Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Skoven Årle Grøn / King Orfeo (Child No. 19) - Sung by my friend @SpringEnterprisesIndependent in Denmark. Recorded on December 25, 2024.
Notes by Kevin W.:
Norn is an extinct Scandinavian language that was once spoken on the Shetland Islands and Orkney. After Orkney and Shetland were pledged to Scotland by Norway in 1468–69 it was gradually replaced by Scots. Norn is thought to have become extinct around 1850, after the death of Walter Sutherland, the language's last known speaker.
Fragments of Norn, words, sayings and place names persisted into modern times. Child Ballad No. 19, King Orfeo, is a ballad with verses in Shetland Scots and a refrain in Norn.
My friend is a native Danish speaker and sings the ballad with a Danish pronunciation of the refrain. There is enough overlap between Danish and Norn to be able to make sense of the refrain and the Danish pronunciation of the words isn't too far off from what the (likely garbled) Norn in the ballad sounds like.
It won't be accurate to the original Norn pronunciation, we don't know how that sounded as the two recordings of the song from oral tradition (John Stickle of Unst, 1947, and Kitty Anderson of Lerwick, 1955) are not certain on it, but it seems more sensible to me than Earl Grey tea. That said, I love John Stickle's tune and how he called it just a little bit of nonsense. Song collector Patrick Shuldham-Shaw must've been excited when he heard him sing it in 1947 and realised he discovered a fragment of a previously undocumented Child ballad. ^_^
My friend sings it:
There lived a king into da east
Skoven årle grøn
There lived a lady in da wast
Hvor hjorten han går årlig
Danish
Skoven årle grøn = Early green's the wood
Hvor hjorten han går årlig = Where the hart goes yearly
Both John Stickle of Baltasound, Unst and Kitty Anderson of Lerwick sang King Orfeo and also the Unst Boat Song which is completely in Norn. They are the only recorded examples of Norn language singing known to me.
The Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o Riches website has more recordings of sayings in Norn and words that older people remembered, but I don't think there are any other songs preserved.
Kitty Anderson's pronunciation of Norn in King Orfeo seems better preserved, it resembles the Danish language enough that my friend was able to understand it.
My friend says "årle" is no longer the common Danish word for "early". It fell out of use, and "han går årlig" would be "han går årligt" in modern Danish.
Still, I find it interesting that there is enough overlap with Norn to be able to make sense of it that way.
We'd wager a guess that modern day Faroese is probably quite similar to Norn, if not its direct descendant. The Faroe Islands, Orkney and Shetland were all part of the Norwegian Kingdom. So the language of the Faroe Islands which is still a Norse language today is probably the most similar to Norn.
Song transcription:
Der lived a king inta da aste,
Skoven årle grøn
Der lived a lady in da wast.
Hvor hjorten han går årlig
Dis king he has a huntin gaen,
He's left his Lady Isabel alane.
'Oh I wis ye'd never gaen away,
For at your hame is d'ol an wae.
'For da king o Ferrie we his daert,
Has pierced your lady to da hert.'
And aifter dem da king has gaen,
But whan he cam it was a grey stane.
Dan he took oot his pipes ta play,
Bit sair his hert wi d'ol an wae.
And first he played da notes o noy,
An dan he played da notes o joy.
An dan he played da g'od gabber reel,
Dat meicht ha made a sick hert hale.
'Noo come ye in inta wir ha,
An come ye in among wis a'.'
Now he's gaen in inta der ha,
An he's gaen in among dem a'.
Dan he took out his pipes to play,
Bit sair his hert wi d'ol an wae.
An first he played da notes o noy,
An dan he played da notes o joy.
An dan he played da g'od gabber reel,
Dat meicht ha made a sick hert hale.
'Noo tell to us what ye will hae:
What sall we gie you for your play?
'What I will hae I will you tell,
An dat's me Lady Isabel.'
'Yees tak your lady, an yees gaeng hame,
An yees be king ower a' your ain.'
He's taen his lady, an he's gaen hame,
An noo he's king ower a' his ain.
