View Full Version : Alexander Gray and the Danish ballads
Sir Alexander Gray (1882-1968) was a Scottish economist who became professor of political economy at first Aberdeen then Edinburgh University. He was also a fine poet, in English, and an accomplished translator into Scots of German and Danish ballad literature. Scotland, of course, is also rich in folkloric and historical ballads, and echoes of his native country's ballad tradition can be heard in Gray's versions, or so I think at least.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Gray_(poet)
In 1958 Gray published a selection of Danish historical ballads translated into Scots verse, under the title Historical Ballads of Denmark. These poems have real historical figures as their heroes, heroines and villains, although a good deal of poetic licence is taken with the events depicted. This edition is a handsome artifact in its own right, with illustrations by Edward Bawden and George Mackie (see thumbnail attachment).
One of the poems is called Queen Bengerd, and it gives a highly-coloured and largely fictional portrayal of the evil Berengaria of Portugal, 2nd wife of King Valdemar II ("the Victorious"), the Danish king who conquered the heathen Estonians, founded the city of Tallinn. The Danish flag or Dannebrog is supposed to have fluttered miraculously down from heaven during his decisive battle against the Estonians, to assure him of victory.
"The first part of the ballad is concerned with the King's quiet, tolerant, and good-humoured refusal of the tyrannical requests in the Queen's demands for her 'morning-gifts'. Then, by a sudden transition, the balladist allows himself and his listeners the satisfaction of gloating over Bengerd's very fictional death."
QUEEN BENGERD
1. Early, early, ere brak o' day,
She besocht the gifts she boot to hae.
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
2. 'Gie me Samsø, and that richt sune;
And let ilka lassie pey me a croon.'
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
3. To prood Queen Bengerd the King spak plain;
'I'm thinkin', lass, you maun ask again.
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
4. There's mony that live in sae puir a wey,
It wad tak them a' their life to pey.'
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
5. 'Aweel, we'll speak o' that nae mair;
But let nae woman scarlet wear!'
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
6. 'If the lassies can pey for 't honestly,
What claes they wear is a' ane to me.'
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
7. 'For my sake, Sire, you maun curb the pride
O' the peasant wha wad on horseback ride.'
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
8. 'But if he can keep a horse in the sta'.
It's no for me to say him Na.'
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
9. 'Weel, this at least you'll tak in hand:
Wi' iron fetters shut up the land.'
Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
10. 'And whaur do you think I can lay my hand
On iron eneugh to close the land.'
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
11. 'To Ribe will we furthwith fare;
I'm tell't there's plenty o' smiddies there!'
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
12. What mair should a cottar houp to get
Than a wattled door and a lean-tae yett?
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
13. What mair does a crofter need than a ploo,
A yoke o' owsen and a coo?
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
14. For ilka man-child born in the land,
The mither maun gie me a croon in my hand.
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
15. And if it's a lassie, I'll ask nae mair
Than a half o' that as my richtfu' share.'
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
16. When next sleep closed the King's tired een,
To him cam Dagmar, ance his Queen.
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
17. 'When next you gae warrin' for land or fame,
You maunna let Bengerd bide at hame.
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
18. For gin you leave her here ower lang,
There's no a bairn but will suffer wrang.'
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
19. 'Get up, Queen Bengerd, withooten delay;
You maun furth o' the land wi' me this day!'
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
20. The very first shaft that left the bow
Pierced Bengerd's hert, and laid her low.
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
21. Noo in the mouls maun Bengerd lie!
The peasant has owsen! the peasant has kye!
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
22. Noo in the yird maun Bengerd sleep
And ilka lassie has gowd to keep!
(Ill fa' that woman Bengerd!)
Harry
The original Danish ballad is:
DRONNING BENGERD
Alt årle om morgenen, langt før dag,
fru Bengerd hun kræved sin morgengav'.
"I give mig Samsø, kære herre,
dertil en guldkrone af hver mø!"
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
Men kongen svarede Bengerd så:
"Om mindre, jomfru! I bede må;
der er så mangen fattig mø,
formår det ej alt for sin død."
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
"Min kære herre! lad det så være,
I lade ej fruer skarlagen bære,
min herre! denne bøn I mig vide,
I lade ej bondesøn god hest ride.
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
"Hvad fruer kan læste at købe for sig,
det må enhver vel slide for mig;
formår den bondesøn hest at føde,
for hannem lægge vi den ej øde."
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
"Min kære herre! vi lade det gå.
I lade vore lande med lænker beslå,
så kommer der ingen ud eller ind
foruden told, hverken mand eller kvind'."
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
"Hvor skulde vi så meget stål få,
at vi kunde land og vand beslå?
