Svend af Vollersløv, Grimmars kvæði, and Snæúlvs ríma.
It is interesting to note that, excepting Svend af Vollersløv, which also has Danish,
Icelandic, and Swedish versions, the rest are only found in the Faroe Islands.
6
An interesting criticism of the methodology used by Jakobsen in his Etymologisk ordbok
over det norrøne sprog på Shetland can be found in Bugge (2005).
some continental7 and Celtic8 parallels can be established as well, it is my aim

here to focus on some of the medieval Scandinavian texts and oral traditions
that may have helped to shape the Hildina Ballad, a story which, although it
sounds quite familiar within det norrøne folkeviseumrådet, as Liestøl (1937)
would put it, it is rather unique as it does not have any close counterpart among
the 838 types of ballads registered by Jonsson, Solheim & Danielson (1978).
Three main literary categories can be used here in order to try to establish
the Nordic parallels of the Hildina Ballad:
a) the fornaldarsögur
b) Old Norse texts dealing with poetic issues
c) Scandinavian ballads9
Of course, it would be extremely risky to state that those parallels were actually
used by the composer/composers of our ballad, as there is no safe way to
demonstrate it empirically, but at least they might give us a helping hand in
exploring the Scandinavian background of the ballad and its place within a wider
Nordic cultural context. If it is true that the Hildina Ballad is unique, it should
also be crystal clear that unique is not a synonym for rare.
7
For example, Kershaw (1921: 219) states that “there can be little doubt that the subject
of the ballad is the story of Hethin and Högni. After this, however, the narrative deviates
from any other known version of the story. It would rather seem that —as in the
German Kudrun— two stories, originally distinct, have been brought together in one
poem.”
8
On the Celtic influence in the Hildina Ballad through motifs like “throwing of the
head” or “king and goddess theme”, see especially Baranauskiené (2007). Grüner-Nielsen
(1939: 152, 163) also remarks the presence of Celtic elements in the ballad such as the
theme of the everlasting battle or the use of the word glasburyon, which “synes sproglig
afhængig af keltisk ‘glastonbury’.”
9
The Orkneyinga Saga would deserve a chapter of its own as a possible historical source
for some of the characters that might lie behind the plot of the Hildina Ballad. For
example, would it be possible to consider Hildr/Ragnhildr —the daughter of king
Hrólfr nefja of Norway, who married Rögnvaldr Mœrajarl according to Chapter 4 of the
Orkneyinga Saga— a historical inspiration for the Hildina of the ballad? As the daughter
of a Norwegian king, the mother of the legendary Göngu-Hrólfr (founder of Normandy)
and the wife of an influential jarl in Orcadian politics, she had every chance to become
an interesting character for medieval singers of tales.
a) Parallels in the fornaldarsögur

The first scholar who tried to make some sense of the Hildina Ballad was Peter
Andreas Munch. He did so by translating some words or sentences into Old
Norse and Danish, as well as by pointing to some Scandinavian parallels back in
1839, i.e. well before Low’s manuscripts about his tour of the Orkney and
Shetland Islands were published by Joseph Anderson in 1879.10 Later on, other
scholars such as Hægstad (1900, 1901), Kerwick (1921), or Grüner-Nielsen
(1939) also tried to establish some parallels with other Scandinavian stories
similar to that in the Hildina Ballad. Regarding the texts classified as
fornaldarsögur, all the aforementioned scholars agree that the story of Högni and
Heðinn, as it is known from the Heðins saga ok Högna (also called Sörla þáttr11)
is one of the most obvious parallels with our Shetlandic ballad.12 Chapters 7 and
8 of Sörla þáttr show very close parallels with an important part of the plot of
the Hildina Ballad. This is a summary of the story:
There was a king named Hjarrandi, who had a son named Heðinn. This son was
a great sea-king and he pillaged all over the Mediterranean until twenty kings
paid tribute to him. One day he met a beautiful woman sitting on a chair who
called herself Göndul. She told him of Högni, and agitated him to test his
strength against the northerner. Heðinn took three hundred men, and sailed
both a summer and a winter until he arrived in Denmark in spring.
When the two men met they tested each other’s strength and entered sworn
brotherhood. As Heðinn was unmarried, Högni betrothed him to his daughter
Hildr, his only child. Hildr’s mother was Hervör. Heðinn soon met the beautiful
woman again who asked him about what had happened since the last time. She
gave him a magic potion and told him to crush Högni’s wife with the prow of
his ship and to kidnap Hildr. He did so and met the beautiful woman again. She
gave him a new horn to drink and he fell asleep. In his dream, he heard Göndul
say that she put him, Högni and their men under spells according to the wishes
of Óðinn.
Högni hunted Heðinn and found him on an island named Háey (=Hoy, in
the Orkneys). Heðinn offered to give everything back to Högni and to sail away
10
However, Low’s Hildina Ballad had already been published by James Headrick in
1808, in the second editon of History of the Orkney Islands by Dr. Barry. This was in fact
the text used by Munch.
11
I follow Jónsson’s edition (1954).
12
At this point, it should be clear that by ‘Shetlandic ballad’ I mean a ballad recited and
written down in the Shetlands, not necessarily a ballad which was originally composed
there.
to Serkland and never come back. Högni, however, declared that nothing could
atone the betrayal that Heðinn had committed.
The two armies started to fight and even though they cut each other all over,
they stood still fighting and fighting for 143 years, so strong were the spells of
Göndul, until Óláfr Tryggvason arrived at the island.
The name Hildr, the kidnapping of Hildr by Heðinn, and the fight between
Heðinn and the army of Hildr’s father in the Orcadian island of Háey (=Hoy)
are the most striking parallels between Sörla þáttr and the Hildina Ballad.
Furthermore, another fornaldarsaga titled Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra displays
some interesting parallels as well. This is the synopsis of the story:13
The story begins in Denmark where there was a king called Hringr, the son of
Skjöldr Dagsson. It lauds Hringr’s qualities as well as those of his son Sigurðr.
The mother was Sigríðr, the daughter of Vilhjálmr of Valland.
Not far from where they lived there was a farmer called Sviði whose wife was
Hildr and son Illugi. This Illugi played often with prince Sigurðr. The two boys
became close friends and swore to avenge one another. However, the king had
an incompetent advisor named Björn who was treacherous and cunning, but
skilled in seiðr and a great warrior who ably defended Denmark for the king.
Björn was jealous that Sigurðr loved Illugi so much, so he slandered Illugi in
front of the king and the prince, but Sigurðr refused to believe him.
One summer, Sigurðr, Björn and Illugi went a Viking expedition to Scotland
and Orkney. The pillaging was good, and in the autumn they steered home to
Denmark. However, a great storm arose and they were driven away to large bay
called Gandvík. In the bay it was cold and Björn asked Illugi to cross a fjord to
fetch firewood. If he succeeded it would prove him a better advisor and he would
get Björn’s ring. Illugi, however, declined and said that he would go for wood
anyway.
When he had crossed the fjord, he found a cave and soon its inhabitant came.
It was a troll woman named Gríðr. She could not be called beautiful at all. When
Illugi said that he came searching for fire, she replied that he would get none
unless he said three truthful words and slept with her daughter. The daughter
was stunning and Illugi immediately fell in love with her. The truthful words,
he chose to say were that she was hideous, the hall was beautiful and so was the
daughter. Gríðr said that since he preferred the daughter to her, he could go to
bed with the girl. Illugi was surprised that she was not enjoying the act, and soon
he found out why because Gríðr grabbed him by the hair, put a knife to his
13
According to Jónsson’s edition (1954).
throat and said that she would kill him for seducing the girl. However, when
Illugi showed no signs of fear, she asked him to go back to bed remarking that
she had never met anyone less afraid of dying. Gríðr said that he would have the
girl whose name was Hildr, and then she told him her story:
She said that there was a king Áli in Álfheimr whose queen was Álfrún. Their
daughter’s name was Signý and she was a very able girl. She was married to a
king named Eiríkr who died during an expedition in the west, leaving her with
a very beautiful daughter named Hildr. Signý then returned to her father, but
the mother soon died and the father remarried with a woman named Grímhildr
who was just as evil as she was beautiful, and so were her daughters that she had
before marrying king Áli. Rumours began to spread in the kingdom and as soon
as a man disappeared mysteriously this was attributed to Grímhildr. Grímhildr
murdered the old king by poison, became the ruler and soon her tyranny had
laid the whole kingdom waste. She then banished Signý and her daughter Hildr
from the kingdom putting a curse on them that they had to live alone in a cave.
All the men who saw Hildr would fall in love with her, but Signý would murder
them, and every night seven sisters would maim and mutilize her. In this
condition they would live until she found a man who was not afraid of dying.
Gríðr said that she was Signý and as he had delivered them from the spell
after eleven years, Illugi would marry her daughter. Then seven giantesses arrived
with short swords and attacked Gríðr cutting her in the body and in her heart.
Illugi threw himself into the fight to defend Gríðr, killed all seven of them and
burned them in the fire.
Gríðr gave Illugi gold and he returned to the ships with fire. The other men
were glad to see him, but Björn slandered Hildr and said that she was an evil
troll. Sigurðr told Björn to keep quiet. Later at night Björn disappeared and in
the morning they found him dead hanging from the mast of the ship. This was
how Gríðr punished him for calling her daughter a troll.
Sigurðr then sailed back to Denmark with the ships laden with booty. Later,
king Hringr died by illness and Sigurðr inherited Denmark.
Signý came to Denmark to join them and was well received by Illugi and
Hildr. Illugi told Sigurðr everything about Signý and Sigurðr decided to marry
her. They had many children and lived long. But Illugi lived longest even though
he and Hildr never had any children.
In this case, the most obvious parallels with the Hildina Ballad are the name
Illugi, the name of Illugi’s bride (Hildr), and the character of the treacherous
royal adviser (Björn). However, it is interesting to note here that in the
Shetlandic ballad Hiluge (=Illugi) takes the role of Björn, while Illuge comes
closer to the role of the Earl of Orkney.
b) Parallels in Old Norse texts dealing with poetic issues

In this context, I must emphasize the existing relationships between the Hildina
Ballad and pedagogic or instructional texts such as the Orcadian Háttalykill and
Snorri Sturluson’s Skáldskaparmál and Háttatal, where allusions to the
Hjaðningar legend —included in the aforementioned Sörla þáttr as the fight
ensuing from Hildr’s abduction by Heðinn— can be found (Helgason &
Hotsmark 1941; Pálsson 1984, 1998; Faulkes 1991, 1998; Jesch 2006b).
Stanza 23 of Háttalykill enn forni makes the following mention to the
Hjaðningar legend (Helgason & Holtsmark 1941: 26, not normalized text):
Hver red hilldi at nema?

Hveir daglæingis bæriast?
Hværir sijd arla sættast?
Hværir siolingum atte?
Hedin red hilldi at næma
Hiadnengar æ beriast
Þeir sijd arla sættast
Saman hilldr lidi atte.
The name of Hildr and the allusion to her abduction by Heðinn are the most
significative parallels with the Hildina Ballad according to Sörla þáttr’s more
extended version of the everlasting battle of Hjaðningavíg. As Jesch (2006b: 2)
points out, “the question-and-answer form of the stanzas (unique in this poem)
may suggest that some instruction in this myth [i.e. the Hjaðningavíg] was
needed. There is later evidence, in the form of the Hildina ballad, to support
the Orkney connection, and indicating that a version of the story was later
known throughout the Northern Isles.”
Chapter 50 of Snorri Sturluson’s Skáldskaparmál deals with the Hjaðningavíg,
first giving a good summary (cf. Sörla þáttr) of the situation that led to the battle
and proceeding afterwards to reproduce five stanzas from Bragi skáld’s Ragnars
drápa loðbrókar, where poetry is used to narrate the battle. The third stanza, for
example, says the following (Faulknes 1998: 73, with minor adaptations):
Letrat lýða stillir

Landa vanr á sandi
—þá svall heipt í Högna—
höð glamma mun stöðva,
er þrymregin þremja
þróttig Heðin sóttu
heldr en Hildar svíra

hringa þeir of fingu
On the other hand, in stanza 49 of his Háttatal, Snorri Sturluson alludes again
to the Hjaðningar legend in this way (Faulknes 1991: 23, with minor
adaptations):
Hjaldrremmir tekr Hildi

(hringr brestr at gjöf) festa,
hnígr und Högna meyjar
hers valdandi tjald;
Heðins mála býr hvílu
Hjálmlestanda flestum,
Morðaukinn þiggr mæki
Mund Hjaðninga sprund
c) Parallels in Scandinavian ballads

