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Lyrics
Faðir er dauður Ella drap hann Heyrið synir Ragnars Sendiboðinn kom að kveldi orðin brunnu í munni hans Ragnarr liggr í gryfju orma Ella konungr hlær í Jórvík Björn kreisti spjótið þar til hnúarnir hvítnuðu Hvítserkr þagnaði Sigurðr grét blóði En Ívarr Ívarr spurði aðeins hvernig dó hann Vér erum synir Ragnars blóð hans brennur í oss Ella mun gjalda Englaland mun gjalda Faðir vor hlæjandi dó vér munum hlæjandi hefna Synir Ragnars koma heimurinn skelfur Vér erum synir Ragnars blóð hans brennur í oss Ella mun gjalda Englaland mun gjalda Faðir vor hlæjandi dó vér munum hlæjandi hefna Synir Ragnars koma heimurinn skelfur Grísirnir grenja nú gamli gölturinn er fallinn Ella heyrði orðin en skildi þau ekki Þúsund skip vér söfnum mikill her heiðinna manna Faðir sagði fyrir vér gjörum það satt En Ívarr Ívarr spurði aðeins hvernig dó hann Vér erum synir Ragnars blóð hans brennur í oss Ella mun gjalda Englaland mun gjalda Faðir vor hlæjandi dó vér munum hlæjandi hefna Synir Ragnars koma heimurinn skelfur Vér erum synir Ragnars blóð hans brennur í oss Ella mun gjalda Englaland mun gjalda Faðir vor hlæjandi dó vér munum hlæjandi hefna Synir Ragnars koma heimurinn skelfur Björn sór við sverð sitt Hvítserkr sór við eld Sigurðr sór við auga sitt Ívarr sór ekkert hann brosti aðeins og það var verst af öllu Synir Ragnars Vér komum
Father is dead Aella killed him Hear, sons of Ragnar The messenger came at evening the words burned in his mouth Ragnar lies in the serpent pit King Aella laughs in Jorvik Bjorn squeezed the spear until his knuckles whitened Hvitsterkr went silent Sigurdr wept blood But Ivarr Ivarr only asked how did he die We are the sons of Ragnar his blood burns in us Aella will pay England will pay Our father died laughing we will avenge laughing Sons of Ragnar are coming the world trembles We are the sons of Ragnar his blood burns in us Aella will pay England will pay Our father died laughing we will avenge laughing Sons of Ragnar are coming the world trembles The piglets squeal now the old boar has fallen Aella heard the words but did not understand them A thousand ships we gather a great heathen army Father foretold it we make it true But Ivarr Ivarr only asked how did he die We are the sons of Ragnar his blood burns in us Aella will pay England will pay Our father died laughing we will avenge laughing Sons of Ragnar are coming the world trembles We are the sons of Ragnar his blood burns in us Aella will pay England will pay Our father died laughing we will avenge laughing Sons of Ragnar are coming the world trembles Bjorn swore by his sword Hvitsterkr swore by fire Sigurdr swore by his eye Ivarr swore nothing he only smiled and that was worst of all Sons of Ragnar We come
Story Behind The Song
The sagas say Ragnar Lothbrok was captured by Aella, king of Northumbria, and thrown into a pit of serpents. He died singing. Before the end, he said something that has been repeated ever since: the piglets would squeal if they knew how the old boar suffered. The piglets were his sons. Aella heard the words but, according to the sagas, did not understand what they meant. The song opens at the moment the sons receive the news. Their reactions follow the logic of their characters. Bjorn grips a spear until his knuckles go white. Hvitsterkr says nothing. Sigurdr weeps blood, a detail the saga gives to a man who was playing chess when the messenger arrived and gripped the piece until it cut his hand. Ivarr asks nothing about revenge. He asks only how their father died. The sagas understand this as the coldest possible response: Ivarr is already past grief and already calculating. The oaths that follow work the same way. Bjorn swears by his sword, a warrior's plain pledge. Hvitsterkr swears by fire. Sigurdr swears by his eye, which carries a separate weight: his epithet, Snake-in-the-Eye, refers to a mark in his iris said to come through his mother Aslaug from the line of Sigurdr Fafnisbani and Brynhildr. Ivarr swears nothing. He only smiles. The song ends there, on that silence, which it correctly identifies as the most frightening thing in the room. -
Lyrics
Beinlauss Beinlauss Ívarr hinn beinlausi Ekki gat ek staðið einginn bein í líkama mínum Aðeins brjósk þar sem bein skyldu en engin maðr var spekari Á skildi báru þeir mig inn í bardagann Þeir létu mig líkamsins ek tók þeim hugann Þeir hlógu að mér þegar ek var ungur Þeir grét fyrir mér þegar ek var gamall Beinlauss en ósigraður á skildi inn í bardagann Enginn konungr hugsar sem ek enginn sigrar sem ek Ella féll Jórvík féll Englaland féll Beinlauss sigraði Beinlauss en ósigraður á skildi inn í bardagann Enginn konungr hugsar sem ek enginn sigrar sem ek Ella féll Jórvík féll Englaland féll Beinlauss sigraði Áslaugar blót varnaði faðir hlýddi ekki Þrjár nætur beið hún hann kom til hennar of fljótt Ek fæddist brotinn en hugurinn heill Á baki skjaldar ek reið til sigurs í hvert sinn Þeir hlógu að mér þegar ek var ungur Þeir grét fyrir mér þegar ek var gamall Beinlauss en ósigraður á skildi inn í bardagann Enginn konungr hugsar sem ek enginn sigrar sem ek Ella féll Jórvík féll Englaland féll Beinlauss sigraði Beinlauss en ósigraður á skildi inn í bardagann Enginn konungr hugsar sem ek enginn sigrar sem ek Ella féll Jórvík féll Englaland féll Beinlauss sigraði Ragnarr Faðir minn Ek heyrði þig í ormgryfju Ella Ek svaraði Beinlauss Ósigraður
Boneless Boneless Ivarr the Boneless I could not stand no bones in my body only cartilage where bones should be but no man was wiser On a shield they carried me into battle they gave me the body I took their mind They laughed at me when I was young They wept for me when I was old Boneless but unconquered on a shield into battle no king thinks like me no one conquers like me Aella fell Jorvik fell England fell Beinlauss prevailed Boneless but unconquered on a shield into battle no king thinks like me no one conquers like me Aella fell Jorvik fell England fell Beinlauss prevailed Aslaug's warning failed father did not listen she waited three nights he came to her too soon I was born broken but the mind whole On the back of a shield I rode to victory each time They laughed at me when I was young They wept for me when I was old Boneless but unconquered on a shield into battle no king thinks like me no one conquers like me Aella fell Jorvik fell England fell Beinlauss prevailed Boneless but unconquered on a shield into battle no king thinks like me no one conquers like me Aella fell Jorvik fell England fell Beinlauss prevailed Ragnar my father I heard you in Aella's serpent pit I answered Boneless Unconquered
Story Behind The Song
Ivarr the Boneless is one of the most prominent figures of the Viking Age and the most consistently described as its most dangerous mind. His epithet, Beinlauss, has never been satisfactorily explained. The sagas describe him as unable to walk, with bones that were like cartilage. He was carried into battle on a shield, and the sources treat this not as a weakness but as a fact about a man who compensated for it so thoroughly that it became irrelevant. The saga explains his condition through a prophecy. Before Ragnar lay with Aslaug, she told him to wait three nights or their child would be born with a flaw. Ragnar did not wait. Ivarr was the result: born broken, as the song puts it, but with the mind whole. He commanded the Great Heathen Army's campaigns through Northumbria and East Anglia. He captured Aella of Northumbria, the king who had thrown Ragnar into the serpent pit. In the track Blodorn, the album closes with what followed. Here, near the beginning, the song sets up a simpler accounting: Ragnar died in the pit, and Ivarr heard him, and Ivarr answered. The last line of the song is the last word on the matter. -
