Krummavísa

Krummavísa (English: Raven Verse) or Krummi krunkar úti (English: A Raven Croaks Outside) is an Icelandic folk song or nursery rhyme. The song was published in 1906 in the book Íslenzk þjóðlög (Icelandic Folk Songs) by Bjarni Þorsteinsson. Bjarni learned the song from Ólafur Davíðsson, who in turn learned it as a child in Sléttuhlíð.

As with all traditional Icelandic poetry, Krummavísa conforms to the set of rules called bragfræði (prosody). According to this system, a poem must be alliterative: a line of verse must have two words beginning with the same letter, and the first word of the next line must also begin with the same letter. Here, for example, the first line has two words beginning with a K (krummi and krunkar) and the first word of the second line also begins with a K (kallar).