20120306 Olaf Lillacrose Chris Boylan & Joseph arr E Thorlaksson.m2ts

Nice playing. Olaf Lillacrose is an Icelandic traditional song that tells a story and is usually sung in the way that a lead singer sings the story lines but the alternate lines or chorus are sung by the audience or the listeners. This singing style is in fact a tradition of the Faroese islands and used in this Icelandic song.

The song tells the story of Olaf Liljurós (Lilly rose) who is riding under some cliffs where he meets four fair and heathen elf maiden. The elf maidens tries to get him to move in with them but Olaf refuses because he prefers to believe in his Christ. One of the maidens asks him them to kiss her and when he does she stabs him with a knife. Olaf is able to get home on his horse where he meets his mother and in her arms he dies.

Each verse has 6 lines. The lead sings line 1, the chorus responds with line 2. The lead then sings line 3 and the chorus sings the rest of the verse. The chorus lyrics are the same in all verses.

Hey! I would like to have responded sooner. Thank you for your comments it is exactly what I was hoping would occur. I love to sing and maybe someone else will post that sort of version. I suppose you've given me enough of the story and form to create my own version. Would you be willing to try and translate the chorus for me? jfm