BALLADS OF MAGIC

XIVYOUNG SVEJDAL

A certain number of Ballads borrowed their subjects from the Old Norse Lays, making of them, not translations, but fresh creations; for the Lays tower above the many-coloured ballad-world like ice-peaks that loom over flowery meads. The story of Young Svejdal is derived from two Lays dealing with the adventures of Svipdag, who wakes Menglad from her trance on the magic mountain; but

“there is a vast difference between the simplicity of the Ballad and the stately measure and rhetorical pomp of the original:—‘Svipdag is my name; Sunbright was my father’s name;The winds have driven me far, along cold ways;No one can gainsay the word of Fate,Though it be spoken to his own destruction.’“The difference is as great as the difference between the ballad of the ‘Marriage of Gawayne’ and the same story as told in theCanterbury Tales; or the difference between Homer’sway of describing the recovery of lifted cattle and the ballad of ‘Jannie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead’” (W. P. Ker’sEpic and Romance, chap. ii., section 3).

“there is a vast difference between the simplicity of the Ballad and the stately measure and rhetorical pomp of the original:—

‘Svipdag is my name; Sunbright was my father’s name;The winds have driven me far, along cold ways;No one can gainsay the word of Fate,Though it be spoken to his own destruction.’

‘Svipdag is my name; Sunbright was my father’s name;

The winds have driven me far, along cold ways;

No one can gainsay the word of Fate,

Though it be spoken to his own destruction.’

“The difference is as great as the difference between the ballad of the ‘Marriage of Gawayne’ and the same story as told in theCanterbury Tales; or the difference between Homer’sway of describing the recovery of lifted cattle and the ballad of ‘Jannie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead’” (W. P. Ker’sEpic and Romance, chap. ii., section 3).

This Ballad, indeed, brings down the story from the misty peaks of Valhalla into the garrulous region of fairy-tale. It is faithful to the primitive tradition which depicts the dead as waking unwillingly from their slumbers. Svejdal’s mother speaks as does the dead Vala in the nameless Lay called “Baldr’s Doom” by the editors of theCorpus Poeticum Boreale:

“Hvat es manna þat mer okunnraes mer hefir aukit ervitt sinni?Vas-ek snivin sniovi ok slegin regni,ok drifin doeggo; dauð vas-ek lengi.”

“Hvat es manna þat mer okunnra

es mer hefir aukit ervitt sinni?

Vas-ek snivin sniovi ok slegin regni,

ok drifin doeggo; dauð vas-ek lengi.”

(Who is the man unknown to me that has put me to this weary journey? I was snowed on with snow, and smitten with rain, and dripped on with dew; dead was I lang syne.)

The refrain is:

“Nauðig sagðak. Nú mun-ek þegja!”

(Loath have I spoken. Now must I be silent!) Gray, in his translation, “The Descent of Odin,” puts it with eighteenth-century elegance:

“Again my wearied eyes I close,Leave me, leave me to repose!”

“Again my wearied eyes I close,

Leave me, leave me to repose!”

and readers ofMansfield Parkwill remember how fitly these words are applied to the languidspeech of Lady Bertram. A “clever fancy” on the part of the Norns, to spin this slender thread connecting Jane Austen (of all people!) with the “Runick savages boozing ale!” Had she known more of them, she would doubtless have agreed with Frederick the Great, that all their works were not worth a charge of powder, and that she would have no such stuff in her library.

