Harald Hardrada (Metal Version) | Old Norse Viking Metal | The Skaldic Bard
Оригинал: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhaDreKCU0o Here’s a project which I’m excited to share with you, namely my song Harald Hardrada adapted into a metal version. The events are based on Snorri Sturluson’s account in his Saga of Harald Hardrada. Music, lyrics and performance by The Skaldic Bard. As ever, this song is NOT AI-generated and NOR ARE the lyrics or performance. Metal has always been my favourite genre of music, and many of my songs are written in my own interpretation of a metal-adjacent style as a result. I’ve been wanting to adapt some of them into actual metal songs, and I thought what better place to start than with the chad Harald Hardrada himself. I’ve written new lyrics/adapted existing lyrics to ensure an AABB rhyme scheme throughout the verses, with some alliteration throughout. As the original Harald Hardrada was one of the first songs I wrote, I was a little too relaxed with regards to word stress, so I’ve remedied that with the new lyrics. I also rearranged the structure of the song to make it more fitting for a metal adaptation. As I’ve mentioned before, Hardrada is probably my favourite Norwegian king and one of my all-time favourite historical figures. He achieved and did more in his 50 years than most people could only dream of doing in several lifetimes. For the purposes of the song, I’ve picked out some of the highlights of his life as told in the saga. He fought with his half-brother St Olaf II at Stiklestad aged only 15, then soon after went east to the Rus and Constantinople and quickly became the chief of the Varangian Guard. In this role, he fought many wars (too many to include in one song), but his mightiest achievements in this role were probably against the Bulgarian uprisings (which is how he gained the name “Bulgar Burner”!). He then fought the Saracens in the Middle East and Africa, visited all the Holy Sites in Palestine, became the joint and then sole King of Norway, and beat back the Danes and Swedes. He was also an extremely skilled skald. Then, if all that wasn’t enough, he tried his hand at invading England with Harold Godwinson’s treacherous brother, Tostig. He was famously killed early in the battle by an arrow to the windpipe. I thought I’d try something new with this, so I hope you enjoy it. Please subscribe if you’d like to see more! Art: Pic 1 - Harald Hardrada stained glass window (Kirkwall Cathedral), superimposed onto a 500 Greek drachma banknote from 1923. Pic 2 - A Viking in a helmet with a shield and an axe[…] by Marin Iurii, via Adobe, blended with The Viking Sea Raiders by Albert Goodwin. Pic 3 - Hardanger Fjord by August Wilhelm Leu, blended with Peter Nicolai Arbo’s Battle of Stamford Bridge Pic 4 - D. Maclise’s Death of Tostig alongside Peter Nicolai Arbo’s Battle of Stamford. Lyrics: Verse 1 Kom ek í eldsheim, er hratt heitum heleim. Frá ǿsku em’k í hildi sem snær á fjallatindi. Á leitum fjǫllangs tírar, er tína munu fírar, ek fíkinn fór í Hólmgarð en þá í mæran Miklagarð. Dróttningar kom ek á fund ok sór þess at verja þá grund. Þýddusk þá til mín Væringjar ok kusu þeir mik til Hǫfðingja. Heill, Haraldr Harðráði! Mikli norðmannakonungr! Verndari var hann Miklagarðs, yfir Væringjum hǫfðingi! Berserkr var hann í bardaga, skáld fyrir máttigum dróttnum, hertogi fyrir mǫnnum sínum, Norðmanna allra inn mesti! Víða um Jórsalahaf stálhyrnum mjǫk ljómaði af. Væringjar vágu til landa á fróni Serkja ok sanda. Sigldum vér til Sikileyjar vér alskjaldaðir Væringjar. Grið þeim, er beiddu, ek gaf þá vér létum aptr með prís í haf. En á oss heitir Mikjáll Ek eið minn efna skal. Í ǫndurða fylking berjumk, því Bolgara Brennir kǫllumk! Yfir unnir, er svelgja, vér fórum í land it helga. Þar borgir eru mér gefnar ok vér friðum veginn til Jórdanar. Vér laugum í á þeirri, ok smyrjum oss með því leiri, er helgaði Kristr inn hvíti, svát frjálsimsk frá helvíti. En nú mik fýsir heim. Þykkir okkr konungum tveim verr, at Danmǫrk eignisk Sveinn. Konungar tveir slá sem einn. Geisuðu víg um landit ok mikit var þar grandit. Svát lukt væri bróðurbana ek samda sátt við Dana. Hákon reisti í Svíþjóð ófrið, er var veikr ok móðr. Á England kem ek nú eldi ok mun endrskapa Knúts veldi. Guðinason steig til ríkis. Ek ok Tósti bróðursviki um Vestrlǫnd her saman drǫgum við Skarðaborg sigr hǫfum! Menn Haralds með beitta branda við Stanforðabryggjur standa. Þeir berja skjǫldu ok ǿpa, ek fylki í skjaldborg skipa. Enskir menn ríða hart fram, berserksgang geng ek algramr. ok rinn í mesta vápnaburðinn Harðráði var ǫru lostinn. Heill, Haraldr Harðráði, mikli norðmannakonungr! Verndari var hann Miklagarðs, yfir Væringjum Hǫfðingi! Berserkr var hann í bardaga Skáld fyrir máttigum dróttnum Hertogi fyrir mǫnnum sínum Norðmanna allra inn mesti Follow me on Spotify (The Skaldic Bard).