Lyrics
Hann sigldi þangað sem enginn Norðmaðr hafði farið Faðir minn var konungr hans nafn fyllti heiminn Ek stóð í skugga hans og leitaði míns eigin Ragnarr sigldi til Enska ek snéri mér í aðra átt Þeir munu þekkja Björn þegar ek kem aftur Ek er ekki skuggi hans ek er eldurinn sem hann kveikti Járnsíða nafn mitt Sverð bítur mig ekki eldr brennir mig ekki Björn Járnsíða siglir þangað sem enginn þorði Spánn féll Frakkland féll Ítalía féll Járnsíða sigraði Sverð bítur mig ekki eldr brennir mig ekki Björn Járnsíða siglir þangað sem enginn þorði Spánn féll Frakkland féll Ítalía féll Járnsíða sigraði Þeir sáu mig falla í bardaga þeir sáu mig rísa aftur Blóð rann um brynjuna en ek hlóð og gekk fram Áslaugar galdur hlífði mér eða hjarta mitt var sterkara Norðmenn kölluðu mig Járnsíða Saxar kölluðu mig dauða Ek er ekki skuggi hans ek er eldurinn sem hann kveikti Járnsíða nafn mitt Sverð bítur mig ekki eldr brennir mig ekki Björn Járnsíða siglir þangað sem enginn þorði Spánn féll Frakkland féll Ítalía féll Járnsíða sigraði Sverð bítur mig ekki eldr brennir mig ekki Björn Járnsíða siglir þangað sem enginn þorði Spánn féll Frakkland féll Ítalía féll Járnsíða sigraði Miðjarðarhaf Við sáum lönd sem engin kort sýna Spánn Frakkland Ítalía Luna Við héldum að hún væri Róm við tókum hana engu að síður Hann sigldi þangað sem enginn Norðmaðr hafði farið Björn Járnsíða
He sailed there where no Norseman had gone My father was a king his name filled the world I stood in his shadow and sought my own Ragnar sailed to England I turned another way They will know Björn when I return I am not his shadow I am the fire he lit Ironside my name Sword does not bite me fire does not burn me Björn Ironside sails where none dared go Spain fell France fell Italy fell Ironside prevailed Sword does not bite me fire does not burn me Björn Ironside sails where none dared go Spain fell France fell Italy fell Ironside prevailed They saw me fall in battle they saw me rise again Blood ran across my byrnie but I laughed and went forward Áslaug's spell shielded me or my heart was stronger The Norsemen called me Ironside the Saxons called me death I am not his shadow I am the fire he lit Ironside my name Sword does not bite me fire does not burn me Björn Ironside sails where none dared go Spain fell France fell Italy fell Ironside prevailed Sword does not bite me fire does not burn me Björn Ironside sails where none dared go Spain fell France fell Italy fell Ironside prevailed The Mediterranean We saw lands no maps show Spain France Italy Luna We thought it was Rome we took it all the same He sailed there where no Norseman had gone Björn Ironside
Story Behind The Song
Björn Ironside was the son of Ragnar Loðbrók and Áslaug. While his father became infamous for his raids on England and his final campaign in Northumbria, Björn pushed in a different direction. In 859, Björn and the chieftain Hastein led a fleet south into the Mediterranean. They raided along the Iberian coast, wintered in Morocco, then pushed east. They sacked Roussillon, raided parts of coastal France and Italy, and reached Luna on the Tuscan coast. The sagas record that they believed Luna was Rome and attacked it regardless. They returned north in 862 with plunder and prisoners. His nickname Járnsíða appears in the sagas and is connected to his apparent resilience in battle. Whether it referred to his mail coat, his ability to survive wounds that killed other men, or simply a legend that formed around him, the sources disagree. The song raises the same question without resolving it: Áslaug's protective magic, or something in him that was harder to explain. The song is told in his voice and turns on a single problem: being the son of Ragnar Loðbrók. He does not deny his father's greatness. He sails the other way. -
Lyrics
Ek er Gunnhildr konungamóðir Ek gaf honum sigur Ek lærði seiðinn í Finnmörk tveir finnar kenndu mér Eiríkr drap þá báða til að fá mig Þannig hófst við hann af öllum mönnum skildi að ást og sársauki eru það sama Þeir segjast að ek hafi haft hann í galdri þeir skilja ekki maðr sem Eiríkr þarf engan galdur Ek gaf honum þrónina hann gaf mér nafn Gunnhildr konungamóðir móðir konunga Bræðurnir féllu Norðmenn flúðu Jórvík féll tvisvar ek skrif Eiríksmál Ek gaf honum þrónina hann gaf mér nafn Gunnhildr konungamóðir móðir konunga Bræðurnir féllu Norðmenn flúðu Jórvík féll tvisvar ek skrif Eiríksmál Halfdan Svarti dó dularfull þeir grunaðu mig Galdurinn er kyrrlátur lítur aldrei eins og morð Eiríkr hlýddi mér alltaf nema einu sinni Við Stainmoor þar sem hann hlýddi ekki Þeir segjast að ek hafi haft hann í galdri þeir skilja ekki maðr sem Eiríkr þarf engan galdur Ek gaf honum þrónina hann gaf mér nafn Gunnhildr konungamóðir móðir konunga Bræðurnir féllu Norðmenn flúðu Jórvík féll tvisvar ek skrif Eiríksmál Ek gaf honum þrónina hann gaf mér nafn Gunnhildr konungamóðir móðir konunga Bræðurnir féllu Norðmenn flúðu Jórvík féll tvisvar ek skrif Eiríksmál Eiríkr Ek skrifaði kvæðið fyrir þig Eiríksmál Þeir muna þig vegna mín Konungamóðir Konungamóðir
I am Gunnhildr mother of kings I gave him victory I learned seiðr in Finnmörk two Sami men taught me Eiríkr killed them both to have me That is how we began he of all men understood that love and pain are the same They say I held him in sorcery they do not understand a man like Eiríkr needs no spell I gave him the throne he gave me the name Gunnhildr mother of kings mother of kings The brothers fell the Norse fled Jorvik fell twice I wrote the Eiríksmál I gave him the throne he gave me the name Gunnhildr mother of kings mother of kings The brothers fell the Norse fled Jorvik fell twice I wrote the Eiríksmál Halfdan the Black died mysteriously they suspected me Magic is quiet it never looks like murder Eiríkr always listened to me except once At Stainmore where he did not listen They say I held him in sorcery they do not understand a man like Eiríkr needs no spell I gave him the throne he gave me the name Gunnhildr mother of kings mother of kings The brothers fell the Norse fled Jorvik fell twice I wrote the Eiríksmál I gave him the throne he gave me the name Gunnhildr mother of kings mother of kings The brothers fell the Norse fled Jorvik fell twice I wrote the Eiríksmál Eiríkr I wrote the poem for you Eiríksmál They will remember you because of me Mother of kings Mother of kings
Story Behind The Song
