Steingerðr's Beauty - Old Norse Song
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- Опубліковано 18 жов 2024
- Music & vocals by Farya Faraji, lyrics by Kormákr Ǫgmundarson. Many thanks to my friends Delphine and Étienne for lending their IKEA-level Nordic looks to this video. This is another attempt at conveying a historically plausible rendition of what Scandinavian music of the Viking Age would have possible sounded like.
Whilst the Norse (more specifically the Vikings) are more popular than ever in pop culture, and Norse-themed music is everywhere, almost all of that music is creative in nature and doesn't seek to be historically accurate--the current audience is therefore inundated with tons of examples of very enjoyable music that is more modern and fantastical in nature than historically accurate. I wanted to add my humble contribution to the Norse-music landscape by providing a more historically informed example of what the actual music of the Norse may have sounded like, rather than music that evokes our modern pop culture idea of the Vikings like with the excellent Wardruna or Heilung bands.
The guiding principles are that the song is in a diatonic mode, given diatonicism's high statistical distribution over Europe in that era, monophonic, therefore without any harmony, and uses the instruments of the era: the lyre, pan flute, bone flute, and simple drums, as well as the sound of a bowed lyra, an instrument which I believe was, with a high degree of likelihood, imported into Scandinavia by the end of the Viking Age. I made sure that the melody always accents the first syllable of a word to reflect Old Norse prosody. For more info on the subject, watch this informational video dedicated to the subject: • What Norse Music of th...
The pronunciation is reconstructed Old Norse, and I based it on the reading provided by Dr. Jackson Crawford in this video: • Love Poetry in Old Norse Please note that this means it will sound unlike most readings of the poem which use modern Icelandic pronunciation. It’s a common convention to use the latter since it’s phonology changed the least from Old Norse, however it isn’t the same.
The poem is found in both the Gunlaug saga, as well as Kormákr Ögmundarson's sagas. In the story, he recounts him falling in love with the beautiful Steingerðr who loves him back, but is married with another man. The poem recounts the instant they both fell in love, and the knowledge of the impeding doom that this spells for them in the future. The poem was written in Iceland in the 900's.
The clip was filmed in Banff National Park, in Canada. I actually filmed it almost a year ago, but massive editing delays meant I couldn't finish the clip until after winter, and it just felt weird to release such a winter-themed clip at spring's door, so I just waited and thought I'd open this year's winter season with this clip.
Lyrics in Old Norse:
Brámáni skein brúna
Brims und ljósum himni
Hristar hǫrvi glæstrar
Haukfránn á mik lauka;
En sá geisli sýslir
Síðan gullmens Fríðar
Hvarmatungls ok hringa
Hlínar óþurft mína
English translation (Jackson Crawford’s):
The linen decorated woman’s hawk fierce eyes shone beneath her fair forehead upon me.
But the shining light from that woman’s eyes is preparing ruin for me, and no less for her.
Music & vocals by Farya Faraji, lyrics by Kormákr Ǫgmundarson. Many thanks to my friends Delphine and Étienne for lending their IKEA-level Nordic looks to this video. This is another attempt at conveying a historically plausible rendition of what Scandinavian music of the Viking Age would have possible sounded like.
Whilst the Norse (more specifically the Vikings) are more popular than ever in pop culture, and Norse-themed music is everywhere, almost all of that music is creative in nature and doesn't seek to be historically accurate--the current audience is therefore inundated with tons of examples of very enjoyable music that is more modern and fantastical in nature than historically accurate. I wanted to add my humble contribution to the Norse-music landscape by providing a more historically informed example of what the actual music of the Norse may have sounded like, rather than music that evokes our modern pop culture idea of the Vikings like with the excellent Wardruna or Heilung bands.
The guiding principles are that the song is in a diatonic mode, given diatonicism's high statistical distribution over Europe in that era, monophonic, therefore without any harmony, and uses the instruments of the era: the lyre, pan flute, bone flute, and simple drums, as well as the sound of a bowed lyra, an instrument which I believe was, with a high degree of likelihood, imported into Scandinavia by the end of the Viking Age. I made sure that the melody always accents the first syllable of a word to reflect Old Norse prosody. For more info on the subject, watch this informational video dedicated to the subject: ua-cam.com/video/_qZI4e4yVio/v-deo.html
The pronunciation is reconstructed Old Norse, and I based it on the reading provided by Dr. Jackson Crawford in this video: ua-cam.com/video/16nG8Hb_WJA/v-deo.html Please note that this means it will sound unlike most readings of the poem which use modern Icelandic pronunciation. It’s a common convention to use the latter since it’s phonology changed the least from Old Norse, however it isn’t the same.
