CORRECTIONS
Blegen's book was published in 1936.
Silverman only translated 19 of the 22 verses.

THEODORE C. BLEGEN
Theodore C. Blegen (1891-1969) was born in Minneapolis. He was a professor of history and the dean of the graduate school at the University of Minnesota, a professor of history at Hamline University, and a superintendent of the Minnesota Historical Society. Blegen Hall on the U of M's West Bank campus is named after him.

ANNE-CHARLOTTE HARVEY
In 1972 Swedish-born singer Anne-Charlotte Harvey recorded a bilingual version of Oleanna. The five verses were sung first in Norwegian (Meidell) and then in English (Seeger).

OLEANNA BIBLIOGRAPHY
1936 Norwegian Emigrant Songs and Ballads - Theodore C. Blegen
1944 Grass Roots Magazine - Theodore C. Blegen
1959 Sing Out Reprints - Pete Seeger
1960 Folksongs and Footnotes - Theodore Bikel
1960 Folk Songs of North America - Alan Lomax
1992 Mel Bay's Immigrant Songbook - Jerry Silverman

OLEANNA DISCOGRAPHY
1955 Folk Songs of Four Continents - Pete Seeger
1956 With Voices Together We Sing - Pete Seeger
1958 Songs of the North Star State - Gene Bluestein
1958 At the hungry i - Gateway Singers
1959 Folk Songs From Just About Everywhere - Theodore Bikel
1959 Here We Go Again - The Kingston Trio
1972 Memories of Snoose Boulevard - Anne-Charlotte Harvey

OLEANNA'S RHYMES
The Norwegian lyrics for Oleanna have two syllable rhymes: væ-re / bæ-re. Theodore C. Blegen's translation follows that pattern: door-way / Nor-way.   Pete Seeger's verses have one syllable rhymes: go / so. This is also true of versions that are partly based on Seeger's work: Gateway Singers, Bikel and Lomax. Silverman's translation has two syllable rhymes and one syllable rhymes.

OLEANNA AT SMITHSONIAN GLOBAL SOUND
The albums by Seeger and Bluestein are available at the web site below. One can listen to sound clips or download the songs at 99 cents each. The liner notes can be downloaded — free of charge — as PDF files. They contain commentary on Oleanna as well as the lyrics.

http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/



THE BALLAD OF OLEANA:
A VERSE TRANSLATION BY THEODORE C. BLEGEN

http://www.stolaf.edu/naha/pubs/nas/volume14/vol14_5.htm