Gunnhildr konungamóðir was the wife of Eiríkr Bloodaxe, king of Norway and later of Northumbria, and after his death she steered the political careers of her sons for decades. She is one of the most prominent women in the sagas, though nearly everything written about her comes from sources that feared her reputation. The sagas say she traveled to Finnmörk as a young woman to learn seiðr from two Sami practitioners. Eiríkr, son of Harald Fairhair, was sent to find her. He killed her teachers and took her with him. They married, and Eiríkr, with her at his side, eliminated most of his brothers to secure the Norwegian throne. Several of those deaths were laid at Gunnhildr's door. Halfdan Svarti, one of Eiríkr's brothers, died under circumstances the sources call mysterious, and she was suspected. When Eiríkr was driven out of Norway, he seized York in Northumbria. He lost it and recovered it, then lost it again. In 954 he was killed at Stainmore, ambushed while retreating north. Gunnhildr had advised against the campaign that led him there, and the song marks this as the single moment he did not listen. She commissioned the Eiríksmál, a poem written immediately after his death that portrays Eiríkr arriving in Valhöll to the welcome of Odin himself. The poem survived because she made sure it would. The last lines of the song are hers: he is remembered because of her, not the other way around. -
Lyrics
Sjö ára gamall, Orti ég fyrstu vísu mína, Sjö ára gamall, Drap ég fyrsta manninn minn. Egill skrifar, Egill berst, Orðin hans eru eins og sverð, Egill syngur, Egill drepur, Skáldið sem guðin óttust. Egill skrifar, Egill berst, Orðin hans eru eins og sverð, Egill syngur, Egill drepur, Skáldið sem guðin óttust. Óðinn gaf mér orðin, Ég gaf honum blóðið, Við áttum samning, Skáld og guð í stríði. Hann missti son sinn, Hann missti vin sinn, Hann sat í myrkri, Og orti um dauðann. Egill skrifar, Egill berst, Orðin hans eru eins og sverð, Egill syngur, Egill drepur, Skáldið sem guðin óttust. Egill skrifar, Egill berst, Orðin hans eru eins og sverð, Egill syngur, Egill drepur, Skáldið sem guðin óttust. Sonartorrek hét kvæðið, Um tap og reiði og sorg, Hann vildi drepa Óðin, En orti um hann í staðinn. Sonartorrek hét kvæðið, Um tap og reiði og sorg, Hann vildi drepa Óðin, En orti um hann í staðinn. Egill skrifar, Egill berst, Orðin hans eru eins og sverð, Egill syngur, Egill drepur, Skáldið sem guðin óttust. Egill skrifar, Egill berst, Orðin hans eru eins og sverð, Egill syngur, Egill drepur, Skáldið sem guðin óttust. Orðin lifa, orðin lifa, Egill er enn hér, Egill er enn hér. Orðin lifa, orðin lifa, Egill er enn hér, Egill er enn hér.
Seven years old, I composed my first verse, Seven years old, I killed my first man. Egill writes, Egill fights, his words are like swords, Egill sings, Egill kills, the skald the gods feared. Egill writes, Egill fights, his words are like swords, Egill sings, Egill kills, the skald the gods feared. Odin gave me the words, I gave him the blood, we had a contract, skald and god at war. He lost his son, he lost his friend, he sat in darkness and composed about death. Egill writes, Egill fights, his words are like swords, Egill sings, Egill kills, the skald the gods feared. Egill writes, Egill fights, his words are like swords, Egill sings, Egill kills, the skald the gods feared. Sonatorrek was the poem's name, about loss and anger and grief, he wanted to kill Odin but composed about him instead. Sonatorrek was the poem's name, about loss and anger and grief, he wanted to kill Odin but composed about him instead. Egill writes, Egill fights, his words are like swords, Egill sings, Egill kills, the skald the gods feared. Egill writes, Egill fights, his words are like swords, Egill sings, Egill kills, the skald the gods feared. The words live, the words live, Egill is still here, Egill is still here. The words live, the words live, Egill is still here, Egill is still here.
Story Behind The Song
Egill Skallagrímsson is one of the most vivid figures in Icelandic saga literature. He was a skald, a warrior, and a man with a complicated relationship with Odin. The sagas say he composed his first verse at seven and killed his first man around the same age. Egils saga follows his life across Iceland, Norway, and England. He fought for and against Norwegian kings, was captured by Eiríkr Bloodaxe in York and saved himself by composing a praise poem overnight. That poem, Höfuðlausn (Head-Ransom), bought him his life. His most famous poem, Sonatorrek, came later, after the deaths of two of his sons. One drowned in a shipwreck. Egill refused to eat and prepared to starve himself to death, until his daughter persuaded him to compose instead. The poem he wrote is unusual because it turns on Odin directly. Egill accuses the god of breaking the covenant between them, weighs killing him, and cannot. He composes instead, and in doing so restores some kind of balance with a god he neither trusts nor can leave behind. Sonatorrek is one of the oldest and most personal surviving pieces of Old Norse poetry. The line in the song, "he wanted to kill Odin but composed about him instead," is drawn from the internal logic of the poem. -
Lyrics
Heyrirðu atgeirinn syngur einhver deyr í nótt Ek hékk á veggnum í höll Gunnars Smíðaður fyrir blóð syngjandi fyrir dauða Þegar söngur minn hljómar veit Gunnar hvað kemur einhver fellur á morgun söngurinn lýgur aldrei Hlustaðu hljóðið í járninu spádómur í málmi Atgeirinn syngur dauðinn nálgast atgeirinn syngur blóð á morgun Otkell féll fyrir mér Þorgeirr féll fyrir mér þrjátíu menn féllu og ek söng fyrir hvern Atgeirinn syngur dauðinn nálgast atgeirinn syngur blóð á morgun Otkell féll fyrir mér Þorgeirr féll fyrir mér þrjátíu menn féllu og ek söng fyrir hvern Síðasta nóttin kom ek söng hærra en nokkru sinni Gunnar vaknaði og þekkti sönginn Í þetta sinn söng ek ekki fyrir óvini hans í þetta sinn söng ek fyrir hann Hlustaðu hljóðið í járninu spádómur í málmi Atgeirinn syngur dauðinn nálgast atgeirinn syngur blóð á morgun Otkell féll fyrir mér Þorgeirr féll fyrir mér þrjátíu menn féllu og ek söng fyrir hvern Atgeirinn syngur dauðinn nálgast atgeirinn syngur blóð á morgun Otkell féll fyrir mér Þorgeirr féll fyrir mér þrjátíu menn féllu og ek söng fyrir hvern Hann féll með mig í hendi tveir féllu með honum Síðan hékk ek á vegg hjá Högna syni hans og eina nótt söng ek aftur Atgeirinn syngur hlustaðu
Do you hear the halberd singing someone dies tonight I hung on the wall in Gunnar's hall Forged for blood singing for death When my song sounds Gunnar knows what comes someone falls tomorrow the song never lies Listen the sound in the iron prophecy in metal The halberd sings death is near the halberd sings blood tomorrow Otkell fell for me Þorgeirr fell for me thirty men fell and I sang for each The halberd sings death is near the halberd sings blood tomorrow Otkell fell for me Þorgeirr fell for me thirty men fell and I sang for each The last night came I sang louder than ever before Gunnar woke and recognized the song This time I did not sing for his enemies this time I sang for him Listen the sound in the iron prophecy in metal The halberd sings death is near the halberd sings blood tomorrow Otkell fell for me Þorgeirr fell for me thirty men fell and I sang for each The halberd sings death is near the halberd sings blood tomorrow Otkell fell for me Þorgeirr fell for me thirty men fell and I sang for each He fell with me in his hand two fell with him Then I hung on a wall by his son Högni and one night I sang again The halberd sings listen
Story Behind The Song
