User:Clydiee/Sjúrðarkvæði

A 1998 Faroese stamp commemorating the ballad

Sjúrðarkvæði, or Sjúrðarkvæðini ("Sjúrður's Kvæði") is a kvæði, a style of Faroese folk ballad. It tells the story of Sjúrður Sigmundarson, mirroring the famous Nibelunglied, the Germanic heroic legend of Sigurd, making Sjúrðarkvæði a "kappakvæðunum", or a "heroic ballad", type E in The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad. Containing hundreds of verses, the story loosely follows the Völsunga saga, and is made up of 3 (sometimes 4) shorter ballads, Regin Smiður, Brynhildartáttur, and Høgnatáttur, the last of which is sometimes split into Høgnatáttur and Annar Høgnatáttur (literally Second Høgnatáttur, sometimes known as Aldrias táttur). The kvæði is considered

Plot summary

Regin Smiður

The first ballad of Sjúrðarkvæði, Regin Smiður, begins with the introduction of Sigmund, son of Vølsung, and his wife Hjørdis. Sigmund partakes in a battle in King Júka's land where he falls in battle to the sons of the Hundings, who break his sword into two pieces. He lays on the battlefield and speaks his final words to Hjørdis, who is revealed to be pregnant with their child. He tells her that when their son is grown he should be given the two pieces of his sword and venture across the river to Regin the Smith, who will re-forge the sword. He continues, telling her to name him Sjúrður, and that he will eventually avenge his death. The same night Sigmund succumbs to his wounds and a funeral is held for him. In her grief Hjørdis marries King Hjálprek, who will go on to raise Sjúrður along with his other sons.

Nine months later, Hjørdis gives birth to Sjúrður. He is fostered by Hjálprek, who acts as a father figure to him. He grows up unaware of how his father died, until one day, he is battling with the other kids, who tell heckle him to go avenge his father because of how skilled he is at fighting. This angers the young Sjúrður, who then marches to his mother, asking her how Sigmund died. She tells him the truth, telling him how he was killed by the sons of the Hundings. She gives him his father’s armour and the two sword pieces, telling him about Regin and Frænur, that Regin will fix his sword, and to go to the waterfall to find a horse that does not fear of the splash of a stone the river. Sjúrður follows his mother’s advice, going to the waterfall, where he throws a stone into the river and picking the horse revealed to him: Grani.

Sjúrður then rides to the other side of the river to get ahold of Regin. When Sjúrður finds Regin, he puts everything aside to take his sword pieces. Regin asks Sjúrður where he is heading next, but Sjúrður tells him he is only here to give Regin the sword pieces. Regin invites Sjúrður to stay with him for the night, but he declines, as his father misses him. Sjúrður tells him how he would like the sword before riding off, while he is gone Regin works on his sword for ten nights.

Sjúrður, after these ten nights, comes back to take his newly smithed sword. He claims to have smithed the sword to Sjúrður’s specifications, but after he gives him the sword to test, it breaks in two once again. Sjúrður threatens Regin’s life after finding this out, instilling fear into him, telling him to fix his sword properly or die. Regin agrees to this, but only under the condition that Sjúrður slays the dragon Frænur and gives him the dragon’s heart as payment. He then works on the sword again for thirty nights as Sjúrður goes riding again.

Sjúrður once again comes back to Regin after these thirty nights. He comes back to find the sword fixed once again, and as Sjúrður tests the sword on the anvil again, this time it does not break or bend but instead cuts straight through. Sjúrður then names the sword Gramm. After this, Regin tells him to go and find himself a wife, but Sjúrður ignores this suggestion, instead asking why he wants the heart of the dragon. Regin promises he will find out after they ride to Glitraheiði, and he will show him himself. Sjúrður agrees, and tells him that they will ride there after he avenges his father and kills the sons of the Hundings. Sjúrður rides off and slays the sons of the Hundings, avenging his father and fulfilling his wishes, before heading home and then to Glitraheiði.

While Sjúrður and Regin head to Glitraheiði, they meet an old man that neither of them recognise. This man is Odin, identified by his silken cap, but neither know that it is him. He asks Sjúrður where he is riding to, to which Sjúrður answers promptly. Odin then asks about Regin, unsure to why a such a weak, frail man has joined the mighty hero on an adventure to slay the dragon. Sjúrður reveals that Regin is the brother of the dragon, and in response Odin gives advice on how to dig the graves to collect the dragon’s blood. Odin informs Sjúrður that the advice Regin gave him about digging two graves will get him killed and not to follow that advice, instead to dig not just three graves, but to dig a fourth longer one to defeat the dragon.

