Roland og Magnus kongen () also known under the English title "Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux" is a Norwegian ballad about the legendary hero Roland of Charlemagne's court. The ballad is cataloged NMB 171 ( ed., Norske mellomalderballadar), and categorized TSB type E 29. In the ballad, Roland's sword (known in Old French as Durendal) is compared to a sickle, its name corrupted to Dvælje-Dvolg (Dvelgedvolg, Dvergedolg, Dvelgedolgen), explained as meaning "dwarf-fiend" or "enemy of the dwarfs"Groven's text has Dvælje=Dvolg (stanzas 12, 13), Dvælge=Dvolg (stanza 21); in ( normalizes these as Dvelgedvolg (stanzas 15, 16, 25); further emends to Dvergedolg stanzas 22 and 23, and in the notes, p.vii, explains the name as a folk corruption of Old Norse "Dvergadólgar" to be construed as «dverge-fienden»."Roland refuses angrily and fights until his sword, Dvelgedolgen (enemy of the dwarfs) is broken". Nynorskordboka gives dolg as deriving from Old Norse dolgr 'fiende, troll', which Cleasby-Vigfusson dictionary defines also as "a fiend". too suggested original form Dvergedolg (Dværgefiende) Storm was of the opinion that the ballad could not be younger than the end of the 15th century, and Halvorsen also said it "must have been handed down orally since the late Middle Ages".
A near-analogue is the Faroese ballad Runsivals stríð, one of the five shorter ballads or tættir comprising the Karlamagnusar kvæði (CCF 106). Both the Norwegian and the longer Faroese piece draw their material from the saga, i.e., Af Rúnzivals bardaga, the eighth branch of Karlamagnús saga.An excerpt is quoted from Bjarni Vilhjalmsson ed. (1954), III, 829-830. in , "'Roland og Magnus kongjen' must have been composed while the tales from the Karlamagnussoga (“Charlemagne’s saga”) were still familiar. However, due to discrepancies in content, the Faroese ballad is assigned a different type index (TSB E 28)., "..not justifiable to think of them as versions of the same ballad."
A traditional melody for this ballad originating in Norway had been collected by Hans Seeberg and Olea Crøger in the 1840s from a singer in Seljord in the Telemark region, but it is seldom used; the Norwegians mostly sing the ballad to a Faroese dance melody which was introduced in 1934 by Klara Semb. This includes a Faroese refrain or "burden" () translated into Norwegian by Hulda Garborg.. For an English translation of excerpted bits on this piece, see For further details on the melody, see §Melodies below.
Synopsis The following digest follows Groven's text (version 1, 27 stanzas), a field-collected original, and Landstad's composite (31 stanzas) which uses it as base with additional interpolations. and Moe printed a longer reconstructed version with useful annotations (also see §Versions).
King Magnus sends half his twelve peers to heathen land King Magnus (Charlemagne) divides his men, the twelve peers, so that six stay at home, and the other six accompany him to the land of heathens to test their "cold iron" i.e. weapons. In variant 1 (Groven's text), the opening stanza is the king's speech, as follows: 1. Sex mine Sveiner heime væra gjøyme dæ Guld i Bolle dei are sex paa Hedninges Laando Røne dei Jonni kalle., "Oppskrift 1840-årene av Olea Crøger etter Laurantz Groven, Seljord, Telemark".1. Seks mine sveinar heime vere Gjøyme de gulli balde Dei andre seks på heidningslande. Røyne de jønni kalle.1. Six of my swains stay at home hiding the shiny gold The other six [go] to the heathen land trying the cold steel.
The next two strophes are considered a later interpolation, consisting of conventional formulaic stanzas ("commonplaces") that describe sailing off to some land. Thus "They hoist their lordly sail high up the sailing-yard (beam horizontal to the mast), to reach the heathen land in two work-days" (Stanzas 2-3)."two work-weeks" in Bugge's recension or variant 2. The oars () and anchors they "fasten" to the white sand, and Magnus is first to tread on the land (stanzas 2-3).Words are glossed under Merknader (notes,
Roland's sword and horn are mentioned Roland's sword and his horn are mentioned. The sword is said to be "clad in ? (klæt i Slire=Vænde)" (Stanza 4), construes it as "det smelder i Sværdskeden (the cracker/smasher? in sword-sheath)", and notes that defines slidrevond as "en liden Støtte mellem Rummene i en Knivskede med dobbelt Løb (the small pin or rod between the spaces of the knife-sheath with a double lobe)" and Roland is said to "play the horn ( mæ lur)." This is the equivalent of the ivory horn known as the Olifant in the original French epic.
In the ballad, Roland's sword is described metaphorically as a scythe or sickle (ljå)., "Roland advances on the Moors and mows them down like a reaper with a sharp scythe, so that the haze rising from the blood of the fallen soldiers casts a shadow over the battlefield." (a reconstructed version) Landstad inserts a variant reading where the sword is referred to as Gunulfsljóðið or "Gunulf's-tune"ljóðið is the definite singular form of Norwegian ljod "sound", translatable perhaps as "The Gunulf's-lilt (?)" or "The Gunulf's-steven" to employ an archaism commonly used in ballad translations. Cf. luraljóðið "the horn-tune" in Lanstad's stanza 22. In Old Norse means "song, lay, poem" which would yield the sword-name "The Lay of Gunulf". an interpolation from an alternate text. This "Gunulf" personage has been identified as the traitorous Count Ganelon (Guinelun jarl) who brandished his sword before the heathen King Marsilius in the saga version.