Gunnar Hámundarson is one of the central figures of Njáls saga, often considered the greatest of the Icelandic family sagas. His halberd, the atgeirr, is described as having one property that set it apart from other weapons: it sang when blood was about to be spilled. Not metaphorically. The saga says it rang, and that Gunnar and those around him understood what the sound meant. Gunnar used it to kill many men in the feuds that consumed his life, including Otkell and Þorgeirr at the battle at Rangá. He was not a man who sought trouble, but trouble found him through bad luck, bad neighbors, and the obligations of honor. The end came after his outlawry. He had been declared an outlaw and ordered to leave Iceland. As he rode away, his horse stumbled. He looked back at his farm at Hlíðarendi and said he found it so beautiful he could not go. His enemies came for him when he stayed. His bowstring broke during the fight and he asked his wife Hallgerðr for a strand of her hair to restring it. She refused, citing an old slap he had given her years earlier. He said it mattered little what she chose, and fought until he was overwhelmed. The halberd passed to his son Högni, and the saga records that it sang again before the slaying of Gunnar's killers. The song is told from the halberd's perspective. It knows before Gunnar does. The last night, it sang for him. -
Lyrics
Grænland tvö skip sigldu til Vínlands eitt kom aftur Helgi og Finnbogi bræður frá Íslandi Við sömdum um jafnt ek braut samninginn fyrst Ek faldi fleiri menn í mínu skipi Áætlunin var gerð áður en seglin lyftust Ek reif minn eigin serk og sagði manni mínum þeir snertu mig hefndu eða ek skil við þig Karlarnir féllu bundnir einn eftir annan En konurnar fimm enginn vildi snerta þær Svo ek tók öxina og gerði það sjálf Spyrjið ekki um Vínland Vínland svarar ekki Karlarnir féllu bundnir einn eftir annan En konurnar fimm enginn vildi snerta þær Svo ek tók öxina og gerði það sjálf Spyrjið ekki um Vínland Vínland svarar ekki Ek hótaði þeim öllum dauða ef orð slyppi En orð eru eins og vatn þau finna alltaf leið Leifr bróðir minn heyrði og horfði á mig lengi Hann drap mig ekki hann gerði verra Ek reif minn eigin serk og sagði manni mínum þeir snertu mig hefndu eða ek skil við þig Karlarnir féllu bundnir einn eftir annan En konurnar fimm enginn vildi snerta þær Svo ek tók öxina og gerði það sjálf Spyrjið ekki um Vínland Vínland svarar ekki Karlarnir féllu bundnir einn eftir annan En konurnar fimm enginn vildi snerta þær Svo ek tók öxina og gerði það sjálf Spyrjið ekki um Vínland Vínland svarar ekki Leifr mælti ek refsa þér ekki systir en afkomendur þínir munu bera bölvunina Og salurinn þagnaði og þögnin fylgdi mér til dauðadags Freydís öxin í myrkri bölvuð
Greenland two ships sailed to Vinland one came back Helgi and Finnbogi brothers from Iceland We agreed to equal terms I broke the agreement first I hid more men in my ship The plan was made before the sails were raised I tore my own shirt and told my husband they touched me avenge me or I'll leave you The men fell bound one by one But the five women no one wanted to touch them So I took the axe and did it myself Don't ask about Vinland Vinland doesn't answer The men fell bound one by one But the five women no one wanted to touch them So I took the axe and did it myself Don't ask about Vinland Vinland doesn't answer I threatened them all with death if word got out But words are like water they always find a way Leifr my brother heard and looked at me for a long time He did not kill me he did something worse I tore my own shirt and told my husband they touched me avenge me or I'll leave you The men fell bound one by one But the five women no one wanted to touch them So I took the axe and did it myself Don't ask about Vinland Vinland doesn't answer The men fell bound one by one But the five women no one wanted to touch them So I took the axe and did it myself Don't ask about Vinland Vinland doesn't answer Leifr spoke I will not punish you, sister but your descendants will carry the curse And the hall went quiet and that silence followed me to my dying day Freydís the axe in the dark cursed
Story Behind The Song
Freydís Eiríksdóttir, daughter of Eiríkr the Red, is one of the most disturbing figures in the Vinland sagas. She appears in both Eiríks saga rauða and Grœnlendinga saga, and the accounts differ in detail but agree on the broad shape of what she did. She organized a joint expedition to Vinland with Helgi and Finnbogi, two Icelandic brothers. The agreement was to share resources equally, but Freydís arranged to bring more men than the terms allowed. In the Grœnlendinga saga account, she went to the brothers in the night, then returned and told her husband Þorvarðr that they had mistreated her and demanded he kill them and their companions as vengeance. He did. When it came to the five women in the party, his men refused to kill them. Freydís took an axe and killed them herself. She threatened everyone who knew with death if they spoke of it. Word reached her brother Leifr Eiríksson when the survivors returned to Greenland. He did not punish her. He said he could not bring himself to do to her what she deserved, but that her descendants would not prosper. The saga presents this as a kind of curse rather than a verdict. The accounts are not entirely consistent across the two sagas, and the historical detail is uncertain. But the core event, the killings in Vinland and the refusal to name what happened, is recorded in both. -
Lyrics
Im Westen liegt ein Land ohne Namen Kein Gott hat es benannt nur der Wind kennt es Ich bin dem Wind gefolgt bis ans Ende der Welt Und das Ende der Welt war ein Anfang Die Wellen schlugen gegen den Rumpf Die Männer schwiegen das Meer sprach laut Dreißig Tage ohne Land in Sicht Am einunddreißigsten Tag Vinland Leif Sohn des Erikr Leif Bezwinger des Westens Leif der erste Mann Der das Unbekannte betrat Ich bin Leif Eriksson! Ich bin weiter gegangen als jeder vor mir! Ich bin Leif Eriksson! Das Land gehört dem der es findet! Ich bin Leif Eriksson! Ich bin weiter gegangen als jeder vor mir! Ich bin Leif Eriksson! Das Land gehört dem der es findet! Wir bauten Häuser aus fremdem Holz Fremde Vögel sangen über uns Das Gras war grün bis in den Winter Kein Schnee kein Eis kein Ende Die Männer nannten es das grüne Land Ich nannte es mein für einen Augenblick Doch das Meer ruft immer zurück Und ich bin ein Sohn des Meeres Leif Sohn des Erikr Leif Bezwinger des Westens Leif der erste Mann Der das Unbekannte betrat Ich bin Leif Eriksson! Ich bin weiter gegangen als jeder vor mir! Ich bin Leif Eriksson! Das Land gehört dem der es findet! Ich bin Leif Eriksson! Ich bin weiter gegangen als jeder vor mir! Ich bin Leif Eriksson! Das Land gehört dem der es findet! VINLAND! VINLAND! IM WESTEN! IM WESTEN! VINLAND! VINLAND! DER ERSTE! DER ERSTE! Die Sagas werden meinen Namen tragen Lange nachdem meine Knochen Staub sind Nicht weil ich der Stärkste war Sondern weil ich der Erste war Der Mut ist nicht das Schwert in der Hand Der Mut ist das Schiff das vom Ufer stößt Wenn niemand weiß was jenseits liegt Ich wusste es auch nicht ich fuhr trotzdem Leif Sohn des Erikr Leif Bezwinger des Westens Leif der erste Mann Der das Unbekannte betrat Ich bin Leif Eriksson! Ich bin weiter gegangen als jeder vor mir! Ich bin Leif Eriksson! Das Land gehört dem der es findet! Ich bin Leif Eriksson! Ich bin weiter gegangen als jeder vor mir! Ich bin Leif Eriksson! Das Land gehört dem der es findet! Vinland... Im Westen... Leif...
