Krummavísur

Krummavísur (translatable as "raven verses", "raven stanzas" or "raven sage") is an Icelandic song with lyrics by Jón Thoroddsen , which has achieved the status of a folk song . According to its opening line, it is also known as Krummi svaf í klettagjá and not to be confused with the thematically similar Krummavísa ("Raven Way", singular). It is sung in 4/4 time in the Phrygian mode .

background

The Krummavísur come from the Icelandic writer Jón Thoroddsen (1818–1868), while the melody is considered a folk song. The title of the song is composed of the Icelandic words krummi and vísur , the plural of vísa . Krummi is a slang term for the raven ( hrafn ). Vísa can be translated as “verse”, “stanza” or “sage”.

The raven is associated with high intelligence and occurs in Norse mythology , among other things in the form of Hugin and Munin (Icelandic Huginn and Muninn , thought and memory), the companions of Odin .

text

Icelandic	German
Krummi svaf í klettagjá, kaldri vetrarnóttu á, verður margt að meini	The raven slept in a crevice, on a cold winter night torments him a lot.
Fyrr en dagur fagur ran, freðið nefið dregur hann undan stórum steini.	But before the beautiful day passed he pulled his frosty nose from under the big stone.
Allt he frosið úti gor, ekkert fæst við ströndu mor, svengd er metti mína.	Everything is frozen outside There is nothing left on the beach, hunger is in my stomach.
Ef að húsum heim ég fer heimafrakkur bannar mér seppi 'úr sorp að tína.	When I approach the houses the cheeky dog prevents me from picking something out of the trash.
Öll er þakin ísi jörð, ekki séð á holtabörð fleygir fuglar geta.	Everything on earth is covered in ice nothing to see on the stone hill table that birds can get.
En þó leiti út um mó, auða hvergi lítur tó; hvað á hrafn að éta.	But although I'm looking on the heather it doesn't look like food in the tufts of grass that a raven could eat.
Á sér krummi ýfði stél, some brýndi gogginn vel, flaug úr fjallagjótum	The raven raised its tail and sharpened his beak well, and flew off to act.
Lítur yfir byggð og bú á bænum fyrr en vakna hjú, veifar vængjum skjótum.	He searches over villages and homesteads in the cities, before they awaken, he flutters his wings.
Sálaður á síðu lá sauður feitur garði hjá, fyrrum frár á velli	He sits dead at the side, a fat mutton stood nearby in the garden; it used to be fast and strong.
Krunk, krunk, nafnar, komið hér, krunk, krunk, því oss búin er krás á köldu svelli.	Kruk, kruk, namesake, come here, kruk, kruk, we offer you a party on the cold ground.

Web links

Wikisource: Krummi svaf í klettagjá - Sources and full texts (Icelandic)

Text and notes in the Icelandic newspaper Tíminn , March 4, 1992

Individual evidence

^ Jón Thoroddsen: Krummavísur . In: Tíminn . No. 45 , March 4, 1992, pp. 6 ( online at timarit.is ).
↑ ^a ^b Booklet for the CD Íslandsklukkur , MR Music 1994, p. 17
^ Hans Ulrich Schmid: Dictionary Icelandic-German . 2., revised. Edition. Buske, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-87548-596-7 , p. 288 .

[1] Jón Thoroddsen: Krummavísur . In: Tíminn . No. 45 , March 4, 1992, pp. 6 ( online at timarit.is ).

[klukkur-2] Booklet for the CD Íslandsklukkur , MR Music 1994, p. 17

[3] Hans Ulrich Schmid: Dictionary Icelandic-German . 2., revised. Edition. Buske, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-87548-596-7 , p. 288 .