1It was he, young Svejdal,Was playing at the ball;The ball flew into the maiden’s breast,And her cheeks grew white withal.—Choose thy words well!2The ball flew into the maiden’s bower,And after went the swain,And or ever he left the bower behindShe dreed full bitter pain.3“Oh, never shouldst thou ventureTo throw thy ball to me!There sits a maid in a far-off landA-longing after thee.4“Oh, ne’er shalt thou seek slumber,And never rest shalt know,Until thou hast loosed the lovely maidThat long hath lain in woe!”5It was he, young Svejdal,Wrapped him in cloak of vair,And to the hall betook himTo seek the captains there.6“Now sit in peace, my captains,And pledge your healths in mead,Whiles I fare forth to the grave-moundTo seek my mother’s rede!”7It was he, young Svejdal,That loud did cry and call,Till the marble-stone was rent and rivenAnd the mound was nigh to fall.8“Oh, who is it that wakes me?Who calls with cry so bold?May I not lie and sleep in peaceAll under darksome mould?”9“It is I, young Svejdal,Only son o’ thine!And all I ask is counsel goodFrom thee, dear mother mine.10“My sister and my stepmotherHave made me pale and pine,All for a lovely ladyThat ne’er I saw with eyne.”11“I will give thee a palfreyShall serve thy need, I ween!He can go as well o’er the salt sea-swellAs over the land so green.12“A sword I will give thee also,Is tempered in dragon’s blood,And it will shine like a burning brandWhen thou ridest the darksome wood.”13It was he, young Svejdal,That spurred his steed so free;Forth he rode thro’ darksome woodAnd over the wide sea.14It was he, young Svejdal,That rode ’twixt sea and land;And he was ’ware of a herdsman thereThat drove his flock to the strand.15“Lithe and list, good herdsman,And speak thou sooth to me!Who is it owns the flock so fairThou drivest down to the sea?”16“Oh, a maiden there is in this countrieLies spellbound in dule and pine,All for a swain hight SvejdalThat never she saw with eyne.”17“And knowest thou where the maiden dwells,Then hide it not from me!Whenas I am king of all this landA knight I’ll make of thee.”18“Oh, yonder under the linden greenThere stands my lady’s hold;The towers are all of the marble grey,And the doors are decked with gold!19“The towers are all of the marble grey,And the doors are decked with gold!Full seven years are over and goneSince she did sun behold.20“There stands a bear by my lady’s bower,And a lion so fell to see,But art thou Svejdal in very soothThou shalt pass by them free.”21Forth he fared, young Svejdal,And up to the hold he went;All the locks that held itWere riven asunder and rent.22The bear and the lordly lionThey followed him from the door;The linden with all its silvery leavesBowed down to earth before.23The linden bowed adown to earthWith every silver leaf:And up she stood, the maiden proud,That long had lain in grief.24Up she waked, the maiden proud,When she heard the spurs a-ringing:“Now thanks be unto God in heavenWho help to me is bringing!”25In he went, Sir Svejdal,That was both young and fair;It was the haughty maidenThat hailed his entrance there.26“Welcome to thee, young Svejdal,Thou noble lord of mine!Now praised be God in heavenHath loosed us from pain and pine!”—Choose thy words well!

1It was he, young Svejdal,Was playing at the ball;The ball flew into the maiden’s breast,And her cheeks grew white withal.—Choose thy words well!

It was he, young Svejdal,

Was playing at the ball;

The ball flew into the maiden’s breast,

And her cheeks grew white withal.

—Choose thy words well!

2The ball flew into the maiden’s bower,And after went the swain,And or ever he left the bower behindShe dreed full bitter pain.

The ball flew into the maiden’s bower,

And after went the swain,

And or ever he left the bower behind

She dreed full bitter pain.

3“Oh, never shouldst thou ventureTo throw thy ball to me!There sits a maid in a far-off landA-longing after thee.

“Oh, never shouldst thou venture

To throw thy ball to me!

There sits a maid in a far-off land

A-longing after thee.

4“Oh, ne’er shalt thou seek slumber,And never rest shalt know,Until thou hast loosed the lovely maidThat long hath lain in woe!”

“Oh, ne’er shalt thou seek slumber,

And never rest shalt know,

Until thou hast loosed the lovely maid

That long hath lain in woe!”

5It was he, young Svejdal,Wrapped him in cloak of vair,And to the hall betook himTo seek the captains there.

It was he, young Svejdal,

Wrapped him in cloak of vair,

And to the hall betook him

To seek the captains there.

6“Now sit in peace, my captains,And pledge your healths in mead,Whiles I fare forth to the grave-moundTo seek my mother’s rede!”

“Now sit in peace, my captains,

And pledge your healths in mead,

Whiles I fare forth to the grave-mound

To seek my mother’s rede!”

7It was he, young Svejdal,That loud did cry and call,Till the marble-stone was rent and rivenAnd the mound was nigh to fall.

It was he, young Svejdal,

That loud did cry and call,

Till the marble-stone was rent and riven

And the mound was nigh to fall.

8“Oh, who is it that wakes me?Who calls with cry so bold?May I not lie and sleep in peaceAll under darksome mould?”

“Oh, who is it that wakes me?

Who calls with cry so bold?

May I not lie and sleep in peace

All under darksome mould?”

9“It is I, young Svejdal,Only son o’ thine!And all I ask is counsel goodFrom thee, dear mother mine.

