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| Little Kersti and the mountain king by Erik Werenskiold |
Plot
Little Kerstin is out walking when she happens to meet the mountain king. "Come away with me to the mountains," he says, and she goes with him. So they go up to the mountain (in some versions they go together, in others she meets him there later), and when the mountain door opens, they go in.
Kerstin stays under that mountain with the mountain king for many years, and has a lot of children with him. One day, she wants to return home to visit her mother. The mountain king agrees to this on condition that she does not tell her mother about all the children that she has had.
So Kerstin arrives at her mother's house, and her mother asks her where she has been for so many years. At first she tries to hide it: "I've been out picking flowers," she says. But her mother isn't having this, and soon the truth comes out. "I've been living in the mountain with the mountain king," she says. "And I've had all these babies."
Well the mountain king hears her say this, and he comes as quickly as he can. He is not pleased. He hits her, he puts her on his horse, and soon they are riding back to the mountains. In some versions of the ballad, the mountain king also speaks to the girl's mother: "Don't worry about your daughter," he tries to reassure her. "She will be fine."
When they arrive back home, we may understand that the children are very pleased to see their mother return, yet Kerstin is not happy. The mountain king (or one of the children) gives her a drink of forgetfulness that makes her forget her former life, and makes her believe that she has always lived there in the mountain.
It's hardly a happy ending. And yet if the girl is able to live happily with her husband and all her children in her new life in a new place, why not? Does it matter that she has to drink or do drugs to forget her former life, or how she lived before? Probably yes it does matter. Maybe there is some comfort for the mother if she can know her daughter is able to live happily, even if she has had to forget everything to do it.
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| by Gerhard Munthe. The mountain king gives Little Kersti a drink |
I mentioned above that the Swedish ballad corresponds to two different Norwegian ballads with different titles. The distinction between different versions of the ballad in Swedish is more blurred. The plot summarised above is closer to the ballad the Norwegians would call Margit Hjukse. Liti Kjersti has a different beginning: the girl is at home with her mother, and the mother notices that she has milk from her breasts leaking onto her blouse (they have a long conversation about this as Kjersti tries to deny it). Eventually it transpires that she has been sleeping with the mountain king. There are other very closely related ballads with different classifications as well.
Perhaps one reason this ballad has so many variations could be that it is such a relatable theme, with different verses, beginnings and endings resonating with different ballad singers.
Although the mountain king in the ballad is literally a supernatural subterranean man, typical of Scandinavian folklore, it is no great leap to think of him representing any outsider, or even any abstract idea or lifestyle that someone may abandon their old life to go and chase, and that may be reluctant to let them go.
Here is one of the Swedish full text versions of this ballad. This one is a version from Östergötland from Arwidsson.
I have mentioned Swedish and Norwegian versions of this ballad. Given how popular the ballad was in those countries, it is hardly surprising that the corresponding ballad was well known in Denmark as well. There it is typically called Jomfruen og Dværgekongen (The Maiden and the Dwarf King). I will not write more here about Danish versions, as this post is long enough already.
Previously on this blog I wrote a post about Agneta and the Merman, which has a similar drink-to-forget-your-former-life ending. Another ballad with a very similar idea is Sir Olof and the Mermaid, though this has opposite gender roles (note this ballad is quite different from the Sir Olof and the Elves ballad or The Mermaid ballad, both of which I have covered in this blog).
A few years ago I wrote a song called The Fell Queen that was inspired to some extent by this story and others like it. So if you have seen me out singing anywhere in Cumbria in the last five years or so, it's quite possible that you might have heard me singing this. I have now finally recorded it, so have a listen if you like.
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| Little Kersti and her mother by Erik Werenskiold |
Melodies
Here are three Swedish melodies for the ballad:
(1) Den Bergtagna (Ahlström No. 26 / Berggreen No. 1), melody from Västergotland, Värmland.
(2) Den Bergtagna (Berggreen No. 2), melody from Värmland, Uppland, etc.
(3) Jungfrun och Bergakonungen (Ahlström No. 192), melody from Östergötland.
And one from Norway:
(4) Liti Kjersti og Bergekungjen (Berggreen Norske No. 7), melody from Telemark.
In terms of omkväde lines, melodies (1) and (2) above both have: tiden görs mig lång / men jag vet att sorgen är tung; (time is long for me / but I know that sorrow is heavy). Melody (3) has löf och hallonkvist / ty hon bär en hjertelig ånger; (leaves and raspberry canes / for she bears a great sorrow).
