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ARFUR · Track 2

Ódauðleiki

Old Icelandic

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Lyrics

Rúnir risu á brjósti mínu, Áður en ég sagði fyrsta orð, Óðinn kallaði mig skáld, Fyrir en ég kunni að ganga. Ég sit í Valhöll við hlið hans, Ég tek á móti föllnum hetjum, Þeirra nöfn deyja aldrei, Því ég syng þau að eilífu. Orð eru sverð, ljóð eru skildir, Bragi syngur, nafnið lifir. Bragi kveður, hetjan lifir, Bragi syngur, dauðinn tapar, Orð mín rista dýpra en stál, Ódauðleiki er ljóð mitt gefið. Bragi kveður, hetjan lifir, Bragi syngur, dauðinn tapar, Orð mín rista dýpra en stál, Ódauðleiki er ljóð mitt gefið. Iðunn er kona mín, epli hennar, Halda æsku guðanna eilíft, En orð mín halda hetjum lifandi, Löngu eftir að bein þeirra fúna. Orð eru sverð, ljóð eru skildir, Bragi syngur, nafnið lifir. Bragi kveður, hetjan lifir, Bragi syngur, dauðinn tapar, Orð mín rista dýpra en stál, Ódauðleiki er ljóð mitt gefið. Bragi kveður, hetjan lifir, Bragi syngur, dauðinn tapar, Orð mín rista dýpra en stál, Ódauðleiki er ljóð mitt gefið. Sverð þitt ryðgar, skjöldur þinn brotnar, Ah-ah-ah-aaaah... En nafn þitt í ljóði mínu — ryðgar aldrei, brotnar aldrei! Bragi kveður, hetjan lifir, Bragi syngur, dauðinn tapar, Orð mín rista dýpra en stál, Ódauðleiki er ljóð mitt gefið. Bragi kveður, hetjan lifir, Bragi syngur, dauðinn tapar, Orð mín rista dýpra en stál, Ódauðleiki er ljóð mitt gefið. Nafnið lifir, nafnið lifir, Í ljóði mínu, í ljóði mínu. Nafnið lifir, nafnið lifir, Í ljóði mínu, í ljóði mínu.

Runes rose upon my breast, Before I spoke my first word, Odin called me a skald, Before I could walk. I sit in Valhöll at his side, I receive the fallen heroes, Their names never die, For I sing them for ever. Words are swords, poems are shields, Bragi sings, the name lives on. Bragi recites, the hero lives, Bragi sings, death is the loser, My words cut deeper than steel, Immortality is my poem given. Bragi recites, the hero lives, Bragi sings, death is the loser, My words cut deeper than steel, Immortality is my poem given. Iðunn is my wife, her apples, Keep the gods young for ever, But my words keep heroes alive, Long after their bones have rotted. Words are swords, poems are shields, Bragi sings, the name lives on. Bragi recites, the hero lives, Bragi sings, death is the loser, My words cut deeper than steel, Immortality is my poem given. Bragi recites, the hero lives, Bragi sings, death is the loser, My words cut deeper than steel, Immortality is my poem given. Your sword rusts, your shield breaks, Ah-ah-ah-aaaah... But your name in my poem — never rusts, never breaks! Bragi recites, the hero lives, Bragi sings, death is the loser, My words cut deeper than steel, Immortality is my poem given. Bragi recites, the hero lives, Bragi sings, death is the loser, My words cut deeper than steel, Immortality is my poem given. The name lives on, the name lives on, In my poem, in my poem. The name lives on, the name lives on, In my poem, in my poem.

Story Behind The Song

Bragi is the god of poetry. Snorri names him in Gylfaginning as foremost in skaldskapr, the craft of verse, and says he is wise in words above all others. His wife is Iðunn, who keeps the apples that hold the gods' youth. Two details in the song come straight from the sources. Runes carved on Bragi's tongue appear in Sigrdrífumál, in the list of places where runes are cut. Bragi welcoming the dead into Valhöll comes from Eiríksmál, where Odin sends him to greet the arriving king. The song puts those two together: the god whose art is language is also the one who receives the fallen and speaks their names. The claim it builds on them is Bragi's own, and it belongs to the album's theme. Iðunn's apples keep the gods young, but they do nothing for a dead warrior. A name survives only if someone recites it. What the poet leaves behind outlasts what the smith does, because steel rusts and verse is repeated.