FORNǪLD · Track 5

Skáldið Sem Guðin Óttust

Old Icelandic

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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.

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