In the west there is a land without a name No god has named it, only the wind knows it I followed the wind to the end of the world And the end of the world was a beginning The waves beat against the hull The men were silent, the sea spoke loudly Thirty days without land in sight On the thirty-first day, Vinland Leif son of Eiríkr Leif conqueror of the West Leif the first man who stepped into the unknown I am Leif Eriksson! I have gone further than anyone before me! I am Leif Eriksson! The land belongs to the one who finds it! I am Leif Eriksson! I have gone further than anyone before me! I am Leif Eriksson! The land belongs to the one who finds it! We built houses from foreign wood Foreign birds sang above us The grass was green through the winter No snow, no ice, no end The men called it the green land I called it mine for a moment But the sea always calls back And I am a son of the sea Leif son of Eiríkr Leif conqueror of the West Leif the first man who stepped into the unknown I am Leif Eriksson! I have gone further than anyone before me! I am Leif Eriksson! The land belongs to the one who finds it! I am Leif Eriksson! I have gone further than anyone before me! I am Leif Eriksson! The land belongs to the one who finds it! VINLAND! VINLAND! IN THE WEST! IN THE WEST! VINLAND! VINLAND! THE FIRST! THE FIRST! The sagas will carry my name Long after my bones are dust Not because I was the strongest But because I was the first Courage is not the sword in the hand Courage is the ship that pushes off from shore When no one knows what lies beyond I did not know either, I went anyway Leif son of Eiríkr Leif conqueror of the West Leif the first man who stepped into the unknown I am Leif Eriksson! I have gone further than anyone before me! I am Leif Eriksson! The land belongs to the one who finds it! I am Leif Eriksson! I have gone further than anyone before me! I am Leif Eriksson! The land belongs to the one who finds it! Vinland.. In the west.. Leif..
Story Behind The Song
Leif Eriksson was the son of Eiríkr the Red, who had colonized Greenland after his own exile from Iceland. Around the year 1000, Leif sailed west from Greenland following reports from Bjarni Herjólfsson, who had been blown off course years earlier and seen land to the west but had not gone ashore. Leif went. His crew reached land in stages, naming the places they found: Helluland (flat stone land, likely Baffin Island), Markland (forest land, likely Labrador), and finally Vínland, where they spent the winter. The location of Vínland has been debated for a long time. The Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, discovered in the 1960s, is the only confirmed Norse site in North America and is generally accepted as either Vínland itself or a staging point for Vínland expeditions. The sagas describe a place with wild grapes, self-sown wheat, and a winter mild enough to survive without extreme hardship. Leif's expedition did not establish a permanent settlement, but it opened the route that later voyagers followed. The song is in German, and turns the discovery not on what was found but on what it required: thirty days out of sight of land, no map for what lay ahead, and a ship that kept going. -
Lyrics
Þegar Haraldr féll féll öldin með honum en hún féll standandi Tvö hundruð ára stormur braust úr norðri Lindisfarne til Miklagarðs heimurinn lærði óttann Og ek var síðasta aldan af því mikla hafi allt sem víkingar voru brann í mínum æðum Skáld og hermaður kaupmaður og konungr allt sem við vorum bar ek einn að lokum Síðasti víkingr síðasta seglið við sjónarrönd Síðasti víkingr en aldrei á hnjánum Það sem við vorum gleymist aldrei Norðrið mótaði heiminn og heimurinn man Síðasti víkingr síðasta seglið við sjónarrönd Síðasti víkingr en aldrei á hnjánum Það sem við vorum gleymist aldrei Norðrið mótaði heiminn og heimurinn man Ek sá keisaradæmi austurs ek sá steppur Garðaríkis ek sá Noreg sameinast undir minni hendi Þrjú hundruð skip að lokum sigldu vestur með mér Ekki til að rána heldur til að enda sem konungr Skáld og hermaður kaupmaður og konungr allt sem við vorum bar ek einn að lokum Síðasti víkingr síðasta seglið við sjónarrönd Síðasti víkingr en aldrei á hnjánum Það sem við vorum gleymist aldrei Norðrið mótaði heiminn og heimurinn man Síðasti víkingr síðasta seglið við sjónarrönd Síðasti víkingr en aldrei á hnjánum Það sem við vorum gleymist aldrei Norðrið mótaði heiminn og heimurinn man Eftir mig engir víkingar framar aðeins sögur aðeins söngvar En segið mér hvað er meira ódauðlegt en saga vel sögð Síðasti víkingr öldin er búin sagan er eilíf
When Haraldr fell the age fell with him but it fell standing Two hundred years of storms burst from the north Lindisfarne to Constantinople the world learned fear And I was the last wave of that great sea all that Vikings were burned in my veins Skald and warrior merchant and king all that we were I carried alone at last The last Viking the last sail on the horizon The last Viking but never on his knees What we were will never be forgotten The North shaped the world and the world remembers The last Viking the last sail on the horizon The last Viking but never on his knees What we were will never be forgotten The North shaped the world and the world remembers I saw the empires of the east I saw the steppes of Garðaríki I saw Norway united under my hand Three hundred ships at last sailed west with me not to plunder but to end as a king Skald and warrior merchant and king all that we were I carried alone at last The last Viking the last sail on the horizon The last Viking but never on his knees What we were will never be forgotten The North shaped the world and the world remembers The last Viking the last sail on the horizon The last Viking but never on his knees What we were will never be forgotten The North shaped the world and the world remembers After me no more Vikings only stories only songs But tell me what is more immortal than a story well told The last Viking the age is over the story is eternal
Story Behind The Song
Haraldr Sigurðarson, known as harðráði (hard ruler), lived what the sagas describe as the most complete Viking Age life of anyone. He fought at the Battle of Stiklestad in Norway at fifteen, escaped to Kievan Rus, then served for years as a mercenary commander in the Byzantine Varangian Guard in Constantinople. He led campaigns across the Mediterranean, Anatolia, and possibly as far as Jerusalem, then returned to Scandinavia, contested the Danish throne, and eventually became king of Norway. He ruled for twenty years. In 1066, after the death of King Edward the Confessor of England, Haraldr pressed a claim to the English throne and invaded with a large fleet. He defeated a northern English force at Fulford Gate and received the submission of York, then was caught without armor at Stamford Bridge on September 25, 1066, when King Harold Godwinson marched north faster than anyone expected. Haraldr Sigurðarson was killed, an arrow through the throat. Of the fleet that had brought his army, only a fraction of ships made the return journey. The Battle of Stamford Bridge is traditionally taken as the end of the Viking Age. The song gives the moment entirely to Haraldr: a man who contained in his own life everything the age had been, and who died on a bridge in Yorkshire nineteen days before a Norman fleet changed England in a different way. -
Lyrics
