Wardruna - The sound of the runes

Deep in the far North, something ancient seems to have survived time and history, hidden away in the blood and the Scandinavian woods. Today is the time for these old legends to take on new musical forms still capable of evoking that ancient heritage. The music of Wardruna is a fascinating case of the rebirth and modern-day relevance of the Norse spirit. More than a strictly philological study of Northern European folk music (present more in the lyrics than in the music itself), it is a ritual meant to awaken something slumbering beneath the blanket of modernity. It is not so much about celebrating a vanished past as about grasping the deep spirituality that animated their ancestors, with the intent of sharing it with contemporary listeners through a current and effective language. It is a way of offering today's listeners something hidden and unchanging in its purest essence: the feeling of an original, pre-Christian Europe, proud and free like that of the ancient Vikings, a myth that fades and blurs into the legend of Thule and the land of the Hyperboreans.

Wardruna aren't trying to return to some romanticized past or recreate music played a thousand or two thousand years ago (which would be quite the challenge anyway, given the scarcity of sources from a culture handed down mainly through oral tradition), but rather to bring ancient myths and legends back to life. The result is a kind of dark ambient music, though made entirely with acoustic instruments, many of which were handcrafted specifically for the project using goat horns, deer hides and timber tied to Norwegian territory. All of this is accompanied by a contemporary reinterpretation of the ancient tradition of galder, a form of old shamanic chant.

The use of percussion evokes scenes of legendary, bloody Viking battles as told by the skalds, the poets at Scandinavian courts, gathered before a welcome, restorative fire. After all, Wardruna's music is music for getting through the long, cold winters, because, as Georges Dumézil once argued, "a country that has lost its legends [...] is doomed to die of cold. [...] But a people without myths would already be dead."

The dawn of the new Northern European ritual folk wave

Wardruna's style is fairly far removed from the various strands of folk-rock or viking metal, even as it maintains a kinship of inspiration and themes with bands like Sweden's Garmarna or the Bathory of the Nineties.

Only in part could these artists be associated with the neofolk (or rather pagan-folk) of acts like Ian Read's Fire + Ice, Changes, Blood Axis and Freya Aswynn (the latter a collaborator of Current 93 and of Sixth Comm/Mother Destruction). Here too, it's more a matter of shared themes tied to the use of runes and a shared interest in heathenry than a strictly stylistic or musical affiliation.

In truth, since their formation in the early 2000s, Wardruna have inspired a number of bands and projects, giving rise to what could be called the new Nordic Ritual Folk wave, a genre somewhat removed from that of more traditional folk bands such as Germany's Faun. Consider names like Draugurinn, Forndom, Heilung, Nytt Land, Osi and The Jupiter, Leidungr and Níundi, all of them indebted to the new style pioneered by the Norwegians.

The musicians who make up Wardruna come for the most part from the world of black metal. It all began in 2003, the brainchild of Einar Selvik, also known by his stage name Kvitrafn. Selvik had been the drummer for Gorgoroth from 2000 to 2004. The Bergen band had unsettled audiences with its gruesome performances involving impaled sheep's heads and mock crucifixions, embodying at the time one of the most satanic, extreme and violent approaches in black metal. There's also a very famous photo by Peter Beste portraying a chilling and iconic Kvitrafn walking the streets of Bergen in traditional "corpse paint" (years later Selvik would have another photo taken on the same street, but this time without makeup and with his son at his side). Besides Gorgoroth, during those years Selvik also explored territory close to the darkest corners of pagan/black metal with his projects Jotunspor and Det Hedenske Folk, giving an early outlet to his passion for the ancient Scandinavian sagas.

Once his black metal phase was over, Selvik was determined to strike out in new directions, finding his own personal style within Nordic folk. He thus founded Wardruna, bringing along former Gorgoroth singer Kristian Eivind Espedal, better known as Gaahl. The trio was completed by singer Lindy-Fay Hella, an artist little known at the time but who would soon become one of the genre's most captivating and distinctive female voices (in September 2019 she released "Seafarer", her solo album released on Ván Records).

In various interviews Selvik has given different answers regarding the meaning of the name Wardruna: "keeper of secrets", "the one who whispers" and "guardian of the runes". What is certain is that a veneer of mystery and esoteric fascination has always surrounded the project.

