Sveriges medeltida ballader

Sveriges medeltida ballader (Swedish Medieval Ballads), which was published by Svenskt visarkiv from 1983–2001, is the Swedish equivalent to publications such as, Danmarks gamle Folkeviser, Deutsche Volkslieder, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, as well as others.

Ballads are narrative songs with origins in medieval upper-class culture. They are known through hand-written manuscripts and, were later, during the 1500s, spread by means of chapbooks, documented in records from the 1800s, and then in recordings of tradition bearers from the end of the 1900s. But, virtually all possible population groups have taken part in the passing on of the ballads: peasant wives and baronesses from Västergötland, blacksmiths from Bohuslän, paupers from Östergötland, farm labourers from Sörmland, school teachers from Gotland, housemaids from Skåne, and fisher women from Åboland in Swedish-speaking Finland.

The publication of Sveriges medeltida ballader offered, for the first time, a compilation of the entirety of this rich literary and musical heritage.

Sveriges medeltida ballader is a scholarly edition, but the five volumes with thousands of text and melodic variations, are also a gold mine for singers, musicians, and poets.

The Chief Editor of Sveriges medeltida ballader was Professor Bengt R. Jonsson. The texts were edited by Associate Professor Sven-Bertil Jansson, and the melodies by Associate Professor Margareta Jersild.

Contents of the Volumes

Volume 1 – Ballads of the Supernatural
Volume 2 – Legendary and Historical Ballads
Volume 3 – Ballads of Chivalry I
Volume 4.1 – Ballads of Chivalry II
Volume 4.2 – Ballads of Chivalry II
Volume 5.1 – Heroic and Jocular Ballads I
Volume 5.2 – Jocular Ballads II

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