Norse ballads

Subject: Norse ballads
From:
Date: 12 May 97 - 07:09 PM

I am looking for the lyrics to some Scandinavian folksongs. First is a ballad called "Sinklarsvisa" that I learned years ago but have since forgotten. The song tells of a Scottish chieftan who invades Norway, and the chorus goes something like this (I think): "Vel opp for dag, vi kommer vel over den hede" (forgive my inaccurate Norwegian; it's been a long time!) I would also like to find the lyrics for some of the songs on a CD called "Music of the Scandinavian Valleys" (Lena Willemark and Ale Möller are among the performers), specifically, a medieval Swedish ballad called "Det stod en Jungfru," and a couple more Norwegian songs: "Farvel" and "Iddan Hermond." If anyone has the lyrics to any of these songs, or knows where I might find them, *PLEASE* post or contact me. I will be eternally grateful!

Thanks, Kristin ([e-mail])

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: Jean
Date: 28 May 97 - 03:28 AM

If you find a site for Norwegian songs please let me know.

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: Jean
Date: 28 May 97 - 06:07 AM

Dear Kristin, You might try contacting Gracia Grindal [e-mail]

Yours, Jean

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: Jean
Date: 28 May 97 - 06:08 AM

Dear Kristin, You might try contacting Gracia Grindal [e-mail]

Yours, Jean

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: GUEST,Mad mic
Date: 07 Mar 09 - 06:12 AM

Herr Sinklar drog over salten hav,
til Norge hans kurs monne stande;
blant Gudbrands klipper han fant sin grav,
der vanked så blodig en pande.
- Vel opp før dag, de kommer vel over den hede

Ved Romsdals kyster han styred i land,
erklærete sig for en fjende;
hannem fulgte efter fjortenhundrede mand
som alle havde vondt i sinde.
- Vel opp før dag, de kommer vel over den hede

De skændte og brændte, hvor de kom frem,
all folkeret monne de krænke,
oldingens avmagt rørte ei dem,
de spotted den grædende enke.
- Vel opp før dag, de kommer vel over den hede

Soldaten er ude på Kongens Tog,
Vi selv må Landet forsvare;
Forbandet være det niddingsdrog
Som nu sit Blod vil spare.
- Vel opp før dag, de kommer vel over den hede

De bønder af Våge, Lesje og Lom
med skarpe økser på nakke,
i Bredebøjg tilsammen kom
med skotten så ville de snakke.
- Vel opp før dag, de kommer vel over den hede

Tæt under lide der løber en Sti
som man monne Kringen kalde,
Lågen skynder sig der forbi,
i den skal fienden falde.
- Vel opp før dag, de kommer vel over den hede

Med døde kropper blev Kringen strødd,
de ravner fikk nok at æde;
det ungdoms blod, som her udflød,
de skotske piger begræde.
- Vel opp før dag, de kommer vel over den hede

End kneiser en Støtte på samme Sted,
som Norges Uvenner monne true.
Ve hver en Nordmand, som ei bliver hed,
så tidt hans Øjne den skue.
- Vel opp før dag, de kommer vel over den hede

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: EBarnacle
Date: 07 Mar 09 - 11:55 AM

If the songs are old enough, you might start with a collection of Norse eddas, which ought to be available through your area library on interlibrary loan.

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: peregrina
Date: 07 Mar 09 - 12:25 PM

Are you looking for the eddas, actually, or rimur and ballads?

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: Fidjit
Date: 07 Mar 09 - 01:17 PM

OK. Sinclair vise

Written by Edvard Storm 1749 - 94
Tune is from the faro islands

Song is about battle in 1612

Recorded by the Norwegian folkrock group FOLQUE 1974
Philips 6317 025

Along with others that they got from Steeleye Span and fairport and translated to Norwegian.


Including Child Ballad number 10 The Cruel Sister.
And Alison Gross

Chas

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: Fidjit
Date: 07 Mar 09 - 01:21 PM

Norwegian small song society

It's in Norwegian, but they will lead you to the Norwegian vise(Small Song) Archives

Chas

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 07 Mar 09 - 05:35 PM

LOL, translate an English version of Tvo Seostre into Norwegian!!
There are many beautiful Norwegian versions.

I have Skolens Sangbok by Mads Berg. But none of the three songs you mention are in it.

I wonder if Edvard Storm is related to the famous seagoing Storm family of Robin Hood's Bay. They have their own very interesting website.

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: Fidjit
Date: 10 Mar 09 - 07:29 AM

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: Howard Kaplan
Date: 10 Mar 09 - 10:48 PM

A web site titled balladar is a starting point for the lyrics to roughly 200 Norwegian ballad texts. Not surprisingly, the hyperlink to "Dei to søstre" says there are 103 variants there. You can get some English language documentation about the project here, but many of the hyperlinks either don't work or lead to Norwegian language pages.

