List of Sveriges Medeltida Ballader
This is a list of ballads found in Sveriges Medeltida Ballader.
Ballads of the supernatural (Naturmytiska visor)[]
Number | Title | TSB | Cognates | Notes | Synopsis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | A 4 | ||||
2 | A 11 | Child 43[1] | A young maiden is widely reputed to have spent the night with many men, yet she remains a virgin. Her reputation travels so far, it comes to the Prince of England. Determined to win her, he calls for his horse and rides to meet her. When he arrives, she invites him into her chamber, but as soon as he sits on her bed, his eyes grow heavy and he lays down to sleep. Three days later the maiden awakes him and sends him on his way, none the wiser. In truth, she had written "raven runes" [ramme runor], the 'Sleep Runes' of the song-title, upon the sheets. | ||
3 | A 12 | King Erik sends for a fortune teller. After testing her abilities, he is informed that he (and in some variants his queen) does not have long to live. | |||
4 | A 16 | A man tries to catch a deer in the woods. The deer turns into a hawk. He feeds the hawk a piece of his own flesh, and it turns into a maid, who explains that her stepmother had cast a spell on her. | |||
5 | A 19 | A knight's stepmother transforms him into a werewolf, and tells him he must drink the blood of his brother to break the spell. He kills the stepmother and drinks the blood of her unborn son. | |||
6 | A 20 | A maid is killed by a werewolf while walking the woods. | |||
7 | A 22 | Mother and daughter are approached by a fox and a wolf who accuse them of being their mothers, and of having turned them into animals. They drink the women's blood, and a "fortune teller" appears, transforming them into humans again. | |||
8 | A 25 | A king's enchanted horse, Blacken, swims after the king when he goes abroad. He returns and dies of exhaustion. | |||
9 | A 26 | Rune the Raven visits Kerstin, who is held prisoner by her husband. Rune flies to Kerstin's father, who come to the rescue on his enchanted horse Blacken. In some variants, Blacken loses his powers when his name is spoken, throws his master off and continues alone (and dies of exhaustion). | |||
10 | A 27 | A man out hunting fails to heed his mother's advice not to shoot a deer. When he flays the deer, he finds locks of hair and jewelry, and realizes that the deer was his sister (lover) under a spell. | |||
11 | A 29 | Child 34[1] | A maid goes to bed with a lindworm, and wakes up next to a king's son. | ||
12 | A 30 | Child 34[1] | A maid has been transformed into a lime tree (usually by her stepmother). Another maid encounters the tree and sends for help. | ||
13 | De två systrarna | A 38 | Child 10[2] | One sister drowns the other. The dead sister is made into a harp, and the harp reveals the crime. | |
14 | (Liten Kerstins förtrollning) | A 40 | Child 6[2] | A woman's pregnancy is prolonged through magic. | |
15 | A 41 | Child 7 (and Child 8)[2] | The supernatural element in 15–16 lies in the breaking of the name taboo being the cause of Redebold/Hillebrand's death. This "dead-naming" is omitted in the English ballads. | Redebold elopes with his beloved Gullborg. Her father and his men go after them. Redebold prepares to fight them, and asks Gullborg not to mention his name. When he kills her father (or brother), she calls out for him, and he is immediately cut down. | |
16 | A 42 | Child 7 (and 8)[2] | Hilla relates her misfortunes, including "dead-naming" her beloved Hillebrand, as in the above, and being sold (and/or locked up) by her family. | ||
17 | A 44 | A maid will only accept a suitor who can fly. A young man makes wings of gold and flies to her. | |||
18 | (Hertig Silfverdal) | A 45 | Svipdagsmál | Svedendal is cursed to not find peace until he finds the woman meant for him, whom he has never met. He awakes his dead father, who offers help in the form of various enchanted items. Svedendal meets a shepherd who leads him to the maiden, who awaits him, herself under a spell that only he can break. | |
