Den Underbara Fiolen: A Swedish Murder Ballad - by Sheila Louise Wright

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Den Underbara Fiolen (The Wonderful Violin)

A Swedish Murder Ballad

Ilustration to “Binnorie”, an English/Scottish version of “The Two Sisters” ballad. Image found at http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/eft/eft10.htm

By Sheila Louise Wright

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pg.

Title Page

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Introduction

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“The Two Sisters”- The Story and Variations from Around the Globe

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The Ballad Genre

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“European” Ballads: Forms, Composition and Structure

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Traditional Ballads & Literary Ballads

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Broadside Ballads - A Brief History - “The Miller and the King’s Daughter”

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Scandinavian Ballads: History, Forms, Composition and Structure

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The Formulaic Structures of Scandinavian Ballads

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The Types of Scandinavian Ballads

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Searching for Clues in Dating Scandinavian Songs & Poetry

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Story Points Unique to the Scandinavian versions of “The Two Sisters” tale, particularly the Swedish

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About “Den Underbara Fiolen”

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Text & Translation

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Vocal score

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Appendix

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1. Scans of the original broadside of “Wit Restor’d” from 1658

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2. 1902 Reprint of “Musicarum Deliciae” containing “Wit Restor’d” from 1658

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3. Pages 591-592 of Edward Rimbault’s “Notes & Queries containing reference to the 1656 printing of “The Miller and the King’s Daughter”

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4. “Hörpu Kvæði” or “Kvæði Um Tvær Systur” (First printing in 17th Cen. Iceland)

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Acknowledgements & Thanks

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Bibliography

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Online Sources

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Den Underbara Fiolen (The Wonderful Violin) (aka: The Two Sisters) By HL Sionann in Ui Fhlaithbheartaig (Sheila Louise Wright) The story behind the Swedish ballad “Den Underbara Fiolen” is a long-standing traditional tale, as evidenced by its widespread popularity. By the 17th century, when the first printed copies of the English and Icelandic versions emerged, it seems that nearly every country in Britain, Scandinavia and the rest of Europe, even as far east as India, Korea, & China, may each have had up to hundreds of versions of the piece passed down from generation to generation through oral tradition, popular publications such as the broadsides and collectors of the 17th through the 20th centuries. In this document I will examine the possible origins of the tale, and the structure and history of general Ballad tradition in Europe, especially the Scandinavian regions, the different kinds of ballads and their categories and classification. I wilI briefly touch on dating Scandinavian poetry and will examine “The Two Sisters” story in relation to the song “Den Underbara Fiolen, just one of many Swedish versions of the tale.

“The Two Sisters”: The Story and Variations From Around the Globe The “murder ballad” commonly known now as “The Two Sisters”, an English cousin to the Swedish “Den Underbara Fiolen”, is a cautionary tale of sadness, betrayal and vengeance and in many tellings, love and “happily-ever-after”. These themes and emotions have touched the hearts of many singers and poets for hundreds of years all over the world and continue to do so to this day. There have been numerous notable recordings of different versions of this popular tale, including in recent years versions by artists such as Tom Waits, Medieval Baebes, Loreena McKennitt, Pentangle, Clannad, Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Altan, Gjallarhorn and many others. Though there are literally hundreds of variants of this tale, in most versions the story begins with two sisters, seemingly loving and companionable. Particularly in the Norse versions, a distinction is made between the sisters; the elder is dark, and the younger fair. In some renditions the sisters are of royal blood and in others they are simple village maids. The sisters go to visit the waterside (be it river, lake or ocean), usually to fetch water and the elder sister pushes the younger sister in. The younger pleads with her sister as she is drowning; promising to give her gold and riches and anything she wants if she’ll only help her out. The elder sister refuses, saying that once the younger is dead, she will have everything that was hers anyway, including her lover/fiancé who in many versions is two-timing both sisters and is thus partly to blame for the coming tragedy. Without help the younger sister drowns and later her body is found floating in the water; sometimes at the mill dam, sometimes among the reeds along the shoreline. Later, someone finds the body and proceeds to craft an instrument from the various parts of her corpse, sometimes a fiddle/violin or harp, or in other tales a flute, whistle or the mouthpiece for a horn. Afterwards the instrument ends up at the wedding celebrations of the elder sister, usually to the younger’s former betrothed, sometimes skillfully played by the musician who crafted it, and other times given as a gift to the

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King or the bridal party. When the instrument is played it magically begins to tell of the younger sister’s betrayal and death at the hands of the elder. In most versions the instrument is then broken and out springs the younger sister, very much alive and reunited with her love, while the elder sister is either killed, exiled, or imprisoned. In some versions it is the fiancé who actually kills the elder sister and takes the younger as his rightful bride and they live “happily ever after”. In a few darker versions, the elder sister is driven to madness then kills herself. And in a few accounts both the elder sister and the fickle lover are killed, either murdered by the younger sister’s vengeful spirit, by outraged parents and neighbours, or guiltily driven to murder-suicide. There are also a number of interesting variations from Europe, Asia and Africa: 1. In the English/Scottish variant known as “The Twa Sisters” or “The Miller and the King’s Daughter” it is the miller, or sometimes the miller’s young daughter or son, finds the body at the mill-dam. In some versions the miller is accused of drowning the girl and robbing her corpse. In this version, there is no instrument made from her body and ends with the miller’s execution for the alleged crime, while the guilty elder sister goes unpunished. Other English and Scottish versions (which may share the same or similar titles) tend to follow the traditional story-line with the enchanted instrument made from the drowned girl’s body revealing the murder.1 2. In a Hungarian version there are 3 princesses; the older two ugly and dark, and the younger fair and beautiful. The elder sisters kill the younger and stuff her body inside a “fiddle” which hauntingly then plays on its own. It is eventually given to the King’s family where it refuses to play until the King tries to play it, and the murdered Princess is restored to life and tells the tale of her murder at her jealous siblings hands. The elder sisters are imprisoned, but later pardoned when the younger sister becomes Queen.2 3. From Poland comes a version entitled “Balladyna”, wherein the two sisters are involved in a raspberry picking contest to win the hand of Prince Kirkor. When the younger wins, the elder kills her and is later punished by God by being struck down by lightning.3 4. In yet another predominantly European version called “The Singing Bone”, the “The Cruel Sister” by John Faed, 1851 siblings are brothers rather than sisters. In this version, the brothers set off to kill a large boar that has been harassing the countryside. The younger succeeds while the elder stayed behind to bolster his courage with a little liquor and missed the fight 1

Child, Francis James, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Dover Publications, USA, 1965

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twa_Sisters

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Juliusz Słowacki, Balladyna, 1834