The poem is found in both the Gunlaug saga, as well as Kormákr Ögmundarson's sagas. In the story, he recounts him falling in love with the beautiful Steingerðr who loves him back, but is married with another man. The poem recounts the instant they both fell in love, and the knowledge of the impeding doom that this spells for them in the future. The poem was written in Iceland in the 900's.
The clip was filmed in Banff National Park, in Canada. I actually filmed it almost a year ago, but massive editing delays meant I couldn't finish the clip until after winter, and it just felt weird to release such a winter-themed clip at spring's door, so I just waited and thought I'd open this year's winter season with this clip.
Lyrics in Old Norse:
Brámáni skein brúna
Brims und ljósum himni
Hristar hǫrvi glæstrar
Haukfránn á mik lauka;
En sá geisli sýslir
Síðan gullmens Fríðar
Hvarmatungls ok hringa
Hlínar óþurft mína
English translation (Jackson Crawford’s):
The linen decorated woman’s hawk fierce eyes shone beneath her fair forehead upon me.
But the shining light from that woman’s eyes is preparing ruin for me, and no less for her.
The dedication is great, i like that old norse pronunciation language history too (sorry my english isn't great).
Is the instrument you're strumming a lyre? It sounds very homemade, which I like.
@@TachyBunkerYep! The strumming is from the lyre seen in the video, it has a great, earthy sound!
@@faryafaraji nice ding! Bisous de france
I have been to Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper National Parks. They are all magnificent and breathtaking places.
Where is the THROAT SINGING????!!!!
Where throat singing 🤬 *angry 12 year old noises*
Awesome job, my friend! Lovely sound and beautiful shots!
Fancy having you around here 😊 good having you around here brother!
Collab when?
An honour coming from the Skald himself, thanks my friend!
Historically accurate ancient Norse music is severely underrated, it would seem.
Honestly. I can never find an actual song, just "Viking music!!" Which isn't even viking music. It's just semi-metal filmed in a forest with war paint on.
@@ImperiumRomanum476 That is a symptom of what I am talking about.
@@ImperiumRomanum476 the video isnt even viking. the bastadization of vikings , my forebears is absolutely insane and disgusting.
@@ImperiumRomanum476actually Skyrim did pretty well with the tavern music the actual music itself and chord progressions sound different than this but in terms of the instrument and tone it has the same vibe.
@@imacryptid5254 Around the Fire is my absolute favourite from Skyrim. I have fallen asleep to it many times.
We need a revival of old native music
You and Skaldic Bard need to have a Latin duo song and a Norse duo song! Hopefully more will hear and feel the history in your music. Well done man. Your songs are even helping me learn languages I never thought I wanted to learn.
They're both treasures, aren't they :)
Wow, ta pieśń jest naprawdę świetna. Słuchając czułem się, jakbym przesiadywał w wielkiej hali i przy palenisku popijał miód. Nikt nie potrafi zrobić tak pieśni, tak oddającej klimat. Byle tak dalej! Pozdrowienia z Polski 🇵🇱
Beautiful music and stunning scenery, classic Farya.
Screw Pitbull, this dude is the OG Mr. Worldwide!
Farya can literally teleport anywhere he damn pleases. This I know
The music and the landscape are both of breathtaking beauty!!!
Idk why, but the historical accuracy and authenticity gets me more engaged than whatever else is claimed to be Scandinavian tunes
Greeting FROM Banff, AB, born and raised. Love your work
Another day, another farya banger. Each time you post a song your skill with the musical tradition visibly improves by sheer fact of experimenting, going from a simple lyre tune of a singular bard for an epic talking video to something you could well have seen done by a hired band of musicians (much like the Þrymskviða). ¡Excellent work!
A song that would awaken the Valkyries from their slumber ❤️🔥
Очень красивая песня, спасибо тебе за неё ❤
Пусть твое творчество и дальше трогает за душу
Incroyable !! Gaelic il ya quelques jours ... la latin et nordique..sacré talent
I watch these videos just for Farya's outfits
Listening to different cultural songs with your special touch on them, always gives us another perspection of that culture. 🙏🏻❤
I love the tiny Morricone accents with the little flute.
"Light from the woman's eyes is preparing ruin for me?"
Each red blooded one of us has been there, and still gone ahead.
Greetings from greece. You're doing great work farya...
Ten thousands respects from me.
On time this is exciting. Thank you Farya ❤️
The snow, mountains and the crisp air
Wow wow! You never disappoint, Farya, there are so many gems in the sagas and Eddas that can be set to music and probably were, at last someone on UA-cam has sung something in Old Norse other than Þat mælti mín móðir
Man, this is really beautiful. I was not expecting it to have such an atmospheric feel, like what you get with Viking themed modern music like Heilung and Wardruna.
