From Folk with Love

[baleanoptera]

Förr skall hälleberget rämna såsom is
Förr skall solen borttappa sitt sken
Förr skall skogen bli förvandlad till en duva
Innan jag dig min vän överger

For the rocks will split and shatter just like ice,
And the sun in the heavens cease to shine,
And the forest will turn into a white dove,
Ere, my dear, you and I will parted be.

For applegnat who

Comments

[finnygan]

Ahh, thank you - I shall be downloading these right away, and I definitely don't think that I know all of these, so I'll look forward to hearing them. And you're absolutely right; Scandinavian folk songs, even the ones about love, tend to be just a little depressing (most of the very old Danish ones read like folk fairy tales, but very much sans happy ending). It's interesting to hear about the myths and legends from a bit further north - in Denmark, you can tell an elf, who lives in the "elverhøje" that they lured innocent men into, by the holes in their backs - because most of ours are associated with the heath, whereas I imagine that most of yours are associated with the mountains and forests.

Also, because I've been looking for a while now, and I just can't seem to find anything good - and you seem like you might be a good person to ask: you wouldn't happen to know of a good recorded version of 'Kringsat av fjender' (apologies if I didn't get the spelling right)?

[baleanoptera]

Scandinavian folk songs, even the ones about love, tend to be just a little depressing (most of the very old Danish ones read like folk fairy tales, but very much sans happy ending

Hee. Absolutely. For this post I also tried in vain to find the always cheerful "Olav og Kari" - where the hero, after being tricked by his mother, kills his wife. He is very sorry of course, and in a rather pasted on ending she is a good Christian and forgives him from the after life. For me that song pretty much sums up the love theme in the old folksongs. ;)

whereas I imagine that most of yours are associated with the mountains and forests.Yeah. The forests are ambivalent, and as long as you stay on the road things will be probably be okay. But once you step of the road and into the forest proper then things can turn pretty bad rather quickly

[baleanoptera]

Wha! Is it just the m4a tracks, or all of them? Because I seem to recall some previous problems with the m4a. I think sunnyskywalker showed me how to convert, so I'll see if I can dig up that again and try a new.

Because I feel like I'm keeping you away from dark, Viking'ish love songs, and that is just not on!

Btw - love the trippin', happenin' icon. 'tis new?

[alexandral]

Fantastic! I'll listen to them when I am at work - I like listening to the music in my working headphones but I must comment how much I like both "Garmarna" and "Gate" and all through your posts. I don't think I would have had a chance of "discovering" both these groups if not for your posts.

[baleanoptera]

Thank you! That's really nice to hear. I love especially Garmarna with a passion. I never get bored with their songs. Also joy-joy! I just recently found out that some of the members of Garmarna have another band, on the side so to speak. Its called Triakel - and I'm listening my way through them now.
(which I suppose means more music to come;) )

[baleanoptera]

You are very welcome! Always fun to meet new people with an interest in music - especially folk music which is one of my great loves.
(Probably influenced by Tolkien to be honest. All those long poems in LOTR must have had some effect. ;) My path to folk songs and medieval ballads started by being curious about what the Professor was inspired by.)

As for the translations to the Garmarna songs I must admit I snagged them from their website. If you like their songs I would wholeheartedly recommend it. They have samples of most of their songs, as well as lyrics with translation.

Lastly (and not to sound too self promoting) I have an older post about folksongs with werewolf themes here. The links are expired now, but if you were interested I could refresh them.

[applegnat]

I have been listening to these songs for the last two days on repeat! Irresistible stuff - Hilla Lilla gives me the shivers every time I put it on. I wish there was some way to express my extreme gratitude for this post of wonders. :)

[baleanoptera]

Hilla Lilla is such an awesome song! I love how it builds and builds, and how the singer sounds both confessing and extremely bitter.
And I am but a humble music pimp - your joy of the music is gratitude enough. Hee.