Frogtoon Music

Gap Var Ginnunga (Album) by Wardruna

Artist Biography For Wardruna

Wardruna Is A Norwegian Music Group Founded By Einar Kvitrafn Selvik. In 2009 Wardruna Enchanted Their Listeners With Their Mesmerizing Debut Album ‘gap Var Ginnunga’ Which Also Was The First Part Of A Planned Trilogy. In The Ensuing Years The Group Have Spent A Lot Of Time On Adapting Their Music To A Live Format And Establishing A Live Band. This Resulting In A Handful Of Very Special Concerts Perhaps Most Notably When They Performed In Front Of The Majestic 1100-Year-Old Gokstad Ship At The Viking Ship Museum In Norway. With The Use Of The Oldest Of Nordic Instruments And Poetic Metres As Well As Lyrics Written In Norwegian Old Norse And Proto-Norse Tongue Wardruna Is Now After Nearly Three Years In The Making Finally Ready To Return With The Second Album In The ‘Runaljod’ Trilogy Entitled ‘Yggdrasil’. Multi-Instrumentalist And Songwriter Einar Kvitrafn Selvik Has Together With Vocalists Kristian Espedal Aka Gaahl And Lindy-Fay Hella Managed To Make ​​a Strikingly Beautiful And Intense Continuation Of What Was Started With Their First Album But Without Falling Into The Trap Of Merely Repeating Themselves. ‘Yggdrasil’ Is Also Graced With Guest Appearances By Renowned Icelandic Composer Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson And Iceland’s Leading Rímur Singer Steindór Andersen. The Ongoing ‘Runaljod’ Trilogy Is A Musical Rendition Of The 24 Runes In What Is Often Referred To As The Elder Futhark. Some Of The Recordings Are Done Outdoors In Places Or Under Circumstances Of Significance To Each Rune. Wardruna Primarily Use Old And Historical Instruments Such As Primitive Deer-Hide Frame Drums Kraviklyra Tagelharpe Mouth Harp Goat Horn Lur And More. Non-Traditional Instruments And Other Sources Of Sound Like Trees Rocks Water And Torches Are Also Used. All Of These Elements Are Carefully Woven Into A Rich Musical Landscape And Complemented With Whispering Voices Melodic Song And Mighty Choirs. Although Wardruna’s Music Share Characteristics With Music Typically Labeled As Folk World And/or Ambient None Of These Genres Can Really Describe Their Unique Style. It Truly Must Be Experienced.

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Frogtoon Music Album Info: Gap Var Ginnunga

RUNES Ever Since The First Runemasters Started To Carve Their ‘charged’ Signs Thousands Of Years Ago The Runes Has Had A Strong Symbolic Value And Has Also Gone Hand In Hand With Knowledge And Insights Of Some Sort Often Esoteric. Besides Being A Writing System The Norse Mythology Speaks Of The Runes As Knowledge Of Divine Origin – Reginkunnr. In Hávamál Odin – The God Of Wisdom – Tells How He Sacrificed Himself To Himself Hung From The World Tree Yggdrasil While Pierced By His Own Spear Gungnir For Nine Whole Nights. In This Death-Transcending State Of Mind At One With The Great Gap Ginnungagap He Found The Runes And Learned Their Meanings. According To The Mythology Odin Shared His Knowledge To Both Gods And Humans And Thus The Runes Came To Our Ancestors Use. RECOMMENDED LITERATURE Hávamál And Sigrdrífumál Edda .
The Norwegian Icelandic And Anglo-Saxon Rune Poems. RUNALJOD After Many Years Of Working With And Studying Runes And The Ancient And Ever Young Norse Pagan Beliefs The Need For Me To Do A Musical Project Like Wardruna Became Inevitable. In Early 2003 I Began Doing The First Recordings. From Then On The Concept And Methods Has Slowly Evolved And Fallen Into Place. Wardruna Search In The Scattered Ruins Of Norse History And Use The Runes As A Tool To Understand And Evoke The Depths Of The Old Nordic Pagan Beliefs. Musically The Main Focus Is On Recreating The Norse Cultic Musical Language And The Near Forgotten Arts Of Galder And Seidr As Well As The Daily Acts Of Life. This Is Mixed With Impulses From Norwegian/Nordic Folk Music And Music From Other Indigenous Cultures. Runaljod – Gap Var Ginnunga Is The First Part In The Runaljod Trilogy. Each Album Features Eight Runes Of The Elder Futhark But Not In Accordance With The Order Of The Three Aettirs Families Which Is Most Common When Working With This Futhark. Many Of The Recordings Have Taken Place Outdoors At Locations Relevant To The Different Runes. We Have Primarily Used Old Historical Instruments Such As Self-Made Frame Drums And Ceremonial Drums Mouth Harp Tagelharpe ‘viking Fiddle’ Flutes Goat Horns Tongue Horns And Hardanger Fiddle. Also More Unconventional Inputs Like Trees Stones Bones Water Fire Etc. Are Employed To Enhance The Nature Of The Rune Being ‘portrayed’. Keeping In Mind That There Will Always Be A Certain Room For Disagreement And Discussion When Working With The Runes I Would Like To Emphasize That In My Songs It Is Not Necessarily A Goal For Me To Approach The Respective Rune From Every Conceivable Angle Nor To Unravel All The Different Aspects Of It. My Approach Is Both Of Runologic And Mystic Nature But I Concentrate On The Core Of Each Rune And The Qualities That Serve The Whole Concept And Purpose Of Wardruna Best Sowing New Seeds And Strengthening Old Roots! Einar Kvitrafn