Min kære jomfru! I fare i mag,
mod eder vil ellers komme stor klag'."
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
"Vi fare til Ribe i vinterleje,
der finde vi mange gode smede,
vi smede nøgel og lås tillige;
plovjern og lundstikk' må ikke svige.
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
Den bonde skal føre kul og ved,
den borger betale skal den smed,
I lade eder sige og råde,
I skulle deraf vel finde stor både."
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
"Min fader var en konning for mig,
han havde en fader til konge for sig,
foruden sligt danske konger sig føde,
og lægge ej bønder og borger straks øde."
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
"Kær' herre! hvad mer' tør bonden ved
end vændredør og flagreled?
Hvad skal vel bonden med mere i bo
foruden to okser og så en ko?
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
Den bondekone, som føder en søn,
hun give mig en øre guld skøn!
Men føder hun en datter så væn,
hun give da hælvten for hver og en!"
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
Dankonning gik til seng at hvile,
ej lyster hannem længer at dvæle;
det første søvnen faldt hannem på,
hannem tyktes Dagmar for sig stå:
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
"Nu haver I fået den beske blomme,
som jeg eder spåede, til liden fromme;
og drager I udi leding hen,
I lade ej Bengerd blive hjemme igen.
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
Tage I for meget af hendes smiger,
da græder det barn, i vuggen ligger;
I tage hende med, det er mit råd,
selv skal I vist kende deraf båd'."
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
Den herre la'r byde over alt sit land,
I leding at fare hver tiende mand:
"Min kære frue! I er det værd,
at I forsøge med os den færd."
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
Den første pil udi leding blev skudt,
den blev udi Bengerds hjerte brudt.
Man ingen så sine øjne væde,
som kunde for Bengerd sørge og græde.
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
Og nu ligger Bengerd i sorten jord,
endnu haver bonden okse i gård.
Nu ligger Bengerd i sorten muld;
de danske mænd deres konge er huld'.
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
Nu ligger Bengerd i evig uro,
endnu haver bonden både hest og ko;
så ilde hører Bengerds rygte og navn;
så lidet var hun på menigmands gavn.
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
Langt bedre er, stakket at leve med ære,
end ilde med hver mands klage og kære;
langt bedre er vel for dyd at høre,
end spot for verdsens guld at spørge.
- Ve, ve, ve da vorde hende Bengerd.
Thanks for that, David. It's always instructive to compare the translation against the original, although people with no Danish ought to be able to enjoy the translation as a free-standing poem. Assuming they can understand Scots, of course. Some people might say the Danish is easier.
Alexander Gray also tackled several versions of the ballad of Valdemar and Tove - "this revolting story", as he calls it - which was one of the most widely known of all traditional Scandinavian ballads, spreading to Iceland and the Faroes and providing inspiration to modern artists in every medium. Revolting stories are always popular, as that Scandinavian story-teller Roald Dahl well knew.
King Valdemar I was so in love with his concubine Tove, also known as Tovelil, the mother of his son Christopher, that even after marrying his queen Sophia he thought somewhat naively that he could keep Tove on as his bit on the side, setting her up in the castle of Gurre. When he asked Tove how she would treat his new queen, the saintly concubine said she would love her as much as her own son. When he put the question in reverse to Sophia, her response was to lure Tove to her bath-house and boil her alive. I take this to mean that she was less than keen on the ménage à trois suggestion.
As another medieval balladeer put it, with lip-smacking relish -
De hente Tovlil af Badstuen ud;
Da var hun som en Gaas de steger om Jul
(They brought Tovelil out of the bath-house;
She was like a goose that is roasted at Yule).
The 19th-century Danish poet J.P. Jacobsen wrote a verse-sequence about Valdemar and Tove which was set to music by Arnold Schönberg under the title Gurrelieder. Schönberg might have been influenced here by his brother-in-law Alexander von Zemlinsky, who was a fan of Jacobsen. In Jacobsen's version, Valdemar curses God and is therefore condemned, after his own death, to rise with his followers from their graves every night and ride abroad.
I have a copy of the 2001 recording of Gurrelieder by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle. The accompanying booklet claims that it is probably the largest-scale orchestral work ever written, calling as it does for huge forces of musicians and singers.
However, this particular version of the Valdemar and Tove legend has only 25 short stanzas:-
1. Valdemar sailed by the saut sea-side;
(He thocht he cud manage!)
He has mairried Soffi, sae bonnie a bride.
(Valdemar pledged his troth to them baith.)
2. 'Hearken, Tove, and tell me true'
Hoo dear is Soffelin to you?'
