HERR MANNELIG

E’ F’ E’ D’ D’ C’ C’ A C’ D’ C’ H A
A H C’ C’ C’ D’ D’ C’ E’ C’

E’ F’ E’ D’ D’ C’ C’ A C’ D’ C’ H A
A H C’ C’ C’ D’ D’ C’ E’ C’

(C’+E’) E’ F’ E’ D’ D’ C’ C’ A C’ D’ C’ H A
A H C’ C’ D’ C’ D’ E’ G’

F’ E’ F’ E’ D’ D’ C’ C’ A C’ D’ C’ H A
A H C’ D’ C’ H A

(H is the Germanic name of the note B)

“Herr Mannelig” (a.k.a. “Herr Mannerlig”, “Bergatrollets frieri” or Skogsjungfruns frieri”) is a Medieval Swedish ballad. In the 90’s it was resurrected by the folk-rock band Garmarna – and since then it has gone totally viral on the neofolk- and paganfolk scenes.

Because of the dark, haunting melody and suggestive lyrics, the song have now gained world-wide fame. Virtually hundreds of covers can easily be found on Youtube…

The lyrics is about a female troll who wishes to marry a young (human) knight or squire. She offers him several precious and magical gifts. But he refuses her because she’s a non-human and not even Christian. (In recent years there have been speculations about the original meaning of the song could be the forbidden love of a Pagan girl towards a Christian man, but this is probably just a modern interpretation.)

Here are the lyrics in Old Swedish:

Bittida en morgon innan solen upprann
Innan foglarna började sjunga
Bergatrollet friade till fager ungersven
Hon hade en falskeliger tunga

Herr Mannelig herr Mannelig trolofven I mig
För det jag bjuder så gerna
I kunnen väl svara endast ja eller nej
Om I viljen eller ej:

Eder vill jag gifva de gångare tolf
Som gå uti rosendelunde
Aldrig har det varit någon sadel uppå dem
Ej heller betsel uti munnen

Eder vill jag gifva de qvarnarna tolf
Som stå mellan Tillö och Ternö
Stenarna de äro af rödaste gull
Och hjulen silfverbeslagna

Eder vill jag gifva ett förgyllande svärd
Som klingar utaf femton guldringar
Och strida huru I strida vill
Stridsplatsen skolen I väl vinna

Eder vill jag gifva en skjorta så ny
Den bästa I lysten att slita
Inte är hon sömnad av nål eller trå
Men virkat av silket det hvita

Sådana gåfvor toge jag väl emot
Om du vore en kristelig qvinna
Men nu så är du det värsta bergatroll
Af Neckens och djävulens stämma

Bergatrollet ut på dörren sprang
Hon rister och jämrar sig svåra
Hade jag fått den fager ungersven
Så hade jag mistat min plåga

Herr Mannelig herr Mannelig trolofven I mig
För det jag bjuder så gerna
I kunnen väl svara endast ja eller nej
Om I viljen eller ej

And here’s a translation to modern English, found on Wikipedia:

1. Early one morning before the sun rose up
Before the birds began to sing
The mountain troll proposed to the handsome young man
She had a false tongue

(ref.) Herr Mannelig, herr Mannelig, will you be betrothed to me?

For that, I offer you gifts very gladly
Surely you can answer only yes or no
If you wish to or not

2. To you I wish to give the twelve horses [palfreys]
That go in the grove of roses
Never has there been a saddle upon them
Nor a bridle in their mouths

3. To you I wish to give the twelve mills
That are between Tillö and Ternö
The stones are made of the reddest gold
And the wheels are covered in silver

4. To you I wish to give a gilded sword
That chimes of fifteen gold rings
And fight however you fight [well or badly]
The battle site you would surely win

5. To you I wish to give a shirt so new
The best you will want to wear
It was not sewn with needle or thread
But crocheted of white silk

6. Such gifts I would surely accept
If thou wert a Christian woman
However, thou art the worst mountain troll
The spawn of the Neck and the Devil

7. The mountain troll ran out the door
She shakes and wails hard
If I had got the handsome young man
I would have got rid of my plight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herr_Mannelig

• Artist: Traditional Swedish Folksong / Medieval ballad
• Mood: Dark
• Kalimba Brand: C major, 17 tongues

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How To Read The Tabs

SOLFEGE	DO	RE	MI	FA	SO	LA	TI
Letter Notes	C	D	E	F	G	A	B
Number Notes	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

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-Notes inside a parentheses (ex: (135) ) are played together (slide/glissando)
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