Keltų literatūrinės tradicijos atspindžiai Šetlando „Baladėje apie Hildiną"
Reflections of Celtic Literary Tradition in Shetlandic "Hildinavisen "

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses Celtic elements in the only surviving ballad in Norn language Hildinavisen, which seems to have been created in continually changing linguistic, social and cultural conditions. The marine societies of Shetland and Orkney Islands generated various stories, where motifs and elements traveled presumably in boats from various directions. Hildinavisen is certainly of West Scandinavian origin, but it contains or rather is adorned with Celtic motifs. The analysis of the text of Hildinavisen seems to indicate that in the level of the story Hildinavisen borrows substantially from the Celtic narrative tradition. Various motifs are externally imposed and later on adapted in Scandinavian material. Especially prominent is the appeal of 'King and goddess theme'. But if there are some cases of borrowing, it is by no means direct, because Celtic motifs and elements are adapted, transformed and melted in the text of the Scandinavian ballad. The presence of some Celtic motifs, such as 'Throwing of the head', which is quite a favourite device in the Irish sagas, 'King and goddess theme' have wide ramifications in Celtic literature and were probably particularly prominent in orai tradition. It is impossible to claim that Hildinavisen borrowed directly from any known extant text, but it might have been influenced by some oral version of the story known in the Shetland Islands.

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