The trilogy of the runes

On January 19, 2009, the first album of the Runaljod trilogy was released, a term that in Old Norwegian means "Sound of the runes". The album was released on Indie Recordings and is titled Runaljod – Gap Var Ginnunga. The trilogy draws on the twenty-four runes of the ancient Futhark, the writing system used by the Germanic tribes. Each rune also carries magical and divinatory meanings, as well as being tied to the invocation of the gods. The debut album is devoted mainly to a set of eight runes (algiz, berkanan, dagaz, haglaz, jera, kauna, laguz and thurisaz).

Einar Selvik, who here still goes by Kvitrafn, is joined, besides Gaahl and Lindy Fay Hella on vocals, by folk musician Hallvard Kleiveland. The latter plays a hardingfele, a stringed instrument somewhat similar to a violin, belonging to the Norwegian folk tradition. All the other instruments are played by Selvik himself for the recording of the album, which took place both in the studio and outdoors, in "connection" with the various runes being used.

Ginnungagap literally means "the yawning void", the primordial void at the foundation of Norse cosmogony, mentioned in the Gylfaginning, the opening text of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, which tells of the birth and destruction of the gods. The whole album revolves around the theme of the birth of the "nine worlds" that make up Norse cosmogony, in particular the contrast between Niflheim, made entirely of eternal ice, and the world of searing fire, Muspellheim. According to the myth, the vapor arising between the two would fill the void, setting in motion the creation of the giants and the gods.

"Heimta Thurs" and the closing "Thurs" deploy a truly terrifying folk/dark-ambient, especially in their finales. Gaahl's shamanic voice on "Kauna" emerges subtly unsettling and hypnotic, paving the way for the devastating one-two punch of "Algir – Stien Klarnar" and "Algir – Togntale", where the language of silence shows us old paths through the darkest reaches of the forest.

In 2010 Wardruna performed inside the Vikingskipshuset på Bygdøy, the famous museum near Oslo that houses the original remains of Viking ships, cementing their connection to Norway's historical and cultural heritage.

The second part of the trilogy was released in 2013 and is entirely dedicated to Yggdrasil, an enormous tree which, according to Norse mythology, stands at the centre of the cosmos, uniting the Nine Worlds. As recounted in the Hávamál (a fundamental text of the Poetic Edda), Odin sacrificed himself by hanging from the tree of life in order to receive the gift of knowledge of the runes and the art of their divination. Runaljod – Yggdrasil was also originally released on Indie Recordings. On this work, the voices of Selvik, Gaahl and Hella find a fantastic balance, able to create mantras as dark as they are fascinating right from the opening track, that “Rotlaust Tre Fell” with its evocative choir and martial pace.

Here too, eight runes (ansuz, eihwaz, ehwaz, fehu, gyfu, ingwaz, naudiz and sowelu) were chosen to inspire the eleven tracks of the work. This album, too, was recorded outdoors and in Selvik's Fimbulljóð studio. The record also features contributions from Icelandic composer Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson and folk singer Steindór Andersen. The result is a work that captures all the magic of Scandinavian and Icelandic landscapes, carrying us off on a mystical, ritual journey into wild, unknown lands. In the tracks of Yggdrasil resounds the force of the storm, of the sea surging relentlessly against the cliffs.

Amid tribal suggestions evoking northern nights, forests and howls, the captivating “Fehu” stands out, where Hella's female voice especially comes to the fore. Another pivotal point of the album is the magnificent “Helvegen” (literally “the way to hell”), probably one of Wardruna's best-known tracks, which in its finale literally quotes verses from the Hàvamàl:

Deyr fé,

deyja frændr,

deyr sjalfr it sama,

ek veit einn,

at aldrei deyr:

dómr um dauðan hvern.

Cattle die,

Friends die,

So, too, must you die.

I know one,

That never dies;

Judgement of a dead man’s life

The track is able to evoke the ferocious battlefields where the Vikings slaughtered one another, eager to enter the halls of Valhalla, a place inhabited only by the most valorous warriors. Judgment, reputation and the honour of one's bloodline were the most important things to them. Everyone else was only granted the right to wander the realm of Hel, home of the dead, free from all earthly bonds and worries.