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altogether. Jealous of his younger sibling’s success, the elder kills his brother and buries the body, claiming the boar as his own kill and marrying the King’s daughter. Later a shepherd finds a bone from the body and fashions a mouthpiece for a horn of it which then begins to play alone. The amazing horn is brought to the king where the story of jealously and murder is heard. The King has the younger brother’s body brought home and the elder brother, unable to deny his involvement, is executed for his crime.4 5. From India comes the tale of “The Magic Fiddle”, which shares much similarity with both “The Two Sister” tale and that of the well known “Cinderella” story, and also as biblical parallels to the “Joseph and the coat of many colours” story from the old testament book of Exodus. In this Indian tale, the sister is murdered by her seven sisters-in-law who are jealous of her domestic skills, particularly her cooking. The sister is drowned while attempting to fill an enchanted water pitcher at the river after the seven sisters-in-law secured the aid of their Bonga, an indian word for a God, in this case a water God or spirit. Later she is reincarnated as a stand of thick, strong bamboo plants along the river. A passing Jogi (wise-man) fashioned a fiddle from the lovely bamboo and the beautiful fiddle made such sweet music that it enchanted all who heard it and brought the Jogi good fortune. The murdered girl’s brothers sought to buy the fiddle, but the Jogi refused. The Jogi visited the village chief’s home and the chief too wished to buy the fiddle. When refused, the chief’s son got the Jogi drunk and stole the fiddle, replacing it with another and the Jogi was kicked out. The chief’s son played the stolen fiddle and all were enchanted by its music and later, while everyone was away working in the fields, the drowned sister who is now a Bonga herself and is haunting the fiddle, would creep out. She would prepare a meal for the household, leaving a special plate for the chief’s son who then thought that perhaps one of the village girls was trying to show interest in him and so he laid a trap to catch whoever it was. Eventually he caught the the girl creeping out from the fiddle and though surprised, took her as his bride. Later her murderous family, who had fallen on hard times and became very poor, came to visit the chief, but did not recognise her. She cooked for them and recounted the tale of her death, scolding and shaming her brothers for not saving her.5 6. A Nigerian version, called “The Twin Brothers” sets the story with twin boys born in exile and told of their royal Father upon their mother’s deathbed. After the death of their father the King, they were raised up to be crowned as Princes. To decide who would rule, the brothers engaged in a game of stone throwing. Whoever threw the furthest would be King. The younger brother won and was proclaimed King, but the elder lived with him in all the same splendor. Soon though, the elder became jealous and one day while out walking by the river with his brother the King, he pushed the younger brother in and his brother drowned. The elder brother told everyone that his brother didn’t wish to be king anymore and had left the country, so the elder was proclaimed King in his stead. Later, while walking near the place where he’d drowned his brother, a fish rose to the surface and “sang” of the younger’s death. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Der singende Knochen, Kinder- und Hausmärchen, 1st ed., vol. 1 (Berlin: Realschulbuchhandlung, 1812), no. 28, pp. 119-22. 4

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Jacobs, Joseph; Indian Fairy Tales (Pennsylvania State University, 2005), pg. 35-38

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Being afraid, the false King killed the fish. Some time later it happened again but this time there were witnesses who, horrified by the tale, searched for the body of the young King. The elder brother after being disgraced and rejected, committed suicide.6 Though the details of the stories may differ, each of these tales, and numerous variations from all around the globe, share the same general motifs of jealousy or rivalry between siblings, murder, and in most cases, a murder revealed through mystical means. This tale is known by a number of different names including:

Illustration to “The Magic Fiddle” found at www.sacred-texts.com/hin/ift/ift07.htm

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- De två systrarna, Den Underbara Harpe / Fiolen, Systermordet, Harpe

Sweden

- Harpan

Finland / Sweden

- Den talende strængelek, De to søstre, Harpe

Denmark

- Dei tvo systar, De tvo spellemenn, Ei Gåmol Vise, Gullharpa, Hòrpeslåtten, Søstrene, Harpa

Norway

- Hörpu kvæði, Murder Will Out, Kvæði Um Tvær Systur

Iceland

- Hørpu ríma

Faroe Islands

The Wind & Rain, The Bonny Swans, The Cruel Sister, The Bonny Mill Dams, Sister Dear Sister, Bonnie Bows of London, The Twa Sisters, Binnorie (or Minnorie), Barkshire Tragedy

England / Scotland

- Fair, Brown & Trembling

Ireland

- Gosli iz človeškega telesa izdajo umor (A Fiddle Made from a Human Body Reveals a Murder)

Slovenia

- The Silver Plate and the Transparent Apple (Russia)

Russia

- The Little Bone, The Dead Girl’s Bone

Switzerland

- The Griffin

Italy

M. I. Ogumefu, Yoruba Legends (London: The Sheldon Press, 1929), no. 18, pp. 33-36

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- A Flor do Liolá

Spain

- Janghwa Hongryeon jeon (Rose Flower & Red Lotus)

Korea

- The Talking Dish

China

- The Promises of the Three Sisters

Egypt

It is widely surmised among such experts as Francis James Child and Svend Grundtvig, the most respected collectors of ballads in Scandinavia and Britain, that this tale, particularly the variant in which the instrument magically plays on its own, was probably the original version in these regions. As with many of the medieval ballads found in the British Isles, it likely came from Scandinavia (particularly Norway) or elsewhere in Europe, brought to Scotland/England via Iceland and the Faroe Islands. This seems a logical route by which Skalds and Bards of earlier times may have been able to carry the story to and from Eastern Europe and Asia. Avid ballad collector, historian and author of one of the premier books on the subject entitled English and Scottish Popular Ballads, F. J. Child lists several Scandinavian sources of the “The Two Sisters” (or ‘The Twa Sisters”) including 12 Norwegian, 9 Danish, 4 Faeroese, and 2 Icelandic, and 125 Swedish versions in his analysis of the tale.7 The large number of versions in Scandinavia alone, most of which are very similar in content with little variation from the main points of the story, is confirmation of the popularity of the ballad. In addition, the widespread popularity across Europe, Asia and even Africa also supports the theory that the ballad is much older than the earliest printed versions may suggest.

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Child, Francis James, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Dover Publications, USA, 1965

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The Ballad Genre The term "ballad" comes from the Latin word ballares, meaning ‘to dance’, or ‘dance songs’ in the medieval French, which is also where we get the word ballet, and the similar French term ballade. Both ballad styles may originate from the Scandinavian and Germanic epic story-telling traditions seen in poems such as Beowulf and Deor as they are similar in both theme and function. Regardless of what country they come from, most ballads are narrative, full of imagery and generally contain a single story of tragedy, history, romance and/or comedy, and typically follow an accepted formula. In Northern and Western Europe, most ballads are written in quatrains or ballad stanzas, in what is known as ballad metre. This is alternating lines of iambic tetrametre and iambic trimetre, where usually the 2nd and fourth lines rhyme (a b c b style), though some suggest that originally ballads were made up of rhyming couplets of 14 syllables each. Repetition is also a common tool of most ballads and very often there is a repeated line or lines, like a chorus or refrain, or sometimes a whole stanza may be repeated. There are exceptions to the rules however. In countries such as Spain, the ballad scheme varies in structure, length and rhyming pattern, with some preferring consonance to rhyme. There are two trains of thought on how ballads came about. One is that a ballad story is generated by a community of authors, perhaps gathered around a fire, each adding a new spin on the theme. The other is that there is a single author of each original tale. Changes to the tale, therefore, are simply spin-offs of an original text. Historians who believe in the "community" theory also dislike the idea of the "broadside" or other printed texts, including collections, believing that they cheapen and stagnate the form, fluidity and almost organic nature of oral tradition genres. Types of European Ballads Three main types of European ballads are Traditional, Literary & Broadside. In North America, further classifications are also used; whether the ballad is considered a Illustration to “The Magic Fiddle” found at European version (especially those from http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/ift/ift07.htm Britain or Ireland) or a "native American ballad”, originating in the Americas without roots in European traditions.8 Traditional ballads (also called popular ballads) are generally considered to have been birthed by the wandering minstrels of medieval Europe. who through their travels and visits to both the Royal courts and rural towns all over Europe, spread popular songs far and wide, such as ballads about the folk hero Robin Hood, which we have in print from 1495. The most common classifications and subject matter of traditional ballads are: Religious, Tragic, Chivalric Love, Historic, Legendary, Humorous, and Supernatural.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballad

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These are also the main classifications used for categorising Scandinavian ballads, although Nordic ballads are a slightly different genre than many European ballad styles. Through the years, balladry has cycled through ages of noble appreciation to eras where it was shunned and considered the entertainment of the lower classes. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the ballad saw a revival, to enjoy reverence among the gentry again. Thankfully, because of this revival, there have been many notable collectors of ballads to whom we owe a debt for preserving an otherwise lost body of work. Samuel Pepys and Robert Harley both started collecting broadside ballads in the 17th century. and in the 19th and 20th century, Svend Grudtvig of Denmark who collected Scandinavian ballads, and Francis James Child, who endeavored to collect and classify English and Scottish ballads with extensive historical comparison and analysis. Literary Ballads came about due to a growing interest in balladry among the elite and intellectual circles, especially in the "Romantic" period of the 18th century. Notable balladeers of the era who helped establish the genre were Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Goethe & Schiller (whose works were later set to music by Schubert), and later Kipling and Oscar Wilde to name just a few. Broadside Ballads were so called for the “flyers” they were printed on, which were called broadsides 9, invented when printing became a cheap means of communication. They were usually printed on one side of a large, poor quality sheet of paper and passed out among the populace. Often the papers were cut in half (broadslips) or folded into "books" (chapbooks) which may have contained several collections of songs/poems known as "garlands". They were often produced in huge numbers to be sold on street corners by vendors and minstrels or balladeers/chapmen for as little as a penny. They reached their zenith in popularity in the 16th to 19th centuries in England, Ireland, North America and Scandinavia. The broadside started losing popularity in England in the 17th century and the single sheet broadside was replaced when multi-page chapbooks became all the rage. By the 19th century they seem to have died out almost completely as newspapers and bound books became popular. In North America they lasted somewhat longer as they were a popular and useful propaganda tool during the American Civil War, and today some North American poets still use chapbooks as the medium for their art. A broadside ballad, a type of song that was printed in the broadside sheets and chapbooks, most often came only with lyrics printed and a suggestion of a well known tune which would fit the meter of the poem. The subject matter of the broadside ballad also varied some from the traditional ballad. Typically they did not have the grand nature of the traditional ballad and their topics were of a more everyday or even bawdy nature with subjects of love, religion, drinking, legends, current events, politics, disasters and supernatural wonders. Having said that, many ballads, including some “traditional” ballads only survive alongside the earthier broadside ballad thanks to the printing and distribution of the broadsides and chapbooks.

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Also called ‘roadsheet’, ‘flysheet’, ‘stall’, ‘vulgar’ or ‘come all ye’ ballads

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An English version of “The Two Sisters” tale, entitled “The Miller and the Kings Daughter”, was first (or second) printed in a Broadside from 1658 in England, in the “Musarum Deliciae” or “the Muses Recreation”, in particular the section entitled “Wit Restor’d” 10 , commissioned by Sir John Mennis, a military man, poet, author, and friend of Sir John Suckling, another famous military man and poet of the time. Dr. Edward Rimbault, an English church organist, author and music anthologist, also makes reference to an extant copy of an earlier broadside edition from 1656, which he had in his possession at the time of writing, and from which he reproduced the text of the poem in his “Notes and Queries” of 1852.11 Many of the Scandinavian medieval ballads we know today survive because of the Scandinavian version of the Broadside publications which came about at roughly the same time as those in England and for the same purposes. In Denmark these were known as flyveblad and in Sweden they were called skillingtryck.

“Wit Restor’d”, the 1658 Broadside which contains the 2nd printing of “The Miller and the King’s Daughter”. 10 See scans of the original Broadside ʻWit Restorʼd” in the supporting documents section. “Notes & Queries” by Edward Rimbault. pg. 591-592 (June 19, 1852) - See supporting documents in the appendixes for a scans of this work. 11

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Scandinavian Ballads Especially in German and English, the term “ballad” has come to mean every kind of narrative song. However in Scandinavia the term is reserved only for the oldest of folk songs; the epic medieval ballads. The ballad is distinct from other songs styles in form and content and it is the content that suggests that they are among the very oldest forms. Ballads, Scandinavian or not, are songs plain and simple. People have been telling narrative stories and songs since time began. Traditions are handed down from one generation to the next, each adding and subtracting from epic tales in continuous song and verse. It would be nice to say that these stories have not changed over the years, that they have stayed the same from telling to telling, but as any good storyteller, or singer, will tell you, the story is never the same twice; particularly when passed from person to person, generation to generation, town to town, country to country and over many years. However the use of standardised styles, commonly used and known phrases to express certain ideas and end rhymes provides the performers with a basis from which to memorise and repeat pieces with relative ease, and to teach them to others. Each new bard, learning and performing a piece, will inevitably make it their own in some way. Consequently, with each new bard, or possibly even with each telling by the same bard, a new variant is born. “The medieval ballad in Scandinavia is a genre of orally transmitted song that is defined by its form... by its narrative content and by its objective style, the latter characterized not least by the frequent use of formulaic expressions and so-called “commonplaces”. The ballad may, on the basis of these criteria, be effectively distinguished from other categories of folk-songs which lack one or more of these characteristics. In fact, the ballad is one of many folk-song categories, the common denominator of which, are oral transmission and the fact that there is no such thing as an authorized version.”12 Though some scholars have classified the ballad genre as ‘literature’ and perhaps they are that too, the simple fact is that the vast majority of ballads, particularly the Norse ballads, were meant to be sung. It is when sung that they come alive as the rhythm, meter and rhyme come together in a dance. In fact, many believe that ballads were meant to be dance songs, as indeed the very definition of the root word indicates. In the Faeroe Islands, it is still common practice to dance great circle dances known as kvaðdansur or 'dance songs' accompanied by these ballad songs.. Though Scandinavia has a long, rich cultural and literary past, where and when the Scandinavian ballad had its birth is still a topic of much debate among scholars. The famous collector and scholar Svend Grundtvig believed that the ballad came to the Nordic countries as early as 1100AD. Later scholars concluded that it couldn’t be that early and place the approximate date in the mid 13th century, most likely in Norway, as the Norwegian court of King Hákon Hákonarson was a major cultural centre in Scandinavia at that time. King Hákon was known to be an admirer of the ballad style and he and Queen Eufemia had many ballads commissioned or translated from French Solberg, Olav; “The Scandinavian Medieval Ballad: From Oral Tradition to Written Texts and Back Again”, an essay found in Oral Art Forms and Their Passage into Writing by Else Mundal, 2008 12

