Herr Mannelig is a Swedishfolk ballad that tells the story of a female mountain troll who proposes marriage to a young human man. The troll is trying to convince "Sir Mannelig" to marry her. She offers him many great gifts but he refuses her.
History
The ballad was first published 1877 as a folk song of the Södermanland region. A variant from Näshulta parish, Eskilstuna Municipality, published in the same collection in 1882, had the title Skogsjungfruns frieri. Other variants have been recorded in which the courted man is called "Herr Magnus". Certain variants appear to identify the ballad's protagonist as Magnus, Duke of Östergötland, incorporating an alleged incident in which the duke, old and mentally impaired, threw himself into the water after seeing such a water spirit waving to him. Hertig Magnus och sjöjungfrun is an 1862 operetta by Ivar Hallström. The lyrics of the ballad published in 1877 are in seven verses, with a refrain in the troll's voice. The first verse gives an exposition, saying of the troll "she had a false tongue", suggesting that the troll is trying to deceive the young man; this is in contrast to the Näshulta variant, which has hon sjong med så rörande tunga. Verses 2-5 are in the troll's voice, promising gifts of twelve steeds, twelve mills, a gilded sword and a silken shirt, respectively; verse 6 is in the man's voice, rejecting the proposal, calling the troll "of the tribe of the neck and the devil". The final verse has the troll running away wailing. The Näshulta variant is closely related, but has an additional five verses listing promised gifts, the list of promises being : a castle, twelve horses, a stable, twelve mills, a gilded sword, a silken shirt, a cap of red damask, a blue mantle, and finally treasure of gold and diamonds. The theme is of the "Fairies' Hope for Christian Salvation" type in the classification of Christansen ; the same theme was notably adapted by Hans Christian Andersen in The Little Mermaid, influenced by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's Undine of 1811, and ultimately based on the theory by Paracelsus that there are certain nature spirits who lack a soul and are therefore "willing to surrender their carefee lives to marry a mortal, experience human suffering, and thereby win spiritual immortality". In German folklore, the theme is expressed more typically by the water-nymph trying to draw the young man into perdition rather than trying to be saved by him. The sexes are reversed in the German ballad Es freit ein wilder Wassermann, recorded 1813 in Joachimsthal, Brandenburg, where a male water spirit woos a young woman. The song in the 1877 version has become popular in the Neofolk, Folk rock or Neo-Medievalmusical genres since the late 1990s, following its inclusion in the albumGuds spelemän by Garmarna in 1996. Later performances include In Extremo, Verehrt und Angespien, Haggard, Eppur Si Muove, Heimataerde, Dark Dance, Midnattsol, The Aftermath among others.