Yggdrasil is without doubt Wardruna's most famous record, helped also by the use, in 2014, of several tracks in the successful TV series “Vikings”, aired on the History network. Selvik himself appears as an actor in several episodes of the show and co-writes part of its music together with Trevor Morris.

Meanwhile their fame grows, and the band play extensive live tours across Europe and America, recruiting a variety of musicians along the way. During this period they also record a live version of "Helvegen" with Norwegian pop singer Aurora and appear on television broadcasts at Norway's Store Studio. Selvik also joins full orchestras to perform the "Vikings" soundtrack, and begins recording new, unreleased material with a philological approach rooted in the texts of the skalds.

In 2016 the first album credited to Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik, Skuggsjá (A Piece For Mind & Mirror), is also released, followed in 2018 by the new album, Hugsjá. We're in the territory of viking folk with prog overtones, which here blends well with the ritualistic sound of Wardruna. After all, what else should one expect from a collaboration with Bjørnson, guitarist of the legendary Enslaved? Both works are essential listening for anyone drawn to this kind of sound: they stand as a pure tribute to Norway's history and to its people's passion for seafaring. The duo also composed the music for the commemoration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the Norwegian constitution in 2014.

At this point, Gaahl will leave Wardruna to focus on other projects, going on to form his new black metal band, Gaahls Wyrd.

Runaljod – Ragnarok is released on 21 October 2016, the third and final album dedicated to the "sound of the runes". Having composed the music for a television series undoubtedly helped Wardruna reach a much wider audience than the one that typically listens to this kind of niche sound. It's no coincidence that the album shot to number one on the Billboard World Music Album Charts in the US and Canada. Many tour dates sold out, and extra dates had to be added.

The album revolves around the myth of Ragnarök, the final battle of light and order against darkness and chaos. In the end, Yggdrasil will be destroyed, but a new order and new gods will be reborn in a time that is cyclical, in the eternal return. It's a vision far removed from that of the Judeo-Christian apocalypse.

Musically, the fall of the gods is conveyed through the martial charge that opens "Tyr" (a track named after the Norse god of war and the rune tiwaz). Here the sound of horns (the Norwegian bukkehorn) calls warriors to the final battle. In "UruR" we hear samples of grazing animals, followed by a percussive mantra that tells of a tragic journey toward unknown places, a path to slaughter, right before the splendid "Isa", in which layered voices are joined by percussion made of ice recorded in Geilo, in the Norwegian mountains. The instrumental "MannaR – Drivande" and the choral "MannaR – Liv" close the first part of the record with an emotional intensity that builds over the notes of the klavik lira, another traditional Norwegian stringed instrument.

The second part opens with "Raido", a track also accompanied by a video showing Selvik riding a horse, likely a fjord breed, returning once again to the theme of the journey into the unknown, understood as a necessary step toward spiritual regeneration. It's in the track "Odal" that rebirth occurs: a choir of male, female and even children's voices lights up with hope a tradition and culture that cannot be erased or swept away. Odal (Ôþalan) is the rune of inheritance and prosperity, a symbol of the law and the new order that will be reborn from the chaos of Ragnarök. Finally, "Wunjo" and "Runaljod" close the record with a declaration of love for existence and creation, once the ashes have settled upon the earth.

Paradoxically, a concept album about the end of worlds and the most destructive war of all opens, in its finale, onto the hope of a new golden age, thus bringing the runic trilogy to a close.

A seer-skald for our time

After "Ragnarok", Einar Selvik returns in the guise of a skald, a poet of the ancient Scandinavian viking courts. Snake Pit Poetry is a 2017 release credited to him alone. It's a single dedicated to the death of Ragnar Lodbrok, the legendary hero also featured in the TV series "Vikings".

This time accompanying Selvik is the voice of Icelandic singer Hildur Örvarsdóttir. The song recounts Ragnar's gruesome death at the hands of King Ælla, ruler of the Kingdom of Northumbria. The king had the viking hero thrown into a pit full of snakes, and the lyrics give voice to Ragnar's last thoughts before he dies.

The EP serves as a prelude to Wardruna's new album.