Оригинал: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhaDreKCU0o Here’s a project which I’m excited to share with you, namely my song Harald Hardrada adapted into a metal version. The events are based on Snorri Sturluson’s account in his Saga of Harald Hardrada. Music, lyrics and performance by The Skaldic Bard. As ever, this song is NOT AI-generated and NOR ARE the lyrics or performance. Metal has always been my favourite genre of music, and many of my songs are written in my own interpretation of a metal-adjacent style as a result. I’ve been wanting to adapt some of them into actual metal songs, and I thought what better place to start than with the chad Harald Hardrada himself. I’ve written new lyrics/adapted existing lyrics to ensure an AABB rhyme scheme throughout the verses, with some alliteration throughout. As the original Harald Hardrada was one of the first songs I wrote, I was a little too relaxed with regards to word stress, so I’ve remedied that with the new lyrics. I also rearranged the structure of the song to make it more fitting for a metal adaptation. As I’ve mentioned before, Hardrada is probably my favourite Norwegian king and one of my all-time favourite historical figures. He achieved and did more in his 50 years than most people could only dream of doing in several lifetimes. For the purposes of the song, I’ve picked out some of the highlights of his life as told in the saga. He fought with his half-brother St Olaf II at Stiklestad aged only 15, then soon after went east to the Rus and Constantinople and quickly became the chief of the Varangian Guard. In this role, he fought many wars (too many to include in one song), but his mightiest achievements in this role were probably against the Bulgarian uprisings (which is how he gained the name “Bulgar Burner”!). He then fought the Saracens in the Middle East and Africa, visited all the Holy Sites in Palestine, became the joint and then sole King of Norway, and beat back the Danes and Swedes. He was also an extremely skilled skald. Then, if all that wasn’t enough, he tried his hand at invading England with Harold Godwinson’s treacherous brother, Tostig. He was famously killed early in the battle by an arrow to the windpipe. I thought I’d try something new with this, so I hope you enjoy it. Please subscribe if you’d like to see more! Art: Pic 1 - Harald Hardrada stained glass window (Kirkwall Cathedral), superimposed onto a 500 Greek drachma banknote from 1923. Pic 2 - A Viking in a helmet with a shield and an axe[…] by Marin Iurii, via Adobe, blended with The Viking Sea Raiders by Albert Goodwin. Pic 3 - Hardanger Fjord by August Wilhelm Leu, blended with Peter Nicolai Arbo’s Battle of Stamford Bridge Pic 4 - D. Maclise’s Death of Tostig alongside Peter Nicolai Arbo’s Battle of Stamford. Lyrics: Verse 1 Kom ek í eldsheim, er hratt heitum heleim. Frá ǿsku em’k í hildi sem snær á fjallatindi. Á leitum fjǫllangs tírar, er tína munu fírar, ek fíkinn fór í Hólmgarð en þá í mæran Miklagarð. Dróttningar kom ek á fund ok sór þess at verja þá grund. Þýddusk þá til mín Væringjar ok kusu þeir mik til Hǫfðingja. Heill, Haraldr Harðráði! Mikli norðmannakonungr! Verndari var hann Miklagarðs, yfir Væringjum hǫfðingi! Berserkr var hann í bardaga, skáld fyrir máttigum dróttnum, hertogi fyrir mǫnnum sínum, Norðmanna allra inn mesti! Víða um Jórsalahaf stálhyrnum mjǫk ljómaði af. Væringjar vágu til landa á fróni Serkja ok sanda. Sigldum vér til Sikileyjar vér alskjaldaðir Væringjar. Grið þeim, er beiddu, ek gaf þá vér létum aptr með prís í haf. En á oss heitir Mikjáll Ek eið minn efna skal. Í ǫndurða fylking berjumk, því Bolgara Brennir kǫllumk! Yfir unnir, er svelgja, vér fórum í land it helga. Þar borgir eru mér gefnar ok vér friðum veginn til Jórdanar. Vér laugum í á þeirri, ok smyrjum oss með því leiri, er helgaði Kristr inn hvíti, svát frjálsimsk frá helvíti. En nú mik fýsir heim. Þykkir okkr konungum tveim verr, at Danmǫrk eignisk Sveinn. Konungar tveir slá sem einn. Geisuðu víg um landit ok mikit var þar grandit. Svát lukt væri bróðurbana ek samda sátt við Dana. Hákon reisti í Svíþjóð ófrið, er var veikr ok móðr. Á England kem ek nú eldi ok mun endrskapa Knúts veldi. Guðinason steig til ríkis. Ek ok Tósti bróðursviki um Vestrlǫnd her saman drǫgum við Skarðaborg sigr hǫfum! Menn Haralds með beitta branda við Stanforðabryggjur standa. Þeir berja skjǫldu ok ǿpa, ek fylki í skjaldborg skipa. Enskir menn ríða hart fram, berserksgang geng ek algramr. ok rinn í mesta vápnaburðinn Harðráði var ǫru lostinn. Heill, Haraldr Harðráði, mikli norðmannakonungr! Verndari var hann Miklagarðs, yfir Væringjum Hǫfðingi! Berserkr var hann í bardaga Skáld fyrir máttigum dróttnum Hertogi fyrir mǫnnum sínum Norðmanna allra inn mesti Follow me on Spotify (The Skaldic Bard).