There are over a hundred text variants of this ballad in the Norwegian archive, with many different ömkväde lines. I will mention a couple of significant things:
One common omkväde is: tida sker meg lange / det er eg som ber sorgi så trange (time is long for me / it is I who bear a great sorrow). This is Landstad's omkväde for Margit Hjukse, and it is obviously the same as for the Swedish melodies (1) and (2) above.
Another is a very long one along the lines of what is seen for (4) above: Bron folen løyper lett / Mæ dæ rigner å dæ blæs / Nora under fjöllo / Inne under hello / Der leikar dei (The brown horse runs easily / It rains and it blows / In the north under the fells / In under the rocks / They are playing).
Another is along the lines of: Ti lil lil haugen min / Di dansar så lett gjenom lunden. Of course the second line here (they dance so easily through the woods) is very similar to the (single) omkväde line typically used in the ballad Sir Olof and the Elves, which I described earlier on this blog.
Recordings
I will start off with some Swedish versions of the ballad ...
Gunnfjauns Kapell are a Swedish folk band from Gotland. The band's name comes from the name of a deserted church on the island of Gotland. Den Bergtagna appears on their 2001 record Dansä Läite.
The band Stormfågel's version of Den Bergtagna.
Signe Widholm från Bergsjö, Hälsingland sings a short unaccompanied version of the ballad from the Sveriges Medeltida Ballader collection.
These first three versions of the ballad all use the same melody and the same omkväde.
Estampie also included Den Bergtagna on their album Secrets of the North.
Here are Ulv, with their characteristic sound, and a different melody.
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The next recordings are all Norwegian, beginning with some interpretations of Margit Hjukse, which is closest to the typical versions of the Swedish Den Bergtagna. It is not only the plot, but also the omkväde lines and even the melody that are similar:
Arve Moen Bergset is a Norwegian folk singer and fiddler who also sang with the group Bukkene Bruse. Here is his recording of Margit Hjukse from his 1987 album Arvesølv.
Gåte are a young Norwegian band with an often heavier take on traditional songs. Margit Hjukse appears on their debut album Jygri (2002).
Here is a version of Margit Hjukse from the traditional Norwegian singer Halvor Håkanes. The recording appears on his album Eg Heiter Halvor (1992).
Almune are a Danish band playing early church music as well as folk and medieval ballads. Their version of Margit Hjukse appears on their 2018 album Bjergtagen.
Venelite og Bergjekongen is a track by Agnes Buen Garnås and Jan Garbarek from their album Rosensfole (1989). This is a great performance and a great take on the ballad! This is another Norwegian ballad that is very very close to the Margit Hjukse text or some Swedish Bergtagna texts, but with a different melody and omkväde (at least here).
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And here are some versions of the Norwegian ballad Liti Kjersti. Many artists have recorded versions of this song. As you can see, some have recorded versions of both Liti Kjersti and Margit Hjukse:
Liti Kjersti by Arve Moen Bergset is on the same album as mentioned above ... Arvesølv!
Gåte are another band who have recorded Liti Kjersti as well as Margit Hjukse. Their version of Liti Kjersti appears on their Gåte EP (2002).
Kirsten Bråten Berg is a Norwegian folk singer who has recorded several ballads. She sings about the elf king in her version: Liti Kjersti og Elvekongen. The song appears on her album Min Kvedarlund (1999).
The Norwegian band Folque, one of the pioneering Scandinavian folk rock groups, also recorded a version of this ballad. Liti Kjersti og Alvekongen appears on their 1980 album Fredløs.
Here are links to a couple more takes on Liti Kjersti in case you need more! by Ragnhild Furholt and by Iselin
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I will also mention Scott and Johanna Hongell-Darsee's takes on this ballad in English translation. Their album The Mountain King is inspired by this ballad, and here are links to a couple of live performances on YouTube of versions: Far in the Hills (Liti Kjersti in English), and The Mountain King (a Finland-Swedish version of Den Bergtagna in English).
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E. G. Geijer and A. A. Afzelius, Svenska Folkvisor Från Forntiden, Stockholm, 1814--1816
J. N. Ahlström, 300 Nordiska Folkvisor, Stockholm, 1878
A. P. Berggreen, Svenske Folke-Sanger og Melodier, Copenhagen, 1861
A. P. Berggreen, Norske Folke-Sanger og Melodier, Copenhagen, 1861
A. I. Arwidsson, Svenska Fornsånger, Vol 2, Stockholm, 1887
Norwegian texts for this ballad are in the Balladearkivet of the Oslo University Dokumentasjonsprosjektet.
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