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and German, particularly into Swedish after the marriage of their daughter to Duke Eirik of Sweden. Much recent research has also refuted other claims that the ballads originated in Denmark. In around 1500AD, the written language of Norway (Old Norse) was being phased out in favour of Danish and Latin. This led many researchers to come to the conclusion that the Nordic ballads were a Danish invention due to the language used. Today’s scholarship generally seems to agree that the Nordic ballad came from Norway at about the time of the language change, and were heavily influenced by Germanic and French ballad styles. There are however many questions among the experts about how much influence the German and French had on the Nordic.13 In the middle ages traveling musicians, trouvères, jongleurs, troubadours and minstrels, from France and Germany in particular, were quite popular and frequently entertained at the courts of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. They could have carried many ballads, or ballad themes, into and out of Europe via Scandinavia. Many Scandinavian ballads have very similar, if not identical themes and characters to a great number of German and French ballads, but it is not clear whether the Scandinavian ballads were influenced by the German and French, as the ballad styles are quite different, or if the opposite is true and it was the German and French which were influenced by the Scandinavian ballad styles.14 Traditionally, in Europe, songs are of one of two types; the epic narrative and the ballad. With the exception of Finnish Kalevala poetry which follows the epic narrative example, Scandinavian songs follow the European ballad tradition where the ballad is strophic, the melody married to the stanza, with a end rhyme and refrain, also known as a ‘burden’. The Nordic Ballad is similar in structure to the French “ronde” style. In combination with the “formulas” in which they were composed, most ballads are generally “written” with images and language that is both poetic and earthy, suggesting that the ballads were the entertainment of both the nobility and the common folk at the same time as they were often recorded in vernacular Danish, especially in Norway, over and above the more formal latin of the European Royal courts 15. Even some 200 years after King Hakon’s court, in the 1500s when ballads were actively collected and recorded, similar or even identical expressions are found throughout the ballads, even when later balladeers didn’t perhaps completely understand the meanings of older phrases. This suggests a relatively constant ballad tradition in which performers and composers saw little merit in changing the old formulas.16

Solberg, Olav; “The Scandinavian Medieval Ballad: From Oral Tradition to Written Texts and Back Again”, an essay found in Oral Art Forms and Their Passage into Writing by Else Mundal, 2008 13

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See Bengt R. Jonssonʼs essay “Oral Literature, Written Literature” in Joseph Harris, The Ballad and Oral Literature, 1991, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England, 1991 15

See “Codex Runicus”, a book of Scanian Law, written in Runes, which contains lines from the oldest written on paper ballad, ‘Drømte mig en drøm’, written in Danish in the 13th century. 16

See Olav Solbergʼs essay “Oral Traditions to Written Texts and Back Again” in the collection “Oral Art Forms and Their Passage Into Writing” by Jacquline Simpson, 2008.

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The Formulaic Structures of the Scandinavian Ballads A typical Scandinavian ballad follows one of two structural formulas: 17 1. “Refrain Stanza”: One short couplet, with two refrains, one of which may be a repeated line from the couplet, or it could be a separate interior refrain (usually fairly short in length). The exterior (end) refrain (or burden) may be as simple as “Oh, ja” as seen in the ballad “Grisilla og Gullveven” from Norway, or can be quite long, as the burden has no set length. Often the refrain lines are also meant for everyone to sing along with, while the “Skald” sings the verses. Two examples of this style are:18 Grisilla ho sat i gullveven sò fin. Grisilla ho sat i gullveven sò fin. Sò kom hennar moer sjov gangandes in. - Å, ja...

Där bode en torpare vid en å Nu er sommaren kommen Han hade de rar döttrarne två Alt meden du reder och spinner.

2. “Burden Stanza”: Two long or short couplets, followed by only one ‘burden’ at the end, which can also be quite long, having no set length. Two examples of this style are: 19 Han rende bratt og han rende flatt Drømte mig en drøm i nat og skia dei mone fljote om silke og ærlig pæl Sò vart han vare de berje blått bar en dragt så let og glat all kola dei mone roke. i solfaldets strålevæld - De va Hermod den Unge han konne - nu vågner den klare morgen. på skio renne.

Types of Scandinavian Medieval Ballads In the 1960s and 1970s, Bengt R. Jonsson and colleagues set about classifying the Scandinavian ballads in English. They used previous works by people such as James Child and Sven Grundtvig as a starting point, and the following are the categories by which the Scandinavian ballads were classified. Each ballad is given a letter and number, and a descriptive series of letters which tells researchers the basic motifs of the ballad without actually having to read the whole ballad. 17

Colbert, David; The BIrth Of the Ballad: The Scandinavian Medieval Genre; Svenskt Visarkiv, Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell Tryckeri, Uppsala 1989 18

The first example is from “Grisilla og Gullveven, a Norwegian ballad. The 2nd is from “De Två Systrarne”, another Swedish “Two Sisters” version. 19

The first example is from the “Hermod Unge og Gyri”, a Norwegian ballad based on Nordic tales of the Gods. The 2nd is from the 13th cen. Danish piece “ Drømte mig en drøm” found at the end of the ʻCodex Runicusʼ, a book of Scanian Law.

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The Types of Scandinavian Medieval Ballad catagories for classification are:20 A. Ballads of the Supernatural (Trollviser or Naturmytiske viser) - 75 types - These deal with subjects of sorcery, magic, witchcraft, transformations, ghosts, trolls and fairy folk, omens, people who encounter the supernatural and also tragic love affairs between humans and supernatural beings. The Hero in these tales is always superior to their foe, but that doesn’t guarantee a happy outcome. Supernatural ballads and Heroic ballads can sometimes be comparable. B. Legendary ballads (Legendeviser) - 37 types - This is a relatively small group of ballads based on stories with a Christian motif, Christian religion, dealing with Saints and other pious figures, miracles and visions. C. Historical ballads (Historiske viser) - 41 types - These are ballads with historical source material, that is those that report known historical events, places and people. In Norway, historical ballads deal mainly with events from around the year 1300. Sometimes Historical ballads can also be combined with Supernatural ballads as, while referring to actual people and/or events they are sometimes much exaggerated and embellished with supernatural activities or attributes. D. Ballads of chivalry (Ridderviser) - 441 types - This is the largest group of ballads that deal mainly with realistic events and contemporary life of the nobility, usually in a most dramatic way. While most are about love, some depicting happy affairs of the heart, the vast majority are tragic. They often deal with heavy subjects of rape, incest, adultery and murder caused by jealousy and are often very long or even multiepisodic. Some ballads get classified in this genre for lack of a better fit elsewhere, which is another reason it is such a large group. E. Heroic ballads (Kæmpeviser) -167 types - These tend to be more fairytale-like in nature, with overly fearless heroes and damsels in distress and strong, descriptive images. Unlike in Supernatural and Historical ballads where much of the story is told through dialogue, in the Heroic ballad the hero rarely says much and the story is told through a narrative voice instead. They tend also to be very exaggerated and fantastic, much like the Saga stories. This type of ballad is found only in Scandinavia, although other countries may have similar kinds. F. Jocular ballads (Skæmpteviser) - 77 types - Ballads of this type are generally bawdy in nature, often dealing with erotic topics and humour. They can often include songs of reversed gender roles, or even animals acting as humans. They are popular because they are lighthearted and funny. There are not many of these recorded, which scholars seem to think is due to prudishness among collectors or that singers may have been too embarrassed to perform them for the record.

