Drømte Mig En Drøm (I Dreamed a Dream)
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Drømte Mig En Drøm (I Dreamed a Dream) A 14thC. Danish Ballad (Fragment) An Rntry For An Tir Kingdom Bardic ChampionshipA.S. 49 (2015) By THL Sionann in Ui Fhlaithbheartaig (MKA: Sheila Louise Wright) email: [email protected] Drømte Mig En Drøm Page | 2 Table of Contents Drømte Mig En Drøm (I Dreamed a Dream) ............................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3 The Provenance of “I dreamed a dream…” .................................................................................. 3 Analyzing the Text ...................................................................................................................... 4 Analyzing the Tune Fragment ..................................................................................................... 6 The Song as I am Presenting it... .................................................................................................. 8 Instrumentation ....................................................................................................................... 9 As an Aside... .......................................................................................................................... 9 Appendix 1: Codex Runicus ...................................................................................................... 10 Appendix 2: Lyics and Translation ............................................................................................ 11 Appendix 3: Other Interpretations of the Score in the “Codex Runicus” ...................................... 12 Appendix 4: Scandinavian Ballad Text and Tune Structure ........................................................ 14 Text Forms and Structure ...................................................................................................... 14 Melody, Text and Rhythm ..................................................................................................... 16 Appendix 5: Lyres in Scandinavia .............................................................................................. 17 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 18 Books .................................................................................................................................... 18 Articles .................................................................................................................................. 18 Websites ................................................................................................................................ 19 Sionann in Ui Fhlaithbheartaig Drømte Mig En Drøm Page | 3 Introduction I am Sionann in Ui Fhlaithbheartaig and today I will be presenting “Drømte Mig en Drøm", a 14th century Danish ballad and the earliest extant piece of music documented in Scandinavia. The version of “Drømte Mig en Drøm” that I will be singing, interpreted in 1945 by Erik Bertelsen & Povl Hamburger (see Appendix 2), incorporates both the words and tune of the original fragment, but adds more to the both the text and the tune. As you will see during the presentation, despite the additions to the extant song fragment, the song maintains its mode, melodic structure, and text characteristics of the original historical piece. The Provenance of “I dreamed a dream…” Around 1300 AD, a 202 page law book called the “Codex Runicus” was completed by an anonymous Cistercian monk probably at Herrevadskloster (Herrevad Abbey, founded in 1144AD), at Lyjungbyhed, Skåne in Sweden (which was part of Denmark at the time)1. It was written on vellum, using a Runic alphabet and in Old Danish rather than the Latin that was the norm of the time. It is one of only 2 such texts in Scandinavia, although some historians, such as the 16th century Swedish Bishop of Uppsala, Olaus Magnus, said there were numerous such texts before the Reformation when many were destroyed.2 The text is now housed at the University of Copenhagen and can be viewed in its entirety online at the university’s website.3 The text has 3 parts: The Scanian Law (“Skånske lov” the laws of Skania or Jutland), The Scanian Ecclesiastical Laws (“Skånske Kirklov” which were created by the Bishop of Lund in the late 12th century), and a section on the Danish Kings with a description of the Danish-Swedish borders. The first sections, pertaining to the laws were written by one scribe, while the non-legal portions were written by another anonymous scribe. This second scribe also included something else a little strange given the nature of the rest of the text. On the bottom of the very last page, he left a short passage of a song, including the