Inspired by Hægstad (1900, 1901) and Grüner-Nielsen (1939), and based on
Jonsson, Solheim & Danielson’s The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad
(1978), I have been able to identify up to fifty-three types of Nordic ballads (out
of 838) which show several parallels with the Hildina Ballad concerning plot
and/or motifs.14 Here is a list of those types of ballads together with a brief
summary, origin, and classification code according to Jonsson, Solheim &
Danielson’s handbook. A few remarks are also in order. The parallels in plot
and/or motifs are in bold type:15
14
Grüner-Nielsen (1939: 159–165) identified four well-known motifs in the Hildina
Ballad: Medbejler og ond Raadgiver (rivals and the evil counsellor), det afhuggede Hoved
(the chopped head), Indebrænding (killing a person burning him inside a house), and
den evige Kamp (the everlasting battle).
15
Note on the symbols and abbreviations used in this list:
+ = a closer relationship to the Hildina Ballad (according to plot and/or motifs)
- = a more distant relationship to the Hildina Ballad (according to plot and/or
motifs)
Var. = variation
D = Denmark N = Norway
F = Faroe Islands S = Sweden
I = Iceland
(A) Ballads of the Supernatural:
+ A41 Ribold og Guldborg (D, I, N, S): A knight persuades a maid to leave the country
with him. They are pursued by her family, and a fight ensues during which the knight
kills her relatives. At this she forgets that he has forbidden her to use her name during
the fight and calls out to him. He is then mortally wounded. He takes her to his home
where he dies. She (and his mother) dies from sorrow.
+ A42 Hildebrand og Hilde (D, S): A girl tells the tragic story of her life. She escaped
from home with a knight. Her relatives pursued them, and the knight requested her
not to mention him by name during the ensuing fight. When he was about to kill her
youngest brother she forgot her promise and called his name, whereupon her betrothed
was killed. She was severely punished by her family.
(C) Historical Ballads:
- C10 Herr Lavrents og Bengta Sunesdatter (D): The Swedish judge Lars loves Bengta,
who has been placed in a convent* by her family. Lars abducts her and takes her to
Norway where they marry. After some years Lars falls ill. He calls for his wife, and before
he dies he advises her to return to her brother in Sweden. When Bengta returns her
brother is very cold towards her at first, but he changes his mind and promises to share
his estate with her. (Var.: She rejects his offer and enters a convent.)
[*Cf. Hildina Ballad: in a glas buryon.]
- C15 Magnus Algotsøn (D, N, S): Torstein Davidsson arranges for his wedding with
Ellensborg, who is loved by Folke Algotsson*. Folke rides to her home. His arrival is
announced by a page-boy. Ellensborg covers her head, but Folke recognizes her by her
eyes as soon as he enters the room. After a short talk (Var. D, N: in which he reminds
her that she once promised herself to him) he takes off with her behind him in the
saddle. The page-boy tells Torstein Davidsson what has happened. D, N: Torstein
follows Folke with an escort. A fight ensues, and Torstein loses (Var. D: he is killed)
[*Cf. amorous triangle among Hiluge, Hildina, and the Jarl of Orkney in the Hildina Ballad.]
(D) Ballads of Chivalry:
- D3 Brud og bejler (D): A maid sees Erik, her suitor, approach and asks her family to
bid him welcome. They refuse, and she goes out herself and greets him, asks him to
stay and offers herself in marriage. They get engaged. Var.: Erik has to fight for her.
+ D18 Peder hjemfører sin jomfru (D): Peder breaks into a maid’s bower at night and
promises her a wonderful existence in the land of bliss, if she will only become
betrothed to him. Then he takes her to his ship and they sail to his father’s country
where they celebrate their wedding.
- D27 Klerks kvæði (I): A cleric from the pope’s court travels widely. A king’s daughter
invites him to her table. When they get into bed she warns him of her father. He then
persuades her to come with him to his own country. The king and the queen wake up
late to find their daughter gone. The king writes a letter to the Sarracens’ country
requesting that they be burnt.
- D35 Morten Venstermand (D): Morten’s betrothed has been taken to a convent by
her seven brothers in order to prevent her marriage. The king gives Morten permission
to take her out of the convent*. Morten persuades his uncle to help him**, and together
they get the girl out. They invite the king to the wedding.
[*Cf. Hildina Ballad: our glas buryon burttaga.]

[**Cf. Hildina Ballad: for frinda sin spir de ro.]
- D36 Herr Mortens klosterrov (D, I): Morten is sent abroad by his family because he
wants to marry a penniless girl. When he returns the girl is in a convent. Morten decides
to get his betrothed out of convent* and asks for help and advice from his brother**
(I: servants). He pretends to be dead (D: and his brother takes him to the convent where
the girl is). While his betrothed is supposed to watch over him the body he takes her
away. All the other nuns wish that such an angel would come for them, too.
[*Cf. Hildina Ballad: our glas buryon burttaga.]

