Kvæði

The subject matter of Faroese ballads varies widely, including heroic narratives set in the distant past, contemporary politics, and comic tales.

The Danish historians Svend Grundtvig and Jørgen Bloch began the process of a complete, standard edition of the ballads, which eventually gave rise to the Føroya kvæði/Corpus Carminum Færoensium, published between 1941 and 2003.

In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, the period for which scholars have information about how kvæði were performed: 'the family-oriented kvøldseta, in which aurally memorized texts of family ballads were sung to pass the time, and the village dance, in which the memorized texts of the kvøldseta were performed by ballad owners who might add or delete stanzas in order to suit the mood of the dancers'.

[3] Ballads took an important role in the development of Faroese national consciousness and the promotion of literacy in Faroes in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

More well known examples include Ormurin langi written by Jens Christian Djurhuus, telling the story of the Battle of Svolder, and Ragnars kvæði, both of which having modern renditions by the Faroese folk metal band Týr.

Hoyr tú, jomfrú Maria, I er et liljekvist, I skal føde det velsignede barn, lovet være du, Jesus Krist."

Tað var jomfrú Maria, hon svarar eitt orð dertil: "Jeg er Herrens tjenerinde, mig ske, som Jesus vil."

Jólanátt tey sótu, føddur var Harrin so rein, tá stóð alt í stilli, bæði sól og máni skein.