A Wasted Love to a Sir: Herr Mannelig
Love has been one of the great facts of life for all of us for thousands of years. Although we all think ours is unique, the truth is that thousands have fallen in love, have had love stories and have felt nearly the same way: requited or not. And, at some point in history, a female mountain troll fell in love with a young knight and felt the despair of unrequited love. Here is the legend of the hopeless, unnamed troll and Herr Mannelig.
One of the two main characters of the legend is of course Herr Mannelig. The knight is always described wearing a knight’s armour and sometimes holding a long sword in his hand. He is also depicted with these features in paintings and illustrations. He has blond hair and blue or, in different versions of the ballad, brown eyes. His figure is always depicted as agile and strong and “Herr” in his name means “Sir” in Swedish. He is narrated to be bold and charming and committed to his principles.
And the other character is the suffering one of the story, the mountain troll. Trolls are mythical creatures in Norse folklore and mythology, and they are described in various ways. They can be huge, ugly and rough-looking in appearance. And in personality, they can be hostile to humans and dangerous to them. Also, they tend to smuggle people into the mountains. On the other hand, they may look like a human and act like a human without any grotesque features. But there is one thing in common: they are not Christianized. They have always been Pagan.
The mountain troll in the legend has no name or identity. Her appearance is not told in the legend, but the way she speaks to Herr Mannelig is given and it differs between versions. Furthermore, the story is told through her mouth in most verses in the legend. For example, in the 1877 rewritten version of the legend “she has a false tongue” (Hon hade en falskeliger tunga), telling that the troll tries to deceive Herr Mannelig. On the other hand, in the Näshulta version of the legend, “she sings with touching tongue” (hon sjong med så rörande tunga). But in each version of the legend, she offers precious things and pleads with Herr Mannelig for marrying him.
(The troll is depicted as a beautiful young woman in almost every artwork. Due to the lack of information about her appearance, the troll is now considered as she appears in artworks.)
The legend is originally a Swedish folk ballad created in the middle ages. It reflects the cultural elements of the Sweden of that period and the characteristic themes of the period. A written version of the legend was first created as a ballad in 1877 in the Södermanland region of Sweden. Since then, different versions of the legend have been narrated as folk songs. The most popular and adapted version of the ballad is the 1877 version. It consists of seven verses and some verses are told from the mouth of the troll, while some are told from that of Herr Mannelig.
The ballad version of the legend is fully translated into contemporary English and the whole story can be understood from the verses. Here is the original Swedish lyrics of the ballad given comparingly with the English translation.
Bittida en morgon innan solen upprann | Early one morning before the sun did rise
Innan foglarna började sjunga | And the birds sang their sweet song
Bergatrollet friade till fager ungersven | The mountain troll proposed to the fair squire
Hon hade en falskeliger tunga | She had a false deceitful tongue
Herr Mannelig herr Mannelig trolofven i mig | Sir Mannelig, Sir Mannelig won’t you marry me
För det jag bjuder så gerna | For all that I’ll gladly give you
I kunnen väl svara endast ja eller nej | You may answer only yes or no
Om i viljen eller ej | Will you do so or no
-
Eder vill jag gifva de gångare tolf | To you I will give the twelve great steeds
Som gå uti rosendelunde | That graze in a shady grove
Aldrig har det varit någon sadel uppå dem | Never has a saddle been mounted on their backs
Ej heller betsel uti munnen | Nor had a bit in their mouths
-
Eder vill jag gifva de qvarnarna tolf | To you I will give the twelve fine mills
Som stå mellan Tillö och Ternö | That stand between Tillo and Terno
Stenarna de äro af rödaste gull | The mill stones are made of the reddest brass
Och hjulen silfverbeslagna | And the wheels are silver-laden
-
Eder vill jag gifva ett förgyllande svärd | To you I will give the gilded sword
Som klingar utaf femton guldringar | That jingles from fifteen gold rings
Och strida huru I strida vill | And strike with it in battle as you will
Stridsplatsen skolen i väl vinna | On the battlefield you will conquer
-
Eder vill jag gifva en skjorta så ny | To you I will give a brand new shirt
Den bästa I lysten att slita | The lustrous best for to wear
Inte är hon sömnad av nål eller trå | It is not sewn with needle or thread
Men virkat av silket det hvita | It is not sewn with needle or thread
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Sådana gåfvor jag toge väl emot | Gifts such as these I would gladly receive
Om du vore en kristelig qvinna | If you were a Christian woman
Men nu så är du det värsta bergatroll | But I know you are the worst mountain troll
Af Neckens och djävulens stämma | From the spawn of Necken and the devil
-
Bergatrollet ut på dörren sprang | The mountain troll ran out the door
Hon rister och jämrar sig svåra | She wailed and she shrieked so loudly
“Hade jag fått den fager ungersven | “Had I gotten that handsome squire
Så hade jag mistat min plåga” | From my torment I would be free now”
As seen in the ballad, it is the story of the love of a “woman” and an unrequited proposal of marriage of her to a proud knight. The female troll proposes to Herr Mannelig and promises him numerous precious things of the period. Yet, Herr Mannelig rejects her proposal for the reason that she is “not Christian”. Some narrators believe that the knight’s that statement is just an excuse to hide his discontent with being proposed by a troll. On the other hand, some narrators believe that his statement really relies on his stance on a Pagan’s proposal to a Christian. Also, according to these narrators, Herr Mannelig’s rejection symbolizes a Christian man’s withstand against the material gain coming with apostasy. Nonetheless, a thing about the legend is exact: the troll is exposed to a neverending curse turning her into a mythic creature and she would be freed of her curse and turn into her human form if Herr Mannelig accepted her proposal. But he rejects her and becomes the one who traps her in a curse from which she cannot escape.
The story of Herr Mannelig and the troll has influenced not only ancient legends but also modern times, particularly in illustration and music.
For example, the Swedish folk band Garmarna re-narrated the legend through the lyrics of their song Herr Mannelig. The song was released in their album Guds spelemän in 1996 and it is written and sung in Swedish. Herr Mannelig is full of folk elements in terms of the story, lyrics and music.
Another example is the German symphonic metal band Haggard’s Herr Mannelig. Like Garmarna’s Herr Mannelig, the song re-narrates the legend through the lyrics but it is written and sung in Italian. Released in the album Eppur Si Muove in 2004, the sound of the song is a fusion of both symphonic and metal genres.
In the end, if we look at the story from the point of view of “modern-day loves”, the troll’s being trapped in eternal despair along with the curse is perhaps a symbol of even today’s accepted reality. No one is subjected to a curse anymore, but the despair caused by the rejection of a devoted love can be like a curse for any human being that lasts for varying periods of time.
