Krummavísa (English: Raven Verse) or Krummi krunkar úti (English: A Raven Croaks Outside) is an Icelandic folk song or nursery rhyme. The song was published in 1906 in the book Íslenzk þjóðlög (Icelandic Folk Songs) by Bjarni Þorsteinsson . Bjarni learned the song from Ólafur Davíðsson, who in turn learned it as a child in Sléttuhlíð.[1]
Krummavísa | |
---|---|
Krummi krunkar úti | |
by Bjarni Þorsteinsson | |
Language | Icelandic |
Publication date | 1906 |
Lines | 8 |
Krummavísa at Icelandic Wikisource |
Krummi krunkar úti, |
A raven croaks outside, |
As with all traditional Icelandic poetry, Krummavísa conforms to the set of rules called bragfræði (prosody). According to this system, a poem must be alliterative: a line of verse must have two words beginning with the same letter, and the first word of the next line must also begin with the same letter.[3] Here, for example, the first line has two words beginning with a K (krummi and krunkar) and the first word of the second line also begins with a K (kallar).
References
edit- ^ Þorsteinsson, Bjarni (1906). Íslenzk þjóðlög. Copenhagen: Siglufjarðarprentsmiðja. p. 510.
- ^ Icelandic Folk Song - Krummi krunkar úti on YouTube
- ^ Sigmundsdóttir, Alda (2016). "Amazing alliteration". The Little Book of Icelandic. Little Books Publishing. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-9935-9298-6-0.