Demanding tribute form the heathens There follows a series of exchanged dialogues in which Roland demands tribute or "tax (skatten)" from the heathens, is refused, and vows to fight them at "Rusarvodden" or "Ru[n]sarvollen,"Rúsarvollen. Var. Ronsvaldvolden, Ronsvallvollen, Ronsarvolden, Rúsarvollann, Ronsevolden (, note to stanza 7) the Roncevaux of the French epic (stanzas 5-7). It has been noted that the ballad "proceeds abruptly and not without confusions," and the dialogue begins with the line "And so the heathen (i.e. heathen king) answered." It was the opinion of Gustav Storm that had the original order of the ballad been intact, it would have been clear that it was Gunulf (Ganelon) rather than Roland making the tax demand. Either way, the Frankish negotiator says: "If we can not get our taxes / from these countries,/ we will on Roncevaux / fight for two days." (stanza 7, Espeland's translation of Groven's text).me/mid is pronoun 1st person plural "we" ()
Battle of Roncevaux begins, a carnage of heathens The outbreak of battle at "Rusarvollen" is summarized as follows: "The fighting starts, and they fight for days; the heathens fall before Roland's sword like grass before the sickle or as the snow falls in the mountains, and the sun cannot shine through the steam rising from human blood." (Stanzas 8-9, 22. Landstad 8-10)
The precise language is as follows. This part of the ballad begins: "They were fighting" at "Rusarvollen" for "two work-days", "two days or three" (Landstad), or "two days" or "three days" depending on which variant. "The heathens fall by Roland's sword, like before a good sickle." (stanza 8). A "sedge" is not a true grass, but the word used here can loosely refer to any similar grassy plant.
The next stanza is half-repetitive, as it the same phrases as the previous stanza recurs in alternating lines: the armies fought until "they were all (angry),"vreid, reid, glossed as Dan. vred, ærgerlig (). Old Norse and the sword felled the heathens like "snow upon the moor (or mountain)"heid, glossed as Dan. en Fjeldslette, en skovløs Fjeldmark..bjerg, .. (). (stanza 9). Landstad remarked that this stanza was sung with particular relish by the Telemark peasantry, who would use variant staves substituting the word blámenn for the heathens. (note 8 to stanza 9)
Peers now weary and outnumbered but Roland refuses to blow horn At this point Landstad departs from Groven's text, and inserts three stanzas from variants:Variant 4, [href="https://www.dokpro.uio.no/ballader/tekster_html/e/e029_005.html" BIN: 2234 (ms. NFS M. B. Landstad IV, s.26)], Stanza 4 "Dej sloges udtpaa Ronsevollen/ trøtte Mennar aa Moe..", stanza 6 "Deer kom saa mange Blaamæn fram"; and Variant 5, BIN: 2236 (ms. NFS M. B. Landstad 1b, s. 62.), stanza 1 "Rolan svara af Vreje aa Harm.." "They fight.. etc. / tired were the men and weary / The sun could not shine clear / for the fumes (haze, steam) of men's blood" (Landstad's 10, similar to Groven's stanza 22);trøytt, glossed as Dan. ..; møde is similar meaning; Nynorsk "bright"; = Dan. "smoke", but also has the sense of ominous foreshadowing (). "There came so many black men (or , or Moors) / that they shaded the sun / The peers became frightened / And bade Roland to blow the horn" (Landstad's 11); "Roland answered in anger, / from him flowed blood and froth / I shall hew such a hew / that they shall ask (about it?) till Judgment (or Doomsday)" (Landstad's 12).spyrja glossed as Danish 1. spørge 2. overhøre, katekisere ().Dom glossed as Danish Dom, Kjendelse or "judgment". suggests til Dommedag "until Doomsday", though Landstad thought domen might refer to "Rome".
Roland's sword Dvelgedolg breaks".. an unequal struggle goes on until Roland breaks his sword" () Roland wants to save his stalwarts (drengir), he hews his sword asunder,sonde, in Landstad's orthography sunde, sund meaning "tear, split into pieces" etc. () and now the wrecked sword he was holding resembled "the long drill", or "boring-tool (borið)" (Groven's stanza 10; Landstad's 13). Roland, the king's kinsman, thinking he is in dire straits, deplores out loud in speech to God and Mother Mary that his sword is being dragged away from his hand (stanza 11; Landstad's 14).
King of Heathens (or King Magnus) commands his men to pry away the sword but they fail The speaker now evidently switches to the king of heathens,Landstad says this stanza describes the enemies' (i.e. the Saracens') attempt to wrest the weapon away. (note 15 to Landstad's 15) who commands his men to go and try to wrest away Roland's sword Dvælje=Dvolg (var. Dvelgedvolg, Dvergedolg, Dvelgedolgen) (Stanza 12, Landstad's 15). The ballad specimen's original construct where the heathen king is speaking here is preserved in some printed editions, such as the one summarized by Vésteinn Ólason (1991). However, Gustav Storm (1874) had argued that King Magnus was the original speaker of this stanza, and in its uncorrupted state it would have been his knights rather who attempt and fail to take the sword, conforming to the sequence of events in Karlamagnús saga."..the king [Karlamagnus] .. told the strongest of his knights to take Rollant's sword,.." etc. he fails, the king sends five knights so there is a man per finger working to loosen the sword, without success. The Likewise, Liestøl & Moe (1912) undertook to reconstruct the ballad consistent with the saga,In Liestøl & Moe's version of the ballad, the margin note Kongjen: indicates the speaker as King Magnus. but to do so, had to considerably alter the arrangement of stanzas, shifting a whole sequence of events before this speech. The English summary in The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad follows this rearranged plot-sequence.Type E 29: "Roland breaks his sword. ..blows his horn and King Magnus .. comes.. By then Roland has been killed. Some of the men try to take the sword from him but cannot do it. When King tries, Roland lets go of the sword " () These men return and report that "we could not get the sword Dvælje=Dvolg from Roland's hand." (stanza 13. Landstad's 16).
Roland blows his horn (three times?)