I don't know about you but for me has an almost Native American feel, maybe it's the panpipes.
BRAVO AGAIN, BARD FARYA !!!
Nice to see the cool vieos from Canada! I'm almost 100% sure that's Morraine Lake in Alberta.
This is awesome!!
I hope you can give us another Christmas gift like the Huron Carol last year. That might still be my favorite upload from you.
And that’s saying something. It was hauntingly beautiful
This is beautifully done my friend. Excellent work!
Why is it that everything you do is so cool?
Magnifique comme à chaque fois. Merci pour ce merveilleux chant qui nous fait découvrir une région inconnue . Bravo❤❤❤❤
This was beautiful! I also really appreciate all of the information you include in the description about your research, attempts to be historically accurate, etc! That’s really interesting 😊
Jackson Crawford is always a good go-to resource.
Norse song without throat singing 🎉🎉🎉
Change your profile picture
@@SelverHrustic-u4i You a groyper?
As a Norwegian i approve. Well done!
Amazing music as always, and the vibe in Banff fits so perfectly!
Unrelated question as well, are you ever planning on releasing a "Music of Iran" playlist on Spotify? I love so many of your Iranian songs and sorely miss them on Spotify :(
Besides that, keep up the good work :)
Such a beatiful landscapes, combines very well with the song. Maybe it could be Vinland?🧭🌎
I love every single music you‘ve done Farya. Keep going 👍🏼💪🏽
Oh wow such a beautiful video!
Wonderful!
The lyrics! And the music, of course :)
WE MAKING IT OUT OF THE FJORDS WITH THIS ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey man listening to this again right after summiting Preikestolen
I think people forget that the Norse were more than just badass warriors. They had their own unique and beautiful culture.
Молодец! Огромное тебе спасибо за старание!
Bro just dropped another banger
The pronunciation is good 👍
It’d be a treat to see something Kurdish too❤
The bowed lyra likely came to the nordic lands from the tatars. Proving once again that vikings were turkish people at heart 🗿
Hello Farya, I was wondering if you've ever planned to work on some far eastern styles of music, like the Manchu or the Chinese? I love your work.
노르드어는 이 채널에서 드물던데... 바랑인 친위대 만큼이나 생각나는 곡이네요.
2:39 with those cloudy trails removed, it would make a great album cover!
This will set the tone for me writing the part of my novel where a princess whose homeland was invaded travels to the north to seek aid at the king's court and the two fall in love
Ah, another writer who uses music to get into the frame of the story. Hello!
@@bonnarlunda Good day my friend
Beautiful tune can you do Amhrán na Bhfiann
Magnifique chanson!
Au fait, à quand une collab avec TheSkaldicBard?
It's honestly very interesting how close this is to the soundtrack of the game series "The Banner Saga". Which, while not literally a viking game as it includes a lot of fantasy elements, does HEAVILY borrow from historical viking iconography and aesthetics.
Awesome! Just one question: Was it a conscious decision to pronounce 'sýslir' with an /i/-vowel rather than an /y/-vowel?
I only ask because I know you're a native French speaker and thus fully capable of making that sound, and I was always under the impression that Old Norse had 'y' as /y/ and only Icelandic got rid of it (one of the few reductions that make it more "modern" sounding than the rest of the North Germanic languages).
Good question, but I wouldn’t know, you’d have to ask Dr. Jackson Crawford, I mimicked his reconstructed pronunciation and he said it as I do in the video
@@faryafaraji Ah, I'm afraid my suspicions were confirmed, then. Dr. Crawford is an immense resource on the subject but seems to me his pronunciation is a little bit inconsistent at times (coloured by the emphases of his native phonology, but aren't we all?), which is unfortunate given that I completely agree with his position that Old Norse should be pronounced with approximated reconstruction and not Modern Icelandic phonology, but convincing native Icelandic people to speak in reconstructed Old Norse when they have all read the sagas in their own language is basically the Ancient Greek situation all over again.
Anyway, sorry for wrangling you into one of my hobby horses.
Very, very cool! 🎉
Hello from Russia ❤🇷🇺
Lovely song and beautiful women in this video! Excellent instrumentation and vocals, as always.
Women? Where?
😮
I am of norse origin and walked the path of the viking in the modern day, I have done reenactment and work with museums and archaeologists, on many many levels I have been involved in the culture and preservation of the general idea of the old norse. All I have to say about this performance is thank you and we'll done for trying to do am honest and proper interpretation of the music my ancestors would have listened to. Well done. 🎉
Apologies, autocorrect, however the mistakes are obvious enough I will leave it with this added comment.
