FORNǪLD · Track 1

Synir Ragnars

Old Icelandic

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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.

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