865 þúsund skip synir Ragnars fremstir Austur Anglía sá seglin og gaf okkur hesta Þeir héldu að friður væri hægt að kaupa Við tókum hestana og riðum norður Jórvík féll í nóvember áður en múrarnir vissu Kingdoms fall one by one heyrið dyninn we have come We are the Great Heathen Army a thousand ships strong Sons of Ragnar lead us our vengeance is long Northumbria has fallen East Anglia bleeds The North remembers Ragnar and England pays his deeds We are the Great Heathen Army a thousand ships strong Sons of Ragnar lead us our vengeance is long Northumbria has fallen East Anglia bleeds The North remembers Ragnar and England pays his deeds Ella greiddi blóðskuldina örninn á baki hans Eadmund konungr neitaði örvarnar svöruðu Mersía bað um frið gull fyllti skipin Fjórtán vetur af eldi og England breyttist að eilífu Kingdoms fall one by one heyrið dyninn we have come We are the Great Heathen Army a thousand ships strong Sons of Ragnar lead us our vengeance is long Northumbria has fallen East Anglia bleeds The North remembers Ragnar and England pays his deeds We are the Great Heathen Army a thousand ships strong Sons of Ragnar lead us our vengeance is long Northumbria has fallen East Anglia bleeds The North remembers Ragnar and England pays his deeds Ívarr hinn beinlausi the mind Hálfdan the hammer Ubbi the storm Synir Ragnars sons of the dead king og faðir þeirra hlær í höll Óðins The Great Heathen Army England man okkur enn England remembers
865 a thousand ships sons of Ragnar foremost East Anglia saw the sails and gave us horses they thought peace could be bought we took the horses and rode north Jorvik fell in November before the walls knew Kingdoms fall one by one hear the thunder we have come We are the Great Heathen Army a thousand ships strong Sons of Ragnar lead us our vengeance is long Northumbria has fallen East Anglia bleeds The North remembers Ragnar and England pays his deeds We are the Great Heathen Army a thousand ships strong Sons of Ragnar lead us our vengeance is long Northumbria has fallen East Anglia bleeds The North remembers Ragnar and England pays his deeds Ella paid the blood debt the eagle on his back King Eadmund refused the arrows answered Mercia asked for peace gold filled the ships Fourteen winters of fire and England changed forever Kingdoms fall one by one hear the thunder we have come We are the Great Heathen Army a thousand ships strong Sons of Ragnar lead us our vengeance is long Northumbria has fallen East Anglia bleeds The North remembers Ragnar and England pays his deeds We are the Great Heathen Army a thousand ships strong Sons of Ragnar lead us our vengeance is long Northumbria has fallen East Anglia bleeds The North remembers Ragnar and England pays his deeds Ívarr the Boneless the mind Hálfdan the hammer Ubbi the storm Sons of Ragnar sons of the dead king and their father laughs in Odin's hall The Great Heathen Army England still remembers us England remembers
Story Behind The Song
In 865, a large Norse force landed in East Anglia, which the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle called the mycel hæþen here, the Great Heathen Army. The sons of Ragnar Loðbrók, including Ívarr the Boneless, Hálfdan Ragnarsson, and Ubba, are named in Norse sources as its leaders. East Anglia provided horses, possibly as tribute, possibly to encourage the Danes to move on. They moved north. York fell in 866. The two rival Northumbrian kings joined forces against the Danes and were defeated trying to retake the city. The army then turned south and east. King Edmund of East Anglia refused to either share his kingdom or renounce Christianity. He was captured and killed. Later accounts say he was tied to a tree, shot with arrows, and beheaded. He was venerated as a martyr: St. Edmund. Mercia paid tribute in exchange for peace. Over roughly fourteen years of campaigns, the army established what became the Danelaw across a large portion of eastern and northern England. Norse settlement altered the language, law, and place-names of those regions permanently. The Scandinavian influence on English is still audible in place names across Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and East Anglia. The Norse sources connect the invasion to vengeance for Ragnar Loðbrók's death at the hands of King Ælla of Northumbria. Whether that was the true motivation or a later narrative added to explain the scale of the invasion, it became the story that held the album together. -
Lyrics
Seven ninety three the sea gave birth to wolves Seven ninety three the holy island burned No wall could stop us no prayer could slow us The age of the North began at Lindisfarne Dögun við eyjuna helgu þokan faldi seglin Munkar sungu morgunsöng og heyrðu ekki árarnar Kirkjan full af gulli varin aðeins af bænum Við komum úr hafinu eins og dómur þeirra Seven ninety three the sea gave birth to wolves Seven ninety three the holy island burned No wall could stop us no prayer could slow us The age of the North began at Lindisfarne Gull heilags Cuthberts fyllti skipin okkar Bækur í gulli bundnar rifnar fyrir spennurnar Sumir munkar í hafið sumir í hlekki Og fréttin flaug hraðar en hrafnar fljúga Karlamagnús heyrði það í Frakklandi konungar skulfu í höllum sínum Því ef guð gat ekki varið sitt helgasta hús hvað gat þá varið nokkurn þeirra Seven ninety three the sea gave birth to wolves Seven ninety three the holy island burned No wall could stop us no prayer could slow us The age of the North began at Lindisfarne Seven ninety three the sea gave birth to wolves Seven ninety three the holy island burned No wall could stop us no prayer could slow us The age of the North began at Lindisfarne Lindisfarne þar sem öldin hófst where the age began
Seven ninety three the sea gave birth to wolves Seven ninety three the holy island burned No wall could stop us no prayer could slow us The age of the North began at Lindisfarne Dawn at the holy island fog hid the sails The monks sang morning prayer and did not hear the oars The church full of gold guarded only by prayers We came from the sea like their judgment Seven ninety three the sea gave birth to wolves Seven ninety three the holy island burned No wall could stop us no prayer could slow us The age of the North began at Lindisfarne The gold of St. Cuthbert filled our ships Books bound in gold torn apart for the clasps Some monks into the sea some into chains And the news flew faster than ravens fly Charlemagne heard it in France kings shook in their halls For if God could not protect his holiest house what could protect any of them Seven ninety three the sea gave birth to wolves Seven ninety three the holy island burned No wall could stop us no prayer could slow us The age of the North began at Lindisfarne Seven ninety three the sea gave birth to wolves Seven ninety three the holy island burned No wall could stop us no prayer could slow us The age of the North began at Lindisfarne Lindisfarne where the age began where the age began
Story Behind The Song
On June 8, 793, a Norse raid hit the monastery on Lindisfarne, a tidal island off the northeast coast of England. The monastery was one of the most important religious centers in the Anglo-Saxon world, founded by the Irish monk Aidan and associated with St. Cuthbert, whose relics were kept there. The Lindisfarne Gospels, an illuminated manuscript with a jeweled binding, had been made there within living memory of the raid. The attack was sudden. Alcuin of York, writing to the king of Northumbria shortly afterward, described the horror of it: pagans desecrating a holy place, monks killed, the church stripped of its treasures. Some monks were drowned in the sea, some taken captive. The news spread quickly. Charlemagne's court heard of it. The raid was disturbing not only because of what was taken but because of what it implied: a place protected only by its sanctity had offered no real protection at all. If God had not shielded his most venerated site in England, the logic was uncomfortable for anyone with gold in a monastery. The community at Lindisfarne survived and was raided again in subsequent years. In 875 they abandoned the island entirely and carried Cuthbert's remains with them, wandering for over a century before settling at Durham. The monastery at Lindisfarne was not permanently reoccupied until the Norman period. The 793 raid is conventionally taken as the start of the Viking Age. -
