Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1979, Page 77

The Case of »Hernilds kvæði
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different families, and loyalties do not shift throughout the
course of the story. It is interesting to note that »Hernilds
kvæði« opens in the same manner as its source ballad, by telling
about an older generation of brothers; but here they are not
brought into conflict because of the obstreperous son of one
of them. Instead, Hernild kills the men of the non-related
Count of Hergarð. The count and his daughter act together to
imprison Hernild, and Hernild’s family is totally loyal in its
efforts to free him. Family unity is emphasized when the two
brothers, refraining from rushing off to take revenge on the
count, seek advice from their father first. The count’s response
when he hears of Earl Atil’s plan to attack his daughter is also
a loyal one — he gathers a force to defend her, but is killed
under the combined onslaught of the earl and his sons. The
following fight to take Elin by force serves an emblematic
function — Elin is helped by a witch who uses evil magic
against Hernild, whereas Hernild is aided by his father, who
prays to God for the means to combat the witch’s spells. When
Hernild defeats the witch and forces Elin to marry him, we
are sure that the forces of good have vanquished the forces
of evil.
Key to the ballad man’s reinterpretation in his new ballad
of the structure of familial relationships in »Hermundur illi«
is his understanding of the perplexing Halga. To appreciate
more fully how enigmatic she has become in Faroese tradition,
especially in the text from Fugloyarbók, it is useful to compare
her to her counterpart Hæge in the Norwegian reflex of the
same ballad type, »Hermoð Ille« (Landstad 17 A and B).
In Landstad’s B text, which is the one most like the Faroese
version of the story, Hæge’s feelings are portrayed from the
very beginning as loving.13 When her father threatens the two
harshest forms of punishment for Hermoð, she is dismayed and
suggests a third much milder one: