Romantic Ballads

Romantic Ballads is a collection of verse translations by the English writer and philologist George Borrow (1803–1881), published in London in 1826 under the full title Romantic Ballads, Translated from the Danish; and Miscellaneous Pieces. It is one of the few formally published collections of translated poetry to appear during Borrow's lifetime, and it represents the earliest fruit of his lifelong fascination with Norse languages and folk literature. The book is divided into two main parts: the first consists of poems translated from the Danish poet Adam Oehlenschläger, including The Death-Raven, Fridleif and Helga, Elvir-Shades, and May Asda; the second is translated from the Old Danish ballad collection Kjæmpe Viser (Heroic Ballads), including Sir Middel, Sir John, Saint Oluf, The Heroes of Dovrefeld, Svend Vonved, The Tournament, Vidrik Verlandson, and The Merman. The subjects are largely heroic warfare, sea storms, fate, and ghostly legend. A number of "miscellaneous pieces" are also included, translated from Gaelic, Norwegian, Swedish, and German, such as The Hail-Storm, The Old Oak, Ode to a Mountain-Torrent, and Birds of Passage. The book opens with Borrow's own preface explaining the sources of the translations and the metrical character of Old Danish poetry, and includes a dedicatory poem to Borrow by the Scottish poet Allan Cunningham. The translations are largely literal, deliberately preserving the rough, plain rhythm and tone of the original ballads. This entry corresponds to later reprints or digitized versions based on the 1826 first edition.