They then leave Odin, heading to Frænur, who is crawling around the gold under the waterfall. The dragon does not notice Sjúrður, who takes advantage of the dragon’s vulnerability with its wings up, striking the dragon with all of his might. The dragon, laying wounded, asking who has striken him. Sjúrður tells the dragon, and in response, the dragon asks who was following him here, to which Sjúrður replies honestly, telling him Regin is a traitor who wants him dead. The dragon immediately responds with advice to kill Regin the same as he has killed him, as he is not only a traitor to Frænur, but he plans to betray Sjúrður as well.

After the dragon has died, Regin asks for the heart he was promised. Sjúrdur puts the heart on a spear, and tastes the blood as it cooks, causing him to realise that he can now understand the birds and animals around him. The birds tell him he must be the one to eat the heart, as Regin also drinks the blood of the dragon. Sjúrður then strikes Regin unexpectedly, cutting him in two. The story then describes how Sjúrður is now so rich after slaying the dragon, as he binds twelve chests full of gold onto Grani’s back. He then tries to ride away with Grani, however, the weight of the chests angers Grani, as he runs away with the gold, leaving Sjúrður behind, where he spends the night under a cold bush. The story ends with a verse foreshadowing how Sjúrður and Grani ride to king Buðli’s hall, with a confidence like no other in his newfound respect and riches.

Structure

All 4 ballads are named after prominent characters in each ballad, Regin (Regin Smiður), Brynhild Buðladottir (Brynhildar táttur), Høgna Júkason (Høgna tattur), and Høgna Høgnason, in some versions Aldria Høgnason (Annar Høgna táttur/Aldria táttur) respectively.

Connected ballads

Despite Sjúrðarkvæði usually only including the main 3 ballads, the first writings about the ballad outside of the Faroe Islands incorrectly assigned many other ballads which mention Sjúrður to Sjúrðarkvæði. For example, Hans Christian Lyngbye, having described these ballads before the standardization of written Faroese, described Sjúrðarkvæði as a collection of these 12 ballads:

1. Reji Smijis Taattur (Regin Smiður, CCF 1 I)

2. Ujsmal Frea Kjempa (Ísmal fræga kempa, CCF 5)

3. Brinhildu Taattur (Brynhildar táttur, CCF 1 II)

4. Högnar Taattur (Høgna táttur, CCF 1 III)

5. Aldrias Taattur (Annar Høgna táttur/Aldrias táttur, CCF 1 IV)

6. Risin uj Holgörum (Risin í Hólmgørðum, CCF 10)

7. Risin aa Lattrabergji (Risin av Leittrabergi, CCF 11)

8. Qvörsins Taattur (Dvørgamoy V/Kvørfinns táttur, CCF 9)

9. Ragnalikja oder Vilorms Qveaji (Ragnarlykkja ella Viljorms kvæði, CCF 12)

10. Angankaari (Angankári, CCF 34)

11. Grujms Rujma (Gríms Ríma, CCF 52)

12. Dvörgamojinar. (Dvørgamoy I, CCF 6)

All of these ballads feature Sjúrður, however, many of them are unrelated to (and are not relevant to the story) of the storyline initiated in Regin Smiður. Similarly, with the notable exceptions of Angankári and Gríms Ríma, Max Vogler described these 15 in what would later constitute the first 13 ballads of the CCF (The 3 main ballads of Sjúrðarkvæði were merged into a single entry and Dvørgamoy IV was merged with Dvørgamoy III):

1. Regin Smiður (CCF 1 I)

2. Brynhild (Brynhildar táttur, CCF 1 II)

3. Högni (Høgna táttur, CCF 1 III)

4. Ragnar (Ragnar táttur/kvæði, CCF 2)

5. Gestur (Gest Ríma, CCF 3)

6. Nornagestur (Nornagest Ríma, CCF 4)

7. Ísmal (Ísmal fræga kempa, CCF 5)

8. Dvörgamoy I (Dvørgamoy I, CCF 6)

9. Dvörgamoy II (Dvørgamoy II, CCF 6)

10. Dvörgamoy III (Dvørgamoy III, CCF 6)

11. Dvörgamoy IV (Dvørgamoy IV, CCF 6)

12. Dvörgamoy V (Dvørgamoy V/Kvørfinns táttur, CCF 9)

13. Risin í Holmgörðum (Risin í Hólmgørðum, CCF 10)

14. Risin af Leittrabergi (Risin í Leittrabergi, CCF 11)

15. Ragnarlikkja (Ragnarlykkja ella Viljorms kvæði, CCF 12)

B. Lokka táttur. (Lokka táttur, CCF 13, unrelated to Sjúrðarkvæði as implied by the lack of a number)

This categorization is notable for including multiple ballads where Sjúrður is not directly part of the story but still relevant in other ways such as in Nornagest Ríma, where he is mentioned by an aging reminiscent Nornagest, and Ragnar táttur, where his daughter plays a part in the story.

Description

The battle, as depicted in a Faroese stamp commemorating the ballad

Ormurin Langi takes its subject matter from the account well given in Heimskringla of the famous sea battle off the island of Svolder in 1000, when the Swedish and Danish kings, together with the Norwegian Eiríkr Hákonarson, attacked the Norwegian king, Olaf Tryggvason, while he was on his way home from Wendland to Norway on his ship, the Long Serpent, accompanied by his fleet.

They attack in turn and King Olaf repulses the assaults of the two kings, but is defeated by his countryman Eiríkr Hákonarson.

The outcome of the battle is known; when Olaf realises that the battle is lost, he leaps overboard together with his surviving men. It is not known where this battle took place, with it being doubtful whether there ever was an island called Svolder.

In the ballad the poet has Olaf sailing from the Baltic into the Oresund between Denmark and Sweden, where he imagines the island to be located, and the battle takes place in the straits between the island and the mainland.

Stamps

Various scenes from the drama described in the ballad appear on ten stamps, issued in 2006 by Postverk Føroya and designed by the artist Vigdis Sigmundsdóttir. They show shipbuilding and a launch, with the king sitting on the throne while giving an audience to Einarr Thambarskelfir. Another one shows the fleet putting out to sea. Another shows the Long Serpent and the other ships heading into the straits while their adversaries stand on the shore watching them. In the Long Serpent's bow there is Ulf the Red, Olaf's forecastle man, while the king and Einar the Archer are seen up on the quarterdeck. There are dead bodies tumbling into the sea during the battle, which ends with Eiríkr Hákonarson capturing the Long Serpent and so taking command of the vessel.

The location where the song is composed is unknown.

Versions and history

The oldest version dates back to 1819 and was made by Jóannes í Króki of Sandur. He also collected a version in 1823.

When Svend Grundtvig and Jørgen Bloch edited Føroya kvæði, an anthology of Faroese folksongs, around 1880, they knew of six recordings of the ballad. A version in the poet's own hand turned up at a later date, but it is not known when it dates from.

Nowadays the ballad is referred to as Ormurin Langi (i.e. "The Long Serpent"), but that was not the title used by the poet himself. He referred to it as Olaf Trygvasons kvad ("The Ballad of Olaf Trygvason"), and other recorders did that as well, including Jóannes í Króki.

It was not until a version from around 1846 that it was discovered that the song got its title from Olaf Trygvason's ship, (Ormurin langi). When Hammershaimb had the ballad printed in his principal work, Færøsk Anthologi (A Faroese Anthology) of 1891, he used the title Ormurin langi, and the same title was used when it was serialised a few years earlier (1882) in the Dimmalætting newspaper.

The lyrics of the ballad vary slightly from version to version, but when the ballad is performed today, it is always in the form known from Færøsk Anthologi.

Nor do the old versions agree on which refrain (and therefore which tune) to use. The refrain that reigns supreme today is found in only one of the oldest versions. It is the one used in Færøsk Anthologi and is, incidentally, familiar from some of the old ballads. Færøsk Anthologi has had a standardising effect and its text has in some ways become the authorised version.

The song appears in the Icelandic Viking movie In the Shadow of the Raven.

See also

• Völsunga saga
• Nibelunglied
• Sigurd
• Kvæði
• Sigurd

External links

• Ormurin Langi (original text in Faroese from Föroysk kvæði by Jóannes Patursson, 1925)
• Ormen Lange (Norwegian translation by Per Sivle 1857-1904)
• Stamps.fo (Public Domain source)
  • Tjatsi.fo (theme site by Postverk Føroya)
• Ormurin langi Archived 2006-08-28 at the Wayback Machine (original text in Faroese)