[**Cf. Hildina Ballad: for frinda sin spir de ro.]
- D37 Herr Karl på ligbåre (D, N, S): Sir Karl asks his mother to advise him on how
to get the girl he loves (Var. D, N, S: out of the convent). She tells him to pretend to
be dead and to send for the girl to watch by the corpse. She comes, and in the presence
of what she thinks is a dead man she admits to loving him. At this Karl gets up from
the bier and gives orders for their wedding to be prepared. (Var. D, S: All the other
nuns wish that such an angel would come for them, too.)
- D50 Vilgår hertugson (N): Vilgår and Signe have pledged their troth, but Signe’s father
makes her marry a king. During the wedding Vilgår arrives (Var. and pours out wine
for all the guests until they get drunk and fall asleep). He then leaves with the bride
on his horse.
- D59 Riddara kvæði (I): A knight sees a beautiful lady in a tower and goes in to her.
She tells him not to stay if he wants to keep his life, but he stays anyway and falls asleep
by her side. He is awakened by the clamour of weapons. With the lady in his arms he
fights his way out and rides off with her.
- D64 Rige herr Tord (D): Sir Peder and his daughter have a talk, and he asks her to
stop mentioning Sir Tord. When she disobeys he beats her. The girl sends her brother
to Tord to return his gifts and to tell him that she is dying. Tord comes over
immediately and asks her how she wants her father to die. She does not want him
punished if he will only allow them to get married. Their wedding ceremony takes
place.
- D65 Riddar feller far til møyi (N): A conversation between two lovers is overheard by
the girl’s father. She advises her lover to fight, but if possible to save her father’s live.
After the fight the young couple leaves together.
+ D76 Skógarmanns kvæði (I): An outlawed knight has been on a visit to his betrothed,
but in the morning they must flee because her father is expected. They take a boat but
are caught in a storm. They must swim ashore, and he loses his weapons. Three hostile
knights approach and fight with the man. Armed only with an oaken cudgel he finally
succumbs. That night the maid kills the three knights in revenge and then enters a
convent.
+ D78 Herr Hjælmer (D, N, S): Hjælmer has seduced a maid (Var. D, S: She is the
king’s daughter. Var. D, N, S: He has also killed her father or Var. D: her uncle or
mother). Hjælmer meets the maid’s brothers who accuse him of seduction (Var. D, N,
S: and manslaughter). Hjælmer kills all the brothers except one, Ole, who begs for his
life. Hjælmer spares him, but is treacherously killed by him. Ole takes Hjælmer’s head
to his sister to show that her lover is dead. She stabs Ole to death (Var. D, N: poisons
him). (Var. D: Ole gives his sister to Hjælmer in marriage)
- D140 Bejlekunsten [1] (D, S): A young man goes to his foster-mother (Var. S:
mother) and asks for advice on how to court a maid. His mother tells him to dress
well and to be polite and attentive to the girls.
- D158 Bóthildar kvæði [1] (I): The farmer Pétur gives a feast for the king and his men.
Logi, the groom, comes to Pétur and wants his daughter Bóthild. Pétur replies that this
will not be for as long as he lives. Logi gives Pétur a cut with his sword, and Pétur
promises him his daughter in marriage. Bóthild wakes up and wonders if no one can
help her. Then she kills Logi herself. She enters a convent.
+ D159 Bóthildar kvæði [2] (I): The king hears Bóthild sing and sends for her. She
comes with her brother who is killed when he will not give his sister to the king.
Bóthild wants to take vengeance. She asks her maidservant (Var. I: foster-mother) to
mix a poison-draught and makes the king drink her health. He dies and Bóthild enters
a convent.
- D161 Ridder Stig og skottekongens datter (D): Sir Stig sails to Scotland and stays there
for some time. One day he sees the king’s daughter on her way to church. He pretends
to be a poor fisherman and she tells him who she is. He is happy to have found her and
takes her to his ship. He sails home to Denmark and marries her.
- D163 Palle Bosøns død (D, F, N, S): Palle finds out from a servant that the girl he loves
is going to church. He stops her carriage and takes her to his home in spite of her
warnings. Shortly after they have got into bed, her betrothed (Var. F, S: her kinsman,
the king, Var. N: her father) arrives, and Palle is killed. (Var. N: after having slain his
bride’s betrothed, Var. N: and father) (Var. F: Before he is killed, Palle asks his bride
to have the two sons she will bear him take revenge) (Var. D: She marries her betrothed,
Var. D, N, S: She refuses to marry him and enters a convent.) (Var. D, N: She has a
child by Palle, Var. N: and dies in child birth) (Var. S: She says that the child she will
have by Palle will revenge its father. Var. F: Palle’s two sons grow up and revenge him)
- D172 Knud af Borg (D, F, I, N): (N: A maid has two suitors, the king and Knud af
Borg. She chooses Knud. F: The king hears about Knud’s beautiful wife and goes to
visit Knud to look at her.) The king goes to Knud’s wedding (D, I: Knud invites the
king in spite of his bride’s warnings. F Var. N: The king challenges Knud to defend his
bride.) The king kills Knud (D: orders his men to do it). The king takes the bride to
bed with him, but she makes him promise not to touch her the first few nights. Once
he falls asleep she kills him. (Var. F: Before going to bed with the king Knud’s widow
arranges a funeral for her husband. By the grave she kills the king.) (Var. I: She dies
from sorrow.)
- D222 Brøðurnir (F): Steffan goes to his brother Roland’s house and is met by Roland’s
wife, Hilda. She says that Roland will be away until Christmas. She and Steffan spend
the night together. When Steffan wakes up Roland stands by the bed and asks what his
brother is doing there. Steffan replies that Hilda was as willing as he was. Hilda gives
Steffan a coat of mail and the two men fight. They are both killed.
- D236 Arne og den untrue bruri hans (N): Arne’s mother tells him that his betrothed
has a lover, Jonas. In order to find out if this is true Arne says that he is going away.
His betrothed sends for Jonas at once. Arne surprises them and cuts off Jonas’ head.
- D237 Bonde Høg og hustrus boler (D): Ebi declares his love to Sir Bonde’s wife and
offers her gold. She is pleased and wishes her husband were dead. Her maidservant
reproaches her. Bonde listens to all this. Ebi returns from a love-meeting with Bonde’s
wife and meets the husband, who kills him. Bonde shows his wife her lover’s severed
head. The he takes the maidservant for his mistress.
- D238 Sigvord kongesøn (D): Sigvord, a king’s son, takes Kirstin out of a convent and
promises her to be faithful. She warns him that if he fails her it will mean his death.
She lives with him as his mistress for many years. One day he comes home and tells her
that he is engaged to a noble-woman. She gives him a beverage made from herbs, and
he falls ill. He tries to be reconciled to make her save her life, but she lets him die.
- D241 Stolt Elins hævn (D): A knight conducts her bride home. Elin serves the wine
during the wedding and later she hides in the bridal chamber. She hears the bridegroom
tell his bride that Elin has been his mistress. The bride tells him he ought to have
married Elin instead. When the man has fallen asleep Elin stabs him to death. She
spares the bride and advises her to return to her father.
- D245 Herr Peders slegfred (D, F, N, S): Sir Peder is about to celebrate his wedding. He
does not want Kirstin to go, but she decides to be there. She wears her best clothes and
jewellery to the wedding. D, F, Var. S: The bride asks who she is and is told that Kirstin
was Peder’s mistress. D, F: She says that Peder ought to have married Kirstin instead.
Var. D: Kirstin steals into the house at night. She stabs the bridegroom to death, but
she spares the bride because of her kind words. Var. D, F, Var. S: Kirstin hangs herself
in the orchard, and when Peder hears about this he takes his life. The bride dies from
sorrow. N, Var. S: Kirstin sets fire to the house and both bride and bridegroom die.
- D247 Hyrde og ridderfrue (D, F, S): Sir Themme hears a shepherd sing a song which
reveals to him that the shepherd is his wife’s lover. Themme has the shepherd hanged
at once (F: cuts his head off). D, F: He tells his wife what he has done. D: She gets
furious and tells him that all her twelve sons are the shepherd’s sons. F: She keeps him
awake at night by crying over the shepherd. D, F: Themme kills his wife.
- D327 Hertugen af Skare (D): The king’s son Woldemor abducts Hyllegierd from a
convent and takes her to his country. His mother the queen will not give her approval
to their marriage, and Woldemor goes away with his betrothed. The queen sends them
poisoned wine. Woldemor drinks it and dies. The same night Hyllegierd is delivered of
three children. She dies, and only one of the children survives.
+ D337 Alexanders kvæði (I): Alexander raids King Hringur’s country and abducts his
daughter. The king comes with his navy to get her back. In the ensuing battle the
king kills Alexander. When the king is going to take his daughter home she says that
a young knight will revenge Alexander’s death.
- D350 Magna dans (I): The king of Sweden surprises his daughter with her lover and
kills him. The daughter gets a son, Magne. When Magne is twelve years old his mother
tells him of his father’s death and urges him to take revenge. Magne finds his
grandfather and is refused damages for his father. He kills the king and two of his men.
His mother summons the people to an assembly. Nobody dares accuse Magne, who
becomes king after his grandfather.
+/- D352 Liden Engel (D, N, S): (D, N: Engel has eloped with Malfred against her
family’s will.) Engel and Malfred are told that her brother (S: Engel’s rival for Malfred)
is approaching. They take refuge in the nearest church, but the brother sets fire to it.
Malfred gets out, but Engels dies. Var. D, N: Malfred has a son who wants to revenge
his father’s death. Var. D: He sets fire to his uncle’s house and thus kills him in the
way his father died. Var. D, N: He kills the uncle with his sword.
- D385 Tistram og jomfru Isolt (D): Var.: Tristran is about to enter the emperor’s service.
He is warned not to fall in love with Isolt. When he arrives at the court the emperor’s
daughter Isolt sees him and falls in love with him. They meet in secret, and Isolt’s
mother tries to stop this. (Var.: She intends to poison them, but the lovers refuse to
drink. Var.: Tristan forces her to drink herself, and she dies). Tristan and Isolt escape
together and get married. Var.: A woman is told (Var.: dreams) that her son and
daughter will want to marry each other. She sends her daughter to be brought up by
the emperor’s wife. When her son Tristan is grown up he enters the emperor’s service,
but is warned not to fall in love with Isolt. When he meets her they fall in love anyway.
They are told that they are brother and sister but still want to escape together. The
emperor builds a tower and puts Isolt in it. When Tristan tries to get her out of there
the emperor’s wife poisons them, and they die in each others arms.
- D386 Tístrams táttur (F): Tristan and Isolt are in love, but his parents are opposed to
a marriage between the two. They send their son to the king of Frakkland (France) with
a letter asking the king to marry his daughter to Tristan, and to kill him if he refuses.
Tristan has sworn to be faithful to Isolt and rejects the proposal. He is executed. When
Isolt is told she goes to Frakkland, burns the king in his house, and dies from sorrow
by Tristan’s body.
(E) Heroic Ballads:
- E21 Jallgríms kvæði [2] (F): Jallgrímur wants to try his strength in fight and is told
about a mountain giant. He goes to find him. They fight, and Jallgrímur saves his life
only by promising the giant his son when he gets one. The giant spares him and also
gives him a magic sword which will help him in fights. Jallgrímur goes to Ireland to
try to get the king’s daughter. His proposal is scornfully rejected by the Irish king. In
the ensuing fight Jallgrímur kills a number of the king’s men as well as the king himself
and his son. He marries the king’s daughter. She bears him two sons. When the boys
are twelve years old Jallgrímur tells them to go from Ireland to his father’s country to
fight the giant. The boys set out and manage to kill the giant. One of the boys marries
a girl they find in the giant’s castle. Both become rulers of the country.
- E39 Guttormur í Hattarmóti (F): Margreta marries Guttormur. They are invited to
Margreta’s parents. They go in spite of suspicions. (Var.: On the way their ship is caught
in a storm, but Guttormur stops it by means of magic.) When they arrive, Margreta’s
mother, the queen, has Guttormur killed. Margreta gives birth to a son, whom she
sends away so that he may be out of the queen’s way. (Var.: She also has a daughter,
and both Margreta and the daughter are killed by the queen.) The son, Magnus, wants
to revenge his father’s death. His father’s sister Ata gives him advice, which helps him
avoid his grandmother’s attempts to poison him. He sets fire to the house, and she is
burnt to death. Magnus then sets out against his grandfather. Helped by Ata’s advice
he subdues the wild animals watching his grandfather’s castle, and then he kills him.
He succeeds his grandfather as king.
- E54 Frændehavn (D): Ellind is married far from home (Var.: to the man who killed
her father). After eight years she prepares a feast for her brothers. They are well received
by Ellind’s husband, but at night he kills them all in their sleep and offers Ellind their
blood to drink. Ellind takes revenge by killing all her husband’s sons (Var.: sisters and
brothers) and offering him a drink of their blood*. Then she kills him too (Var.: and
her child by him).
[*Note that Hildina pays Hiluge back in revenge with the same cruelty.]
- E55 Høgna táttur (F): Gudrun gets married to King Artala. She wants to take revenge
for Sjúrður’s death and invites her brothers to a banquet. Their mother Grimhild warns
them, and they are also warned by a person they meet on the way, but they do not listen.
They arrive and are invited to sit down at their sister’s table. She has poisoned their
drinks, but Høgne discovers this. Gudrun induces her son to strike Høgne, and Høgne
gets up and kills the boy. Gudrun urges Artala to kill her brothers, she uses magic, and
everyone is killed except Høgne. A warrior turns himself into a dragon and pours poison
on Høgne, who feels that he is about to die. He asks an earl’s daughter, Helvík, to sleep
with him before he dies. He tells her that she will have a son. She must call him Høgne,
and he will revenge his father’s death.
- E56 Grimilds hævn (D): Lady Kremold sends a message to her brothers and invites
them to her home. Their mother warns them that Kremold means to betray them, and
they are also warned by persons they meet on the way, but they do not listen. Kremold
receives them well, but later she eggs her men on, and the feast ends in a fight.
+/- E80 Rings kvæði (F): Ringur, son of King Valdimann of Girtland, goes to Sjóland to
propose to the king’s daughter. He is accompanied by Pætur the Dane. The king rejects
Ringur’s proposal contemptuously and kills some of his men. Finally a fight breaks out,
and the king is taken prisoner. Ringur lets him go at his daughter’s request, and then
marries the daughter. Var.: While Ringur is away from home Sjúrður, the emperor of
Saksland, arrives in Girtland to propose to Kristin, Ringur’s sister. Her father, King
Valdimann, asks Sjúrður to await Ringur’s return to get his consent. Sjúrður threatens
to take Kristin home as his mistress, and there is a fight. Valdimann is killed. Kristin
tries to defend herself, sword in hand, but is finally defeated by Sjúrður’s men and taken
to Saksland. When she meets Sjúrður she falls in love with him, and they are married.
Ringur returns to Girtland and finds what has happened. He goes to Saksland to take
revenge for his father’s death. In the ensuing fight Sjúrður is taken prisoner. Pætur the
Dane wants to kill him, but Ringur prevents this and goes to see his sister. Sjúrður is
set free, but Ringur takes their newborn son back to Girtland with him. He gives the
boy the name of Valdimann after his father.
- E92 Ásmundr sterki (F): King Ásmundur goes to Gjøtland to propose to the king’s
daughter Elin. In the entrance to the castle he kills an ogre and saves its tongue. His
proposal is accepted by the king, but a rival prince Karvilín of Sweden, arrives and claims
to have killed the ogre. Ásmundur shows him the tongue. Karvilín challenges him to
fight, and Ásmundur kills him. Then he goes to see Elin and wants to marry her, but
she says that he must first defeat Karvilín’s father, King Ranild. Ranild arrives with an
army. Ásmundur kills nearly all of his men, but Ranild begs for mercy and is spared.
Ásmundur marries Elin and takes her home. He receives tax from Sweden.
- E93 Tróndur Jógvansson (F): Sjúrður asks the king for his daughter Margreta’s hand,
but the king does not think him good enough. Sjúrður talks to Margreta herself, and
she accepts him. Meanwhile another suitor, Tróndur Jógvansson, arrives and is
accepted by the king, but Margreta does not want him. At the king’s suggestion the
two rivals fight, and Sjúrður kills Tróndur. Tróndur’s father Jógvan arrives to revenge
his son. Sjúrður and Margreta both fight him, and finally Sjúrður kills him although he
begs for mercy. Sjúrður and Margreta are married, and Sjúrður succeeds Jógvan as king.
- E94 Virgar Bekilsson (F): Gyrðilin decides to propose to a duke’s daughter, Hilda,
although he is told that Virgar Bekilsson has already proposed to her. When Gyrðilin
arrives he meets Virgar and challenges him to a fight. Virgar kills him and all his men
except Aðal, who turns out to be Virgar’s brother. Together they go to the duke’s house
to find Hilda, but she has been carried away by an ogre. Virgar and Aðal go to the
ogre’s cave. In the ensuing fight Aðal is devoured by the ogre before Virgar manages to
kill it and save Hilda. He takes her home and marries her. Later Brandur arrives with
his son to revenge Gyrðilin’s death. After a long and violent fight Virgar kills Brandur,
his son and all his men.
- E95 Sjúrður av Nøríki (F): Sjúrður, son of the king of Norway, and King Gion of
Ireland both arrive to propose to the Princess Júli. She prefers Sjúrður, but Gion
challenges him to a fight. Gion is killed. Sjúrður and Júli are married and return to
Norway. They have two sons, one of them called Grimmar. Gion’s father, King Ívar,
goes to Norway to revenge his son. Sjúrður kills Ívar and decides that his son Grimmar
shall marry Ívar’s daughter Herga. Grimmar proposes to her, and she tells him to get
the consent of her kinsmen first. While he is away an earl from Sweden proposes to
Herga and is accepted. Grimmar returns during their wedding, kills the earl and
marries Herga. The king of Sweden comes to revenge the death of his earl. In the fight
he kills Grimmar, but the young champion Hilmir kills him. After a year Hilmir marries
Herga.
- E96 Svend af Vollersløv (D, F, I, S): Svend af Vollersløv wants to marry Lissebet, but
she chooses to marry Villiam. Svend is very jealous, and shortly after Villiam’s wedding
to Lissebet he kills him. Lissebet gives birth to a son and names him after his father.
(Var. D, F, I, S): When young Villiam grows up his mother tells him who killed his
father. He sends a message to Svend af Vollersløv to meet him at the assembly. Svend
refuses to give Villiam damages for his father’s death, and Villiam kills Svend. He tells
his mother that his father is now revenged. (Var. D, F): Villiam seduces Svend’s sister
(Var. F: wife). Her brother (Var. F: father) arrives to take revenge. Villiam kills him
(Var. F: spares his life after killing all his men). Villiam marries the woman he seduced.
+/- E98 Grimmars kvæði (F): King Haraldur of Ongland goes to propose to Hilda,
daughter of King Grimmar of Gardarike. King Grimmar is away at war. Haraldur does
not wait to get Grimmar’s consent, and he and Hilda return to Ongland and marry.
Hilda gets three sons. Later Haraldur wants to visit Grimmar. He leaves his youngest
son Gormundur at home and brings the two others. He helps Grimmar win a war, but
while he is away Grimmar prepares to take his life. He gives Haraldur so much to drink
that he falls asleep and then sets fire to the house. Haraldur and his sons are killed.
Haraldur’s men return to Gormundur and Hilda with the news. Later Hilda marries the
emperor Sjúrður and gets the son Haraldur by him. Gormundur goes to Gardarike to
revenge his father’s death on Grimmar. (Var.: Grimmar tries to stop Gormundur’s ship
by magic). Grimmar and Gormundur fight, and both use magic against the other. Finally
Gormundur defeats Grimmar but spares his life and sends a message to Hilda. She sends
her son Haraldur to Gardarike, where he kills Grimmar. Gormundur succeeds Grimmar
as a king, and Haraldur returns to Ongland.
-/+ E99 Snæúlvs ríma (F): The king of Jorsaland is dying and decides that his younger
son Magnus will succeed him because Grimmar, the elder, is a bad man. After a quarrel
Magnus sends Grimmar out of the country. Later the two brothers propose to Svanhild,
daughter of the king of Uppland. She chooses Magnus, and they are married. They
return to Jorsaland and bring Svanhild’s brother, who marries Magnus’ sister. Grimmar,
who is still in Uppland, and Svanhild’s father lay plans to kill Magnus. The king invites
him for Christmas. In spite of Svanhild’s warnings Magnus accepts the invitation and
goes to Uppland with two of his sons, leaving the third, Sniolvur, behind. Magnus and
his men are given so much to drink that they fall asleep, and then Grimmar sets fire
to the house. Magnus and his sons manage to get out of the burning house. They fight
hard for their lives, but Grimmar kills them with treachery. Svanhild gets the news and
urges Sniolvur to take revenge. Sniolvur goes to Uppland accompanied by his cousin
Ringur. When they arrive they meet a man by the name of Harra-Svein who tells them
that Grimmar celebrates his daughter’s wedding. He helps them join the celebration in
disguise. They put the lights out and Sniolvur manages to get away with the bride while
Ringur gets involved in a fight. Sniolvur returns and helps him get out of the house.
Then he puts fire to the house, and his grandfather, the king of Uppland, is burnt to
death. Sniolvur and Ringur meet Grimmar and fight with him. Grimmar tries to kill
Sniolvur by treachery, but Ringur saves him and kills Grimmar. Sniolvur returns to
Jorsaland, and Ringur becomes king of Uppland.
+/- E140: Herr Hylleland henter sin jomfru (D, F, N):16 The king’s daughter has been
carried away by an ogress. The king promises to give his daughter to the man who can
bring her back, and Hylleland volunteers. He goes to the mountain where the ogress
lives, and she says he may spend one night with the princess, but in the morning he
must lose his life. Hylleland sleeps with the princess, and in the morning the ogress
arrives to kill him. Var. N: Hylleland kills the ogress and all her relatives. Var. D:
Hylleland uses runic magic to make the ogress change her mind, release the princess
and let them leave with rich gifts. Var. F: The princess and Hylleland make a wooden
dummy which the ogress tries to kill instead of Hylleland. He laughs at her mistake,
and this makes her relent. She lets them leave with rich gifts. When the king’s men see
16
It should be noted that this is the Danish version of the Norwegian Kappen Illugjen
and the Faroese Kappin Illhugi. The name of the princess is Hillelille (little Hild) in the
Norwegian version and Hilda in the Faroese one. In these ballads Illugjen/Illhugen
comes close to the role of the Jarl of Orkney in the Hildina Ballad, whereas the king’s
evil counselor (Björn) plays the role of Hiluge in the Shetlandic ballad. These Danish,
Norwegian, and Faroese ballads are closely related to Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra (see, for
example, Liestøl 1915 and Erlingsson 1975, with conflicting interpretations about the
relationship between this fornaldarsaga and related ballads).
them return they want to attack the ogress, but Hylleland defends her. Var. D, F, N:
Hylleland and the princess are married.
- E162 (N): Venill fruva og Drembedrosi: A king remarries. His new wife, Drembedrosi,
is of giant kin, and she wants to marry her brother to her stepdaughter Venill. She
threatens to turn the girl into a barren tree if she does not accept. Venill is taken into
the mountain to celebrate her wedding. She tries to postpone the ceremony by various
means, and when it eventually takes place she pours out mead to the guests until
everyone falls asleep. She sets fire to the house and escapes. When she gets back home
she exposes her stepmother to her father the king, who kills Drembedrosi.
-/+ E164 Artal kongur í Atlandi (F): King Artal wants to ravage the country of king
Gudmund. He learns magic from a witch and marries her. He goes to Gudmund’s
country, kills him, and returns home. Hákun, foster-son to Gudmund, sets out to get
revenge. Artal and his wife try to stop him by a storm, but Hákun uses counter-magic
and gets ashore. He kills Artal and the witch. Ringarálvur, brother of the witch, arrives
to revenge his sister’s death. He fights with Hákun, but they find out that they are
brothers and make up. Ringarálvur goes to Atland to propose to Hilda, but she says
she would rather marry the earl of Langalund. Ringarálvur kills the earl and forces
Hilda to marry him. Holdi, the earl’s father, wants to revenge the death of his son. In
the ensuing battle Ringarálvur is victorious and kills Holdi and all his men. After this,
Ringarálvur goes to a giant’s cave. He fights with the giant, and by magic means
Ringarálvur wins the fight. He kills the giant and takes his gold.
(F) Jocular Ballads:
- F23 Sorte Iver (D, F, N): Iver Black is derided (Var. F: is turned down by the woman
he proposes to) because he is so black. He asks his mother how he might seduce a
certain woman*, Kirsten (Var. F: the one who turned him down), and his mother
advises him to pretend to be the clergyman. Dressed like the clergyman Iver is let into
Kirsten’s room and spends the night with her. In the morning he tells her who he is.
Var. D, N: She asks him to stay, for he is not so black after all.
[* Advice from a relative also in the Hildina Ballad.]
- F24 Germand smed og præstens datter (D, I, S): Germand the blacksmith proposes to
the clergyman’s daughter, but she rejects him spitefully, saying he is too dirty. Germand
asks his mother’s advice*. She tells him to go to the clergyman’s daughter disguised
(Var. D: as a blind man, Var. I: as an old woman, Var. I, S: as a beggar). In this disguise
Germand manages to get into the girl’s bed and sleep with her. In the morning he tells
her who he is. Var. D: She wants to marry him, but he says nobody will want her for a
wife now.
[* Advice from a relative also in the Hildina Ballad.]
3. The Hildina Ballad: Attempts at reconstruction