3. 'Little Soffi's as dear to me
As my son Christopher e'er can be.
4. To her will I gie my guid grey mare
And the name o' a Queen, that sall she bear.'
5. 'Hearken, Soffelin, tell me true;
Hoo dear is Tovelil to you?'
6. 'Your Tovelil I lo'e nae mair
Than the wild wolf in the forest lair.
7. Three bonnie castles to her will I gie;
May she burn to a cinder in a' the three!'
8. To her page-boy Soffi spak. Quo' she:
'Gae, bid prood Tovelil come to me.'
9. She arrayed hersel' to see the Queen
By torch-light and by candle-sheen.
10. She cleithed hersel' in a kirtle o' blue;
At ilka seam the gowd shone through.
11. She threw ower her body a silken sark;
It had needed eleven lassies' wark.
12. Roond her shouders a scarlet cloak she has ta'en;
And furth she has gane to see the Queen.
13. 'Wad you raither speak wi' Valdemar,
Or come wi' me whaur the het baths are?'
14. 'Far sooner I'd speak wi' Valdemar,
Than gae wi' you whaur the het baths are.'
15. Strang were her hands, and wi' richt ill-will
Into the room she thrust Tovelil.
16. She garred the fires be heated sae,
That Tovelil cud breathe nae mae.
17. 'Succour me, Christopher, speedily;
Soffi will surely scomfish me.'
18. 'O, hoo can I help you, mither dear?
Twelve men in mail hae bound me here.'
19. The King sat waitin', and thocht it lang:
'What keeps Tovelil frae the even-sang?'
20. Wi bluid-reid face oot spak the Queen:
'Deid-tired she'll be, wi' the bath she's taen.'
21. 'Woman, you shall requited be!
Ne'er will you share my bed wi' me!
22. Better was Tove, wi' but ae coo,
Than fifteen castles cud e'er mak you!
23. Better was Tove in a plain-spun sark,
Than you wi' your gilded handiwark.
24. Better is Tove, deid though she be,
Than you wi' your gowden vanity!'
25. The road was dreich; the wey was far.
(He thocht he cud manage!)
Wha bore the bier but Valdemar?
(Valdemar pledged his troth to them baith.)
It's always instructive to compare the translation against the original
I can't help noticing that the structure of Gray's translation appears to be a bit different from that of the original: in Gray's version the refrain is repeated twice within each stanza, and the stanzas are broken into two. There are also some other differences, which may be due to variations in the text that Gray used. In general I feel that Gray's version is a recreation of the Danish poem in the spirit and also the style of the Scottish ballad - a kind of "imitation" of the Danish poem, rather than a strict translation.
The 19th-century Danish poet J.P. Jacobsen wrote a verse-sequence about Valdemar and Tove which was set to music by Arnold Schönberg
I think that Schoenberg's mammoth composition started out as an ideologically-inspired attempt to outdo Wagner in spectacular orchestral, visual and vocal effects (the Gesamtkunstwerk) rather than as a scholarly homage to Jacobsen's text. It's still an important part of the history of Scandinavian literature, and a major example of the influence of Scandinavian literature on European music, though in geographical terms Schoenberg was obviously far from the sources. Also, for all its stylization, Jacobsen's poem is a lot more authentically Nordic than the cod Norse mythology resorted to by Wagner. :)
I can't help noticing that the structure of Gray's translation appears to be a bit different from that of the original: in Gray's version the refrain is repeated twice within each stanza, and the stanzas are broken into two. There are also some other differences, which may be due to variations in the text that Gray used. In general I feel that Gray's version is a recreation of the Danish poem in the spirit and also the style of the Scottish ballad - a kind of "imitation" of the Danish poem, rather than a strict translation.
HDW Yes, I said something similar in my first post above. The opening line of Valdemar and Tove is reminiscent of "Sir Patrick Spens".
I think that Schoenberg's mammoth composition started out as an ideologically-inspired attempt to outdo Wagner in spectacular orchestral, visual and vocal effects (the Gesamtkunstwerk) rather than as a scholarly homage to Jacobsen's text. It's still an important part of the history of Scandinavian literature, and a major example of the influence of Scandinavian literature on European music, though in geographical terms Schoenberg was obviously far from the sources. Also, for all its stylization, Jacobsen's poem is a lot more authentically Nordic than the cod Norse mythology resorted to by Wagner. :)
Idealisation of the "Nordic race" as superior beings was very much in the air in the 19th century. In Britain, it took the form of downgrading "the Celt", and that attitude of contempt towards Celtic languages and culture dies hard, although in Scotland it must be said that the SNP's policy of throwing oodles of cash at the Gaelic language and encouraging Gaelic-medium education and bilingual street signs is perhaps redressing the balance too far.
