Stories and Ballads of the Far Past Part 31

All their followers who manned the ship Are lying now stone dead.

97. Hjalmar then struck Angantyr, So lay he at his feet.

"O Hjalmar, give me now a drink, For it comforts the meanest wight."

98. "A drink from out my drinking horn I give thee willingly; But hearken, Angantyr my brother, Today have I surely conquered thee."

99. O he held the horn before his lips, --He the n.o.ble warrior,-- And O it was the heathen dog Who stabbed him under the helmet there.

100. It was the warrior Hjalmar, He drew his sword amain; He has cleft his brother Angantyr And cut him in pieces twain.

101. Odd came home at eventide A-riding on the strand, And saw where Hjalmar had sat him there, Marred by the poisoned brand.

102. Odd came home at eventide, Where Hjalmar leant his back on a stone; "O why art thou so wondrous pale, And what has brought thee to make such moan?"

103. "My corslet he has pierced, He has scathed my skin so white; The poison smeared upon the blade My heart will surely smite."

104. "Thou didst put thy faith in thy corslet, All made of shining steel; But here stand I in my shirt only, And yet no wound I feel.

105. "Thou didst put thy trust in thy corslet, All made of silver bright; But here stand I in my shirt only, And got no wound in the fight.

106. "Thou did'st put thy trust in thy corslet, All made of silver white; But here stand I in my shirt only Which sword could never bite."

107. Then up and spake the Warrior Hjalmar.

The first word he did say Was "Hearken and hearken now Young Odd, And bear me hence away."

108. Then up and answered the Young Odd, He gazed on the rocky ravine: "This fight, O Hjalmar, if thou list to hear Has gone as I had foreseen."

109. He drew the gold ring from his arm; Speech could he utter still; Bade carry it to the lady Ingibjorg, And bade him fare him well

110. He drew the gold ring from his arm; All floating was he in blood.

He sent it to the lady Ingibjorg, That maid so fair and good.

111. She died of grief for Hjalmar-- She the n.o.ble maid; I swear an oath upon my honour There lives none of whom the like can be said.

Refrain: _n.o.ble men are sailing now from Norway, And a fair breeze bears them o'er the wave._

INTRODUCTION TO THE FAROESE RIDDLE BALLAD (GaTU RiMA)

The _Gatu Rima_ was first taken down in Suder by a clergyman, Schroter, early in the nineteenth century, and is preserved in the archives of the Early Text Society in Copenhagen. Unfortunately Schroter was only able to obtain the Ballad in a fragmentary form, and he has left us only a Danish translation of what he found. In his travels on the Faroes in 1847-1848 Hammershaimb made strenuous efforts to get the entire version, but curiously enough only succeeded in getting a version (of course in the original Faroese) which corresponds closely in length and content with Schroter's. He published this version first in the _Antiquarisk Tidsskrift_, 1849-1851, and later _Faeroiske Kvaeer_, vol. II. (Copenhagen, 1855).

The translation given below is taken from the ballad as printed in _Faeroiske Kvaeer_.

That a longer version of this ballad once existed is proved by the fact that verse 8 of both Schroter's and Hammershaimb's versions states that Guest the Blind[1] propounds thirty riddles to King Heithrek--about the same number as are to be found in the Saga, though only some six riddles and the answers to four others have come down to us. Hammershaimb attributed the loss of the others to the fact that the ballad is no longer one of those used in the dance. He was of opinion that the riddles propounded in the _Rima_ are not the same as those found in the Saga; but it is to be noticed that the subjects of the riddles are in four cases the same, and in the other cases the subjects have the same characteristics, though the riddles themselves are not identical. It would therefore seem on the whole that the subjects of the _Gatu Rima_ were originally identical with those of the Saga, but that they have become corrupted and possibly confused in the popular mind.

[Footnote 1: Presumably a corruption of _Gestumblindi_.]

GaTU RiMA.

1. Guest goes wandering from the hall, Silent and blind is he; Meets he with an eldern man All with hair so grey.

2. Meets he with an eldern man, All with hair so grey; "Why art thou so silent, Guest the Blind, And wherefore dost thou stray?"

3. "It is not so wonderful Though I of speech am slow; For riddles have brought me to an evil pa.s.s, And I lose my head tomorrow.

4. "It is not so wonderful Though mournful am I and slow; For riddles have brought me to an evil pa.s.s, And I lose my life tomorrow."

5. "How much of the red, red gold Wilt thou give to me, If I go in before King Heithrek And ask thy riddles for thee?"

6. "Twelve marks of the red, red gold Will I give to thee, If thou wilt go in before King Heithrek, And ransom my head for me."

7. "Go thou into thy courtyard And look to thy dwelling, thou, While I go in before King Heithrek, And ask him riddles now."

8. "Thirty are the riddles And one will I propose ...

(_Riddles lost._)

9. (_First two lines lost._) Thunder is the red drum Which beats over all the world."

10. "O hearken now, Heithrek my King, Where dost thou know the neighbours, Both of whom use the same door, And neither one knows the other?"

11. "My thought and thy thought, No neighbour is one to other; Both of them use the same door, Yet neither knows the other."

12. "O hearken now, Heithrek my King, Where dost thou know the brothers Who roll far away on the outer reefs, And have neither fathers nor mothers?"

13. "The Western flow and the Eastern flow, Well may they be called brothers; They roll far away on the outer reefs And have neither fathers nor mothers."

14. "O hearken now, Heithrek my King, And what can this be now?-- Soft as down and hard as horn, And white as glistening snow!"

15. "Hear thou this now, Guest the Blind; This riddle I understand.-- The sea it is both soft and hard, And flings white spray upon the land."

16. "O hearken now, Heithrek my King, Where does the sapling grow,-- Its root is turned towards high Heaven, And its head turned down below?"

17. "The icicle on the high crags, No sapling it is I trow, Yet its root is turned towards high heaven, And its head turned down below."

18. "O hearken now, Heithrek my King, Where does that forest grow,-- It is cut on every holy day, And yet there is wood enow?"

19. "The beard which grows on each man's chin, No forest is that I trow, Though shaved on every holy day, And yet there is wood enow."

20. "O hearken now, Heithrek my King, Where dost thou know the brothers,-- Both of them live in the same hall, And have neither fathers nor mothers?"

21. "Turf clods and brimstones, Neither of the twain are brothers.

Both of them live in the same hall, And have neither fathers nor mothers."

22. "The sow she wanders to her sty, She wallows on the green, green earth.

The boar he grunts and the little pigs squeak, And each makes music with his mouth."