George Low wrote down the Hildina Ballad from William Henry’s lips without
knowing the Norn language spoken in the Shetlandic island of Foula, nor any
form of the Norn language for that matter. Moreover, it seems that the ballad
was quite worn out when Low found it. All this led to several problems, for
instance: words written down that maybe did not exist in Norn, a deficient
phonetic transcription of the words pronounced by Henry, or a mistaken
arrangement of the verses of the ballad. In other words, Low’s —and the
world’s— only extant version of the Hildina Ballad is not a reliable document.
For this reason, there were some early attempts to (re)elaborate a version closer
to a supposed original by scholars such as Svend Grundtvig, Axel Olrik, Moltke
Moe, or Sophus Bugge with the assistance of Jakob Jakobsen, a Faroese linguist
specialized in the Norn language of the Shetland Islands.17 However, it was
Marius Hægstad —the Norwegian author of the influential Vestnorske maalføre
fyre 1350— who took the lead in 1900 with the, so far, most comprehensive
linguistic study of the Hildina Ballad, titled Hildinakvadet med utgreiding um det
norske maal paa Shetland i eldre tid. In his study, Hægstad claimed that Low’s
main mistakes were: 1) Sometimes he divided one word into two or used
fragments of a word as if they were independent (e.g. vanna ro instead of vannaro
= vandaráð? vinaráð?); 2) Sometimes he created a word out of two independent
words (e.g. elonden instead of e londen = í löndum?); 3) In some cases, he split a
word in fragments and merged them into other words (e.g. vod lerdin instead of
17
Some interesting letters sent by Bugge either to Jakobsen or to Olrik about his plans
to publish a more reliable version of the Hildina Ballad can be found in Kruken (2004,
vol. 1, p. 212; vol. 2, pp. 562, 600, 608; vol. 3, pp. 738, 740, 743. The pages refer to the
parts of the letters where the Hildina Ballad is explicitly alluded to).
vodler din = völlr/völlin þinn?); and 4) In many instances, Low arranged the verses
of the ballad in a wrong way by putting a word in the previous or following verse
or by putting a verse in the previous or following stanza.
Although Hægstad managed to produce a linguistically much more reliable
interpretation of the Hildina Ballad than Low, in 1984 the Norwegian scholar
Eigil Lehmann tried to go one step further and normalize the ballad, drawing
inspiration from V. U. Hammershaimb’s etymological approach to the Faroese
language.18 As Lehmann (1984: 7–8) points out:
So tidleg som 1808 var visa [i.e. Hildina Ballad] prenta av ein James Headrik
[sic], i 1838 av nordmannen P.A. Munch. Andre som hev arbeidt med kvædet er
dansken Svend Grundtvig, nordmannen Sophus Bugge, færøyingen Jakob
Jakobsen, nordmannen Moltke Moe og dansken Axel Olrik. Desse hev mest bala
med å føra kvædet attende i gamalnorrøn form. Ei “attføring” etter Axel Olrik
frå 1898 er å finna i ei utgreiding um kvædet av dansken Hakon Grüner-Nielsen
i heidersskriftet til Gustav Indrebø 1939. Men mætaste arbeidet er gjort av
normannen Marius Hægstad i boki ‘Hildina-kvædet’, som kom ut år 1900. Han
hev like vel ikkje gjort nokon freistnad på “attføring” so som hine.
Ein freistnad som ikkje er gjord, men som me hev teke oss fyre i dette arbeidet,
er å føra kvædet yver i ei skriftform som knyter til norrøn tradisjon men er serleg
tilmåta til målføret – i so måte eit sydestykke til det som V.U. Hammershaimb
gjorde med Færøymålet.
In the following Table 1 we can see a comparison of Hægstad’s and Lehmann’s

attempts to reconstruct the Hildina Ballad from Low’s original version.
18
Although Faroese had a rich oral tradition, it lacked a consistent written form —or
any important form of written language for that matter— until Hammerhaimb, and
later Jakob Jakobsen, tried to create a normalized written Faroese based on several
etymological guidelines mainly inspired by Icelandic purism. A couple of interesting
anthropological approaches to the normalization process of modern Faroese can be
found in Wylie & Margolin (1981, esp. Chapter 4) and Nauerby (1996).
Table 1. Hildina Ballad: attempts at reconstruction
GEORGE LOW MARIUS HÆGSTAD EIGIL LEHMANN

(1774) (1900) (1984)
1. 1. 1.
Da vara Jarlin d’Orkneyar Da vara Iarlin o Orkneyar Dað var jarlin 'tá
For frinda sǐn spur de ro For frinda sǐn spurde ro, Orkneyar
Whirdi an skildè meun Whirdì an skildè meun Fyr frænda sín spurdi ráð
Our glas buryon burtaga. Or vannaro eidnar fuo- Hvorti hann skuldi
Or glasburyon burtaga meyen
Ó vandaráð hennar fá
(Ór glasborgin burttaga)
2. 2. 2.
Or vanna ro eidnar fuo “Tega du meun our Tegur dú meyn ór
Tega du meun our glas glasburyon, glasborgin
buryon Kere friendè min, Kæri frændi mín
Kere friendè min yamna Yamna meun eso vrildan Jamnan me’n hesor
men stiendu, verilden stendur
Eso vrildan stiendi gede Gede min vara to din.” Gedið mun varða til din.
min vara to din.
3. 3. 3.
Yom keimir cullingin Yom keimir eullingin Eðlingin kemur av leiðing
Fro liene burt From liene; heim
Asta Vaar hon fruen Burt asta vaar hon fruen
Hildina Hildina, Burtu stað var hon frún
Hemi stu mer stien. Hemi stu-mer stien. Hildina
Eyðin stóð meyarstein
4. 4. 4.
Whar an yaar elonden “Whar an yaar e londen Hvar hann jar í londom
Ita kan sadnast wo Ita kan sadnast wo, Hetta kann sannast á
An scal vara kundè An scal vara heindè wo Hann skal varða heingdur
Wo osta tre sin reithin osta tre, á hásta tré
ridna dar fro Sin reithin ridna darfro.” Sem rédin renna ífrá
5. 5. 6.
Kemi to Orkneyar Jarlin “Kemi to Orkneyar Iarlin, Hann gevur drottningin
Vilda mien sante Maunis Sante Maunus vilda mien, Kinnpustur undir kinn
I Orknian u bian sian I Orknian u bian sian, Fyr sannu fóru tárir
I lian far diar. I lian far di an.” Á hennar hvitrani kinn
6. 6. 5.
An gevè Drotnign kedn An gevè Drotnign Kemur til Orkneyar jarlin
puster Kednpuster onde kin; —sante Mognus vil dað
On de kin firsane furu Fir sane furu tworone mein—
Tworare wo eder Wo edner whitrane kidn. í Orkneyom ogh býr hann
Whitranè kidn. síðan
Í leiðang far dú enn’.
7. 7. 7.
In kimerin Jarlin In kimer in Iarlin Inn kjemer Orknøy-jarlen
U klapasse Hildina U klapa se Hildina onde Og klappar si Hildina
On de kidn quirto kidn; unde kinn:
Vult doch, fiegan vara “Quirto vult doch fiegan “Kvåre vilde du feigan
moch or fly din. vara vera
Moch or fy din?” Meg elder fa’er din?
8. 8. 8.
Elde vilda fiegan vara “Elde vild-a fiegan vara “Helder vilde eg feigan
Fy min u alt sin Fy min u alt sin ans vera
Ans namnu wo namn u wo; Får min og alt han å-
So minyach u ere min So min yach u ere min So skal eg og herren min
heve Orkneyar kingè ro. heve Yve Orknøyar lengje rå.”
Orkneyar lingè ro.
9. 9. 9.
Nu di skall taga dor Nu di skall taga dor yoch “Nú Dið skal taga Dor
yochwo wo and jog á hand
And u ria dor to U ria dor nir to strand, Ogh ríða Dor ni’r til
strandane nir U yilsa fy minu avon blit; strand
U yilsa fy minu avon An earni cumi i dora Ogh heilsa faðir mínom
Blit an ear ne cumi i dora band.” avarblítt
band. Han gerni komi á Dora
band
10. 10. 10.

Nu Swaran Konign Nu swara an Konign Nú svarað ‘om konungin
So mege gak honon i —so mege gak honon i —so migið gakk honom í
muthi muthi—: móti—
Whath ear di ho gane “Whath ear di ho gave Hvad eigir Dé að geva
mier mier Mér í dótturbóti?
I daute buthe. I daute-buthe?”
11. 11. 11.
Trettì merkè vath ru “Trettì merkè vath ru Trettí merkur ved reuðu
godle godle, golli
Da skall yach ger yo Da skall yach ger yo Dað skal jag dér ljá
U all de vara sonna less U allde vara sonnaless, Ogh aldri að vara
So linge sin yach liva mo. So linge sin yach liva sonolous
mo.” So leingi sem jag liva má
12. 12. 12.
Nu linge stug an konign Nu linge stug an Konign, Nú leingi stóð han
U linge wo a swo U linge wo an swo: konungin
Wordig vaar dogh mugè “Wordig vaar dogh mugè Ogh leingi á han sá:
sonè sonè; Verdig jar dog (mugi)
Yacha skier fare moga so Yach askier fare moga so. sonar
minde yach angan u frien Jag askir fyri mág að sjá.
Rost wath comman mier
to landa.
12b. 12b.
“So minde yach angan So mundi jag engan úfrín
ufrien rost, ráðst
Wath com an mier to Hoád komi han mér til
landa.” landa
13. 13. 13.
Nu swara Hiluge Nu swara Hiluge Nú svarað Illugi
Hera geve honon scam —hera geve honom —Herra gev’ onom
Taga di gild firre Hildina scam—: skamm!
Sin yach skall liga dor “Taga di gild firre Hildina Tagið Dé geld fyri
fram. Sin yach skall lega dor Hildina
fram: Sem jag vil legga Dor
fram
14. 14. 14.

Estin whaar u feur fetign Estin whaar u feur-fetign Hestin hvar og
Agonga kadn i sluge A gonga kadn i sluge,— ferfettingin
Feur fetign sin gonga Estin whaar u feur-fetign Að ganga kann í slóði
Kadn i pluge. Sin gonga kadn i pluge.” -----ferfettingin
sem ganga kann í plógi
15. 15. 15.
Nu stienderin Jarlin. Nu stiender in Iarlin Nú stendur han Jarlin
U linge wo an wo U linge wo an swo: Ogh leingi á han sá:
Dese mo eke Orknear “Dese mo eki Orknear, “Dessi má ekki Orkneyar
So linge san yach lava So linge san yach lava So leingi sem jag liva
mo. mo.”— má.”
16. 16. 16.
Nu eke tegaran san “Nu eke tegar an san sot, Nú ekki tegur han
Sot Koningn fyrin din Koningn fyrin din; samsátt
U alt yach an Hilhugin U alt yach an Hilhugin Konungin faðirin din
Widn ugare din arar. U garedin arar widn.” Og helt jag han Illugin
Á gerðin aðrar vinna
17. 17. 17.
Nu swarar an frauna Nu swarar an frauna Nú svarar ‘om frúen
Hildina Hildina, Hildina
U dem san idne i fro U dern san iden i fro: Í deim sama sinni frá:
Di slo dor a bardagana “Di slo a bardagana, “Dé sláið dor í
Dar comme ov sin mo. Dar comme ov sin mo!” bardaganom
Dar komi áv sem má”.
18. 18. 18.
Nu Jarlin an genger Nu Iarlin an genger i Nú jarlin han gangur á
I vadlin fram vadlin fram vallin
U kadnar sina mien U kadnar sìna mien, Fram ogh kannar sína
Geven skeger i Orkneyan. Gever skeger i Orkneyan menn:
Gævi skeggir í Orkneyum
19. 19. 19.
Han u cummin “Han u cummin “Han er komin (við
In u vod lerdin In u vodler din; úfriði)
Fronde fans lever Frinde hans lever Inn á vollin din;
Vel burne mun. Velburne mien.” Frændi f(aðir din) s leybir
Velborni menn.”
20. 20. 20.

