ARFUR · Track 7

Þögnin okkar

Old Icelandic

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Lyrics

Gunnar og Högni, sviknir af Atla, Gull þagað, leyndarmál grafið, Hörpuslátt með tánum í ormagröf, Þögnin okkar er sigur okkar. Gunnar og Högni, sviknir af Atla, Gull þagað, leyndarmál grafið, Hörpuslátt með tánum í ormagröf, Þögnin okkar er sigur okkar. Atli bauð okkur gull og heiður, Við vissum lygina, við komum samt, Bræður saman, síðasta ferðin, Heiður er meira en líf sjálft. Þeir skáru hjarta Högna út, Hann hló meðan hann dó, Þeir spurðu mig um gullið falið, Ég þagði, ég brosti, ég beið. Gunnar og Högni, sviknir af Atla, Gull þagað, leyndarmál grafið, Hörpuslátt með tánum í ormagröf, Þögnin okkar er sigur okkar. Gunnar og Högni, sviknir af Atla, Gull þagað, leyndarmál grafið, Hörpuslátt með tánum í ormagröf, Þögnin okkar er sigur okkar. Hendur bundnar, tær frjálsar enn, Ah-ah-ah-aaaah... Ég sló hörpuna með tánum mínum, ormarnir sofnuðu — nema einn. Gunnar og Högni, sviknir af Atla, Gull þagað, leyndarmál grafið, Hörpuslátt með tánum í ormagröf, Þögnin okkar er sigur okkar. Gunnar og Högni, sviknir af Atla, Gull þagað, leyndarmál grafið, Hörpuslátt með tánum í ormagröf, Þögnin okkar er sigur okkar. Gullið sefur í Rín að eilífu, Gullið sefur í Rín að eilífu. Gullið sefur í Rín að eilífu, Gullið sefur í Rín að eilífu.

Gunnarr and Högni, betrayed by Atli, Gold kept silent, the secret buried, Harp-playing with the toes in the snake pit, Our silence is our victory. Gunnarr and Högni, betrayed by Atli, Gold kept silent, the secret buried, Harp-playing with the toes in the snake pit, Our silence is our victory. Atli offered us gold and honour, We knew the lie, we came all the same, Brothers together, the last journey, Honour is more than life itself. They cut the heart out of Högni, He laughed while he died, They asked me about the hidden gold, I kept silent, I smiled, I waited. Gunnarr and Högni, betrayed by Atli, Gold kept silent, the secret buried, Harp-playing with the toes in the snake pit, Our silence is our victory. Gunnarr and Högni, betrayed by Atli, Gold kept silent, the secret buried, Harp-playing with the toes in the snake pit, Our silence is our victory. Hands bound, toes still free, Ah-ah-ah-aaaah... I struck the harp with my toes, the serpents fell asleep — all but one. Gunnarr and Högni, betrayed by Atli, Gold kept silent, the secret buried, Harp-playing with the toes in the snake pit, Our silence is our victory. Gunnarr and Högni, betrayed by Atli, Gold kept silent, the secret buried, Harp-playing with the toes in the snake pit, Our silence is our victory. The gold sleeps in the Rhine for ever, The gold sleeps in the Rhine for ever. The gold sleeps in the Rhine for ever, The gold sleeps in the Rhine for ever.

Story Behind The Song

Atlakviða and Völsunga saga tell the same end for the sons of Gjúki. Atli invited Gunnarr and Högni to his hall. Their sister Guðrún, married to Atli, sent a warning; they read it and went anyway. Atli wanted the gold that had come to them from Sigurðr, the hoard taken from Fáfnir. Gunnarr said he would only speak once he had seen Högni's heart. They first brought him the heart of a slave, and Gunnarr said it could not be his brother's because it trembled. Then they killed Högni, who laughed as they cut, and brought his heart, which lay still. Gunnarr said now the secret was his alone, and he would never tell it. He was thrown bound into a snake pit, where he played a harp, with his toes in Völsunga saga, until one adder reached him. The song takes the brothers' view of what they achieved. They lost their lives and kept the hoard out of Atli's hands. Where the gold went is left as the tradition leaves it, sunk in the Rhine and never recovered.

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