With Skald, released in 2018 on By Norse, we're looking at a return of remarkable quality and poetic intensity. In a stark, solitary vision in which the skald takes on the role of shaman, Selvik's voice carries us into other, liminal worlds. Channelling an ancient oral tradition, partly transcribed in the Poetic Edda, he becomes the bard of that "seer's prophecy" which tells of the birth-and-death cycle of the nine worlds.

To make "Skald", Selvik used three traditional instruments tied to Scandinavian folklore: a kraviklyra, a Norwegian lyre dating back to the thirteenth century; a talharpa, a four-stringed bowed instrument; and a bukkehorn, a ram's horn repurposed as a wind instrument. The true star of the album, however, is the human voice, here capable of creating hypnotic atmospheres and literally throwing open the gates of Valhalla.

Here, with an almost ethno-musicological rigour, Selvik constructs a modern vision of skaldic chant that, compared to previous Wardruna albums, is certainly more faithful to tradition. The lyrics reveal the passion of truly meticulous research. In the title track, for instance, we find words dating back to the tenth century attributed to Bragi Boddason, the earliest known skald of whom written record survives. "Ein Sat hon uti" and "Voluspá" borrow passages from the seer's prophecy. "Ormagardskvedi" draws on the text of the saga of Ragnarr Loðbrók, while "Sonatorrek" is a poem dating back to the year 960, attributed to the Icelandic skald Egill Skallagrímsson.

Even when singing a cappella on "Sonatorrek", the Norwegian artist manages to convey all the fascination of a cultural heritage that today, more than ever, needs to be preserved and passed on to new generations, perhaps as an antidote to the decadence and vanity/vacuity of our times.

While we wait for their new album, Wardruna return with a brand new track, “Lyfjaberg (Healing-mountain)“, dedicated to the Norse myth of the sacred mountain where goddesses and valkyries wait. On the mountain of healing, a prominent place belongs to Eir, the goddess/valkyrie associated with medical skill. Lyfjaberg is released as a single by ByNorse on a limited-edition 12" white vinyl.

As Wardruna themselves have stated, “Climbing the mountain of healing is a journey for the mind and spirit as much as for the feet and body. Anything of true value comes at a real cost”. The video accompanying the track was shot mainly in the mountains of the island of Tustna, Norway, in early May, over three days of relentless snow.

The release of the new album Kvitravn (meaning "white raven"), originally scheduled for summer 2020, was pushed back to January 2021. The wait was long, but it was worth it. The album is yet another confirmation that Nordic Ritual Folk is alive and well. Einar Selvik's creation, the genre's leading exponent, arrives at its fifth full-length effort. This is a thoroughly accomplished work, capable of exploring an ever more complex and fascinating imagery, here tied in particular to ancient Nordic traditions rooted in an "animist" dimension. Having completed the trilogy devoted to the sound of the runes, and after delving into skaldic poetry and prose, Wardruna now turn their focus to a spiritual quest that views nature as a place of unity and healing, to be won back through hard work and dedication.

"Kvitravn", starting with its title track, draws on legends about sacred white animals found in Nordic cultures (and beyond). In animist traditions, these spectral creatures are seen as prophetic, as divine messengers and guardians representing renewal, purity and a bridge between worlds.

"Grá" (Grey), on the other hand, is a track dedicated to the figure of the wolf. The lyrics dwell on the ancient bond between animal and human being, seeking to confront and acknowledge the cost, the responsibility of being part of the whole. A video anticipating the album's release was also made for this track.

"Andvevarljod", previewed on the occasion of the 2020 winter solstice, features several traditional Norwegian singers - Kirsten Bråten Berg, Sigrid Berg, Unni Løvlid and Ingebjørg Reinholdt - who here lend support to Lindy-Fay Hella and Selvik. "The song of the spirit-weavers", as "Andvevarljod" might be translated, explores the Norse deities of fate (the Norns), the spinning of the threads of life, and the belief - shared by Norwegians and the Sami people alike - that a person's spirit is connected to the wind, both before and after birth. The lengthy track, running over ten minutes, serves as the seal on a work that confirms Wardruna's state of grace.

The sound of the runes rediscovered by Wardruna suggests to us that a certain ancient-rooted sensibility has always been there, perhaps hidden behind a thin veil. The skald bears witness to cyclical time within a cosmogony as complex as that of Norse mythology, which binds humankind to the gods and to the whole: the world tree with its thousand roots and branches.

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