19 | Agneta och havsmannen | A 47 | Child 41[1] | Agneta follows a merman to his underwater abode, where she stays and has several children. Hearing church bells, she longs for home, and is permitted to go visit her family. She disregards all conditions her captor has postulated for her release, and he appears, demanding she returns to care for her children, but Agneta says she does not care. | |
20 | A 48 | A neck abducts a maid. | |||
21 | Ungersven och havsfrun | A 49 | A man is abducted by a sea-troll, or mermaid, who makes him forget his past. In some variants, he saves himself by playing a magical harp. | ||
22 | Harpans kraft | A 50 | A man asks his beloved why she is unhappy. She replies that she has two (or more) sisters who drowned (or that she was prophesied to drown herself). Precautions are taken, but the girl falls in the river nonetheless. The man plays a magical harp to force the neck to give her (and her sisters) back. | ||
23 | A 51 | A man successfully frees his sister from a sea-troll or mermaid, where she has been held prisoner for years. The sea-troll mourns her loss. | |||
24 | A 54 | Child 41[1] | A maid is led astray and imprisoned by a mountain dwarf ( | ). They have several children. She returns to see her mother, but is taken back inside the mountain and made to forget her family (or killed).||
25 | A 58 | A mountain dwarf asks for a maid's hand, then takes her away by force, but she turns around and rides back home. | |||
26 | Herr Magnus och havsfrun (Herr Mannelig) | A 59 | Sir Magnus is courted by a female troll, but turns her down. | ||
27 | A 61 | Sir Peder is out riding, and arrives in a mountain, where he meets a dwarf's daughter. He kills her. | |||
28 | Riddar Tynne | A 62 | |||
29 | Herr Olof och älvorna | A 63 | Child 42[1] | Sir Olof encounters fairies who invite him to dance with them. He declines, and falls ill and dies. | |
30 | A 64 | ||||
31 | Älvefärd | A 65 | |||
32 | A 67 | Child 77[3] | A mourning girl receives a nightly visit from her dead fiancé. | ||
33 | A 68 | A woman returns from the dead when she sees her children suffer at the hands of their stepmother. | |||
34 | A 69 | ||||
35 | A 70 | A man encounters Sir Mårten, whom he knows to be dead. Apparently, Mårten had wrongfully claimed a piece of land, and demands that his wife return it. If his wife does not believe the man, Mårten explains, she shall find Mårten's boots filled with blood. | |||
36 | Herr Holger | A 71 |
Legendary ballads (Legendvisor)[]
Number | Title | TSB | Cognates | Notes | Synopsis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
37 | B 4 | ||||
38 | B 7 | ||||
39 | Sankte Staffan | B 8 | Child 22[2] | ||
40 | B 10 | ||||
41 | B 12 | ||||
42 | B 14 | A king becomes infatuated with Karin (St. Catherine). He offers her gifts, but she refuses them. He has her executed in a "nail barrel" (Swedish: spik[e]tunna). She is taken to heaven, and the king to hell. | |||
43 | B 16 | Child 21[2] | Mary Magdalene meets Jesus in the wilderness. She claims to be a virgin, but Jesus says this is not true, and that she has had three children, with her father, her brother, and the parish priest. As punishment, she must stay in the wilderness for seven years. She is then allowed to enter heaven. | ||
44 | B 17 | When the king is away, Lady Gunnel releases all prisoners. She blames Eluf the guard, swearing that if she is not speaking the truth, she will give birth to seven dogs. Eluf is executed; miracles occur at his place of death. Gunnel gives birth to dogs, which she kills. | |||
45 | B 18 | ||||
46 | B 20 | Sir Peder tries to seduce his sister. When she refuses his advances, he falsely claims that she has murdered her illegitimate children. She is burned at the stake. Peder refuses to let her drink. Doves take her to heaven, and ravens take Peder to hell. | |||
47 | Herr Töres' döttrar | B 21 | Child 14[2] | ||
48 | (Duvans sång på liljekvist) | B 22 | A bird sings to a maid that she is expected in (or asks her to follow it to) heaven. Soon after, as she is about to marry, she falls ill and dies. | ||
49 | B 25 | ||||
50 | B 26 | ||||
51 | B 28 | ||||
52 | B 29 | ||||
53 | B 30 | ||||
54 | B 32 |
Historical ballads (Historiska visor)[]
Number | Title | TSB | Cognates | Notes | Synopsis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
55 | C 3 | Queen Dagmar is brought to Denmark, 1205 | |||
56 | C 5 | The Battle of Lena, 1208 | |||
57 | C 6 | The death of Queen Dagmar, 1212 | |||
58 | C 7 | Queen Bengjerd requests taxes, 1214 | |||
59 | C 8 | Abduction from Vreta Abbey | |||
60 | C 15 | abducts Ingrid Svantepolksdotter, 1288 | |||
61 | C 16 | Treats the same event as the preceding entry, and is also known as "Folke Algotssons brudrov", but considered a distinct ballad | |||
62 | C 28 | The burning of Faxehus (), 1434 | |||
63 | C 35 | The War of Deposition against King Hans, 1501–1502 | |||
64 | C 40 | The Battle of Brunnbäck Ferry, 1521 | |||
65 | (Vasavisan) | C 41 | The Swedish War of Liberation, 1521(–1523) |
Ballads of chivalry (Riddarvisor)[]
Number | Title | TSB | Cognates | Notes | Synopsis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
66 | D 7 | ||||
67 | Esbern Snare | D 16 | |||
68 | D 21 | ||||
69 | D 32 | ||||
70 | D 37 | Child 25[2] | Sir Karl pretends to be dead in order to take his beloved out of convent. | ||
71 | D 45 | ||||
72 | (Vänner och fränder) | D 46 | Rudegull's beloved is married off to another while he's away, but he arrives just in time to elope with the bride. | ||
73 | D 49 | ||||
74 | D 53 | ||||
75 | D 60 | ||||
76 | D 61 | ||||
77 | D 61 B | ||||
78 | D 62 | ||||
79 | D 67 | ||||
80 | D 69 | Child 71[3] | |||
81 | D 72 | Child 53[1] | |||
82 | D 78 | ||||
83 | D 84 | Rosea and her beloved, a duke, are separated by the king, and Rosea is married off to a count. Upon hearing this, the duke returns to her, and they die in each other's arms. Flowers or trees grow from their graves, their leaves intertwining. | |||
84 | D 85 | ||||
85 | D 87 | ||||
86 | D 90 | A young man courts a maid. She explains that she has lost her family, except for her brother. The man reveals himself as the brother. | |||
87 | D 91 | ||||
88 | D 96 | ||||
89 | D 99 | ||||
90 | D 104 | ||||
91 | D 110 | ||||
92 | D 115 | ||||
93 | D 118 | ||||
94 | D 125 | ||||
95 | D 131 | ||||
96 | D 133 | ||||
97 | D 139 | ||||
98 | D 140 | ||||
99 | D 144 | ||||
100 | D 148 | ||||
101 | D 153 | ||||
102 | D 154 | ||||
103 | D 163 | ||||
104 | D 167 | ||||
105 | D 168 | ||||
106 | D 182 | ||||
107 | D 184 | ||||
108 | D 185 | ||||
109 | D 195 | ||||
110 | D 201 | ||||
111 | D 214 | A young man holds off going to his betrothed due to bad weather. When he arrives the next day, he finds her with another. | |||
112 | D 216 | ||||
113 | D 220 | ||||
114 | D 224 | A man pretends to be dead to see how his betrothed will react. He is upset to find her dancing and having fun. She says that she knew he was not dead. | |||
115 | D 226 | ||||
116 | D 228 | Sir Ivar dances with the Danish queen. The king threatens to execute him, and he flees on a ship. | |||
117 | D 232 | ||||
118 | (Falkvard Lagermanson) | D 233 | |||
119 | D 235 | ||||
120 | D 239 | Child 68[3] | |||
121 | D 243 | ||||
122 | D 245 | Child 73[3] | |||
123 | D 247 | ||||
149 | (Blekman och Alf) | D 249, D 308 | |||
124 | D 250 | ||||
125 | D 251 | While Ebbe is away, his brother tells his betrothed he's dead, in order to marry her himself. Ebbe returns home for the wedding and kills them both (and kills or mutilates his parents). | |||
126 | D 254 | ||||
127 | D 255 | ||||
128 | D 256 | Salmon invites his lovers to his wedding. They give him food and drink, which causes him to go on a rampage, killing the guests, ending with the bride. | |||
129 | (Tova lilla) | D 258 | |||
130 | D 260 | ||||
131 | D 274 | ||||
132 | D 279 | Child 75[3] | |||
133 | D 280 | ||||
134 | D 282 | ||||
135 | D 283 | ||||
136 | D 284 | ||||
137 | D 286 | ||||
138 | D 288 | Child 15[2] | |||
139 | D 289 | Child 15[2] | |||
140 | D 291 | ||||
141 | D 292 | ||||
142 | D 293 | ||||
143 | D 294 | ||||
144 | D 295 | ||||
