ARFUR · Track 12

Rís úr moldu

Old Icelandic

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Lyrics

Draugur gengur! Draugur rís! Draugur gengur! Draugur rís! Draugur gengur! Draugur rís! Draugur gengur! Draugur rís! Ég ligg í haugnum, kaldur og þungur, Holdið mitt rotnar ekki, blóðið mitt frýs, Nóttin kallar, ég rís úr moldu, Ég geng þar sem lifendur sofa óttalausir. Ég ligg í haugnum, kaldur og þungur, Holdið mitt rotnar ekki, blóðið mitt frýs, Nóttin kallar, ég rís úr moldu, Ég geng þar sem lifendur sofa óttalausir. Þeir grófu mig djúpt, þeir héldu ég svæfi, En svefninn er ekki fyrir mig ætlaður, Ég tek styrk þeirra sem ég tók ekki í lífi, Ég verð sterkari með hverri nótt. Þeir sendu mann til að berjast við mig, Hann var sterkur, hann var hugrakkur, Ég féll að lokum, en með síðasta andanum, Ég bölvaði augum hans að eilífu. Ég ligg í haugnum, kaldur og þungur, Holdið mitt rotnar ekki, blóðið mitt frýs, Nóttin kallar, ég rís úr moldu, Ég geng þar sem lifendur sofa óttalausir. Ég ligg í haugnum, kaldur og þungur, Holdið mitt rotnar ekki, blóðið mitt frýs, Nóttin kallar, ég rís úr moldu, Ég geng þar sem lifendur sofa óttalausir. Þú sérð myrkrið núna, er það ekki? Ah-ah-ah-aaaah... Það mun aldrei fara. Ég tryggði það með bölvun minni! Ég ligg í haugnum, kaldur og þungur, Holdið mitt rotnar ekki, blóðið mitt frýs, Nóttin kallar, ég rís úr moldu, Ég geng þar sem lifendur sofa óttalausir. Ég ligg í haugnum, kaldur og þungur, Holdið mitt rotnar ekki, blóðið mitt frýs, Nóttin kallar, ég rís úr moldu, Ég geng þar sem lifendur sofa óttalausir. Ég ligg hér enn, ég ligg hér enn, Draugur gengur, draugur bíður. Ég ligg hér enn, ég ligg hér enn, Draugur gengur, draugur bíður.

The draugr walks! The draugr rises! The draugr walks! The draugr rises! The draugr walks! The draugr rises! The draugr walks! The draugr rises! I lie in the mound, cold and heavy, My flesh does not rot, my blood freezes, The night calls, I rise from the earth, I walk where the living sleep without fear. I lie in the mound, cold and heavy, My flesh does not rot, my blood freezes, The night calls, I rise from the earth, I walk where the living sleep without fear. They buried me deep, they thought I would sleep, But sleep is not what is meant for me, I take the strength I did not take in life, I grow stronger with every night. They sent a man to fight me, He was strong, he was brave, I fell at the last, but with my final breath, I cursed his eyes for ever. I lie in the mound, cold and heavy, My flesh does not rot, my blood freezes, The night calls, I rise from the earth, I walk where the living sleep without fear. I lie in the mound, cold and heavy, My flesh does not rot, my blood freezes, The night calls, I rise from the earth, I walk where the living sleep without fear. You see the darkness now, do you not? Ah-ah-ah-aaaah... It will never leave. I made certain of it with my curse! I lie in the mound, cold and heavy, My flesh does not rot, my blood freezes, The night calls, I rise from the earth, I walk where the living sleep without fear. I lie in the mound, cold and heavy, My flesh does not rot, my blood freezes, The night calls, I rise from the earth, I walk where the living sleep without fear. I lie here still, I lie here still, The draugr walks, the draugr waits. I lie here still, I lie here still, The draugr walks, the draugr waits.

Story Behind The Song

A draugr is the dead man who does not stay in his mound. The sagas treat it as a physical problem, not a haunting: the body is heavy, swollen and cold, it keeps its own flesh, and it grows stronger the longer it walks. It kills livestock and men, and the ground it walks over goes bad. The best-known case is Glámr in Grettis saga. He was a shepherd found dead at Christmas, buried where he lay because the body could not be moved to a church, and afterwards he walked. Grettir Ásmundarson came to fight him and won, but only just. As Glámr lay dying under him, the moon came out behind them, and Glámr told Grettir he would never grow stronger than he was at that moment, that his deeds would turn to ill luck, and that he would always see those eyes in the dark. Grettir became afraid of the dark from that night, and it undid him: he could not bear to be alone, and the outlawry that followed killed him. The song is the draugr's own account. It keeps the point the saga makes about this kind of death: the curse spoken at the end outlasts the fight, and the man who won it lost more than the one who died.

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