"Elveskud" or "Elverskud" (pronounced
[ˈelvɐskuð];
Danish for "Elf-shot") is the Danish, and most widely used, name for one of the most popular ballads in Scandinavia (
The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad A 63 'Elveskud — Elf maid causes man's sickness and death';
Danmarks gamle Folkeviser 47;
Sveriges Medeltida Ballader 29; NMB 36;
CCF 154; IFkv 1).
The origins of the ballad are agreed to be considerably earlier than the earliest manuscripts, in the Middle Ages, but there is little consensus beyond this. Many scholars suggest a Breton or French origin but the routes by which it came to and was disseminated within Northern Europe are unknown. [1]
The ballad has close parallels across Europe (the closest English-language parallel being " Clerk Colvill"). The earliest surviving manuscript is Karen Brahes Folio, a Danish manuscript from the 1570s; the earliest surviving Swedish version is from the 1670s. At least seventy Scandinavian variants are known; over forty come from Denmark, [2] and seventeen from Sweden. [3]
It is also widely known as:
In the summary of The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad,
Not all versions precisely fit this summary. For example, in many Danish versions, Olav does dance with the elves, sometimes to death; in some versions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden Olav's death is at first concealed from his bride, but eventually she finds out; in the Icelandic versions, the bride is not mentioned at all, and Olav's refusal to dance arises from his Christian faith. In one Faroese variant, Olav is implied to have been romantically involved with the elf-woman for some time; it also begins with his mother predicting his death. [9]
Vésteinn Ólason's summary of the Icelandic variants of the ballad, generally known as "Kvæði af Ólafi liljurós", is
The most widely known version of "Elveskud" is that published by Peder Syv in 1695, [11] given here in modernised spelling:
Original | Translation |
---|---|
Mangen rider rank og rød, |
Many ride tall and red |
These and other available translations by Borrow, Prior, etc., are listed in Syndergaard's survey: [12]
The ballad has inspired a very large number of reworkings.
Most famously, a translation of a Danish variant ( DFG 47B, from Peter Syv's 1695 edition) into German by Johann Gottfried Herder as "Erlkönigs tochter" inspired Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem " Der Erlkönig", which developed the concept of the Erlking.
The ballad was one of the inspirations for the 1828 play Elves' Hill by Johan Ludvig Heiberg.
Other works inspired by "Elveskud" include Henrik Ibsen's 1856 play Olaf Liljekrans; Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir's 1995 novel Mávahlátur; [13]: 288–89 Böðvar Guðmundsson's 2012 novel Töfrahöllin; [13]: 212, 251, 289 and Steeleye Span's folk-rock song Dance with Me.
"Elveskud" or "Elverskud" (pronounced
[ˈelvɐskuð];
Danish for "Elf-shot") is the Danish, and most widely used, name for one of the most popular ballads in Scandinavia (
The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad A 63 'Elveskud — Elf maid causes man's sickness and death';
Danmarks gamle Folkeviser 47;
Sveriges Medeltida Ballader 29; NMB 36;
CCF 154; IFkv 1).
The origins of the ballad are agreed to be considerably earlier than the earliest manuscripts, in the Middle Ages, but there is little consensus beyond this. Many scholars suggest a Breton or French origin but the routes by which it came to and was disseminated within Northern Europe are unknown. [1]
The ballad has close parallels across Europe (the closest English-language parallel being " Clerk Colvill"). The earliest surviving manuscript is Karen Brahes Folio, a Danish manuscript from the 1570s; the earliest surviving Swedish version is from the 1670s. At least seventy Scandinavian variants are known; over forty come from Denmark, [2] and seventeen from Sweden. [3]
It is also widely known as:
In the summary of The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad,
Not all versions precisely fit this summary. For example, in many Danish versions, Olav does dance with the elves, sometimes to death; in some versions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden Olav's death is at first concealed from his bride, but eventually she finds out; in the Icelandic versions, the bride is not mentioned at all, and Olav's refusal to dance arises from his Christian faith. In one Faroese variant, Olav is implied to have been romantically involved with the elf-woman for some time; it also begins with his mother predicting his death. [9]
Vésteinn Ólason's summary of the Icelandic variants of the ballad, generally known as "Kvæði af Ólafi liljurós", is
The most widely known version of "Elveskud" is that published by Peder Syv in 1695, [11] given here in modernised spelling:
Original | Translation |
---|---|
Mangen rider rank og rød, |
Many ride tall and red |
These and other available translations by Borrow, Prior, etc., are listed in Syndergaard's survey: [12]
The ballad has inspired a very large number of reworkings.
Most famously, a translation of a Danish variant ( DFG 47B, from Peter Syv's 1695 edition) into German by Johann Gottfried Herder as "Erlkönigs tochter" inspired Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem " Der Erlkönig", which developed the concept of the Erlking.
The ballad was one of the inspirations for the 1828 play Elves' Hill by Johan Ludvig Heiberg.
Other works inspired by "Elveskud" include Henrik Ibsen's 1856 play Olaf Liljekrans; Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir's 1995 novel Mávahlátur; [13]: 288–89 Böðvar Guðmundsson's 2012 novel Töfrahöllin; [13]: 212, 251, 289 and Steeleye Span's folk-rock song Dance with Me.