Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1979, Page 87

The Case of »Hernilds kvaeði'
95
an improvisational technique such as the one described by
Parry and Lord’s theory of oral composition. In addition, to
say that the new stanzas may be simply the result of a lapse
of memory fails to account for the absence of any stanzas
that seem half-remembered. Instead, it appears likely that the
ballad man did not make a concerted effort to utilize in his
new ballad all thematically appropriate stanzas from the old
one, but that he often preferred to compose his own. In his
sparing use of stanzas from »Hermundur illi« he seems to ex-
press an awareness that although his ballad is rooted in the
old, it nonetheless has a separate identity. He also expresses
this awareness in his choice of names for his characters —
some of them seem derived from names in »Hermundur illi«
and some do not. On one hand, the names of the brothers
Sigurlund and Earl Atil and the hero Hernild of »Hermlds
kvæði« seem very similar to a like set of characters in the
source ballad — Earl Sigur, King Atli and Hermundur illi.
The derivation of the name Hernild from Hermundur illi is
suggested by the rhymes of the following related pair of
stanzas:
»Hermundur illi«
5 Jallurin eigur tógva synir,
gitnir av góSari giftu,
annar eitur HeiSrikur
og annar Hermund illi.24
»Hernild kvæ8i«
4 Atil jall eigur synir tveir,
gitnir í góSum gildi,
annar hann eitur Aksal,
og annar eitur Hernild.25
On the other hand, the names Aksal, Elin and the Count
of HergarS in »Hernilds kvæ5i« are not related to the names
of any characters in the source ballad.