Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1978, Page 32

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Sniolvs kvæði
the Svabo text towards merging the two originally separate
component stories.
The Sandoy text of 1821 contains an additional two tættir,
Hildardalsstríð and Risin á Blálandi. According to a local
legend, Clemensen’s informant for this text, Peder Lukassen,
actually composed Hildardalsstríð while he was temporarily
imprisoned.4 Stylistically this táttur reflects its youth in its
combination of heroes from the Sjúrð cycle with those of the
Sniolv cycle: Grím defeats Geyti, the slayer of his fiancee’s
father, and then has to call on his own father, Hildibrand,
for help when Geyti enlists the aid of both Sjúrð and Virgar
in exacting vengeance for his humiliating defeat. One of the
ballad man’s purposes in composing this táttur seems to have
been to measure the heroes of the Sniolv cycle against the
mightiest heroes of Faroese balladry, Sjúrð and Virgar. Grím
and Hildibrand gain great honor at the battle of Hildardal —
Grím defeats Virgar, and the valiant Hildibrand holds his own
against the greatest of all champions, Sjúrð. In composing this
táttur the ballad man seems also to have wanted to put Grím
in a very sympathetic light — he portrays Grím as a good
son who follows his mother’s advice and honors his father’s
ability, as a responsible and honorable suitor, and as a warrior
of great prowess.
The episode narrated in Risin á Blálandi is a continuation
of the story told in Hildardalsstríð and was probably com-
posed at the same time. This táttur, too, shows the ballad man’s
interest in measuring the heroes of the Sniolv cycle against
heroes of the Sjúrð cycle. When Grím returns home from a
voyage, he meets a stranger and jousts with him; but when he
finds out that the stranger is Sjúrð, he defers to Sjúrð’s superior
prowess. In these two closely related tættir, Hildardalsstríð and
Risin á Blálandi, the ballad man ranks Grím as a better fighter
than Virgar, but not up to taking on the greatest of them all,
Sjúrð Sigmundarson!
In Risin á Blálandi the ballad man seems also interested in
providing background information for the most tragic episode