As we remember the successes of the Norwegians and Swedes in the cross-country skiing and biathlon at the Olympic games in Sochi, we may think also that skiing has featured in the culture of the people of these countries for centuries. Warrior Lore is my new collection of translations into English of medieval-style Scandinavian folk-ballads, and it includes two ballads in which skiing plays a prominent role. Narrative folk-ballads were part of an oral storytelling tradition in Scandinavia. Many of these ballads survive as they were written down by collectors from around 1600 to the 1800s. The two folk-ballads in question tell quite different stories, but they both have as their hero a skier, Heming the young.

In Heming and the Mountain Troll, based on a Swedish ballad, skis are used as a means of getting around, and getting around quickly. Heming's girl has been kidnapped by a troll woman, and he makes his way to the mountains to find her. They then make their escape on skis, with the troll woman in hot pursuit.

Extract from Heming and the Mountain Troll:

And Heming took the maiden out,
They had to ski away.
She fell in a faint his fair young maid,
When the mountain shook and swayed.

So Heming took some powder snow,
To rub her forehead there.
She came to life his fair young wife,
And Heming smiled at her.

Heming and the girl do escape, but that has as much to do with the troll's susceptibility to being turned to stone as to his ability to ski quickly.

The Ballad Heming and King Harald is translated from the Norwegian. It tells the story of a sporting contest between King Harald Hardrada and the young Heming. In fact, after they compete at archery, and nothing can separate them, Harald sets Heming some difficult challenges. The skiing is one of these.

Extract from Heming and King Harald:

“I hear you Heming the young,
“It seems you have no fear,
“You shall ski out on the fell,
“The one the boys call Snara.”

“Yes I shall ski out on the fell,
“The one the boys call Snara,
“And you, O King, shall stand below,
“All so your view is clearer.”

Heming skied on Snarafell,
His skis they turned on high.
The King he thought he seemed to see,
The stars falling out of the sky.

Heming skied on Snarafell,
His skis they ran on the snow.
He took the King by the shoulder-bone,
So his nose hit the earth below.

This story doesn't end well for Harald. But from this ballad, we can see that the Norwegians were involved in sporting skiing, and indeed biathlon, competitions a long time ago.

Scandinavian folk ballads --- Skadi Press Books
http://www.northerndisplayers.co.uk/
(C) 2014 Ian Cumpstey