Nu fruna Hildina Nu fruna Hildina, Nú frúen Hildina
On genger i vadlin fram On genger i vadlin fram: Hon gengur í vollin fram
Fy di yera da ov man dum “Fy di yera da ov “Faðir, Dið gerið dað av
Dora di spidlaikì mire mandum dora, manndón Dora:
man. Di spidla ikì mira man.” Dið spillið ekki meiri
mann.”
21. 21. 21.
Nu sware an Hiluge Nu sware an Hiluge Nú svarar hann Illugi
Crego gevan a scam —erego gev ana scam—: —Herreguð gevi honom
Gayer an Jarlin frinde “Yayer an Iarlin frinde din skamm—
Din an u fadlin in. An u fadlin in.” “Heghar han Jarlin frændi
din
Han er fallin han.”
22. 22. 22.
Nu fac an Jarlin dahuge Nu fac an Iarlin dahuge Nú fakk 'an jarlin da
Dar min de an engine gro —dar minde an engin høggið
An east ans huge ei gro—. Dar mundi han eingin
Fong ednar u vaxhedne An cast ans huge ei fong grjó
more neo. ednar, Han kastað hans huguð í
U vaks hedne mere meo. fang hennar
Ogh vaks henni meiri
mjó.
23. 23. 23.
Di lava mir gugna “Di lava mir yugna, “Dé lovað mér hjónagift
Yift bal yagh fur o lande Yift bal yagh fur o landi; Bel jag fór áv landi
Gipt mir nu fruan Gipt mir un fruan Gipt mér nú frúen
Hildina Hildina Hildina
Vath godle u fasta bande. Vath godle u fasta Ved golli ogh fastabandi.”
bande.”
24. 24. 24.
Nu bill on heve da yals “Nu billon heve day alty “Nú bel han hevir dað
Guadnè borè u da kadn uadn è borè, jarlsbarn borið
Sina kloyn a bera do skall U da kadn sina kloyna Ogh dað kann sín kláðin
Fon fruna Hildina verka bera; bera
wo sino chelsina villya. Do skall hon fruna Dá skal hon frúen
Hildina Hildina
Verka wo sino chelsina Ad sjalvs sína vilja gera.”

villya.”
25. 25. 25.
Hildina liger wo chaldona Hildina liger wo chaldona Hildina liggur á
U o dukrar u grothè Wo dukrar u grothè; tjaldenom
Min du buga till Min du buga till Eughað druknar í grádi
bridlevsin bridlevsin, Me’n dei búga til
Bonlother u duka dogha. Hon lothir u duka dogha. brulleubsins
Í drekka dágha hon ládur.
26. 26. 26.
Nu Hildina on askar Nu Hildina on askar —Nú---Hildina
feyrin Feyrin sien: —Askar faðirin sin
Sien di gava mier livè “Di gava mier live ou —Dið gevið mér leyvi
Ou skinka vin skinka vin, Að skeinka ogh gýda vín.
Ou guida vin. Ou guida vin.”
27. 27. 27.
Duska skinka vin, u guida “Du ska skinka vin “Dú skal---
vin U guida vin; —Skeinka ogh gýda vín;
Tinka dogh eke wo Tinka dagh eke wo Iarlin, Teink dog ekki á jarlin
Jarlin an gougha here din. An gougha here din.” Enn góða herri din.”
28. 28. 28.
Watha skilde tinka “Wath a skilde tinka wo “Hóad jag skuldi teinka
Wo Jarlin gouga herè min Iarlin Á jarlin góða herri min
Hien minde yagh inga An gouga herè min, Hé’n mundi jag einga
forlskona Hien mindi yagh inga fárskonna bera
Bera fare kera fyrin min. forlskona bera Fyri kæra faðir min.”
Fare kera fyrin min.”
29. 29. 29.
Da gerde on fruna Da gerde on fruna Dað gerdi hon frúen
On bar se mien ot On bar se mien ot; Hon bar sé méðin ád
On soverin fest, On sover in fest fysin, Hon sávir inn fyst faðir
Fysin u quarsin sat. Fysin u quar sin sat. sin
Ogh hvar sem —sad.
30. 30. 30.
Da gerde un fruna Da gerde un fruna Dað gerdi hon frúen
On bard im ur On bar dim ur hadlin Hon bar deim ór hallin

Hadlin burt sien on burt; burt
laghdè Sien on laghdè gloug Síðan hon lagdi
Gloug I otsta jatha port. I otsta jath a port. glóðhough
Í otsta gadaport.
31. 31. 31.
Nu iki visti an Hiluge Nu iki visti an Hiluge Nú ekki visti han Illugi
Ike ov till do Ike ov till do Ekki áv til dá
Eldin var commin i lut Eldin var commin i Eldin var komin í
U stor u silkè sark ans lutustor lopthúsdor
smo. U sìlkisark ans smo. Ogh silkiserk hans smá.
32. 32. 32.
Nu leveren fram Nu lever en fram Hiluge Nú leybur fram han Illugi
Hiluge du kereda “Du keresta fraun “Dú kæri dað, frúen
Fraun Hildina du Hildina, Hildina,
Gevemir live u gre Du geve mir live u gre.” Dú gevi mér lív ogh
grið.”
33. 33. 33.
So mege u gouga gre “So mege u gouga gre “So migið ogh góða
Skall dogh swo Skall dogh swo, Grið skalt dog s(j)á
Skall lathì min heran Sin shall lathi min heran ---lad mín herran
I bardagana fwo. I bardagana fwo. í bardagan fá.”
34. 34. 34.
Du tuchtada lide undocht Du tuchta da lide “Dú tókti dað lídið um
yach undocht yach dótt jag
Swo et sa ans bugin bleo Swo etsa ans bugin bleo; Sá hetsa hans búgin bljó;
Dogh casta ans huge Dogh casta ans huge i Dog kastað hans huguð í
I mit fung u vexemir mise mit fung, mitt fang
meo. U vexe mir mire meo.” Ogh vaks mér meiri mjó.”
35. 35. 35.
Nu tachtè on heve Nu tachtè on heve Nú takti hon yvi følska
fwelsko fwelsko ans hans
Bo vad mild u stien. Bá ved møld og stein:
Ans bo vad mild u stien
“Dogh skall aldè mirè “Dog skal aldri meir
Dogh skall aidè misè
Koningnsens konungsins
Koningnsens Vadne vilda mien.” Barni valda mein.”
Vadna vilda mien.
4. The Hildina Ballad: Attempts at translation

As mentioned before, the first scholar who tried to make some sense of the
Hildina Ballad was Peter Andreas Munch in Geographiske og historiske notitser om
Orknoërne og Hetland (1839), but he only managed to render about half of the
ballad into Old Norse and Danish. It was not until Hægstad’s study in 1900 that
a more or less reliable version of the Hildina Ballad became available. As a matter
of fact, Hægstad’s version has been the main reference for all the translations of
the ballad into a few modern languanges. So far, there is one German translation
by J. E. Poestion (1914), two Norwegian (nynorsk) translations by Marius
Hægstad himself (1901) and Eigil Lehmann (1984), and three renderings into
English by W. G. Collingwood (1908), Norah Kershaw (1921),19 and Graeme
Davis (2007).20 In contrast to the German and Norwegian translations, the
English versions have been published more than once.21
The three tables below offer a comparison of the ballad’s translations,
following a chronological order.
19
However, Kershaw only translated the first twelve stanzas of the ballad.
20
Davis’s translation can also be considered an attempt at creative reconstruction or
rewriting, as he offers quite a free version of the ballad.
21
Apart from more recent online editions, Collingwood’s translation has also been
published by Graham & Graham (1998), whereas Kershaw’s rendering was published as
well by Leach (1946) and Davis (2007). Davis’s own version was also published by the
newspaper The Orcadian on January 3, 2008. Oddly enough, Syndergaard (1995) only
mentions Leach’s English version, which, as mentioned above, is actually Kershaw’s.
Table 2. Hildina Ballad: attempts at translation (I)
SOPHUS BUGGE MARIUS HÆGSTAD W. G. COLLINGWOOD

(c. 1897) (1901) (1908)
1. 1. 1.
Það [sic] var jarlinn af Det var jarlen or It was the Earl of Orkney
Orkneyjum Orknøyom, Of his friend has taken rede
Af frænda sína spurði Han spurde sin frende Whereby to bring a maiden
ráð: um raad, Forth of her perilous need
Hvert hann skyldi Um han skulde den møyi —
meyna or glasborginni Or vanden hennar faa, — From the broch of glass to
burttaka Or glasborgi burt- save her.
Eða vinaráð fá. taka
2. 2. 2.
“Tekr þú meyna or “Teker du møyi or “Take ye the maid from the
glasborginni, glasborgi, broch of glass,
Kæri frændi minn, Kjære venen min, Dearest friend of mine,
Jamnan meðan æ svo So lenge som denne And aye as long as the
veröldin stendr verdi stender, world may stand
Getit mun vera til þín.” Skal spyrjast mannskapen Shall be told this deed of
din.” thine.”
3. 3. 3.
[Her] kemr øðlinginn Heim kjemer edlingen Homeward comes the noble
frá leiðinni [heim], Fraa leiding med sine king
burt á stað var hon menn. From the hosting as he
frúin Hildina, Burte og vekk var fru rides,
[tómr] stoð Hildina; But gone is the lady
meyarsteinn. Heime stykmôr stend. Hildina;
At home her step-dame
bides.
4. 4. 4.
“Hvar hann er í “Kvar han er I landi “Whoever in all the land be
landinu, Dette kann sannast paa, he
Ef þat kann sannast á: Han skal verta hengd I Is guilty of this thing,
Hann skal verða hengdr det høgste tre He shall be hanged on the
á hæsta tré Som rotom renner ifraa.” highest tree
Sem rótinn rennr þar That forth of root may
frá.” spring!”
5. 5. 5.
“Kemr til Orkneya [sic] “Kjemer jarlen til “If the earl be come to
jarlinn, Orknøyar, Orkney,
—valda man, Sankti St. Magnus kann styra St. Magnus will keep him
Magn(u)s— det so: there,
Í Orkneyjum þér bíðið Han vert der verande all For his home is aye in
síðan [bana] si tid; Orkney;
Í leiðangs-ferð í ár.” Far difor etter han no.” Then forth with thy hosting
fare.”
6. 6. 6.
Hann gefr Daa gav han dronningi Whereat he gave the queen
dróttningunni Ein kinnhest under kinn; a clout
Kinnpúst under kinn; Med sanno rann det On the cheek in wrath and
Fyrsandi fóru tárir taaror spite,
Á hennar hvítrinni Paa hennar kvitare kinn. And O but the tears went
kinn. coursing
Adown her cheek so white.
7. 7. 7.
Inn kemr hann jarlinn Inn kjemer den jarlen, In came the earl and
Ok klappar sær Hildina Klappar Hildina under fondled
undir kinn: kinn: Hildina’s cheek in glee: —
“Hvárt vilt þú feigan “Kven vil du no feig skal “Now whether of us are ye
vera vera, fainer of—
Mik eða föður [sic] Eg eller fa’er din?” Your father, or of me?”
þinn?”
8. 8. 8.
“Heldr vilda’k feigan “Heller vilde eg fâr var “I would sooner be fain of
vera föður [sic] minn, feig my father
Ok alt sem hans nafn á; Og alt som hans namn er And of aught that he can
Svá mun ek ok, herra paa; say,
minn, Daa skulde eg og min So shall I and my lord have
Hava Orkneya lengi ráð. hæve herre Orkney
Orknøyar lenge raa”. To rule for many a day.
9. 9. 9.
Nú þér skal taka yðr No skal du taka ein “Now shalt thou take thy
hauk á hönd, gangar fram horse in hand
Ok ríða yðr niðr til Og rida deg ned til And down to the water
stranda; strand, wend,
Ok heilsa föður mínum Og helsa fâr min ovende And greet my father fair and
afar-blítt blidt; blithe;
Hann er nýkominn í Maa henda de semjast He will gladly be thy
yðru [l]andi. kann.” friend.”
10. 10. 10.
Nú svarar hann No svara konongen Then said the king —for a
konungrinn, —so mykje gjekk honom many
Svo mikit gekk honum imot— Came riding to meet him
í móti: “Kva hev du aa gjeva meg there—
“Hvat eruð þit í hugi I dotterbot?” “What gift hast thou gotten
Gefa mér í dóttur- to give me
bótum? In fee for my daughter fair?”
11. 11. 11.
“Þrjátíu merkr við “Tretti merker I Thirty marks of gold so red
rauðugulli, raudegull, Is the gift that I will give;
Þat skal ek gera hjá, Det skal du hjaa meg faa, Forbye for a son ye never
Ok aldri [skaltu] vera Og aldri vera sonelaus, shall lack
sonalauss, So lenge som eg liva The while that I may live.”
Svá lengi sem ek lifa maa.”
má.”
12a. 12. 12.
Nú lengi stóð hann No lenge stod den Now long stood the King
konungrinn, konongen, before him,
Ok lengi á hann sá: Og lenge paa honom And long on the earl looked
“Verðugr vart þú mági, saag: he:—
syni, “Du er jamgod med “Well worth many a son art
Ek á skarð fyri mága.” mange søner, thou!
Eg ynskjer me semjast I would that it so might be!
maa.
12b. 13. 13a.
“[Vilduð þér frúna [Og fer det som eg [“When Orkney’s earl and
Hildina ynskjer det, Norway’s king
Geva mér til handa] At du gjeng meg til In league together stand
Svá mundi [o]k engan hande,] So need I fear no foe soe’er
frændorrust Daa skulde eg ingen uven Might come within my
Þóat koma mér til ræddast, land.”]
landa.” Um han kom meg til
lande.”
13. 14. 13b.

Nú svaraði Hillugi, No svarar Hilluge Then up and spoke Illugi —
Herra [Guð] gefi —Herre, gjev honom The Lord to him give
honum skamm: skam—: shame!—
“Takið þit gjöld fyri “Tak vederlag for Hildina “This fee shall ye take for
Hildina Som eg vil leggja fram: Hildina
Sem ek skal leggja yðr As I shall set the same:—
fram.”
14. 15. 14.
Hestarnir verða Kvar ein hest og “Every horse and four-foot
fjörutíu, firføting, beast
Er ganga kann í slóði, So før at ei horv han That trails a load [in snow];
[Hestarnir verða] drog,— Every horse and four-foot
fjörutíu, Kvar ein hest og firføting beast
Sem ganga kann í Som ganga kann for That in the plough can go.”
plógi.” plog.”
15. 16.
15.
Nú stendur [sic] hann No stender han, jarlen,
Then stood the earl before
jarlinn, Og lenge paa honom
him
Ok lengi á hann sá: saag:
And a long look on him
“Þessi má ekki “Dette vinn ikkje
cast:
Orkneyjar, Orknøyar,
“Never shall Orkney grant
Svá lengi ek lifa má. So lenge eg liva maa.
that gift
The while my life may last!”
16. 17. 16.
Nú ekki tekr hann No tek han ikkje mot “Now never more his troth
samsátt, semja god, and trust
Konungrinn faðir þinn; Konongen fa’er din. Will the king thy father
Ok helt ek hann Eg tenkte meg og at yield;
Hillugin Hilluge And sore I doubt me Illugi
Vildi ok gerast herra Ber anna uti sitt sinn.” Would plough his
þinn.” neighbour’s field.”
17. 18. 17.
Nú svarar hon frúin No svarar fru Hildina And the lady Hildina
Hildina Or døri si inne ifraa: answered him,
Í því sömu [s]inni ífrá: As behind the door she sat:
“Þit sláið yðr í “So fær de stridast med “Then meet him in the
bardagana, odd og egg, battle,
Þar komi af sem má.” Det gange av som det And come what will of
maa.” that!”
18. 19. 18.
Nú jarlinn hann gengr í No jarlen han gjeng paa Forth goes the earl to the
völlinn fram, vollen fram field of war
Ok kannar sína menn: Og kannar sine menn, And orders his array—
“Göfgir skeggjar í Dei gjæve skjeggjar i The peaceful Orkney-
Orkneyjum, Orknøyom, beardies
[verjast viljum vér [velborne menn]. [For the fearsome battle-
enn].” play]
19. 20. 19.
“Hann er komin [med “Kongen, han er komen; “He is marching through
[sic] ófriði] Paa vollen din han stend. thy fields, lady,
In [sic] á völlinn þín; Venen hans driv paa flugt [He has broken garth and
Frændi [h]ans hleypir Dei velborne menn.” wall,]
Velbornir menn.” And all his friends are
following
And thy noble folk they
fall!”
20. 21. 20.
Nú frúin Hildina No fruva Hildina Now lady Hildina hies her
Hon gengr í völlin Ho gjenger i vollen fram: Forth to the field of
fram: “Fâr, aa gjer no eit strife:—
“Faðir, þit gerið þat af manndomsverk, “Father, for manhood’s sake
manndómi yðar, Og spill ikkje fleire forebear,
Þit spill’ ekki meira mann!” And stay this waste of life!”
manna.”
21. 22. 21.
Nú svarar hann Hillugi, No svarar han Hilluge Then up and spoke Illugi —
[H]erra Gúð [sic] gefi —Herre gud gjev honom The Lord God him
honom skam [sic]: skam—: requite!—
“Þegar hann jarlinn “Ja, naar jarlen, venen “No sooner than the earl,
frændi þinn, din, thy love,
Hann er fallin [sic] Ogso er fallen, han.” Has fallen in the fight.”
enn.”
22. 23. 22.