Skoven Årle Grøn / King Orfeo (Child No. 19) - Sung by my friend @SpringEnterprisesIndependent in Denmark. Recorded on December 25, 2024.
Notes by Kevin W.:
Norn is an extinct Scandinavian language that was once spoken on the Shetland Islands and Orkney. After Orkney and Shetland were pledged to Scotland by Norway in 1468–69 it was gradually replaced by Scots. Norn is thought to have become extinct around 1850, after the death of Walter Sutherland, the language's last known speaker.
Fragments of Norn, words, sayings and place names persisted into modern times. Child Ballad No. 19, King Orfeo, is a ballad with verses in Shetland Scots and a refrain in Norn.
My friend is a native Danish speaker and sings the ballad with a Danish pronunciation of the refrain. There is enough overlap between Danish and Norn to be able to make sense of the refrain and the Danish pronunciation of the words isn't too far off from what the (likely garbled) Norn in the ballad sounds like.
It won't be accurate to the original Norn pronunciation, we don't know how that sounded as the two recordings of the song from oral tradition (John Stickle of Unst, 1947, and Kitty Anderson of Lerwick, 1955) are not certain on it, but it seems more sensible to me than Earl Grey tea. That said, I love John Stickle's tune and how he called it just a little bit of nonsense. Song collector Patrick Shuldham-Shaw must've been excited when he heard him sing it in 1947 and realised he discovered a fragment of a previously undocumented Child ballad. ^_^
My friend sings it:
There lived a king into da east
Skoven årle grøn
There lived a lady in da wast
Hvor hjorten han går årlig
Danish
Skoven årle grøn = Early green's the wood
Hvor hjorten han går årlig = Where the hart goes yearly
Both John Stickle of Baltasound, Unst and Kitty Anderson of Lerwick sang King Orfeo and also the Unst Boat Song which is completely in Norn. They are the only recorded examples of Norn language singing known to me.
The Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o Riches website has more recordings of sayings in Norn and words that older people remembered, but I don't think there are any other songs preserved.
Kitty Anderson's pronunciation of Norn in King Orfeo seems better preserved, it resembles the Danish language enough that my friend was able to understand it.
My friend says "årle" is no longer the common Danish word for "early". It fell out of use, and "han går årlig" would be "han går årligt" in modern Danish.
Still, I find it interesting that there is enough overlap with Norn to be able to make sense of it that way.
We'd wager a guess that modern day Faroese is probably quite similar to Norn, if not its direct descendant. The Faroe Islands, Orkney and Shetland were all part of the Norwegian Kingdom. So the language of the Faroe Islands which is still a Norse language today is probably the most similar to Norn.
Song transcription:
Der lived a king inta da aste,
Skoven årle grøn
Der lived a lady in da wast.
Hvor hjorten han går årlig
Dis king he has a huntin gaen,
He's left his Lady Isabel alane.
'Oh I wis ye'd never gaen away,
For at your hame is d'ol an wae.
'For da king o Ferrie we his daert,
Has pierced your lady to da hert.'
And aifter dem da king has gaen,
But whan he cam it was a grey stane.
Dan he took oot his pipes ta play,
Bit sair his hert wi d'ol an wae.
And first he played da notes o noy,
An dan he played da notes o joy.
An dan he played da g'od gabber reel,
Dat meicht ha made a sick hert hale.
'Noo come ye in inta wir ha,
An come ye in among wis a'.'
Now he's gaen in inta der ha,
An he's gaen in among dem a'.
Dan he took out his pipes to play,
Bit sair his hert wi d'ol an wae.
An first he played da notes o noy,
An dan he played da notes o joy.
An dan he played da g'od gabber reel,
Dat meicht ha made a sick hert hale.
'Noo tell to us what ye will hae:
What sall we gie you for your play?
'What I will hae I will you tell,
An dat's me Lady Isabel.'
'Yees tak your lady, an yees gaeng hame,
An yees be king ower a' your ain.'
He's taen his lady, an he's gaen hame,
An noo he's king ower a' his ain.