Lyrics
Ek reið yfir valinn áður en ek átti nafn meðal manna Valkyrja Óðins ek valdi hverjir féllu Hjálmgunnar átti sigurinn faðirinn hafði ákveðið En ek leit á Agnar og ek valdi sjálf Valkyrjan sem valdi rangt valkyrjan sem valdi sjálf Óðinn dæmir af hásæti en hjartað dæmir hraðar Svefnþorn fyrir óhlýðni eldur fyrir vegginn En sú sem reið yfir valinn beygir sig aldrei Hann stakk mig svefnþyrni batt mig við dauðlegt líf Þú skalt giftast sagði hann eins og hver önnur kona Ek svaraði sofandi þá set ek skilyrði aðeins sá sem óttast ekkert aðeins sá í gegnum eldinn Valkyrjan sem valdi rangt valkyrjan sem valdi sjálf Óðinn dæmir af hásæti en hjartað dæmir hraðar Svefnþorn fyrir óhlýðni eldur fyrir vegginn En sú sem reið yfir valinn beygir sig aldrei Hann sagði þú munt aldrei aftur velja sigur Ek svaraði þá vel ek hverjum ek giftist Hann sagði þú munt elska og missa Ek svaraði betra en að hlýða og lifa Og eldurinn reis um salinn og ek svaf og beið Valkyrjan sem valdi rangt valkyrjan sem valdi sjálf Óðinn dæmir af hásæti en hjartað dæmir hraðar Svefnþorn fyrir óhlýðni eldur fyrir vegginn En sú sem reið yfir valinn beygir sig aldrei Beygir sig aldrei
I rode over the battlefield before I had a name among men Odin's valkyrie I chose who fell Hjálmgunnar had the victory the father had decided But I looked at Agnarr and I chose myself The valkyrie who chose wrong the valkyrie who chose herself Odin judges from his high seat but the heart judges faster A sleep-thorn for disobedience fire for the wall But she who rode over the battlefield never bows He stabbed me with a sleep-thorn bound me to a mortal life You shall marry, he said like any other woman I answered in sleep then I set conditions only he who fears nothing only he through the fire The valkyrie who chose wrong the valkyrie who chose herself Odin judges from his high seat but the heart judges faster A sleep-thorn for disobedience fire for the wall But she who rode over the battlefield never bows He said you will never again choose victory I answered then I choose whom I marry He said you will love and lose I answered better than to obey and live And the fire rose around the hall and I slept and waited The valkyrie who chose wrong the valkyrie who chose herself Odin judges from his high seat but the heart judges faster A sleep-thorn for disobedience fire for the wall But she who rode over the battlefield never bows Never bows
Story Behind The Song
In the Eddic poem Sigrdrífumál and in Völsunga saga, a valkyrie named Sigrdrífa was punished by Odin for defying his will in battle. She had been commanded to grant victory to Hjálmgunnar, an old king and one of Odin's favorites. Instead she gave victory to Agnarr, a younger warrior. Odin's response was to stab her with a sleep-thorn and decree that she would never again decide the outcome of battle, and would instead marry. He surrounded her sleeping body with a wall of fire and left her there. She set a condition before she slept: only a man who felt no fear would be able to ride through the fire and wake her. In Völsunga saga, that man is Sigurðr Fáfnisbani, the greatest hero of the Norse legendary tradition. He rides through the fire, removes her helmet, and wakes her. She teaches him runes and wisdom. They swear oaths to each other, and the relationship becomes one of the central threads of the Völsung cycle. The song focuses on the moment of disobedience and the argument between Odin and the valkyrie, before Sigurðr arrives. The core of it is the refusal to accept the terms of the punishment. She negotiates even in sleep: only the man who fears nothing, only the one who comes through the fire. She does not say she chose wrong. She sets conditions and waits for someone who meets them. -
Lyrics
Hún fór þangað sem enginn þorði Vínland Noregur Róm Þrjár heimsálfur ein kona Og hún hlóð og hún hlóð alltaf Snorri fæddist í Vínlandi fyrsti Evrópubúinn Á nýja heiminum móðir hans stóð þar Guðríðr brosti og hélst áfram Vegurinn kallaði hún hlýddi alltaf Víðförla! Hún fer! Víðförla! Hún kemur! Enginn stöðvar Guðríði! Enginn stöðvar hana! Víðförla! Hún fer! Víðförla! Hún kemur! Enginn stöðvar Guðríði! Enginn stöðvar hana! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! Frá Íslandi til Vínlands til Rómar! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! Engin kona fór lengra og enginn maður heldur! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! Frá Íslandi til Vínlands til Rómar! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! Engin kona fór lengra og enginn maður heldur! Páfinn í Róm tók á móti henni Nunna síðan en aldrei kyrr Hún sat niður og sagði frá ferðum sínum Og heimurinn hlustaði í fyrsta sinn Hún fór! Hún fór! Enginn stöðvaði! Enginn! Hún kom aftur! Kom aftur! Og fór aftur! Aftur! Hún fór! Hún fór! Enginn stöðvaði! Enginn! Hún kom aftur! Kom aftur! Og fór aftur! Aftur! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! Frá Íslandi til Vínlands til Rómar! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! Engin kona fór lengra og enginn maður heldur! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! Frá Íslandi til Vínlands til Rómar! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! Engin kona fór lengra og enginn maður heldur! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! Frá Íslandi til Vínlands til Rómar! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! Engin kona fór lengra og enginn maður heldur! Og enginn maður heldur! Og enginn maður heldur! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! Frá Íslandi til Vínlands til Rómar! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! Engin kona fór lengra og enginn maður heldur! Og enginn maður heldur! Og enginn maður heldur! Guðríðr... víðförla... Hún... hélst áfram... að eilífu...
She went where none dared Vinland, Norway, Rome Three continents, one woman And she walked and she always walked forward Snorri was born in Vinland, the first European On the new world his mother stood there Guðríðr smiled and kept going The road called, she always listened Víðförla! She goes! Víðförla! She comes! No one stops Guðríðr! No one stops her! Víðförla! She goes! Víðförla! She comes! No one stops Guðríðr! No one stops her! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! From Iceland to Vinland to Rome! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! No woman went further and no man either! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! From Iceland to Vinland to Rome! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! No woman went further and no man either! The Pope in Rome received her a nun afterward but never still She sat down and told of her travels and the world listened for the first time She went! She went! No one stopped her! No one! She came back! Came back! And went again! Again! She went! She went! No one stopped her! No one! She came back! Came back! And went again! Again! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! From Iceland to Vinland to Rome! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! No woman went further and no man either! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! From Iceland to Vinland to Rome! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! No woman went further and no man either! And no man either! And no man either! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! From Iceland to Vinland to Rome! Guðríðr! Guðríðr! Víðförla! No woman went further and no man either! And no man either! And no man either! Guðríðr.. víðförla.. She.. kept going.. forever..
