''Runaljod – Yggdrasil'' (''The Sound of Runes - Yggdrasil'') is the second album by Norwegian Nordic folk musical project

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 ...

, released 15 March 2013 by Indie Recordings/Fimbulljóð Productions. It is an interpretation of the

Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark, ), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Per ...

and is sung in Norwegian,

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 ...

and

Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic; Danish and ; ; ; ) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic in the first centuries CE. It is the earliest stage of a c ...

. The lyrics center on Norse spiritual themes.

Lyrical content and themes

The title of the opening song, "Rotlaust Tre Fell", meaning "a rootless tree falls", is based on the philosophy of the band. The song is an invocation of the Allfather Odin and "my mother

Frigg Frigg (; Old Norse: ) is a goddess, one of the Æsir, in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about her, she is associated with marriage, prophecy, clairvoyance and motherhood, and dwells in the wetl ...

" and "wise

Vanir In Norse mythology, the Vanir (; Old Norse:, singular Vanr) are a group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future. The Vanir are one of two groups of gods (the other being the Æsir) and are the namesake of the ...

", "ancient Thurs" and the Norns. "Rotlaust Tre Fell" was used in the third season of ''Vikings'' during preparation for an attack on

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. "Fehu", which was used in the first season of TV series ''

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

'' during a raiding scene, tells of the dangers of gold and wealth and how greed takes over the hearts of men. The final track, "Helvegen" ("the Road to Hel") is essentially a funeral song. The song (and album) closes with the famous stanza from '' Hávamál'': "Cattle die, kinsmen die, You yourself will also die, but the word about you will never die, if you win a good reputation. Cattle die, kinsmen die, You yourself will also die, I know one that never dies: the judgement of those who died". "Helvegen" was used in the second season of ''Vikings'' while Ragnar and his men prepare to sail again to

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

and in the fifth season when Ubbe is gravely injured in a fight in Wessex and has a religious epiphany. The song has also been used satirically in Norwegian comedy series

Norsemen The Norsemen (or Northmen) were a cultural group in the Early Middle Ages, originating among speakers of Old Norse in Scandinavia. During the late eighth century, Scandinavians embarked on a Viking expansion, large-scale expansion in all direc ...

Track listing

Personnel

* Einar Kvitrafn Selvik – vocals and instruments *

Gaahl Kristian Eivind Espedal (born 7 August 1975), better known by his stage name Gaahl, is a Norwegian vocalist. He is best known as the former frontman of Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. He is also the founder and lead vocalist of Trelldom an ...

– vocals *

Lindy-Fay Hella Lindy-Fay Hella (born in 1975) is a Norwegian singer, musician and composer, known as a member of Wardruna and Lindy-Fay Hella & Dei Farne. She played electronic music before becoming a founding member of Wardruna, which plays eclectic music influ ...

– vocals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Runaljod - Yggdrasil 2013 albums Wardruna albums