ted in 1876 their great fifteen vol. MS. collection
of Faroese ballads with all their known variants, _Foroyja
Kvaeethi_--_Corpus Carminum Faeroensium_--_Faeroernes Gamle Folkeviser_.
This was afterwards increased by Bloch to sixteen volumes by the
addition of much new material, some of which was collected by Jakobsen
in his journey to the Faroes in 1887[6]. Before beginning the work
Grundtvig had every available version, whether in public or private
hands, at his disposal, so that he had a magnificent apparatus
criticus. Unfortunately the work has never been published, so that
owing to the difficulties of communication with Denmark (which have
proved to be insuperable) it has been impossible for me to consult
it. The first three volumes, however, which include all the Faroese
ballads translated below, are based on Hammershaimb's collections of
1851-1855. Hammershaimb was himself a genuine scholar with a sensitive
literary conscience and a thorough knowledge of all the Faroese
dialects, and his work is spoken of in the highest terms by Grundtvig
in his article on the _Corpus Carminum Faroensium_[7]. Moreover
Hammershaimb had consulted all the other available versions of
these ballads before printing; so that it is improbable that when a
comparison of the texts can be made much alteration will be required.

II. The Faroe Islands are probably the only place to be found in
Western Europe where ballads are still sung to the accompaniment of
the dance. The dance and song, it must be confessed, are gradually
losing their original character, while the ballads are often long and
unwieldy, sometimes, as in the Ballad of Ivint Herintsson, running to
five divisions (_Taettir_) and over three hundred and fifty verses. The
verses are frequently chanted in a solemn recitative, while the ballad
tunes tend to be confined chiefly to the refrains. The method of
supplying the melody, however, is subject to almost endless variation.
Sometimes old native folk tunes are attached to special ballads, e.g.
in the case of _Vi hugged mid kaarde_; sometimes native ballads are
sung to Danish folk melodies and refrains as, e.g. _Grindevisen_, sung
to the tune of the Danish _Burmand holder i Fjaeldet ut_. Sometimes in
the Faroese repertoire, Norse ballads are found complete with their
own melodies, e.g. _Somandsviserne_, or sung to Danish folk-tunes,
e.g. _Zinklars Vise_. Most curious of all is the method not
infrequently resorted to in modern times