“It is I, young Svejdal,

Only son o’ thine!

And all I ask is counsel good

From thee, dear mother mine.

10“My sister and my stepmotherHave made me pale and pine,All for a lovely ladyThat ne’er I saw with eyne.”

“My sister and my stepmother

Have made me pale and pine,

All for a lovely lady

That ne’er I saw with eyne.”

11“I will give thee a palfreyShall serve thy need, I ween!He can go as well o’er the salt sea-swellAs over the land so green.

“I will give thee a palfrey

Shall serve thy need, I ween!

He can go as well o’er the salt sea-swell

As over the land so green.

12“A sword I will give thee also,Is tempered in dragon’s blood,And it will shine like a burning brandWhen thou ridest the darksome wood.”

“A sword I will give thee also,

Is tempered in dragon’s blood,

And it will shine like a burning brand

When thou ridest the darksome wood.”

13It was he, young Svejdal,That spurred his steed so free;Forth he rode thro’ darksome woodAnd over the wide sea.

It was he, young Svejdal,

That spurred his steed so free;

Forth he rode thro’ darksome wood

And over the wide sea.

14It was he, young Svejdal,That rode ’twixt sea and land;And he was ’ware of a herdsman thereThat drove his flock to the strand.

It was he, young Svejdal,

That rode ’twixt sea and land;

And he was ’ware of a herdsman there

That drove his flock to the strand.

15“Lithe and list, good herdsman,And speak thou sooth to me!Who is it owns the flock so fairThou drivest down to the sea?”

“Lithe and list, good herdsman,

And speak thou sooth to me!

Who is it owns the flock so fair

Thou drivest down to the sea?”

16“Oh, a maiden there is in this countrieLies spellbound in dule and pine,All for a swain hight SvejdalThat never she saw with eyne.”

“Oh, a maiden there is in this countrie

Lies spellbound in dule and pine,

All for a swain hight Svejdal

That never she saw with eyne.”

17“And knowest thou where the maiden dwells,Then hide it not from me!Whenas I am king of all this landA knight I’ll make of thee.”

“And knowest thou where the maiden dwells,

Then hide it not from me!

Whenas I am king of all this land

A knight I’ll make of thee.”

18“Oh, yonder under the linden greenThere stands my lady’s hold;The towers are all of the marble grey,And the doors are decked with gold!

“Oh, yonder under the linden green

There stands my lady’s hold;

The towers are all of the marble grey,

And the doors are decked with gold!

19“The towers are all of the marble grey,And the doors are decked with gold!Full seven years are over and goneSince she did sun behold.

“The towers are all of the marble grey,

And the doors are decked with gold!

Full seven years are over and gone

Since she did sun behold.

20“There stands a bear by my lady’s bower,And a lion so fell to see,But art thou Svejdal in very soothThou shalt pass by them free.”

“There stands a bear by my lady’s bower,

And a lion so fell to see,

But art thou Svejdal in very sooth

Thou shalt pass by them free.”

21Forth he fared, young Svejdal,And up to the hold he went;All the locks that held itWere riven asunder and rent.

Forth he fared, young Svejdal,

And up to the hold he went;

All the locks that held it

Were riven asunder and rent.

22The bear and the lordly lionThey followed him from the door;The linden with all its silvery leavesBowed down to earth before.

The bear and the lordly lion

They followed him from the door;

The linden with all its silvery leaves

Bowed down to earth before.

23The linden bowed adown to earthWith every silver leaf:And up she stood, the maiden proud,That long had lain in grief.

The linden bowed adown to earth

With every silver leaf:

And up she stood, the maiden proud,

That long had lain in grief.

24Up she waked, the maiden proud,When she heard the spurs a-ringing:“Now thanks be unto God in heavenWho help to me is bringing!”

Up she waked, the maiden proud,

When she heard the spurs a-ringing:

“Now thanks be unto God in heaven

Who help to me is bringing!”

25In he went, Sir Svejdal,That was both young and fair;It was the haughty maidenThat hailed his entrance there.

In he went, Sir Svejdal,

That was both young and fair;

It was the haughty maiden

That hailed his entrance there.

26“Welcome to thee, young Svejdal,Thou noble lord of mine!Now praised be God in heavenHath loosed us from pain and pine!”—Choose thy words well!

“Welcome to thee, young Svejdal,

Thou noble lord of mine!

Now praised be God in heaven

Hath loosed us from pain and pine!”

—Choose thy words well!

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