"Elveskud" or "Elverskud" (; Danish for "Elf-shot") is the Danish, and most widely used, name for one of the most popular ballads in Scandinavia (The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad A 63 'Elveskud — Elf maid causes man's sickness and death'; Danmarks gamle Folkeviser 47; Sveriges Medeltida Ballader 29; NMB 36; CCF 154; IFkv 1). Origins and distribution The origins of the ballad are agreed to be considerably earlier than the earliest manuscripts, in the Middle Ages, but there is little consensus beyond this. Many scholars suggest a Breton or French origin but the routes by which it came to and was disseminated within Northern Europe are unknown. The ballad has close parallels across Europe (the closest English-language parallel being "Clerk Colvill"). The earliest surviving manuscript is Karen Brahes Folio, a Danish manuscript from the 1570s; the earliest surviving Swedish version is from the 1670s. At least seventy Scandinavian variants are known; over forty come from Denmark, and seventeen from Sweden. It is also widely known as: "Herr Olof och Älvorna" ("Sir Olof and the Elves", Swedish). "Elf-Qvinnan och Herr Olof" ("The Elf-Woman and Sir Olof", Swedish). "Kvæði af Ólafi liljurós" ("Song of Ólafur lily-rose", Icelandic). "Olaf liljekrans" ("Olaf lily-wreath", Norwegian). "Ólavur riddarrós og álvarmoy" ("Ólavur knight-rose and the elf-maiden", Faroese). Summary In the summary of The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad, Olav rides out at dawn and comes upon elves dancing in the woods. One of the elf maids invites him to dance with her, but he refuses and tells her that he is to be married the next day. She puts a fatal sickness on him. When he comes home he is dying. He expresses his last wishes. Not all versions precisely fit this summary. For example, in many Danish versions, Olav does dance with the elves, sometimes to death; in some versions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden Olav's death is at first concealed from his bride, but eventually she finds out; in the Icelandic versions, the bride is not mentioned at all, and Olav's refusal to dance arises from his Christian faith. In one Faroese variant, Olav is implied to have been romantically involved with the elf-woman for some time; it also begins with his mother predicting his death. Vésteinn Ólason's summary of the Icelandic variants of the ballad, generally known as "Kvæði af Ólafi liljurós", is Ólafur rides along a rocky hillside, meets four