برار مازرونه ول هاکردی بوردی وایکینگایسه بخونسی؟
Jk, love your content😁 appreciate the effort to be accurate in pronunciation in every language and culture, quite astonishing! Keep doing what you do best.
Peace and love from Babol❤
شمه خنابدون بابلی برار جان، مازندرون پرچم با لا هسه
Dude wouldn't think we would notice the epic Jon Snow drip.
Essas batidas tocaram fundo no Fjörd 😅
I love this one...me and my friends sing it still today...and hello from germany long live the germanic brotherhood 🇩🇪❤️🇳🇴🇩🇰🇸🇪🇳🇱
How the hell does he mange to make music videos every few days
I should have seen this coming lol.
What strikes me about this and the other reconstructed music; is that this is either intentionally or not (given the culture) perfect rowing music. Imagine boat full of men singing this to keep time, just like any other traditional work song, if you pull on one and rest for the remaining 6 beats you keep everyone at the same pace.
افرین❤
🇬🇷❤️🇳🇴🇫🇴🇮🇸
What is it about monophonic music that just kicks you in the gut?
No fucking way Farya is singing Norse again.
Be prepared for your comments to become hell 😂😂
That's so beautiful on itself that I don't know why these neo-pagan kooks get all enraged by not having throat-singing
Nice music and well sung. You have to be a little bit careful with Jackson Crawford's Norse pronunciations. It's mostly fine, but in a video of his on Norse pronunciation I watched, it seems he, like most anglophones, struggles to pronounce Old Norse diphthong "ey" (or modern Norwegian "øy"), for instance. There are none of those here, so it mostly sounds fine. Both Icelandic and Norwegian dialects indicate consonants could do with being a bit harder, but I think it still sounds great the way you did those.
The only major improvement potential is that the l in "hvarmatungls" should have been syllabic, though, but instead of four syllables you sing the word as three, attaching the end to the following word, which doesn't sound quite natural. To make an English analogy, it's a bit like singing "bot love beer" instead of "bottle of beer".
Can you do a Turkic Song next?
ah the beautiful mountains of norway
Is it free to use your songs ?
You're a very attractive young man. Are you coming back to Turkey anytime soon? 🙏🙏
Thank you miss Fournier, inshallah I will soon return to beautiful Turkey aka Laval capitale galactique
@@faryafaraji You speak so beautyfuly, I can't control my 55 years old thoughts xxxxx
AC Valhalla vibes
Ibn "Simon Cowell" Fadlan was an ass about the review of the Rus' musical aptitude.
"Tall as palms and beautiful...sound like dogs. Absolutely dreadful..."
I will not know where it belongs by the melody alone 😮
You make wonderful music from a wide range of cultures, but I was wondering if you would ever make music from east Asian cultures. Is the lack of these cultures in your music because of lack of personal interest, lack of knowledge on the matter, difficulty in singing in those languages, or because you feel it is already oversaturated/sufficiently covered by others?
Lack of knowledge regarding their music and languages. I hate it when non Middle-Easterners write some stereotypical “desert level” music that sounds nothing like actual Middle-Eastern music and pass it off as Middle-Eastern music, so I’ve grown to be very thorough in my respect for authenticity and representing other cultures.
I definitely want to do East Asian cultures, especially the Chinese musical styles and languages, but I’ll only do it once I’m confident that I can be authentic. For now, I’m learning haha
I'm glad to hear that! The effort you put in maintaining a level of cultural and historical authenticity in your works (and disclaiming the parts that aren't) is one of the major reasons I love this channel!
@@spikemasterb2521 Thanks alot!
@@faryafaraji Just saw your new video! I've never heard about Peroz so that was really interesting. Reminds me of that tale of captured Roman soldiers living in China, though that one is probably just a myth. Very happy to see your first work in that region! Hearing familiar motifs alongside completely new Chinese melodies was nice.
first norse song?? bussin
I imagine myself sitting at on a bench in a longship, sailing across the north sea to raid a Saxon kingdom in England. Listening to a skald playing this. I have both Nordic and Saxon blood flowing in my veins. The Saxon part of my shudders with terror hearing this, while the Nordic part of me feels warm and full of joy.
Great song
What you have is british and german protestant blood.
@@jasminv8653 My great grandmother was from York, England. Which was taken over by the Norse in the 9th century. I do have some German ancestry but from Bavaria so Catholic.
Persian Caveman guy being a simp in old norse .mp4
pagan music when
samosierra