I like Wagner's Siegfried Idyll and some of the overtures and incidental music in the operas, but I can't be doing with all the howling and screeching that passes for singing, the spear waving and winged helmets, usw. Many years ago I bought a copy of Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga at a second-hand book stall in Edinburgh - before it was ever filmed for television - and I remember nodding with approval when one of the crusty old Forsytes grumbled about these new-fangled "German pantomimes", meaning of course Wagner's operas.
Scottish Opera did a very successful Ring some years ago, and I wish I had a pound for every time the Scotsman published that still photo of the Rhinemaidens in their corsets and suspender-belts.
Harry
As another medieval balladeer put it, with lip-smacking relish -
De hente Tovlil af Badstuen ud;
Da var hun som en Gaas de steger om Jul
(They brought Tovelil out of the bath-house;
She was like a goose that is roasted at Yule).
Nice to see you reading some of our old stories! :)
Just a minor thing; Jul = Christmas
- in case you did not know.
Nice to see you reading some of our old stories! :)
Just a minor thing; Jul = Christmas
- in case you did not know.
I did know, actually, because Yule was the common term for Christmas here before the word Christmas took over! That's why Gray uses the word Yule in his translation - it has a Scottish ring to it. In England too the word Yule was used of many Christmas traditions, e.g. the Yule log.
The word is still used by English-speakers, and in recent years people have jokingly wished each other 'a cool Yule' at Christmas-time. Most British people, who don't know foreign languages, would just assume it is an English word (which it is).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule
Harry
in Scotland it must be said that the SNP's policy of throwing oodles of cash at the Gaelic language and encouraging Gaelic-medium education and bilingual street signs is perhaps redressing the balance too far.
One of the reasons I've never felt quite comfortable with the "new Scotland" that's emerged in recent years is what I perceive (maybe I'm wrong?) as the ascendancy of the Scottish National Party, which seems to have an agenda that's slightly at odds with the idea and reality of a modern society - I can't see how this attempt to turn the clock back hundreds of years is really helping Scotland to revitalize itself. I've no complaints about reintroducing or encouraging Scots as a means of communication - but the imposition of Gaelic, which has very little in common with Scots or English, looks like a very artificial and even divisive means of bolstering a sense of national identity.
But perhaps living outside Scotland one gets a distorted view of the matter.
One of the reasons I've never felt quite comfortable with the "new Scotland" that's emerged in recent years is what I perceive (maybe I'm wrong?) as the ascendancy of the Scottish National Party, which seems to have an agenda that's slightly at odds with the idea and reality of a modern society - I can't see how this attempt to turn the clock back hundreds of years is really helping Scotland to revitalize itself. I've no complaints about reintroducing or encouraging Scots as a means of communication - but the imposition of Gaelic, which has very little in common with Scots or English, looks like a very artificial and even divisive means of bolstering a sense of national identity.
But perhaps living outside Scotland one gets a distorted view of the matter.
No, I wouldn't disagree with you. The SNP projects itself as a modern, outward-looking party, but they quite consciously tap into the bedrock of anti-Englishness that is always just beneath the surface here. Alex Salmond is a classic populist politician of the 'tell me what you'd like and I'll promise it to you' type, and even on his recent appearance on Radio Four's Desert Island Discs he had to reinforce the 110% Scottishness theme with his choice of mawkish Scottish popular music. He has been photographed drinking Buckfast with Scottish football fans in Jimmy hats (his Justice Secretary Kenny MacCaskill was once arrested for drunken behaviour at an international football match, and now preaches sternly against the binge drinking culture), and making eyes at a line of Tunnock's teacakes - he couldn't be more of a caricature of Scottishness if he tried.
The one I particularly detest, though, is his education minister Mike Russell, the zealot who is trying to promote Gaelic way beyond where it deserves or needs to go. I once attended a conference organised by the Saltire Society, where Russell gave an address, and he is one of nature's bullies, who tries to intimidate his audience into agreeing with him. When a member of the audience dared to query one of his assertions, his response was flashing eyes and simulated rage, and he started bawling even louder than before.
Harry
he is one of nature's bullies, who tries to intimidate his audience into agreeing with him. When a member of the audience dared to query one of his assertions, his response was flashing eyes and simulated rage, and he started bawling even louder than before.
This reads like a description of a nationalist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler) from an earlier era. :)
Oh dear, I wouldn't go quite that far. I thought you were going to give me a link to Hugh MacDiarmid, another exponent of sound and fury signifying nothing.
Harry
I'm glad to know that my analogy is a bit far-fetched. But even so...
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