nd the rhyming
paraphrases of the splendid prose of Iceland are an outcome of the
same movement.

The _Griplur_, some twenty stanzas of which are given below, represent
this stage in the development of Icelandic literature. It may be
observed that, like other _Rimur_, they are the work of educated
people--a fact which makes the wretched quality of much of the verse
all the more striking, especially when they are contrasted with
the ballads, which are, at least in most cases, the work of the
unlettered. Unattractive however as they appear to the modern mind, it
has been thought advisable to include a short extract from them here
because it seems possible that in some cases the Faroese ballads may
have derived their material from Iceland through the intermediate
stage of the _Rimur_ rather than from the Saga direct.

Reference is made to the exploits of Hromund in other _Rimur_ besides
the _Griplur_, notably in the _Malshattakvaeethi_, the _Skietha-Rima_[5]
(which is interesting as being based, in all probability, on an
earlier poem than the _Griplur_) and in the _Klerka-Rima_[6]. And he
and Thrain the Berserk still live in the popular songs of the North.
He is the _Ungen Ranild_[7] of the Danish ballad; and in the Norwegian
ballad _Ramund den Unge_[8], Ramund (Hromund) and Hoelgi (Helgi) appear
as rivals for the hand of Svanhvit (who, however, is not mentioned by
name). Like some of the Faroese ballads on the _Hervarar Saga_, these
later versions are far removed from the story as we know it from early
Icelandic sources[9]. They are of interest only to those who care
for folk song and ballad for their freshness and their naive
simplicity[10].

[Footnote 1: Cf. Finnur Jonsson, _Oldnorske og Oldislandske
Litteraturs Historie_, Vol. III, p. 35.]

[Footnote 2: Cf. F. Jonsson, _op. cit._, Vol. III, p. 36; also
Eugen Mogk, _Geschichte der Norwegisch-Islaendischen Literatur_
(Strasburg, 1904), p. 722.]

[Footnote 3: _Op. cit._, III, p. 26 ff.]

[Footnote 4: _Op. cit._, p. 722 ff.]

[Footnote 5: Ed. by K. Maurer, Munich, 1869; F. Jonsson,
_Carmina Scaldica_ (Copenhagen, 1913).]

[Footnote 6: Codex A.M. 604 H.]

[Footnote 7: S. Grundtvig, _Danmarks Gamle Folkeviser_, Vol.
I, p. 367 ff.]

[Footnote 8: M. B. Landstad, _Norske Folkeviser_ (Christiania,
1853), p. 189 ff.]

[Footnote 9: Cf. Koelbing, _Beitraege zur Vergleichenden
Geschichte der Romantischen