Historisk-Filosofisk Klasse_, II), with a very full discussion of
all the linguistic difficulties involved[5]. According to Low "The
subject is a strife between a King of Norway and an Earl of Orkney, on
account of the hasty marriage of the Earl with the King's daughter
in her father's absence." Further on[6] he gives the substance of the
ballad at greater length:

An Earl of Orkney, in some of his rambles on the coast of
Norway, saw and fell in love with the King's daughter of the
country. As their passion happened to be reciprocal he carried
her off in her father's absence, who was engaged in war with
some of his distant neighbours. On his return, he followed the
fugitives to Orkney, accompanied by his army, to revenge
on the Earl the rape of his daughter. On his arrival there,
Hildina (which was her name) first spied him, and advised her
now husband to go and attempt to pacify the King. He did so,
and by his appearance and promises brought the King so over as
to be satisfied with the match.

After this, with the introduction of a courtier Hiluge the story
proceeds in a form totally different from anything found in the
_thattr_, though an attempt has been made to connect it with the
second part of the German poem _Kudrun_.

The story of Hethin and Hoegni however was not confined to Norway and
its colonies; indeed it seems to have been popular throughout the
whole Teutonic world. It forms the subject of the first part of the
mediaeval German poem _Kudrun_, and characters from the story are
mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon poems _Widsith_, l. 21, and _Deor_, l. 36
ff.

For a treatment of the different versions of the story as it was known
to men of old, the reader may be referred to Miss Clarke's _Sidelights
on Teutonic History during the Migration Period_ (Cambridge, 1911),
p. 190 ff., and to Chambers' _Widsith_, p. 100 ff. It may be mentioned
here that in the main points of the story--the carrying off of Hild
and the subsequent pursuit by the father--all the versions are agreed.
The German version, however, differs in many respects from those of
the North (except that of the _Hildina_)--especially in the fact that
the combatants become reconciled. The various Scandinavian versions of
the story also differ somewhat in detail among themselves. The story
translated below is the only one which mentions the slaying by Hethin
of Hoegni's wife, and it is only here that Hethin is d