Forndom is the stage name of

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

and Nordic folk

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Ludvig Swärd. He has released four albums: 2024's ''Moþir'', 2020's ''Faþir'', 2016's ''Dauðra Dura'', and 2015's ''Flykt''. The name Forndom is a combination of the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

word , meaning "of old", and the modern

word , which means "ancient". Forndom's sound has been compared to that of

Wardruna Wardruna is a Norwegian music group formed in 2003 by Einar Selvik along with Gaahl and Lindy-Fay Hella. They create musical renditions of Norse cultural and esoteric traditions and make significant use of Nordic historical and traditional instr ...

, as well as other bands in the Nordic folk scene.

History and Music

Prior to starting Forndom, Swärd ran an amateur photography blog on the social media platform

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. His first release, ''Flykt,'' was made to be an accompaniment to his photos. This first album was recorded entirely using virtual instruments through a DAW. However, Forndom's next release ''Dauðra Dura'' was recorded with real instrumentation played by Swärd. These included traditional Norse instruments such as the

Tagelharpa The talharpa, also known as a tagelharpa (tail-hair harp), hiiu kannel (originally hiiurootsi (which meant Vormsi island located on the halfway to Hiiumaa) Kannel (instrument), kannel) or stråkharpa (bowed harp), is a two to four stringed bowed ...

, the Näverlur and a Vevlira (or Hurdy-Gurdy). ''Dauðra Dura,'' meaning ''Doors of Death'' in Old Norse, was released via the record label Nordvis (also home to progressive

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

band

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) in 2016. Reviewers called it a 'mesmerisingly dark aural adventure', 'a strong addition to the Nordic folk musical landscape' and 'musically compelling'. Forndom's next album ''Faþir'' was released on April 3, 2020, also via the Nordvis label. Early reviewers praised the 'intensity of feeling' and noted the 'deeply sacred dimension' to the music. Forth album - ''Moþir'' - was released December 6, 2024 via Nordvis.https://nordvis.com/vinyl-c-24/forndom-mothir-lp-gatefold-black-p-1605

References

{{Authority control Nordic folk musicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Swedish folk musicians