Nú fekk hann No fekk jarlen Then gat the earl his death-
jarlin[um] þat höggit, daudehogg stroke—
Þar mundi hann enginn —det saaret kunde ei No hand could heal him
grœða, gro— more.
Hann kasti hans höfði í Han kasta hans hovud I He cast his head into her
fang hennar, fanget hennar, arms,
Ok vexti henni meiri Daa voks det stort And O but her heart was
mœði. hennar mod. sore!
23. 24. 23.

“Þit lofaði mér góða “De lova meg gifta, “Grant me to be the
giftu, Um djerv eg fór or lande. bridegroom,
Bili ek fór ór landi: Gjev meg no fru Hildina So bold have I followed
Gipt mér nú frúna Med gull og festebande.” thee;
Hildina To the lady Hildina wed me
Við gulli ok festar now
bandi.” With gold and festing-fee.”
24. 25. 24.
“Nú bili hon hefir þat “No bidlund have du til “Forbear thou then till the
jarlsbarnit borit, barn er boret bairn be born,
Ok þat kann sín klæðin Og det kann sine klæde And fair in swaddling dight;
at bera, bera, Then shall lady Hildina
Þá skalt [h]on frúna Daa skal fruva Hildina order this
Hildina Faa sjølvs sin vilje gjera.” Even as she deemeth right.”
Verka á sinum [sic]
sjálfssína vilja.”
25. 26. 25.
Hildina liggr á tjaldinu, Hildina ligger paa tjeldet, On tapestry fair Hildina lay,
Ok hon hjúfrar ok Og augo dimme ho græt, Her eye was dim with dole;
grætr: Men daa dei bur til But while they dressed the
Meðan þeir búa til brudlaupet, bridal-feast
brullaupsins Ho daae I drykken læt. She brewed a drowsy bowl.
Bæði daga ok dökkar
[n]ætr.
26. 27. 26.
Nú [kemr hon] Ho Hildina ho beder Then up and spoke Hildina,
Hildina, Fa’er sin;
Hon æskir föður [sic] “Du gjeve meg løyve aa And prayed her father dear:
sinn: skenkja vin, —
“Þér gefid [sic] mér leyfi Aa fylla i vin.” “Now grant me leave to fill
At skenkja [mjöð] ok the cup
gjóta vín?” And pour the wine so
clear.”
27. 28. 27.
“Þú skalt [hafa leyfi] “Du skal skenkja vin “And who but thou should
At skenkja [mjöð] ok Og fylla i vin; fill the cup,
gjóta vín, Men tenk no ikkje paa And pour for us the wine?
Þenk þú ekki á jarlinn jarlen, But think no more upon
Þann göfga herra þinn. Den gode herren din.” the earl,
That worthy lord of thine.”
28. 29. 28.
“Hvat skyld ek þenkja á “Um eg tenkte paa “Upon the earl, my worthy
jarlinn, jarlen, lord,
Göfga herra minn, Den gode herren min, Though ever should I think,
Heðan mundi ek engra Eg vilde daa ingi svik- Yet shall I bring my father
forlaganna bera kanna bera dear
Fyri kæra föðurinn [sic] Fram fyre fa’er min.” No draught of ill to drink.”
minn.”
29. 30. 29.
Þat gerði hon, frúin Det gjorde fru Hildina, Thus wrought the lady
Hildina, Ho fram den mjøden Hildina—
Hon bar svá mjöðinn bar; She bore the wine around,
at; Ho svæver so fast inn And fast asleep her father
Hon svæfir hann fast fâren, lay,
föður [sic] sinn, Fâren og alle som var. With his folk upon the
Ok hvern sem [inni] ground.
sat.
30. 31. 30.
Þat gerði hon frúin Det gjorde Hildina, Thus wrought she: —her
Hildina, Ho bar deim or halli father and all his folk
Hon bar þeim or burt; Forth of the hall she bore
höllinni burt; Sidan lagde ho eld og Thereafter fire she laid alow
Siðan hon lagði glod To the outermost gate of
glœðurnar I ytste op I port. the door.
I [sic] ýtsta gátt á port.
31. 32. 31.

Nú ekki vissi hann No ikkje visste han And nothing Illugi heeded,
Hillugi Hilluge And nought he knew at all,
Ekki af til þá: Noko av til daa Till the fire came in at the
Eldrinn var kominn í Elden var komen i loft-house door,
loft ok stóð lofthusdør On his silken sark so small.
Á silkiserkinn smá. Og silkeserken hans
smaa.
32. 33. 32.
Nú hleypr hann fram No springer han Hilluge Then up Illugi started,
Hillugi fram, [And the flame around was
[Hann vissi sér engi [stod uti borge-led]: rife]:
lið]: “Aa, kjæraste du fru “Thou dearest lady Hildina,
“Þú geri þat, frúin Hildina, O grant me peace and life!”
Hildina, Du gjeve meg liv og
Þú gefi mér líf ok grið.” grid!”
33. 34. 33.
“Svá mikinn ok góðan “Like mykje og like god “So much of good peace
grið grid shalt thou behold,
Skalt þú [af mér] sjá: Skal du no sjaa, [To ease thee in thy pain;]
Sem þú lét minn herran Som du sjølv lét herren As thou thyself wouldst give
Í bardaganum fá. min my lord
I striden dykkar faa. Upon the battle-plain.
34. 35. 34.
Þú þóttist þar lítið um, Det tyktest deg lite, “Little ye recked though
þóat ek sá at, endaa eg yonder I looked
[Ek] sá hans búkinn Saag kroppen hans all i On his body all bloodied
blœða blod, o’er,
Þú kastaðir hans höfði í Du kasta hans hovud i But cast his head into my
mitt fang mitt fang, arms,
Ok vextir mér meira Daa voks det stort mitt And O but my heart was
mœðu.” mod.” sore!”
35. 36. 35.
Nú þakt hon hefir No tekt ho heve oska And as she took both
fölska hans hans mould and stone
Bæði við mold ok stein: Baade med mold og On the embers for to
stein. fling:—
“Þú skalt aldri meira “Du skal aldri meir “Never now shalt thou work
Konungsins barni valda konongsens thy evil will
mein.” Barn valda mein.” On the daughter of a king!”
Table 3. Hildina Ballad: attempts at translation (II)
J. E. POESTION NORAH KERSHAW EIGIL LEHMANN

(1914) (1921) (1984)
1. 1. 1.
Es war ein Jarl auf den It was the Earl from Da va jarlen tå Orknøyar
Orkneys; Orkney, Han spurte sin frænde
Er holte beim Freund And counsel of his kin um råd
Bescheid, sought he, Korte han skulde møyæ
Ob wohl er aus den Nöten Whether he should the Or vandará hennar få —
Erlösen soll die Maid maiden (or glasborgjæ
Und aus der Glasburg Free from her misery. henne taka):
nehmen.
2. 2. 2.
“Nimm, lieber Freund, “If thou free the maid “Teker du møyæ or
aus der Glasburg from her gleaming hall, glasborgjæ
Die Maid du nur; dann O kinsman dear of mine, Kjære frænde min fræg
geht Ever while the world shall Jamnan med denne
Dein Ruf von Mund zu last verdæ ho stender
Munde, Thy glory still shall Skal gjetord ganga um
So lange die Welt shine.” deg.”
besteht.”
3. 3. 3.
Der König kehrte vom Home came the king, Edlingjen kjemer av
Kriege Home from the ship's leidang heim
Zurück in die Lande sein; levy —tôtte da skamm og
Verschwunden ist Frau The lady Hildina she was mein—
Hildina, gone, Burte stad var fru
Die Stiefmutter steht And only her stepmother Hildina
allein. there found he. Øyden stod møyarstein.
4. 4. 4.
“Wo immer er weilt in “Be he in whatever land, “Kvar han er i londom
den Landen, This will I prove true, —detta kann sananst
—das schwör’ ich! — ihr He shall be hanged from på—
Genoß the highest tree Han skal verta hengd i
Soll hängen am höchsten That ever upward grew.” Da hægsta tre
Baume, Som røter renna ifrå.”
Der Wurzeln je entsproß.”
5. 5. 6.
“Kommt heim der Jarl “If the Earl but come to Alt so gjever han
nach Orkney, Orkney, dronningjæ
Dann wirkt’s Sankt Saint Magnus will be his Kinnpuster unde kinn
Magnus aus, aid, For sanno runno tåror
Daß bort er auch immer And in Orkney ever he På hennar kvitare kinn.
bleibe; will remain—
Drum zieh’ aufs neue zum Haste after him with
Strauß!” speed.”
6. 6. 5.
Der Königin verseßt er The King he stood before “Kjemer til Orknøyar
Hierauf einen his lady, jarlen
Backenstreich, And a box on her ear gave —sante Magnus valdar
Daß über die weißen he,— mein;
Wangen And all adown her lily I Orknøyarne då bur han
Ihr Tränen sließen white cheeks sidan
sogleich.— The tears did flow truly. Du fare i leidang enn’.”
7. 7. 7.
Der Jarl tritt zu Hildina The Earl he stood before Inn kjemer Orknøy-
Und streichelt die Wange Hildina, jarlen
ihr: And a pat on her cheek Og klappar si Hildina
“Wem wünschest den gave he,— unde kinn:
Tod du lieber, “O which of us two “Kvare vilde du feigan
Dem Vater oder mir?” wouldst thou have lie vera
dead, Meg elder fa’er din?
Thy father dear of me?
8. 8. 8.
“Des Todes sei lieber “I would rather see my “Helder vilde eg feigan
mein Vater father doomed, vera
Mit all seiner Sippe dann, And all his company, Far min og alt han å —
Daß lang ich mit meinem If so my own true lord So skal eg og herren min
Gebieter and I Yve Orknøyar lengje rå.”
Auf Orkney herrschen May long rule in Orkney.
kann.
9. 9. 9.
Doch nehmet ein Roß “Now do thou take in “No skal De taka Dykk
und reitet hand thy steed, øyk å hånd
Zum Strande, damit Ihr And ride thou down to Og ri’a Dykk ned til
vielleicht, the strand; strand
Wenn freundlich Ihr And do thou greet my Og helsa far minom
grüßt meinen Vater, sire full blithely, avar-blidt
Euch noch miteinander And gladly will he clasp Gjedna kjem han i
vergleicht.” thy hand.” Dykkar band.”
10. 10. 10.
Dem Jarl entgegnet der The King he now made Då svara ‘om konungjen
König answer —so mykje rann honom
—er war nicht so hart —So sore displeased was i hug—
gesinnt—: he— “Kva heve du å gjeva
“Was habt Ihr wohl als “In payment for my meg
Buße daughter Atter i dotterbot?”
Zu geben mir für mein What will thou give to
Kind?” me.”
11. 11. 11.
“Wohl dreizig Mark ich “Thirty marks of the red “Tretti merker med
Euch gerne gold, raude gull
In rotem Golde geb’; This to thee will I give, Skal du hjå meg få
Auch sollt einen Sohn Ihr And never shalt thou lack Og aldri å vera sonalaus
niemals a son So lengje som eg leva
Vermissen, so lang ich As long as I may live.” må.”
leb’.”
12. 12. 12.
Gar lange stand der König Now long stood the King, No lengje sto han
Und lange sah er ihn an. And long on the Earl konungjen
“Du wärst schon wert mir gazed he:— Og lengje på han såg:
viel Söhne; “O thou art worth a host “Jamgod er du med
Drum schlag’ ich ein; of sons; vaksen son
wohlan!” Thy boon is granted Og havande mann til
thee.” måg.”
12b.
“Vil du vera i sona-stad
Og ganga meg til handa,
Då ræddest eg ingjen
fiendsmann
Um han kjøme hjå meg
til landa.”
13. 13.
Hilugi sprach dagegen Då svara han Illugje
—Schmach ih, daß er es —Herregud gjeve
tat!—: honom skamm!—
“Nehmt Buße für Hildina “Tak De bot fyre Hildina
Nur so, wie ich Euch rat: Som eg vil leggja Dykk
fram.
14. 14.
An Pferden und an Hesten kvar og
Ochsen, firføttingjen
Was taugt als Som ganga kann i slogje,
Pfluggespann, Hesten kvar og
An Pferden und an firføttingjen
Ochsen, Som ganga kann i
Was Egge ziehen kann.” plogje.”
15. 15.
Es steht der Jarl gar lange, Stender no lengje jarlen
Blickt lang auf den König Og lengje på han såg:
hin: “Detta ber ikkje
“Das können die Orkneys Orknøyar
nimmer, So lengje som eg leva
So lang ich am Leben må.”
bin.”
16. 16.
“Dein Vater will nichts “No teker’an ikkje ved
wissen samsått
Von billigent Vergleich. Konungjen fa’er din,
Wie ich’s gedacht hab’, No meinar eg at han
spielte Illugjen
Hilugi uns diesen På onnorleis åtgjerd
Streich.” vinn.”
17. 17.
Dem Jarl darauf entgegnet Då svarar honom fru
Hildina aus ihrem Haus: Hildina
“Dann schreitet lieber I same sinne som so:
zum Kampfe, “Da må de slåst i
fällt er wie immer aus!” bardagje
Og koma kva koma må.
18. 18.
Der Jarl geht auf den No jarlen gjenger å
Kampfplaß vollen fram
Und ordnet seine Schar, Og kannar sine menn.
Die kecken Orkney- Gjæve skjeggjar i
Mannen Orknøyom
[erprobt in Sturrm und Verja seg anna sinn.
Gefahr]
19. 19.
“Es drang in deine Felder “No er Illugjen komen
Der König ein voll Inn på vollen din.
Wucht, Frænden hans fa’ er din
Wohledle Männer treibt løyper
auch Velborne Orknøy-
Sein Freund schon in die menn.”
Flucht.”
20. 20.
Hildina geht auf das Hildina gjenger i vollen
Schlachtfeld, fram
Den Vater anzuflehn: Og talar til fa’eren sin:
“Seid menschlich nun und “Fa’er De gjere da åv
laßt nicht manndom Dykkar
Mehr Männer zugrunde De spille ‘kje meire
gehn!” menn.”
21. 21.
Jedoch Hilugi —Schmach No svarar han Illugje
ihm!— —Herregu’ gjeve honom
Er wendete sogleich ein: skamm—
“Da muß vorerst dein “Ikkje fyrr jarlen herren
Freund noch, din
Der Jarl, gefallen sein.” Fyrst er fallen han.”
22. 22.
Er fiel, zu Tod verwundet. So gav han jarlen da
Den Kopf warf in den hoggje
Schoß Som ingjen mann kunde
Hilugi selber Hildinen. grøda,
Da ward ihr Grimm wohl Han kasta hans hovud i
groß. fangje hennar
Då gjordest for stor
hennar møda.
23. 23.
“Versprech sie mir, dann Du heve lova meg
folg ich hjonagift
Euch kühn auch außer Dann tid eg fór åv lande.
Land. Gjev meg no fruva
Gebt mir Hildina zum Hildina
Weibe Med gull og med
Und Gold als festarbande.
Unterpfand!”
24. 24.
“Geduld, bis das Kind Fyst ho heve da jarlsbarn
geboren bore
Und Kleider trägt, mein Å da kann sine klæ’e
Freund! bera
Dann soll Hildina Då skal ho fruva Hildina
handeln, Åt sjølvs sinom vilja
Wie ihr’s am besten gjera.
scheint.”
25. 25.
Hildina liegt auf dem Hildina ligger på
Teppich bruratjeld
Und weint sich die Augen Auga tårar og græter
krank; Medan dei bur til
Dann mischt sie für die brudlaupsbord
Hochzeit I drikka dåe ho læter.
Schlafkräuter in den
Trank.
26. 26.
Nun bittet Frau Hildina: Inn so kjemer ho
“O, lieber Vater, mein, Hildina
Erlaub mir einzuschenken Og skjer Fa’eren sin:
Und nachzufüllen den “Fa’er De gjeve meg
Wein!” løyve
Å skjenkja og bjoda vin.”
27. 27.
“Schenk ein den Wein Du skal hava løyve mitt
und fülle Te skjenkja og bjoda vin;
Ihn nach auch, willst du’s Tenk då ikkje på jarlen
gern; Dan gode herren din.”
Doch denk an den Jarl
nicht weiter,
An deinen gütigen
Herrn!”
28. 28.
“Sollt’ an den Jarl ich Um eg so skulde tenkja
denken, På jarlen, go’ herren min
An meinen gütigen So munde eg ingjæ får-
Herrn, skål bera
Liegt schädlichen Trunk For kjære fa’er min.”
zu reichen
Dem Vater mit doch
fern.”
29. 29.
Dies tat auch Frau Da gjorde ho fruva
Hildina; Hildina
Sie trug den Met herein Ho bar dan mjø’en åt
Und schläferte fest den So svæver ho fyst fa’er
Vater sin
Und all die andern dort Og kvar som inne sat.
ein.
30. 30.
Dann trug sie aus der Da gjorde ho fruva
Halle Hildina
Hinaus noch Mann für Ho bar deim or hallæ
Mann burt,
Und legte bei den Tore Sidan lagde ho glodhaug

