Some time back I posted a link to some YouTube vids of kulning, a form of Swedish singing used to bring in cows (don’t laugh, it seems to work). That sort of singing appealed to something in my Scandinavian DNA. It’s calming and beautiful, and seems to hearken back to Olden Times.
But then… there’s another side to northern European “olden times” music that also appeals to me. There’s a group called “Heilung,” composed of various norther European musicians, who create “neofolk” music that seems to be a mashup of what you’d think Vikings would sing before they made a mess of an enemy force, and modern metal music. And damn but it works, mixing Old English with Old Norse and Old German and Saami languages and styles with modern mixing.
There’s “Hakkerskaldyr” (“Shield Formation”), which is very much a Viking take on a Haka. The lyrics are in I believe old Norse and an English translation can be read HERE. The video below was made by a fan, and is just a “lyrics” video, but does an interesting job of it. I’d love to see this being sung in a modern public school…
There’s “Krigsgaldr” (“War Spell” or “War Incantation”), one of the few that’s mostly in English. It’s an interesting take on the concept… the singer doesn’t *want* war, but it is being thrust upon him, and he’s a-gonna go all Viking as a result. Heilung released an animated video for it that is really rather remarkable in the use of ancient Scandinavian imagery in an animated form. With a bonus cameo by Darth Vader!
Heilung has released both studio and live music. And I think the live versions are better. They performed live at “Castlefest” in the Netherlands last year, and they put on one *hell* of a show. Most of the music – vocals and instrumentals – are very, very definitely masculine… which makes the occasional feminine work just that much better.
There’s “Alfadhirhaiti,” which if it doesn’t get your blood pumping… you ain’t got no Viking in your soul, son.
There’s “In Maidan” with is basically just a repeated recital of the Futhark, the “alphabet” of the Norse runes. And it comes across as a religious or magical incantation of power… which, when you think about it, would have been very appropriate for the Vikings. The Futhark allowed them to record their words and thoughts for the ages, which is power indeed, and if there’s magic, it’s one of the strongest.
The whole 1 hour 16 minute show is in one convenient vid:
This is about as politically incorrect as a musical form can get without actually trying. It’s firmly rooted in Northern European traditions; there is a bit of cultural appropriation in the use of throat singing (generally though of as Mongolian and Tibetan, but there is something like it in Saami tradition, and if the Vikings didn’t use it, they *should* have); the songs don’t make a fetish of being weak and compliant; it’s *proudly* masculine; the musicians don’t seem to have the proper proportion of diversity. These musicians and their music would probably scare the pants off your average SJW. Its touting of European paganism would not fly in many places in Europe today.