Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1979, Síða 71

The Case of »Hernilds kvæði«
79
Hermundur, the son of an earl, is very pugnacious (cN:
he has killed one of his own brothers) and is therefore out-
lawed by the king. He falls in love with Halga, the king’s
daughter. By magic means Halga gets a messenger to tell
Hermundur that her father wants her to marry another man.
Hermundur returns and attends the wedding (F, cN: in
disguise). — F: He kills the bridegroom. Hermundur is cap-
tured and imprisoned, and Halga sends word of this to his
father. He urges his son Eirikur, regarded as a coward, to
act, and Eirikur succeeds in releasing his brother. Hermundur
kills the king and marries Halga while Eirikur marries her
handmaiden. — N: Hermundur kills the bridegroom (cN:
who is a brother of his). When the king tries to capture
him, Hermundur defeats him and forces him to give him
his daughter.7
»Hernilds kvæSi,« of which we have only one text from the
Faroes, has been summarized as follows:
Earl Atil has two sons. The elder, Aksal, is a weakling,
while the younger, Hernild, is a keen fighter. He kills many
men, and lady Elin, the daughter of a count, sees this. She
urges her father to capture and kill Hernild. Hernild puts
upp a brave resistance but is eventually thrown into ja.il.
Earl Atil tells Aksal that although he is such a coward he
must at least free his brother. Aksal sets out, kills many of
the count’s men, releases his brother and takes him home.
Earl Atil and his two sons set out against the count. They
kill him and his men. Hernild also defeats a witch. He then
takes Elin by force and makes her marry him.8
Looked at this way, these two ballads do not seem at all
similar, but when the Faroese variants of »Hermundur illi,«
especially the one from Fugloyarbók (CCF 66 D), are compared
with »Hernilds kvæði,« some remarkable similarities are re-
vealed. To facilitate this comparison I have analyzed the
Fugloyarbók text of »Hermundur illi« and the single extant