Zuäußert Feuer an. I ytste gateport.
31. 31.
Hilugi weiß nichts von Ikkje visste han Illugje
allem; Åv seg fyrr enn då
Es kamen des Brandes Elden var komen i
Loh’n lofthusdør
Zur Bodenhaus-Tür und Og i silkjeserkjen hans
erreichten små.
Sein kurzes Seidenhemd
schon.
32. 32.
Da springt empor Hilugi, No løyper fram han
[Sieht sie und spricht zu Illugje
ihr:] Og feller for Hildina
“O teuerste Frau Hildina, kne:
Schenk Leben und “Du nenne da, fruva
Frieden mir!” Hildina,
Du gjeve meg liv og gre’”
33. 33.
“So viel und guter Frieden “So mykje og godig
Soll dir gewährt nun sein, Gre skal du sjå,
Wie meinem Herrn in der Som du lét min herre
Schlacht du I bardagen få.”
Selbst ließest angedeih’n.
34. 34.
Dir schien’s sogar ein “Du tôtte da lite då, at
Geringes, eg
Daß ich ihn sah im Blut; Såg istad hans bukjen
Du warfst sein Haupt in bløda;
den Schoß mir… Dei kasta hans hovud i
Da ward mir noch mitt fang,
schwerer zu Mut.” Da vart meg for stor ei
møda.”
35. 35.
Dann hat sie seine So takte ho yve osko
Falschheit hans
Bedeckt mit Erde und Både med mold og stein:

Stein. “Du skal aldri meir
“Du sollst einem konungsens
Königskinde dotter valda mein.”
Nie mehr zum Schaden
sein!”
Table 4. Hildina Ballad: attempt at reconstruction/translation
GRAEME DAVIS
(2007)
Once upon a time the Earl of Orkney asked his brother

“From out her glass pavilion should I steal our King’s daughter?”
“My brother if you take this maiden from out her glass pavilion
Your deed shall be remembered for years a million million.”
Thus when the King came home from viking voyage a winner
The step-mother was still at home, but there was no Hildina.
“I swear by all that’s holy that wherever he may be
I’ll hang him by his neck from the very highest tree.”
To good St Magnus’ church in Orkney fled the Earl,

To Orkney sped the King, to save his little girl.
Meeting the married lady there he boxed her round the ears
Soon down her white cheeks there flowed a flood of tears.
The Earl embraced Hildina, and kissed her on the cheek,
“My darling wife, between us two, whose death would you now seek?”
“Not to my father but to you I swore my lasting vow,
And so by that we both may rule, us two in Orkney now.”
“Go to your horse and overtake my father on the beach,

Greet him kindly, clasp hands, his blessing to beseech.”
The King made a stern reply, his anger did not falter,
“I want to know what bride price can you give me for my daughter?”
“Thirty marks of burnished gold shall I unto you give,
And you will never lack a son for as long as I may live.”
Long stood the King, gazed on the Earl for long,

“You’re worth a thousand sons my man, though what you did was wrong.”
Now among the King’s companions was the swarthy Hilunge,

To wed the beauteous Hildina his dream for many a day.
Again and again and craftily Hilunge spoke to the King,
Again and again the King did listen, once more to this thing.
Now for a long time the King looked at the Earl standing near
“You may not Orkney; a long time ago I betrothed my daughter dear.”
“I will take nothing against his will from the King your father,
Instead to give Hilunge his rights, that would I rather.”
Hildina looked from the one to the other, turned pale,

One would die in the fight, that fate would not fail.
Now the Earl stepped forward onto the duelling ground
And the King turned his face from Orkney, looked around.
“Now one of us must die, ‘tis either thee or me,”
The blows rained down, down fell the Earl Orkney.
Now Lady Hildina steps on the grass where soon a corpse must lie,
“Father by all that’s holy do not let a brave man die.”
But Hilunge answered her: “Call Odin’s maidens here,

For death draws nigh the Earl, this man your husband dear.”
Now the Earl felt the axe bite through his neck, a clean kill
Hilunge threw the head into her arms; she grew more angry still.
“You promised me marriage if I voyaged far from our land
Now with golden dowry and strong vows give me Hildina’s hand.”
Now were her eyes downcast as he looked upon the king
For the lady Hildina against her will must take a golden ring.
Soon that time came, though Hildina wished it never,

With that man to be joined, husband and wife forever.
Now Hildina asked her father “May I serve the wine,
Choose who will get the best, who the worst, when we come to dine?”
“Both the best and the worst as you rightly think,
Both earls and freemen this day must drink.”
A drugged wine she gave them, both to earls and to freemen,
Their eyes were heavy, sleep came over them.
Then the Lady Hildina went in, her face was set,
She saw her father and the guests asleep, on the benches where they sat.
Then the Lady Hildina went in, dragged her father across the floor,
Laid him on the grass outside and fastened close the door.
Now Hilunge awakes as the fire begins to rage,
The smoke is black and thick, the banquet hall a cage.
Now a scream breaks from the throat of Hilunge,
“Oh Lady Hildina, let me live another day.”
“So may you cry out, now you should believe,

That same mercy you showed in the battle you shall receive,
You did not care for him or me, that was clear for all to see,
That you threw his head at me, that angered me.
Now receive a heavy fate, for soon to death you yield,
The king cannot help you now, on this battlefield.”
All this for once upon a time the Earl of Orkney asked his brother
“From out her glass pavilion should I steal our King’s daughter?”
5. Some concluding remarks

With two serious attempts at reconstruction —or three, if we also take Davis’s
version into consideration— and six attempts at translation, the Hildina Ballad
still remains a text that is chiefly interesting from the linguistic point of view.
The aim of those translations and reconstructions has been to try to understand
the original story and, in some instances (Munch, Grundtvig, Olrik, Bugge), to
get an idea of how it may have sounded in Old Norse. This overlooks the fact
that the ballad as we know it is just a local Norn product, not necessarily an Old
Norse relic. That is why, understandably, I have included Sophus Bugge’s Norse
version among the translations —and not the reconstructions— of the ballad.
In this sense, the following statement of Grüner-Nielsen (1939: 165) is still
valid:
Den Omstændighed, at Professor Marius Hægstad o.1900 af Hensyn til en af