Story Behind The Song
Guðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir is described in the Vinland sagas as one of the most widely traveled people of the medieval North Atlantic world. Born in Iceland, she traveled to Greenland, crossed to Vinland twice, and later made a pilgrimage to Rome. Her son Snorri, born during one of the Vinland expeditions, is generally considered the first European child born in the Americas. The sagas record this without ceremony, as a fact among other facts. After her husband Þorfinnr Karlsefni died, Guðríðr made the pilgrimage south to Rome, where the saga says she had an audience with the Pope. She returned to Iceland and spent her final years as an anchoress. People came from elsewhere to hear her account of where she had been, and she told them. Her epithet víðförla means the far-traveler or the widely-traveled one. No other person in the saga record is documented to have traveled to both Vinland and Rome. The sagas do not make a great occasion of this. They simply record it, as they record her smile and her forward motion, and then they move on. -
Lyrics
Tuttugasti og fimmti september Einn þúsund sextíu og sex síðasti dagur aldar Einn þúsund sextíu og sex Einn þúsund sextíu og sex brúin man blóðið Einn þúsund sextíu og sex Einn þúsund sextíu og sex öldin féll þar Tvö hundruð sjötíu ára stormur endaði á einni brú Stamford Stamford þar sem víkingar urðu saga Morguninn var heitur brynjurnar biðu í skipunum Við héldum daginn unninn Jórvík hafði gefist upp Svo reis rykský í suðri og úr því kom her Haraldr leit á það og mælti þá berjumst vér hér Einn þúsund sextíu og sex Einn þúsund sextíu og sex brúin man blóðið Einn þúsund sextíu og sex Einn þúsund sextíu og sex öldin féll þar Tvö hundruð sjötíu ára stormur endaði á einni brú Stamford Stamford þar sem víkingar urðu saga Skjaldborgin hélt og hélt Saxar brotnuðu á henni Þá féll vörðurinn á brúnni og flóðið streymdi yfir Haraldr barðist fremst berserkur án brynju sverð í báðum höndum og dauðinn hvarvetna um hann Einn þúsund sextíu og sex Einn þúsund sextíu og sex brúin man blóðið Einn þúsund sextíu og sex Einn þúsund sextíu og sex öldin féll þar Tvö hundruð sjötíu ára stormur endaði á einni brú Stamford Stamford þar sem víkingar urðu saga Örin fann hálsinn konungurinn féll í valinn Þrjú hundruð skip komu tuttugu og fjögur sneru heim Sólin settist yfir Derwent og með henni öldin Síðasti víkingurinn lá í sínum sjö fetum Einn þúsund sextíu og sex Einn þúsund sextíu og sex brúin man blóðið Einn þúsund sextíu og sex Einn þúsund sextíu og sex öldin féll þar Tvö hundruð sjötíu ára stormur endaði á einni brú Stamford Stamford þar sem víkingar urðu saga Einn þúsund sextíu og sex öldin er búin sagan hefst
The twenty-fifth of September one thousand and sixty-six the last day of the age One thousand and sixty-six one thousand and sixty-six the bridge remembers the blood one thousand and sixty-six one thousand and sixty-six the age fell there Two hundred and seventy years of storms ended on one bridge Stamford, Stamford where the Vikings became history The morning was hot the byrnies waited in the ships We thought the day was won Jorvik had surrendered Then a dust cloud rose in the south and from it came an army Haraldr looked at it and said then we fight here One thousand and sixty-six one thousand and sixty-six the bridge remembers the blood one thousand and sixty-six one thousand and sixty-six the age fell there Two hundred and seventy years of storms ended on one bridge Stamford, Stamford where the Vikings became history The shield wall held and held the Saxons broke against it Then the guardian of the bridge fell and the flood streamed over Haraldr fought at the front berserker without byrnie sword in both hands and death all around him One thousand and sixty-six one thousand and sixty-six the bridge remembers the blood one thousand and sixty-six one thousand and sixty-six the age fell there Two hundred and seventy years of storms ended on one bridge Stamford, Stamford where the Vikings became history The arrow found his throat the king fell in the slain Three hundred ships had come twenty-four turned home The sun set over the Derwent and with it the age The last Viking lay in his seven feet One thousand and sixty-six one thousand and sixty-six the bridge remembers the blood one thousand and sixty-six one thousand and sixty-six the age fell there Two hundred and seventy years of storms ended on one bridge Stamford, Stamford where the Vikings became history One thousand and sixty-six the age is over the story begins
Story Behind The Song
On September 25, 1066, Haraldr Sigurðarson fought and lost the Battle of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire. His army had already secured York and defeated the northern English earls at Fulford Gate days earlier. They were resting, many without their mail coats, which had been left in the ships at Ricall, when King Harold Godwinson of England arrived from the south faster than anyone expected. Before the battle, according to Heimskringla, an English horseman approached and offered Tostig, Haraldr's ally and Harold Godwinson's estranged brother, his earldom back if he would switch sides. When asked what the Norse king would receive for withdrawing, the horseman answered: seven feet of English ground, or a little more, as he was taller than most men. Haraldr Sigurðarson was reported to be exceptionally tall. The shield wall held for a time. A single Norse warrior reportedly held the bridge long enough for the army to form up, until he was killed from below. Then the English broke through. Haraldr Sigurðarson was killed, an arrow through the throat. Of the fleet that had crossed the North Sea with his army, only a fraction made the return journey. The song's last line gives him the exact ground he was offered: seven feet. No more. Harold Godwinson had no time to consolidate his victory. William of Normandy landed three days later. Hastings followed on October 14. The Battle of Stamford Bridge is traditionally taken as the end of the Viking Age, not because everything stopped, but because nothing that came after looked the same. -
Lyrics
Örn fyrir orm blóð fyrir blóð skuld skal greidd ÖRN FYRIR ORM Jórvík árið átta hundruð sextíu og sjö Ella konungr á hnjánum Sá sem kastaði Ragnari í gryfju ormanna stendur nú frammi fyrir sonunum og synirnir muna hvert orð hvern hlátur Örn fyrir orm blóð fyrir blóð skuld skal greidd ÖRN FYRIR ORM Ívarr mælti hátt faðir minn dó hlæjandi þú munt ekki fá þann heiður Rifin frá hryggnum vængir handa Óðni Sagan segir það gerðist sagan öskrar enn Örn fyrir orm blóð fyrir blóð skuld skal greidd ÖRN FYRIR ORM Blóðörn blóðörn síðasta orð sögunnar Blóðörn blóðörn skuldin er greidd Ragnarr hló í gryfjunni Ella þagnaði á steininum Hringurinn lokaðist ÖRNINN FLAUG Blóðörn blóðörn síðasta orð sögunnar Blóðörn blóðörn skuldin er greidd Ragnarr hló í gryfjunni Ella þagnaði á steininum Hringurinn lokaðist ÖRNINN FLAUG Örn fyrir orm skuldin er greidd
Eagle for serpent blood for blood the debt shall be paid EAGLE FOR SERPENT York, year eight hundred sixty and seven King Ælla on his knees he who threw Ragnar into the pit of serpents stands now before the sons and the sons remember every word, every laugh Eagle for serpent blood for blood the debt shall be paid EAGLE FOR SERPENT Ívarr spoke loudly my father died laughing you will not receive that honor Torn from the spine wings for Odin the saga says it happened the saga still roars Eagle for serpent blood for blood the debt shall be paid EAGLE FOR SERPENT Blood eagle, blood eagle the last word of the saga Blood eagle, blood eagle the debt is paid Ragnarr laughed in the pit Ælla went silent on the stone The circle closed THE EAGLE FLEW Blood eagle, blood eagle the last word of the saga Blood eagle, blood eagle the debt is paid Ragnarr laughed in the pit Ælla went silent on the stone The circle closed THE EAGLE FLEW Eagle for serpent the debt is paid
Story Behind The Song
The blood eagle, blóðörn, is one of the most disputed details in Norse sources. It appears in skaldic verse and in saga accounts as a ritual killing performed on an enemy: the ribs cut from the spine and the lungs pulled through the back to spread like wings. Whether this was ever practiced, or was a later poetic invention built around an obscure kenning, scholars have argued for decades without settling the question. In Ragnars saga loðbrókar and in Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum, Ragnar Loðbrók was captured by Ælla, king of Northumbria, and thrown into a pit of serpents. The sagas say he laughed as he died and predicted his sons would come for him. His sons did come, as part of the Great Heathen Army in 865. When they captured Ælla after taking York, the saga accounts say he was subjected to the blood eagle as payment for what he had done to their father. The historical evidence for the blood eagle as it appears in the sagas is thin. But the story is the structural close of the entire Ragnar tradition: the debt incurred when Ragnar was thrown into the pit, and the debt repaid when the sons caught the man who threw him. The album opens with Synir Ragnars and closes here. The circle closes. Ragnarr laughed in the pit. Ælla went silent on the stone.