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 11 Mar 09 - 02:16 AM

I've mentioned the Dokumentasjons-prosjektet in a number of past discussions here; see, for instance, a 'Two Sisters' thread eight years back:  Binnorie - Icelandic version.

A useful page to start from there is  Ballader I Norge - Ballads in Norway. As Howard says, only some pages are available in English and parts of the site haven't worked for years (the 'ballad jukebox' was broken for a long time and has now disappeared altogether) but there seems to be some sign that piecemeal work is being done and that updates may eventually appear, perhaps with music notation where it survives. We will have to see.

Meanwhile, some of Svend Grundtvig's 19th century Danish collections of song texts, folktales and so on can now be seen at the Internet Archive:

Svend Grundtvig at the Internet Archive

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Feb 10 - 11:48 AM

Sinklars vísa:
http://www.fotatradk.com/kv/Sinklars%20visa.pdf

Translation of Sinklars vísa(not a good translation):
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_survey_of_Danish_literature_part_2

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: Richard Mellish
Date: 27 Feb 10 - 04:49 PM

Just to confuse the issue, there is also a Swedish ballad Sinclairsvisan, which tells (originally in 90 stanzas, according to the sleeve notes of a CD on which it is condensed to a more modest 6½ minutes) how the nasty Russians killed the good Swedish Major Malkolm Sinclair when he was on his way back from a diplomatic mission to Turkey. That was in 1739, over a century after the previous Sinclair/Sinklar had come to grief in the service of the Swedish king.

Richard

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: GUEST,Jorg
Date: 27 Feb 10 - 06:51 PM

Caprice records has an awesome collection of (mostly) Swedish ballads and local music. Vols 1-2 are Medieval Ballads, and Vols 9-10 are Three Tranditional Folk Singers. Both come with extensive booklets all the lyrics and collection information. Highly recommended. I am away from my house right now so do not have the lyrics at hand, but there are something like 5 different version of the song in question. You can get these CDs from CDRoots:

Medieval Ballad http://www.cdroots.com/cda-fmis-1.html

Three Singers http://www.cdroots.com/cda-fmis-9.html

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: GUEST,Jorg
Date: 27 Feb 10 - 06:53 PM

Oops! Sinklarvisa is on the Vol 19 of the same series: http://www.cdroots.com/cda-fmis-19.html

(I am not affiliated with CDRoots! It is simply the first tsite I think of when these kinds of questions come up! :))

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 27 Feb 10 - 07:31 PM

Hi Jorg,
Don't suppose these CD tracks are in English. I'm too long in the tooth to start learning Scandinavian, but how I wish I had the time. I have all of the well-known English translations mainly Danish, but I wish we could convince some enterprising translator to have a go at some of the Norwegian or Swedish, or Icelandic, or Faroese collections. Literal translations preferable, rather than literary.

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: GUEST,m
Date: 27 Feb 10 - 11:21 PM

Here is a youtube clip from the Faroe Islands, where youngsters are learning how to dance and sing the Faroese dance
The ballad they're singing is "Sinklars vísa":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXN1c11ZyqI

Wiki about the Faroese dance:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faroese_dance

Subject: RE: Norse ballads.
From: GUEST,maureen douglas
Date: 12 Dec 10 - 04:07 PM

Hi Malcolm: ARe you the Malcolm Douglas from Lake Forest, Illinois? I'm doing some geneology research on the Douglas family. My father was Austin Douglas and his father was Thomas Douglas, of Lake Forest Illinois. I knowI had cousins names Malcolm, Donnie, and Bruce, but I don't remember you I was born in Lake Forest in 1947 - mother was "Doris." Aunt Annie and relation?

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: Richard Mellish
Date: 12 Dec 10 - 04:54 PM

Maureen,

The Malcolm Douglas who contributed so much good sense on this forum lived in the UK but is no longer with us. See Obit: Malcolm Douglas

Richard

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: open mike
Date: 12 Dec 10 - 10:51 PM

the source for Scandinavian and Nordic music in the U.S. is the record label Northside at www.noside.com

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: GUEST,MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 26 Feb 13 - 04:53 PM

http://www.odins-gift.com/pclass/1pclass.htm

Includes the translations of some ballads.

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: GUEST,MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 26 Feb 13 - 04:59 PM

http://www.odins-gift.com/pclass/1pclass.htm
The URL as a link.

Subject: RE: Norse ballads
From: GUEST,sciencegeek
Date: 27 Feb 13 - 01:55 PM

if you are near Boston, MA the weekend of April 18 checkout the NEFFA festival in Mansfield. Sonja Savig will be there and I think that her old album of Norwegian folksongs is out on CD now.