Sophus Bugge bebudet Publikation lod sig nøje med at udgive og vurdere
Hildinavisen mere som shetlandsk Sprogmindesmærke end som vestnordisk
Folkevise, har vist bevirket, at Visen siden ligesom er gaaet i Glemme indenfor
den nordiske Viseforskning, og at man paa Forhaand har betragtet Visen som et
folkelig Produkt, der højst havde lokal Interesse.
If this piece of Norn oral tradition is to be taken at face value and treated as a
highly interesting anthropological22 —and not merely linguistic— document,
then it should be interpreted within the cultural and chronological context in
which it was discovered and written down, as well as within the wider concept
of det norrøne folkeviseumrådet, as Liestøl (1937) calls it. As some reputed
scholars like Lord (2000) or Colbert (1989) state, looking for a supposed original
when dealing with dynamic, oral compositions is not only a waste of time, but
also representative of a sort of disdain for the composition to be studied and
understood. Oral narrative is constitutive of social life itself or, as Niles (1999:
19) puts it, “the idea of poetry as a voiced social transaction is one of the
foundational elements of the art of Homo narrans”. Given this, a literary-
anthropological —and not purely linguistic— approach to the Hildina Ballad is
necessary if we really wish to understand why this ballad was still preserved and
recited in Norn after centuries of Scottish domination in the Orkney and
Shetland Islands.
This literary-anthropological approach would make it possible to unveil the
issues of cultural identity that might lie behind the Hildina Ballad. As Niles
(1999: 2) also states, “it is chiefly through storytelling that people possess a
past”, and the past is one of the main elements used to build up identities. In
the case of the Hildina Ballad, it seems quite clear that this product of Norn
oral tradition can be interpreted as a symbol of cultural identity, although we
have not yet found its actual significance: May the ballad have been used, in the
ritualized milieu of its recitation, to strengthen cultural links with Scandinavia
within a context of Scottish rule? In this sense, the study of and quest for Nordic
analogues of the ballad would be very enlightening as to how Scandinavian that
late Norn product still was, i.e. how Scandinavian the Shetlandic society of Foula
still was. On the other hand, the ballad might be also interpreted as a symbol of
22
Note that we use the adjetive anthropological, not ethnographical, as we think that the
study of the Hildina Ballad poses interesting questions about the dynamics of human
oral culture and its implications in other areas such as identity or politics, and not only
questions of mere local nature.
confrontation of the Shetland and Orkney Islands against Norway. The Orcadian
jarl dying at the hands of the Norwegian counsellor of a Norwegian king after
abducting a Norwegian princess may symbolize a social vindication of an identity
that was no longer Norwegian, but neither was it Scottish; it was simply Norn.
If this was so, we may have here an example of an underlying political conflict
developing into a love story or a story of revenge, as Solberg (2008: 131) explains
concerning Medieval Scandinavian ballads in general.
It is almost impossible to know when the Hildina Ballad was composed for
the first time. This is, if one can speak of a very “first time” when dealing with
what is possibly an amalgam of many stories told at different times. The only
thing we know for sure is that the ballad that was still recited in 1774 was a
rather worn out version, not only because George Low “could not procure a
literal translation of the ballad” (Low 1879: 113),23 but also because “the disorder
of some stanzas” shows that the ballad was no longer complete by the time he
wrote it down (Low 1879: 107). On the other hand, the fact that it does not
have any refrains is a typical feature of those ballads which have lost their
connexion with dancing (Christophersen 1952: 6), and a ballad with no dance
is somehow just a fossil.24
Fortunately, we have at least a terminus post quem and a terminus ante quem
that make it possible to estimate a feasible date of composition for the Hildina
Ballad as we know it today. As Anderson (1979 [1873]) already pointed out in
his introduction to the English translation of the Orkneyinga Saga, the mention
of Saint Magnus of Orkney (sante Maunis) in stanza 5 of the ballad implies that
it cannot have been composed before Magnús Erlendsson’s canonisation in
1135. That would be the terminus post quem. On the other hand, the name
Hildina is a variation of the Old Norse Hildr/Hild, or maybe a form influenced
by the name Helena, as Hægstad (1900: 85) remarks. However, it should be
considered that, according to Indrebø (1951: 323), between the years 1530 and
1800, but especially between 1600 and 1800, there was a stort namne-brot in the
names of Norwegian origin. One of these changes was the addition of the ending
23
This most likely implies that William Henry could not give him a literal translation
of the ballad, as he only knew it by heart without understanding it completely. In this
case, we are facing an example of what language death theories call the ‘folklorization’
phase of a language on its way to extinction (Crystal 2000).
24
That Faroese ballads are still danced is one of the main reasons to explain their
popularity among folklorists, as they show the literary conditions in the Middle Ages in
a living way (Müller 1994: 96).
-ina to many female names (Hansina, Larsina, Bolina, Olina, Malina, Talina,
Gorina, or Gurina, etc.). Although Indrebø does not mention the name Hildina
in his examples, it is clear that it belongs to this category. The name Hildina
would then imply that our ballad may have started to be performed in its current
form from about 1530 or most likely from 1600, i.e. just 174 years before
William Henry recited it for George Low. That would be its terminus ante quem.
Thus, despite the fact that it was not a very old ballad in 1774, it was already
quite worn out, as mentioned before. A fast process of decay indeed.
Can the search for analogues of the Hildina Ballad help us find its moment
of splendour from a creative point of view and relate it to the social, economical,
and cultural conditions of the Orkney and Shetland Islands at that time? Would
it be possible to compare that hypothetical moment of splendour with the socio-
cultural conditions of 1774, when the ballad was written down by George Low?
If the answer is affirmative, then it could be possible to learn much about the
relationship between the so-called —from a Scandinavian perspective—
Western Islands and Scandinavia in the eighteenth century, and how it
influenced issues of cultural identity. It would allow us to explore to which
extent oral narrative “is and for a long time has been the chief basis of culture
itself” (Niles 1999: 2).
References
Anderson, J. ed. 1973 [1873]: The Orkneyinga Saga. Edinburgh, The Mercat Press.
Baranauskiené, R. 2007: Reflections of Celtic Literary Tradition in Shetlandic
‘Hildinavisen’. Zmogus ir zodis (Man and the Word) 9.2: 72–82.
Barnes, M. 1984a: Norn. Scripta Islandica 35: 23–42.
Barnes, M. 1984b: Orkney and Shetland Norn. In P. Trudgill ed. Language in the British
Isles. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 352–366.
Barnes, M. 1998: The Norn Language of Orkney and Shetland. Lerwick, The Shetland
Times Ltd.
Barnes, M. 2004: Norn, the One-time Scandinavian Language of Orkney and Shetland.
Íslensk Mál 26: 49–81.
Bugge, E. 2005: Jakob Jakobsens Etymologisk ordbok over det norrøne sprog på
Shetland (1908–1921). Nordica Bergensia 33: 21–42.
Christiansen, R. Th. 1938: Sudrøy-norn. Maal og Minne 1.2: 1–27.
Christophersen, P. 1952: The Ballad of Sir Aldingar. Its Origin and Analogues. London,
Oxford University Press.
Colbert, D. 1989: The Birth of the Ballad. The Scandinavian Medieval Genre. Stockholm,
Sveskt Visarkiv.
Collingwood, W. G. 1908: The Ballad of Hildina. Orkney and Shetland Miscellany of the
Viking Club, I.VI: 211–216.
Crystal, D. 2002: Language Death. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Davis, G. 2007: The Early English Settlement of Orkney and Shetland. Edinburgh, Birlinn.
Entwistle, W. J. 1969: European Balladry. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Erlingsson, D. 1975: Illuga saga og Illuga dans. Gripla I: 9–42.
Faulkes, A. ed. 1991: Snorri Sturluson. Edda: Háttatal. Oxford, Clarendon Press (ed. A.
Faulkes).
Faulkes, A. ed. 1998: Snorri Sturluson. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. 2 vols. London, Viking
Society for Northern Research/University College London.
Finnegan, R. 1991: Oral Traditions and the Verbal Arts: A Guide to Research Practice.
London, Routledge.
Flom, G. T. 1903: Review of Marius Hægstad: Hildinakvadet, med utgreiding um det
norske maal paa Shetland i eldre Tid. American Journal of Philology 24.4: 465–468.
González Campo, M. 2008: Baladas épicas feroesas (Antología bilingüe). Madrid,
Miraguano Ediciones.
Graham, J. J. & L. I. Graham eds. 1998: A Shetland Anthology. Lerwick, Shetland
Publishing Co.
Grüner-Nielsen, H. 1939: Den Shetlandske Hildina-Vise og Sophus Bugges Tolkning.
Heidersskrift til Gustav Indrebø på femtiårsdagen 17. November 1939. Bergen, A. S.
Lunde & Co.: 139–165.
Guðmundsson, F. ed. 1965: Orkneyinga saga. Reykjavík, Hið Íslenzka Fornritafélag.
Helgason, J. & A. Holtsmark eds. 1941: Háttalykill enn forni. Copenhaguen, Ejnar
Munksgaard.
Heusler, A. 1922: Über die Balladendichtung des Spätmittelalters, namentlich in
Skandinavischen Norden. Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift 10: 16–31.
Hægstad, M. 1900: Hildinakvadet med utgreiding um det norske maal paa Shetland i eldre
tid. Oslo, Grøndal & Søns Bogtrykkeri.
Hægstad, M. 1901: Hildinakvadet. Syn og Segn: 1–14.
Hægstad, M. 1910: Upphavet til ordet ‘norsk’. Maal og Minne 2: 51–52.
Indrebø, G. 1951: Norsk målsoga. Bergen, John Griegs Boktrykkeri (P. Hovda & P.
Thorson eds.).
Jakobsen, J. 1897: Det norrøne sprog på Shetland. Copenhague, Wilhelm Priors
Hofboghandel.
Jakobsen, J. 1928–1932: Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland.
Londres/Copenhague, David Nutt/Vilhelm Prior (Reprinted: New York, AMS
Press, 1985).
Jesch, J. 2005: Literature in Medieval Orkney. In O. Owen ed. The World of Orkneyinga
Saga. Kirkwall, The Orcadian Limited: 11–24.
Jesch, J. 2006a: Norse Literature in the Orkney Earldom. In I. Brown, T. Owen Clancy,
S. Manning & M. Pittock eds. The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature, Vol. I:
From Columba to the Union (until 1707). Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press:
77–82.
Jesch, J. 2006b: Norse Myth in Medieval Orkney. In J. McKinnell, D. Ashurst & D.
Kick eds. The Fantastic in Old Norse/Icelandic Literature. Sagas in the British Isles.
Prepint Papers of the Thirteenth International Saga Conference, Durham and York 6th-
12th August, 2006. Vol. 1. Durham, The Centre for Medieval and Renaissance
Studies/Durham University: 435–444.
Jonsson, B. R., S. Solheim & E. Danielson 1978: The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval
Ballad. Oslo, Universitetsforlaget.
Jónsson, G. ed. 1954: Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda. 4 vols. Reykjavík,
Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
Kershaw, N. 1921: Stories and Ballads of the Far Past. Cambridge, Cambridge University
Press.
Kruken, K. ed. 2004: Sophus Bugges brev. 3 vols. Øvre Ervik, Alvheim og Eide.
Leach, H. G. 1946: A Pageant of Old Scandinavia. New York, Princeton University
Press/American-Scandinavian Foundation.
Lehmann, E. 1984: Hildina-kvaedet: Ein etterøknad og ei tolking. Frå Fjon til Fusa: 7–
60.
Liestøl, K. 1915: Norske trollvisor og norrøne sogor. Oslo, Olaf Norlis Forlag.
Liestøl, K. 1937: Det norrøne folkeviseumrådet. Maal og Minne: 81–129.
Lord, A. B. 2000: The Singer of Tales. Cambridge (Mass.), Harvard University Press (S.
Mitchell & G. Nagy eds.).
Low, G. 1879: A Tour through the Islands of Orkney and Schetland Containing Hints
Relative to their Ancient, Modern and Natural History Collected in 1774. Kirkwall,
William Peace & Son (J. Anderson ed.).
Marwick, H. 1929: The Orkney Norn. London, Oxford University Press.
Moore, D. W. 2005: The Other British Isles: A History of Shetland, Orkney, The Hebrides,
Isle of Man, Angelsy, Scilly, Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands. Jefferson (North
Carolina), McFarland & Company.
Müller, U. 1994: The Living Tristan: The Faroese ‘Tistram-Ballad’. Tristania XV: 87–
98.
Munch, P. A. 1839: Geographiske og historiske notitser om Orknoërne og Hetland.
Samlingar til det Norske Folks Sprog og Historie 6: 79–133, 475–524.
Nauerby, T. 1996: No Nation is an Island. Language, Culture, and National Identity in
the Faroe Islands. Århus, SNAI-North Atlantic Publications/Aarhus University
Press.
Niles, J. D. 1999: Homo Narrans. The Poetics and Anthropology of Oral Literature.
Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press.
Pálsson, H. 1984: A Florilegium in Norse from Medieval Orkney. In A. Fenton & H.

Pálsson eds. The Northern and Western Isles in the Viking World. Survival, Continuity
and Change. Edinburgh, John Donald Publishers: 258–264.
Pálsson, H. 1998: Snorri Sturluson and the Everlasting Battle. In H. Fix ed. Snorri
Sturluson: Beiträge zu Werk und Rezeption. Berlin, Walter de Gruyter: 44–56.
Poestion, J. E. 1914: Das Lied von Hildina. Zeitschrift für den deutschen Unterricht 28
part IX: 592–595.
Renaud, J. 1988: Archipels norrois. Orcades, Shetland et Hebrides dans le monde viking.
Göppingen, Kümmerle Verlag.
Rendboe, L. 1987: Det gamle shetlandske sprog (NOWELE Supplement vol. 3). Odense,
Odense Universitetsforlag.
Rendboe, L. 1993: Shetland’s Hildina Ballad: Its Discovery and Further Discussion (Pre-
Publications of the English Department of Odense University 68). Odense, Odense
Universitetsforlag.
Rendboe, L. 2007: The Development of Shetland Norn. NOWELE 50/51: 183–247.
Solberg, O. 2008: The Scandinavian Medieval Ballad: From Oral Tradition to Written
Texts and Back Again. In E. Mundal & J. Wellendorf eds. Oral Art Forms and their
Passage into Writing. Copenhagen, Museum Tusculanum Press: 121–133.
Syndergaard, L. E. 1995: English Translations of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballads. An
Analytical Guide and Bibliography. Turku, The Nordic Institute of Folklore.
Thorsen, P. 1954: The Third Norn Dialect — That of Caithnes. In W. D. Simpson ed.
The Viking Congress, Lerwick, July 1950. Aberdeen, University of Aberdeen: 230–
238.
Thuren, H. 1902: Tanz, Dichtung und Gesang auf den Färöern. Sammelbande der
Internationalen Musikgesellschaft 2: 222–269.
Towrie, S. 2008: Norn Ballad Deserves Recognition, Says Linguist. The Orcadian 3
January 2008: 12.
Wylie, J. & D. Margolin 1981: The Ring of Dancers. Images of Faroese Culture.
Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press.
Author’s address
Department of Social Anthropology
University of Bergen
Nygårdsgaten 124
5008 Bergen received: 18 June 2019
e-mail: marca@stpaulgymnas.no revised version accepted: 17 June 2020

Hildiga

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Hildiga

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Hildiga

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Norn Hildina Ballad from the Shetland Islands:

Scandinavian parallels and attempts at

Mariano González Campo

Keywords: Norn language; Old Norse literature; reconstruction; Scandinavian balladry;

Mariano González Campo, Selim25 (2020): 61–119.

settlement in the (now) Scottish islands had an important influence on the

1. The Hildina Ballad: Context of discovery

folkloristic, ethnographical, or simply antiquarian issues also attracted Low’s

2. The Hildina Ballad: Scandinavian parallels

some continental7 and Celtic8 parallels can be established as well, it is my aim

a) Parallels in the fornaldarsögur

b) Parallels in Old Norse texts dealing with poetic issues

Hver red hilldi at nema?

Letrat lýða stillir

heldr en Hildar svíra

Hjaldrremmir tekr Hildi

c) Parallels in Scandinavian ballads

(A) Ballads of the Supernatural:

(C) Historical Ballads:

[*Cf. Hildina Ballad: in a glas buryon.]

(D) Ballads of Chivalry:

[*Cf. Hildina Ballad: our glas buryon burttaga.]

[*Cf. Hildina Ballad: our glas buryon burttaga.]

(E) Heroic Ballads:

(F) Jocular Ballads:

[* Advice from a relative also in the Hildina Ballad.]

[* Advice from a relative also in the Hildina Ballad.]

3. The Hildina Ballad: Attempts at reconstruction

In the following Table 1 we can see a comparison of Hægstad’s and Lehmann’s

Table 1. Hildina Ballad: attempts at reconstruction

GEORGE LOW MARIUS HÆGSTAD EIGIL LEHMANN

10. 10. 10.

14. 14. 14.

20. 20. 20.

Verka wo sino chelsina Ad sjalvs sína vilja gera.”

On bard im ur On bar dim ur hadlin Hon bar deim ór hallin

4. The Hildina Ballad: Attempts at translation

Table 2. Hildina Ballad: attempts at translation (I)

SOPHUS BUGGE MARIUS HÆGSTAD W. G. COLLINGWOOD

13. 14. 13b.

22. 23. 22.

23. 24. 23.

31. 32. 31.

Table 3. Hildina Ballad: attempts at translation (II)

J. E. POESTION NORAH KERSHAW EIGIL LEHMANN

Und legte bei den Tore Sidan lagde ho glodhaug

Bedeckt mit Erde und Både med mold og stein:

Table 4. Hildina Ballad: attempt at reconstruction/translation

Once upon a time the Earl of Orkney asked his brother

To good St Magnus’ church in Orkney fled the Earl,

“Go to your horse and overtake my father on the beach,

Long stood the King, gazed on the Earl for long,

Now among the King’s companions was the swarthy Hilunge,

Hildina looked from the one to the other, turned pale,

But Hilunge answered her: “Call Odin’s maidens here,

Soon that time came, though Hildina wished it never,

“So may you cry out, now you should believe,

5. Some concluding remarks

Den Omstændighed, at Professor Marius Hægstad o.1900 af Hensyn til en af

Pálsson, H. 1984: A Florilegium in Norse from Medieval Orkney. In A. Fenton & H.