FORNǪLD · Track 2

Beinlauss

Old Icelandic

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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.

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