2i8 NORDIC BALLADS

Diderik's adventure with the lion, and the feats of Samson (DGF
6-9, n). Olger Danske appears as one of the German paladins,
but he is also represented as a king of Jutland, and as such meets
and routs Diderik's champion (DGF 17), He is, of course, the
French Ogier, and his early prowess is the subject of the Carol-
ingian ballad of Olger and Burmand (DGF 30). There is not other-
wise much use made of the Carolingian traditions. In Norway
there remain fragments of a ballad of Roncesvalles, and in the
Faeroes there is a group carved out of the Karlamagnussaga in
quite recent times. Olger fitted into the 'viser5 because of the
chance that he bore the title of 'Denmark' and because he is one of
many giant-killers. His resistance to Diderik is on lines laid down
by the Thidrckssaga: Diderik boasts his unmatched might; he hears
that there is a possible rival in Denmark; he advances to challenge
him—

Stout Diderik sent word to Olger the Dane,
and did this word indite:

Or would he give him tribute-gold,
or on the marches fight;—

but, contrary to precedent, Diderik was routed.

Minor sagas, like those of Hromund Grips0n, Orm Storolf s
Sons, Illugi, Hermund illi, and Asmund, were also used as sources
for ballads, notably in the Faeroes. The age of such adaptations
varies. As late as the first half of last century St. Qlafs Saga gave
the Faeroese Qrmurin langi (Hammershaimb FA 35) in the best
traditional style. Among the Arthurian legends those of Tristan
alone appealed to the Scandinavian taste. Tristan's death is sung
in Iceland and the Faeroes (Grundtvig 23, Hammershaimb FA
27). There is evidence that this ballad was once known in
Denmark.

The religious balladry of the north is also full of good things
(DGF 96-113). The usual divisions occur: biblical extracts, saints'
lives, moral tales. The Magdalene is, as elsewhere, confused with
the Woman of Samaria. St. Olaf (DGF 50, 51) is the patron of the
north, and his fights with trolls are just like those of other heroes,
but more edifying. Innocence is triumphant, even on a blazing
pyre (DGF 108,109), and guilt is suitably punished. Many of these
ballads are international; there are Danish representatives of the
St. Catherine ballad, St. Stephen and Herod or the miracle of
the capon, Little Billee, St. George, the Sultan's daughter, and the