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Summarised from: Jonsson, Bengt R., Solheim, Svale & Danielson, Eva; The Types of Scandinavian Medieval Ballad; A Descriptive Catalogue; Universitetsforlaget, The Institute for Comparitive Research in Human Culture, Oslo, Norway, Edgar Hogfeldt A/S Kristiansand S. 1978

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Francis James Child classified “The Twa Sisters” as Child Ballad #10.21 In the Roud Folk Song Index22 , the story and its variants are listed as ballad #8. Within the Types of Scandinavian Medieval Ballads, “The Two Sisters” (De Två Systrarna / Den Talende Strængeleg) is classified as “A38”, and “DFINS” (the series letters describing the basic motifs) and as follows in other Scandinavian databases. 23 1. Danish- DgF 95 2. Faroese- CCF 136 3. Icelandic- IFkv 13 4. Norwegian- Utsyn 45, Landstad 53, NMB 18 5. Swedish- Jonsson p. 730-731, GA 17 & 69 (GAB 16), SMB 13 Searching for Clues for Dating Scandinavian Songs & Poetry “Any inquiry into origins must begin with the extant material and look back in time. Although the medieval ballad, when distinguished from “later” ballads, is assumed to be of medieval origin, only a few snatches and one longer fragment have survived in writing from the Middle Ages. By contrast a great number of texts have been preserved in the manuscripts and printed editions of the 16th and 17th centuries.”... “This rich tradition deserves thorough study and proper respect in its own right and within its own cultural context, whether the surviving texts are retouched at the writing desk or not.”24 Anders Sørensen Vedel’s important work, It Hundredevduaalde Dankse Viser from 1591, in combination with a number of clerical songbooks and other printed material from 1530-1591, including the famous “Heart Book” so named because of its shape and content of many love ballads, represented 713 texts of 348 medieval ballads in 629 versions. By 1701, there were 2,729 Nordic ballad texts recorded, representing 1,667 versions of 541 medieval ballads in the Types of Scandinavian Medieval Ballads. These texts provide the starting points for researching much ballad history and attempting to determine the age of any ballad. When one looks at ballads and other oral traditions in Scandinavia searching for an approximate date of origin, one must first look for clues within the piece, beginning with the story itself. One clue is the presence of the mystical. As such beliefs were prevalent in Scandinavian countries and other areas where oral tradition abounds, the presence of the supernatural (beasts, trolls, fairies, giants, Gods, spirits, ghosts and fantastical creatures) interacting with humans in the tale without Christian influences hearkens to a 21

Child, Francis James, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Dover Publications, USA, 1965

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A collection of 444 mostly American versions of “The Two Sisters” tale, mostly gleaned from the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library. 23

Jonsson, Bengt R., Solheim, Svale & Danielson, Eva; The Types of Scandinavian Medieval Ballad; A Descriptive Catalogue; Universitetsforlaget, The Institute for Comparitive Research in Human Culture, Oslo, Norway, Edgar Hogfeldt A/S Kristiansand S. 1978 24

Colbert, David; The BIrth Of the Ballad: The Scandinavian Medieval Genre; Svenskt Visarkiv, Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell Tryckeri, Uppsala 1989 - pg 30

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much older time, prior to the coming of Christianity to Northern countries in the 11th century, when Christianity was grasping for footholds in the faith of the pagan Northerners. Often, not unlike Martin Luther using bar songs as the basis for many of his church hymns, because people would know the tune already, priests would routinely commandeer known tunes and put a new spin on the tale as means of “getting in the door”. So by that measure, if there is little or no mention of the otherworldly whether Christian influence is overtly present or not, it is likely a story from after the time when Christianity became the dominant religion. But one needs to use caution as that may mean that it could be quite modern too. The Scandinavian versions, and variants of “The Two Sisters” created later, even in England and Scotland where there seems the most changes to the spiritual aspects of the story, retain a healthy dose of and belief in the supernatural and the wrath and vengeance of the spirit world. Much Scandinavian folklore, though later painted over with a Christian context, still contain very thinly veiled but accepted pagan and supernatural or mythical references. Therefore it is conceivable that many ballads in the oral tradition may date as far back as to the earliest days of Christianity in Scandinavia, when the Christian faith thrived in tandem with Norse mythology. The vast majority of the tale-variants, from all over Europe and Asia, still adhere to the supernatural elements of the tale. Something in that otherworldliness evokes awe and inspiration in a way that the less mythical variants have failed to do and that popularity and longevity also speaks to the probability of an older Norse origin to the tale. Another clue to look for is in the language itself. Looking for archaic language within a tale can be a good tool for estimating the age of a piece. Regional dialect is also sometimes a good clue, as many regional dialects remain unchanged for hundreds of years. If one finds words, phrases or even whole verses and songs which can be proven to be in an archaic language, this is a great key to dating the piece. In “Den Underbara Fiolen” there are a few archaic words present, but one in particular has stumped me and some colleagues who have examined it. The word Brudtofverskan is one that even those with Swedish as a first language and familiar with archaic Swedish as well, can find no definition for. At best guess it has something to do with “the bride” (brud), and perhaps could be defined as “bridal guests” given the context in which it is used; but this is a guess as no clear definition can be found. Though tenuous, this could be a clue to a much older origin, in Sweden at the very least, although caution is still advised. The langauge is particularly important when looking at Norwegian and Icelandic ballads. Ballads found in Norway which are written in Danish or Latin (or more modern Norwegian) will tell you immediately that they fall between 1300AD when the written language was being switched to Danish and the 1900’s, which is a wide gap. A ballad containing archaic Norwegian, particularly the extinct “Norn”, are a clue that they may predate 1300AD, if they are not proven to be modern versions made to seem more ancient by well-meaning but misguided collectors and composers. Norse ballads often use antiquated language which is difficult even for native speakers to understand. Sometimes this is because the songs are actually from a bygone age. Other times this is because collectors, seeking to “reconstruct” a ballad would add ancient words in place of others to make a piece more “medieval” flavoured, which can