145 | D 297 | ||||
146 | D 299 | ||||
147 | D 300 | ||||
148 | D 304 | ||||
149 | D 249, D 308 | ||||
150 | (Ebbe Tykesons dödsritt) | D 309 | Ebbe is killed by a group of men, and his horse carries his body (or his clothes) home. His mother does not let his fiancée know that the corpse is his, and when she finds out she dies from sorrow. | ||
151 | D 311 | ||||
152 | D 312 | ||||
153 | D 320 | Child 13[2] | Sven's mother asks him about his bloody clothes, and by degrees he confesses to having murdered his brother. | ||
154 | D 321 | Child 12[2] | A girl who has been poisoned by her stepmother divides her belongings among her family, but wishes the agonies of hell on her killers. | ||
155 | D 323 | ||||
156 | D 324 | Child 69[3] | Tore interrogates his sister (or daughter) about her lover, but she explains away his accusations. He then shows her her lover's cut-off hand, and she realizes Tore has killed him. | ||
157 | D 329 | ||||
158 | D 334 | ||||
159 | D 342 | ||||
160 | D 346 | Child 64[3] | |||
161 | D 352 | Child 89[4] | |||
162 | D 358 | ||||
163 | D 359 | ||||
164 | D 361 | Child 57[3] | Sir Peder is told that he will die at sea. When his ship begins to keel over, he and his crew play dice to determine who among them is the greatest sinner. Peder loses, and confesses to numerous sins. He is thrown overboard, and the ship recovers. | ||
165 | D 365 | ||||
166 | D 367 | ||||
167 | D 372 | ||||
168 | D 374 | ||||
169 | D 376 | ||||
170 | D 380 | ||||
171 | D 381 | ||||
172 | D 390 | Child 269[5] | Count Fröjdenborg courts Lady Adelin. Her father has Fröjdenborg locked up, and later killed. His heart is served to Adelin, and when she finds out, she kills herself. They are buried together. | ||
173 | D 391 | Child 95[4] | A poor man sells his daughter, who tries to coax her relatives into buying her back. They all refuse, but her beloved gladly buys her freedom. | ||
174 | D 392 | [5] | |||
175 | D 393 | ||||
176 | D 394 | ||||
177 | D 395 | ||||
178 | D 396 | Child 63[3] | |||
179 | D 397 | ||||
180 | D 398 | ||||
181 | D 399 | Child 110[4] | |||
182 | D 405 | A king is charmed by a shepherdess's singing. He sends for her to come and sing for him, and ends up taking her as his queen. | |||
183 | (Allebrand harpspelaren) | D 409 | |||
184 | D 410 | (The first half of) Child 9[2] | |||
185 | (Den falske riddaren) | D 411 | Child 4[2] | A "false knight" abducts a girl, planning to kill her, as he has several others, but she ties him up and kills him instead. | |
186 | D 413 | ||||
187 | D 415 | ||||
188 | D 419 | ||||
189 | D 421 | Child 5[2] | |||
190 | D 424 | ||||
191 | D 426 | A maid follows a skipper aboard his ship, falls asleep and wakes up in a distant country. Endings vary: the girl may drown or escape, or the skipper reveals himself as her beloved in disguise. | |||
192 | D 427 | ||||
193 | Habor och Signild | D 430 | |||
194 | D 434 | ||||
195 | D 435 | Two royal daughters are taken away at a young age. They come to a castle where they serve as maids. When the queen wants one of them to marry her son, they reveal that they are her long lost daughters. | |||
196 | D 436 |
Heroic ballads (Kämpavisor)[]
Number | Title | TSB | Cognates | Notes | Synopsis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
197 | E 5 | ||||
198 | E 10 | Vilkina saga chapters 178–182; Der Rosengarten zu Worms[6] | |||
199 | E 19 | ||||
200 | E 23 | ||||
201 | E 31 | A girl frees her beloved from prison. | |||
202 | E 32 | A girl frees her imprisoned brother (in some variants after killing several men). | |||
203 | E 37 | ||||
204 | E 49 | ||||
205 | E 52 | Sven Svanevit encounters a wandering shepherd, who claims to have killed Sven's father; Sven kills him with his thumb. He engages a second shepherd with a series of riddles; the shepherd answers them correctly, and Sven rewards him with a golden ring. | |||
206 | Stolt herr Alf | E 58 | |||
207 | E 64 | ||||
208 | E 90 | ||||
209 | E 96 | Child 89[4] | |||
210 | E 115 | ||||
211 | E 119 | Vilkina saga chapters 170–177[6] | |||
212 | E 126 | Þrymskviða[6] | |||
