Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1979, Side 75

The Case of »Hernilds kvæði«
83
On the level of plot the ways in which the ballad man
changed the story of »Hermundur illi« to develop the new
story in »Hernilds kvæði« do not seem everywhere well moti-
vated. Certainly, the new ballad, without the love interest be-
tween Halga and Hermundur, is less entertaining. However,
on the thematic level almost every change that the ballad man
undertook in working out his new story served a single pur-
pose — to convert a ballad about family disloyalty into one
about family unity.
»Hermundur illi« is a ballad about trouble within the
family: at first the pugnacious young man is seen as the
trouble-maker and is punished by family members until the
real villain is identified and dealt with. In the first part of the
ballad Hermundur alienates his uncle by killing some of his
men. Although Hermundur’s parents are saddened by the turn
that events have taken, they do not intercede, seeking, as his
mother advises, only to tame their son somewhat and to pro-
vide him with a ship should he need to escape his uncle’s wrath:
20 »Lat tá knørr á lunni ganga,
og hartil reyðargull reka,
kjósa so tær eitt fimmhundrað
og taka til tín son spekja!10
Even his cousin Halga, of whom he is quite fond, seems
hostile: it is she who picks his punishment when asked to do
so by her father:
21 »Hermundur hevur okkum neisur vunnið,
nú stár hans lív í versta,
hvat skulum vær til útland gera
ella slíta ímillum hestar?«
22 Svaraði jomfrú Halga:
»Og tað gerst minni vandi,
gerið hann heldur til útlanda
burtur av tygara landi!«u