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make dating ballads quite difficult. So language alone is not a completely reliable method for dating Scandinavian ballads. One has to look at the contents and context of the story, the character and themes, combined with language and location/region of origin and prior scholarship in order to arrive at a ballpark “guesstimate”, and even that may not be remotely accurate. In other words, dating Norse ballads prior to the 1300’s on some things, and 1500’s on others, is near impossible without some miracle, extant manuscript or previously unknown collection falling into your lap. In regards to “Den Underbara Fiolen” (or more correctly “De Två Systrarna”) one can only guess at its age and origin. Svend Grundtvig, Scandinavian Ballad scholar and author of Danmarks Folkviser (1834), in his introduction to “Den Talende Harpe” (a Danish version of “The Two Sisters” called “The Talking Harp”), also mentions the 16th century English and Icelandic documents of the tale and goes on to tell of older versions from elsewhere. “Visens Æmne er ikke begrænset til Norden og England, men gjenfindes, dels i Viseform, dels som Sagn eller Æventyr, hos Tyskere, Slaver, Littuer og Ester, Romaner og Kelter; ja, det lader sig forfølge baade til Kina og til Stede i et Ægyptisk Æventyr fra det 14de Aarh.” (“[The] Ballad theme is not confined to Scandinavia and England, but [can be found], both in ballad form, partly as a legend or fairy tale, with Germans, Slavs, Littuer [??] and Esther [Estonian??], Romans and Celts; yes, it can be pursued both for China and [is] present in Egyptian tales from the 14th century.”) 25 The last statement may be in reference to the famous 1001 Nights or Arabian Nights, a 14th century Syrian manuscript of about 300 tales, however there are references to the “The Nights” in extant materials from the Middle East dating back to the 10th century. “The Story of Two Sisters Who Were Jealous of Their Younger Sister” from “Arabian Nights”, though not in ballad form and certainly not an identical story, shares some very similar themes, such a jealousy among siblings, murder, deception, and talking inanimate objects, with some versions of “The Two Sisters” tale from Scandinavia, Europe and Asia26. Where the Nordic versions of “The Two Sisters” is concerned, I can only make a guess based on clues in the song, in the documentable history both in Iceland and England, and clues from the prior research of many scholars over the years. I think that the ballad came to light in Scandinavia after 1300AD, (as suggested by some of the archaic words, and as the Christian overtone of the burden in most variants points to a period after the Nordic region’s conversion); and before 1650AD, as the first versions in print in England arrive in 1656, though there were already possibly hundreds of oral versions elsewhere by that time.

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Grundtvig, Svend; Danmarks Folkeviser, I Udvalg (Volume I), P.G. Philipson Forlag, Trykt Hos J. Jorgensen & Co., Kjobenhavn, 1882 26

El-Shamy, Hasan M.; Folkstales of Egypt (1938); University of Chicago Press, USA, 1980

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The point of origin in the Nordic regions is likely Sweden or Norway as this is where the most versions are found, with the numbers of versions dwindling as you travel away from Scandinavia. The fact that variations are found across Scandinavia, the UK, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and perhaps even the Middle East and North America, suggests that the song has had a long time to travel around the continents; and a lengthy period of residence would likely be required for a song to have time to become legend and a part of tradition or common knowledge in an area.. In short, all these factors combined suggest that “De Två Systrarna” may be a period ballad passed down through prolific oral tradition, whether it originated in Europe or Scandinavia or even the Middle East, and whether concrete extant proof exists or not. Story Points Unique to Scandinavian versions of “The Two Sisters” tale, particularly the Swedish The general story-line in most versions of the song from the UK, Scandinavia, and Western Europe, are congruent with each other, taking into account subtle variations. But most of the Swedish variants have some differences from other versions. In the Norse variants, often the elder sister is described as dark and the younger fair which also seems to equate the elder as less pretty than the younger, sometimes prompting taunts from the younger perhaps fueling a jealously between them, particularly in the affection of the male suitor or fiance. In nearly all versions outside of Sweden, the drowning girl offers the elder sister all that she has if she will help her out of the water, even going so far as to offer to renounce her own fiance in the deal. But in the Swedish versions (save one), the elder, after having been offered everything except the fiance, says she will help only if the drowning girl will give up her lover. The drowning sister refuses saying, “Help then who can, help me God / But never will you have my dear true-love”.27 The Icelandic and some Norwegian versions also sometimes mention this refusal, but not with the same vehemence as the Swedish tellings. The English and Scottish versions often leave out the would-be suitor altogether leaving one to wonder what the motivation for the murder was in the first place. Another difference in the Swedish variants that is not in other versions, is that while the younger sister is drowning, she asks the elder sister to send farewell messages to her parents, brother and lover telling them that she will be “drinking” or “dancing” her bridal toast on the “snow-white sands”. In most versions outside of Scandinavia, it is a miller (or the miller’s daughter), fishermen out fishing (in one version, the fishermen turn out to be angels as well), a passing beggar, or sometimes the girl’s lover himself who finds the body and pulls it from the water. It is usually someone else who then uses parts of the corpse to make the fiddle/harp/flute and who takes it to the wedding feast where it begins to play alone, the rest of the story unfolds, and the murderer revealed and punished. It is something unique to the Scandinavian variants that the drowned girl’s body is found by a passing

27 Child, Francis James, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Dover Publications, USA, 1965, pg 120

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musician or two who then fashion the “enchanted” or “haunted” instrument from the girl’s body. Like a lot of Scandinavian poetry, stories and songs, the Norse “Two Sisters” tale delves deeply into the mythological and supernatural. In the many later versions from elsewhere in Europe and the UK, this convention of the instrument made from the dead girl’s body coming to life and “singing” the tale of her betrayal and murder to the shock and horror of the assembled audience is completely omitted from the tale. Instead, often the elder sister is never revealed as the culprit, and an unfortunate innocent person, such as the miller is accused of robbing the corpse and then executed for the crimes, while the real murderer goes unpunished. There are some later Norse variants which leave out this supernatural element as well, but in most of those the girl is actually rescued and goes on to tell the tale herself.

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About “Den Underbara Fiolen” The version of “Two Sisters” that I will be performing is only one of many versions found in Sweden. I learned the song “Den Underbara Fiolen” from a CD called “Harpe” by ‘Aurora Borealis’, a Scandinavian medieval music group. Øyonn Groven Myhren, who is a friend and a member of ‘Aurora Borealis’, and who is considered something of an expert in field of traditional folk and medieval Norwegian music and Nordic traditional music, has been helping me with some research and translation, in addition to this project. Øyonn has performed and lectured all over the world, and recorded a number of CDs, particularly of ballads from the Telemark region of Norway. This somewhat truncated version of “The Two Sisters” story follows the “refrain stanza” style of Scandinavian ballad, repeating the first line of each verse with a one line burden. It skips over much of the story, particularly the events leading up to the drowning, such as the verbal exchange between the sisters as the younger sister pleads for help, as though the main points were already known to the audience in which it was intended. Instead, it focuses mainly on the portion of the story after the drowning. A different melody, the tune of a lullaby I believe to be a Norwegian tune, is used in the section of the song where the haunted violin speaks. I believe this is simply to break up the monotony of a long song, and because it is a pretty, haunting little tune which

seems to suit the Ilustration to “Binnorie”, an English/Scottish version of “The Two Sisters” ballad. action and Image found at www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/eft/eft10.htm enhance the drama of the moment the murder is revealed. As stated earlier in this essay, it is near impossible to date this particular version of the story. A couple clues to its age are the presence of some archaic words, the presence of some post-conversion Christian overtones, and the use of the term “fiolen”. During the renaissance period, viols and the “violin” were becoming a popular instrument at court and among the common folks in Scandinavia, so yo mention these instruments would have been current and popular. These clues, though tenuous, could provide some proof that the song may have come about in around this period before 1650AD but certainly no earlier than the 1300’s. The accompanying Anglo-Saxon lyre arrangement is my own.

