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FORNǪLD · Track 15

Blóðörn

Old Icelandic

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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.

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