213 | E 128 | Orm Stórólfssons saga[6] | |||
214 | E 129 | ||||
215 | E 132 | ||||
216 | E 133 | Burman, a giant or ogre, claims the king's daughter Gloria. She releases the imprisoned Ogier the Dane who defeats Burman. | |||
217 | E 139 | Ramunder (or Ramund) gets new clothes and sets off to kill several giants. | |||
218 | E 144 | ||||
219 | E 148 |
Jocular ballads (Skämtvisor)[]
Number | Title | TSB | Cognates | Notes | Synopsis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
220 | F 1 | ||||
221 | F 5 | ||||
222 | F 6 | ||||
223 | F 7 | ||||
224 | F 8 | ||||
225 | F 10 | ||||
226 | F 11 | ||||
227 | F 12 | ||||
228 | F 16 | ||||
229 | F 17 | A man hides in a sack in order to get near the miller's daughter. | |||
230 | F 18 | ||||
231 | F 19 | ||||
232 | F 20 | ||||
233 | F 22 | ||||
234 | F 24 | ||||
235 | F 25 | A maid refuses to let a man in, since she does not hear the sound of her beloved's wooden leg. The man kills him and steals the wooden leg. | |||
236 | F 26 | ||||
237 | F 29 | ||||
238 | (Den ondsinta käringen) | F 30 | |||
239 | F 31 | ||||
240 | F 32 | ||||
241 | F 33 | ||||
242 | F 36 | ||||
243 | (Det kommer en ryttare ridande) | F 40 | A farmer sees a knight approaching. The farmer's wife tells the farmer to give the knight the best of food and drink, and let him sleep next to her in bed, and that the farmer may sleep in the pigsty. | ||
244 | F 45 | Per trades his only cow for a fiddle, which he loses, and gets scolded by his wife. | |||
245 | F 46 | A man has a belt that is so magnificent that everyone who sees it forgets what they are doing. He declines generous offers from priests and kings who wish to buy the belt, only to end up trading it for a pair of old gloves. | |||
246 | F 53 | ||||
247 | F 54 | ||||
261 | F 55 | ||||
248 | (Bonden i timmerskog) | F 58 | Kråkevisa | Sometimes regarded as a satire on the tithe and other taxations.[7] | A farmer shoots a huge crow. Its body is used for an impressive amount of things: food, shoes, and a ship. |
249 | F 60 | ||||
250 | F 63 | ||||
251 | (Bonden gick åt grönan äng) | F 64 | A farmer bargains with a fox for his hide. | ||
252 | F 66 | ||||
253 | F 67 | A beetle employs a horse-fly to propose to a fly on his behalf. The fly replies that she is rich (eats from silver plates) and the beetle poor (lives in the dirt, among the livestock). The horse-fly hits the fly, and she agrees to marry the beetle. | |||
254 | F 68 | ||||
255 | F 69 | ||||
256 | F 70 | Child 3[2][a] | |||
257 | F 71 | ||||
258 | F 72 | ||||
259 | F 73 | ||||
260 | F 75 | ||||
262 | – | ||||
263 | – |
See also[]
Sources[]
- Jonsson, Bengt R.; Solheim, Svale; Danielson, Eva, eds. (1978). The types of the Scandinavian medieval ballad (2nd ed.). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. ISBN 82-00-09479-0.
Notes[]
- ^ Child does not name the Swedish ballad, but one of its source texts, or one or more of its Scandinavian counterparts.
- ^ a b c d e f g Child, Francis James (1884). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. 1. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Child, Francis James (1882). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. 1. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Child, Francis James (1885). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. 2. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d Child, Francis James (1886). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. 2. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
- ^ a b Child, Francis James (1894). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. 5. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d Arwidsson, Adolf Ivar (1834). Svenska fornsånger (in Swedish). 1. Stockholm: P. A. Nordstedt & Söner. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
- ^ "Inspelningar och noter". Svenskt visarkiv (in Swedish). Musikverket. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
Categories:
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- Swedish folk songs
- Ballad collections