Text & Translation

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Den Underbara Fiolen

The Wonderful Violin

(Swedish)

(English Translation by Sheila Louise Wright and Christina Reid)

Note: The first line of each verse is repeated.

Två systrar gingo neder till strand Att hemta den vatten på snöhvitan sand Du ädela ros: Du ädela rosens blomma

Two sisters went down the beach To fetch water on snow-white sand. You precious rose: You precious rose bloom. Den ena systern ut på stenen månd gå The one sister walked out on the stones Hennes syster sköt henne i böljan den blå. Her sister shoved her in the waves of Du ädela ros: Du ädela rosens blomma blue. You precious rose: You precious rose bloom. Twå spelmänner gingo neder till strand Two musicians went down to the beach. Fick de se en jungfru flytandes i land. They caught sight of a maiden floating Du ädela ros: Du ädela rosens blomma near the shore. You precious rose: You precious rose bloom. De togo den jungfruns hufvudskål They took the maiden’s skull Der gjorde de fiolakarpar utaf. and made a violin body out of it. Du ädela ros: Du ädela rosens blomma You precious rose: You precious rose bloom. De togo den jungfruns armar små They took the maiden’s small arm Der gjorde de fiolastråke utaf. and made a violin bow out of it. Du ädela ros: Du ädela rosens blomma You precious rose: You precious rose bloom. Och sedan så togo de jungfruns hår And so then they took the maiden’s hair Och gjorde fiolsträngar utaf. and made violin strings out if it. Du ädela ros: Du ädela rosens blomma You precious rose: You precious rose bloom. De spelmänner gingo opp i en by. The musicians went up to the village. Der stod ett bröllopp så fagert och ny. They stayed at a recent and lovely Du ädela ros: Du ädela rosens blomma wedding. You precious rose: You precious rose bloom. Sade strängen den førsta Said the first string, Bruden hon er min syster. “The bride is my sister.” Sade strängen den andra: Said the second string, Brudtöfverskan(**) hon är min granne “The (bridal party?**) are my neighbours.” Sade strängen den tredje: Said the third string, Bruden med svek mig förledde. “The bride with treachery mislead me.” Sade strängen den fjerde: Said the forth string, Brudgummen mig först begärde. “The bridegroom asked me first.”

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De todo den fiol och slogo mot en sten Strax rann opp en jungfru så fager och så ren. Du ädela ros: Du ädela rosens blomma Och brudgummen tog den rätta i famn Och gaf henne alla de älskliga namn. Du ädela ros: Du ädela rosens blomma Jag svär dig infor den alsvåldige Gud Att du är den som jag valt till min brud. Du ädela ros: Du ädela rosens blomma

They took the violin and smashed it against a stone. Immediately up ran the maiden, so lovely and pure. You precious rose: You precious rose bloom. And the bridegroom took [her] right in his arms And gave everyone her beautiful name. You precious rose: You precious rose bloom. “I swear to you before almighty God That you are who I choose for my bride.” You precious rose: You precious rose bloom.

**” Brudtöfverskan” - The meaning of this word is unknown, other than it has something to do with “bride” (brud). Christina Reid, whose first language is Swedish and who assisted me with translating this song, says that the word is too archaic and so she doesn’t know what the meaning is. I also consulted another friend who speaks Swedish, and is a expert in Scandinavian medieval music and she couldn’t define it either. Our choice for a logical translation is “bridal party” based on the rest of the line and the context thereof, but I’ve been unable to find anyone who can translate the word at this time.

Vocal Score Here you will find the melody line for the first verse of this version of “Den Underbara Fiolen” (transcribed by me). The timing is 4/4 for the first 2 lines. The third line is free form, without defined tempo or rhythm, and returns to 4/4 time ‘a tempo’ for the burden.

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Appendix 1

A scanned copy of the original 1658 Broadside “Wit Restor’d” in which “The Miller and the King’s Daughter” appears, allegedly for the 2nd printing, the first being 1656.

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25

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Appendix 2

1902 Reprint of Musicarum Deliciae in which “Wit Restor’d” is found, and which contains the 1658 printing of “The Miller and the King’s Daughter”.

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Appendix 3

Dr. Edward Rimbault, in “Note and Queries” mentions that he has in his possession at the time of writing, the 1656 Broadside where “The Miller and the King’s Daughter” is allegedly first printed in England. He reproduced the song from the Broadside in his missive. This is the closest proof of its existence that I have found thus far.

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30

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Appendix 4 “Hörpu Kvæði” or “Kvæði Um Tvær Systur” (First printing in 17th Cen. Iceland) 1. Systir talar vid systir gód í landenu so vída ga/ngum vid útá sjáfar flód vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

9. Bidillin reid med ströndum í landenu so vída meyuna rak ad löndum. vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

2. Hvad skulum víd til sjáfar fljóð? í landenu so vída sílktvinna eigum að þvo. vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

10. Hann tók i hennar gula hár í landenu so vída spann í höpru streingi þrjá vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

3. Sú yngri gekk pá framm a stein í landenu so vída sú elldri hratt henni út af stein vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

11. So ljet streingurinn fyrsti í landenu so vída brúðurinn er vor systir vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

4. Hún rjetti út syne hönd í landenu so vída kjæra systir, hjálp í lönd. vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

12. So ljet strengurinn ani í landenu so vída brúðurinn er vor bani. vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

5. Eg hjálpa þjer ekki í lönd umm sinn í landenu so vída nema pú gjefir mèr bidil þinn. vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

13. Hann sló hörpu af magni í landenu so vída brúðurinn sprakk af harmi vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

6. Gjefa þjer allt hvað gjefa eg má í landenu so vída á biðlinum á eg einginn ráð. vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

14. Signj, var grafinn í hördum hól í landenu so vída stóðu yfjr henni hirdmenn ?ól. vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

7. Þá kom vindur af hafi í landenu so vída lykinu sló í kafi vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

15. Hildur var grafinn í hördum haug í landenu so vída alljr sögdu hún yrdi ad dra/g. vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

8. Þá kom vindur og bylgjann blá í landenu so vída linkinu tók til lands ad slá vel má herinn af Danmörk út rída.