musical 1 Frederiksen, Britta Olrik (2003). "The History of Old Nordic manuscripts IV: Old Danish", p. 821: 2 Enoksen, Lars Magnar. (1998). Runor : historia, tydning, tolkning. Historiska Media, Falun, p. 175 3 http://www.e-pages.dk/ku/579/ - The entire of Codex Runicus in electronic scans from the University of Copenhagen Sionann in Ui Fhlaithbheartaig Drømte Mig En Drøm Page | 4 notation. (see Appendix 1) This short passage is the oldest piece of secular music in Scandinavia (there are older sacred/church songs in existence). Known simply as “Drømte Mig en Drøm” (I Dreamed a Dream) there is only a fragment of the song given but it also includes a simple form of musical notation which makes it all the more unique. The passage is also well known in Denmark as the interval signal of the Danish National Radio. Analyzing the Text The entire text of Codex Runicus dates to about 1300AD, although Eric Moldrup in his lecture on Danish music, dates the text as early as 1230AD (though I am unsure where he has gleaned this information from).4 The original text of the fragment reads: “Drømde mik en drøm i nat um silki ok ærlik pæl” In modern Danish this would be: “Drømte mig en drøm i nat om silki og ærlig pæl” 4 Moldrup, Eric. “Støvring Højskole”, http://lakjer.dk/erik/musik/danishmusic01.html, 2001 Sionann in Ui Fhlaithbheartaig Drømte Mig En Drøm Page | 5 These few words have been open to varied interpretation for many years due to the nature of the book the passage is found in and due to differing translation or interpretation of 3 key words: “silki”, “ærlik” & “pæl”. There is no question about the translation of the first line (“Drømde mik en drøm i nat um / I dreamed a dream this night of”), and there are several ballad texts from period which use this same trope, including the ballad of “Hagbard og Signe” (DgF 20 5; the story is known at least in the 12thC as is it mentioned by Saxo Grammaticus in his “Gesta Danorum”) in which the 2nd verse opens with: “Hagbard drømde en drøm om nat” (Hagbard dreamed a dream at night”) Then there is the refrain of the ballad “Ridderen i Hjorteham” (DgF 67, one of the oldest complete ballads in Scandinavia) which has a similar phrase: “Dromth haffuer mic on jomfrwer in nat” (I have dreamed of young women this night). The second part of the passage however is problematic. Given the nature of the rest of the document, a phrase related to law or legal issues would seem appropriate and many translating it to “I dreamed a dream this night of equality and honest measure” or “... of justice and fair play”. Others have argued for a more romantic meaning such as “I dreamed a dream this night of silk and fine furs” or “silk and expensive cloths” and indeed the most versions of song are built on the latter theme. The confusion stems from the translation of the Danish. Some have interpreted “silki” as something of a “typo” on the part of the scribe, instead hypothesizing the word to be “slik” (in Old Norse) which is akin to “lika” and means “equal, same, alike” (in Swedish and Icelandic).6 This interpretation certainly fits the theme of the entire Codex. However, in Dano-Norwegian (which is between Old and Modern Danish), “silki” means “silk”. In modern Danish, the word is “silke”. In Swedish, the word is also “silke”, while “silkig” means “silky”. In both modern and Old Icelandic (which are closest to Old Norse and Old Norwegian), “silki” means “silk”. The Swedish medieval ballad "Pallebogsons visa" (DgF 392 also TSB 163)7 also uses a very similar phrase meaning "silk... and fine fur": "Han kläder sig i silke, så och i ädel päll...".8 (in Swedish “ädel” means “noble, precious” and “päll” means “furs”) Similarly, “ærlik” and “pæl” are open to differing interpretation. The older translation of the two words together has been taken to mean “honest measure”. 5 DgF = Danmarks Gamle Folkviser, the Danish “catalogue” of medieval balladry. Each ballad is catagorised and given a number which can then be cross referenced with other catalogues in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland and the Faroe Islands which have their own reference numbers. 6 Corpus iuris Sueo-Gotorum antiqui: Samling af Sweriges gamla lagar, pages 288, 294, 314, 319 7 TSB = Types of Scandinavian Medieval Ballads, the comprehensive collection of all Scandinavian balladry and cataloguing. Almost all ballads are labelled with TSB# and given descriptions of tropes used to ease cross referencing with other ballad databases/collections such as the “Sveriges Medeltide Balladar” or the “Child Ballads” 8 Part B, Verse 2 of “Pallebogsons Visa”, http://runeberg.org/fornsang/1/0223.html Sionann in Ui Fhlaithbheartaig Drømte Mig En Drøm Page | 6 “Ærlik pæl” could be "honest