hter so fair may be mine!"

13. In sorry plight was the franklin then,
For there at the board stood two mighty men.

14. "No choice so hard will I ever make;
The maiden herself must choose her mate."

15. "No choice so hard shall be made by thee:
The warrior Hjalmar shall wed with me.

16. "With Hjalmar the Brave would I wedded be,
Who is so lovely and fair to see."

17. "O franklin! Lend me a trusty blade,
We two must fight for the hand of the maid."

18. "O franklin! Lend me a sharp penknife:
Each of us surely must lose his life."

19. They fought their way forth of the hall.
They bellowed louder than any troll.

20. Till they reached a river they fought amain,
Down on their knees and then up again.

21. Down on their knees and then up again
Refrain:-- _Ye well-born men!_--
Till stiff and dead lay those champions twain.
Refrain:-- _Arngrim's Sons from Africa_,
_They fought, they fought on Samso._

INTRODUCTION TO THE DANISH BALLAD OF ANGELFYR AND HELMER THE WARRIOR

Four different versions of the Danish ballad of _Angelfyr and Helmer
the Warrior_ are given by Grundtvig in _Danmarks Gamle Folkeviser_,
Vol. I, number 19 (Copenhagen, 1853). Two of these, closely allied,
are found in a MS. written in the sixteenth century[1]. The version
which Grundtvig has called _A_ is the one adopted for translation
below.

An interesting study in ballad composition is afforded by a comparison
of this Danish ballad with the Faroese ballads of the _Sons of
Arngrim_. According to Axel Olrik[2] the Danish ballad is founded on
the _Saga of Hervoer and Heithrek_. That the ultimate source of all the
ballads of the _Sons of Arngrim_ was the Saga there can be no doubt.
But whether the Danish ballad is derived directly from the Saga or
through some intermediate stage, Icelandic, Faroese or Danish, is
problematical. A definite relationship between the Danish and the
Faroese ballads would seem to be shown by several common features of
the story which do not occur in the Saga itself, as well as by some
striking verbal resemblances which have no foundation in the prose
narrative.

Thus on the one hand both in the Danish and in the Faroese ballads
translated above, Hjalmar and Angantyr are described as brothers[3],
whereas in the Saga they are not related. On the other hand the Danish
and the two Faroese ballads are almost