John Robinson 25 Nov 18 - 06:02 AM
> Mike Raven published 'Bonnie Bonnie Banks of the Virgio' in a guitar tutor, many years ago - and I think this may be another variant.

Nope: totally different story "Babylon" (and various other titles) Child 14, already mentioned above.

The link posted by John says (inter alia) "Different versions ... vary slightly in the lyrics and melody used." That's a new meaning of "slightly". One of the aspects of this ballad that appeals to me is that there are several families of versions (in English alone, never mind other languages) which have more or less the same plot, give or take some episodes, but are radically different in their words and tunes: e.g. "Bow Down" refrain (usually but not always with the first line of each verse coming three times), "Wind and Rain" refrain, "Binnorie", "Bonny Bows of London", etc.

But we're drifting from the proper subject of this particular thread, the Icelandic versions.