Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1978, Page 38

46
Sniolvs kvæði
family tradition. Therefore, either Sand or Skálavík was the
original center for the tradition on Sandoy from whence it was
transplanted to the other village. Once two singing traditions
for the cycle had been established in Sand and in Skálavík, then
each was subject to new influences and would develop inde-
pendently from the other. The line-by-line differences between
the 1819 and 1821 texts testify to the passage of a period of
time between the separation of the singing traditions in Sand
and Skálavík and the collection of the texts, but the closeness
of the texts suggest that it was a matter of generations rather
than centuries. And it was during this period that Hildardals-
stríð and Risin á Blálandi were composed in Skálavík.
In addition to the second layer of composition comprised
by the five new tættir in Clemensen’s 1819 and 1821 texts,
there was on Sandoy further ballad-making connected with
the Sniolv cycle that seems to represent a still younger layer
of composition. This third and youngest layer consists of the
following ballads: (1) Gríms ríma (FK 52), first collected in
1822 by Clemensen from Hans Johannessen of Sand; (2) Tíð-
riks kongs ríma (FK 97), first collected in 1822 by Clemensen
from J. Michael Widerø of Sand; (3) Frúgvin Olrina (FK 81),
first collected in 1827 by Clemensen from Poul Pedersen of
Skálavík; and (4) Heljars kvæði (FK 63), first collected in
1847 by Hammershaimb from Ole Joensen of Skálavík. These
four ballads appear to form a distinct third layer in the Sniolv
cycle because they reflect a knowledge of several of the five
new tættir found in the expanded texts of 1819 and 1821 and
must therefore be younger. Another indication of their youth
is the fact that they were collected relatively late and in very
few variants. Gríms ríma and Heljars kvæði were collected in
three variants, whereas Tíðriks kongs ríma and Frúgvin Olrina
were collected in only two. It is interesting to note that earliest
variants of each of these four ballads were collected in the two
villages, Sand and Skálavík, that have been suggested as the
two centers for the singing tradition of the Sniolv cycle.
Of these four ballads Frúgvin Olrina is most reminiscent of