“The Ballad of Heer Halewijn: Its Forms and Variations in Western Europe”

This ballad about a maid hwo kills a would-be lady-killer is known in England as “Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight”, in France as “Renaud le Tueur de Femmes”, in Scandinavia as “Kvindemorderen”, and in the Netherlands and Belgium as “Heer Halewijn”; in the German-speaking area it is called “Ulinger” or “Ulrich”. Having analysed the features acquired by the ballad in different countries and compared the traditions of various language areas, the author draws the conclusion that the Netherlands ballad is the oldest of them all and acted as a model for Scandinavian and French versions.

FF Communications 169