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Acknowledgments & Thanks Much appreciation to Øyonn Groven Myhren, and her brother Eilev, for providing me with some jumping off points, clues and translations for researching “Den Underbara Fiolen”. Thank-You to Christina Reid, an awesome Swede, Viking Age archeologist and friend who is always willing to help feed my nerdy addictions, for helping translate some Swedish (and other) texts that were beyond my comprehension. Thank-you to Linda Cowan, my library Goddess, for her assistance tracking down rare books and articles, and her assistance with some research issues. You helped save the day. Many thanks to Sally Mennill, Brenda Gerritsma, Rick Kimberley and Melissa Duncan for their constructive criticism, proofreading and excellent editing skills. Also Thank-You to My Laurel, Mistress Seiglynda of Elphinstone (aka: Melissa Duncan) for her unflagging support, sage advice and inspiration... and for encouraging me to use my brain from time to time. And lastly I’d like to thank all the folks who have assisted me in other ways, like signing out scads of books from various libraries on my behalf, providing tea breaks and keeping me sane in other ways. Your help is invaluable and I appreciate all of you very much.

Thank-You

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Bibliography Arnason, Jon and Powell, G.E.J and Magnusson, Eirikur, Icelandic Legends, 1864, W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street and Charing Cross, London, Pg. 155 - Murder Will Out Child, Francis James, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, 1965 Dover Publications, USA Colbert, David; The Birth Of the Ballad: The Scandinavian Medieval Genre; 1989 Svenskt Visarkiv, Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell Tryckeri, Uppsala El-Shamy, Hasan M.; Folkstales of Egypt (1938); University of Chicago Press, USA, 1980 (Google Books) Espeland, Velle, ... All For His Maiden Fair... : The Norwegian Ballads, 2004 Publisert i et pensumkompendium Universitetet I Oslo, Norsk Visearkiv Espeland, Velle, Oral Ballads as National Literature: The Reconstruction of Two Norwegian Ballads, 2000 Printed in ELO. Estudos de Literatura Oral, 6. Universidade do Algarve, Norsk Visearkiv Geijer, Erik Gustaf; Svenska folk-visor från forntiden, Volume 1, 1814, Strinnholm & Häggström, Stockholm Geijer, Erik Gustaf, Afzelius, Arvid August, Warrens, Rosa, Wolf, Ferdinand J., Schwedische Volkslieden den Vorzeit (no other info as the page was torn from the book) Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. 1884 Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1892. 2 volumes. Grundtvig, Svend; Danmarks Folkeviser, I Udvalg (Volume I), 1882, P.G. Philipson Forlag, Trykt Hos J. Jorgensen & Co., Kjobenhavn, Harris, Joseph, The Ballad and Oral Literature, 1991, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England, Jacobs, Joseph; Indian Fairy Tales 2005, (Pennsylvania State University,), pg. 35-38 Jonsson, Bengt R., and Solheim, Svale and Danielson, Eva; The Types of Scandinavian Medieval Ballad; A Descriptive Catalogue; 1978, Universitetsforlaget, The Institute for Comparitive Research in Human Culture, Oslo, Norway, Edgar Hogfeldt A/S Kristiansand S. Mundal, Else & Wellendorf, Jonas; Oral Art Forms and Their Passage into Writing; 2008, Museum Tusculanum Press and the authors, Universitatsbibliothek Heidelberg, Copenhagen Rimbault, Edward; Notes & Queries, 1852, s1-V pg. 591-592 (of an Oxford Journal?) Simpson, Jacquline; Icelandic Folktales & Legends; 1972, University of California Press, Berkley & Los Angeles California,Printed in Great Britain Wigstrom, Eva; Skånska visor, sagor, och sägner edited by Eva Wigström - som med undenstöd af de skånska landskapens historiska och arkeologiska förening företagit omfattande samlingsarbeten till upplysning af den skånska allmogens lif har till föreningen meddelat dessa utdrag ur ett större arbete öfver ämnet., Lund 1880, Fr. Berlings Boktryckeri och Stilgjuteri

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Online Sources: Balladdatabasen - Norsk Visearkiv - Ballads in Norway http://www.edd.uio.no/perl/balladen/balladen_register.prl Sweden’s Medieval Ballads - http://www.visarkiv.se Popular Ballads and Songs from Traditions, Manuscripts and Scarce Editions with Translations of Similar Pieces from the Ancient Danish Language. by Robert Jamieson, 1806 http://books.google.com/books?id=00pjKB70jxwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=twa %20sisters&f=false The Ballad of the Harp - Faroese Ballad http://www.tjatsi.fo/?side=8ce9a07a651e6fc3bc7bbb9821626cc8 Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. - #376. “Binnorie” http://www.bartleby.com/101/376.html 26 Scottish/English Versions of ‘The Twa Sisters” http://www.springthyme.co.uk/ballads/balladtexts/10_TwaSisters.html 21 English Variations of “The Twa Sisters” song: http://www.contemplator.com/child/variant10.html Broadsides (Scandinavian) http://wapedia.mobi/sv/Medeltidsballad English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs http://www.authorama.com/english-fairy-tales-11.html Blood Sisters - by Elinore Longobardi http://www.801mag.org/cs/ContentServer?childpagename=801Ma%2FJRN_Content_C %2FArticleDetail&c=JRN_Content_C&p=1165270039420&pagename=JRN %2F801Wrapper&packedargs=pagenum%3D1&cid=1175372077779 Representative Poetry Online - “The Twa Sisters o' Binnorie” http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/74.html FOLKMUSIKBOKEN - Märta Ramsten: Om folklig vissång Svensk visarkiv om skillingtryck (Martha Ramsten) http://www.visarkiv.se/online/folkmusikboken/Kapitel4/skillingtryck.html Roud Folksong Index http://library.efdss.org/cgi-bin/textpage.cgi?file=aboutRoud&access=off The Silver Plate and the Transparent Apple, The Singing Bone, The Dead Girl’s Bone, The Griffin, The Twin Brothers, The Little Bone, Murder Will Out, Magic FIddle http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0780.html The Magic Fiddle - from the Joseph Jacobs Collection of Indian Fairy Tales http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/ift/ift07.htm Sur La Lune Fairytales - Household Tales by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm. http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/28singingbone.html The Miller and the King’s Daughter http://www.laurieandlewis.com/lewis/folk/lyrics/the-miller-and-the-kings-daughter.htm The Twa Sisters - Comparison: Francis Grove broadside vs. Jamieson-Brown MS

35 http://www.laurieandlewis.com/lewis/folk/compare/twa-sisters_grove_brown.htm The Cruel Sister http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiTWOSS11.html Traditional Ballad Index http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/BalladSearch.html Skjaldesang http://www.skjaldesang.dk/ The Two Sisters (Child No. 10) - Ballads and Songs of Indiana http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=55448275 The James Madison Collection Online Catalogue http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/carpenter/aboutproj.html The Twa Sisters - Child Ballad http://wapedia.mobi/en/The_Twa_Sisters Arabian Nights - The Story of Two Sisters Who Were Jealous of Their Younger Sister http://www.candlelightstories.com/2009/03/27/arabian-nights-the-story-of-two-sisters-who-were-jealousof-their-younger-sister/ Wiki Articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadside_(music) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxburghe_Ballads http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Ballads http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_James_Child http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svend_Grundtvig http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twa_Sisters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roud_Folk_Song_Index http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_ballad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair,_Brown_and_Trembling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janghwa_Hongryeon_jeon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Thousand_and_One_Nights