Werewolf music - and not howling either...
Sep. 7th, 2006 10:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baleanopteraAutumn has started to creep over us, an as it's my favorite season I feel like celebrating with some of my favorite songs.Simple logic -yeah? And to follow the path of logic - since autumn can be dark,let the songs be dark as well. Old medieval ballads - well, they can be pretty dark, and disturbing...
Very few of the old Scandinavian medieval ballads are about werewolves. Most tell of trolls, the usage of runes and every now and then a knight. Then again what the werewolf songs lack in quantity they regain in quality.
Garmarna: Varulven/The Werewolf
The lyrics are as following - in swedish first, and then the english translation from the Garmarna website:
Jungfrun hon skulle sig åt stugan gå
Linden darrar i lunden
Så tog hon den vägen åt skogen blå
Ty hon var vid älskogen bunden
Och när som hon kom till skogen blå
Där mötte henne en ulv så grå
Kära ulver du bit inte mig
Dig vill jag giva min silversärk
Silversärk jag passar ej på
Ditt unga liv och blod måst gå
Kära du ulver bit inte mig
Dig vill jag giva min silversko
Silversko jag passar ej på
Ditt unga liv och blod måst gå
Kära du ulver du bit inte mig
Dig vill jag giva min guldkrona
Guldkrona jag passar ej på
Ditt unga liv och blod måst gå
Jungfrun hon steg sig så högt i ek
Och ulven han gick ner på backen och skrek
Ulven han grafte den ek till rot
Jungfrun gav upp ett så hiskeligt rop
Och ungersven han sadlar sin gångare grå
Han red litet fortare än fågeln flög
Och när som han kom till platsen fram
Så fann han ej mer än en blodiger arm
Gud trösta Gud bättra mig ungersven
Linden darrar i lunden
Min jungfru är borta min häst är förränd
Ty hon var vid älskogen bunden
Translation:
The maiden she would to the cottage go
Linden trees quiver in the grove
So she took the path through the forest blue
She was carrying the fruit of love
And when she reached the forest blue
There she met with a gray wolf
O dear wolf please don't bite me
To you I will give my silver gown
The silver gown won't suit me at all
Your young life and your blood must go
O dear wolf please don't bite me
I will give you my silver shoes
Silver shoes won't suit me at all
Your young life and your blood must go
O dear wolf please don't bite me
I will give you my golden crown
A golden crown won't suit me at all
Your young life and your blood must go
The maiden she climbed up high in an oak
The wolf he paced the ground and howled
The wolf dug up the oak by the roots
The maiden gave a heart-rending cry
The young page saddled his gray steed
He rode slightly faster than a bird could fly
And when he came to the wooded place
He found nothing more than a bloody arm
God comfort, God improve me, young page
Linden trees quiver in the grove
My maiden is gone, my horse is dead
She was carrying the fruit of love
The story seems rather straight forward; a girl alone in the woods gets eaten by the wolf, but the circumstances might be a little bit more complex.
Firstly –the line about the linden trees quivering in the grove. The Linden is in Nordic folklore a symbol of family, and the quivering linden trees give the impression that something is threatening the family. Secondly the expression of being “taken by the wolf” was sometimes used as a euphemism for loosing once virginity. Then there is the last line in each verse “She was carrying the fruit of love” – this seems to indicate that the maiden is pregnant. In swedish this line is slightly more ambiguous and could also be translated as “she was by love bound”. When Garmarna have chosen to translate it as carrying the fruit of love it’s probably based on the lore that Scandinavian werewolves were particularly dangerous to pregnant women. The next song is a good example of this danger.
Garmarna: Vedergällningen/vengeance
This is perhaps one of the creepiest songs I know. The first time I heard the song it was playing in the background, and I wasn’t paying any attention to the lyrics until the last verse. But then I sat up and said: “What!?”
Jag blev född förr än tuppen gol
-Mina stigar de ligga så vida
Min moder blev död innan upp rann sol
-Själv måste hon sorgen förbida
Min fader drager så vitt om land
Så ond en styvmoder han på fann
Först skapte hon mig i nåler
och sade jag skulle tråna
Så skapte hon mig i kniver
och sade jag skulle icke trivas
Så skapte hon mig i saxer
och sade jag skulle icke växa
Så skapte hon mig i ulven grå
och sade jag skulle åt skogen gå
Hon sade jag skulle ej få bot
Förrän jag druckit min broders blod
Så lade jag mig under lida där
styvmodern min skulle framrida
Så lade jag mig under spånge
Där min styvmoder skulle framgånga
Där tager jag till med mäste
Min styvmoder utav häste
Så tog jag till med harme
hennes foster ur hennes barme
När jag hade druckit min broders blod
Så blev jag en riddare bold och god
Translation:
Before the cock crew I was born
- Far are the paths that I follow -
My mother was dead before the dawn
- Long, long she awaited her sorrow
- My father travelled the country round,
An ill stepmother to me he found.
Into a needle she conjured me
And said that longing would torture me
And then she turned me into a knife
And said I would suffer all my life.
She turned me into a pair of shears
And said I'd be stunted all my years.
A grey wolf then she made of me,
And said no good would come of me.
Under this curse I was to suffer
Till I drank the blood of my own brother.
So then I lay in hiding
Till my stepmother came riding.
By the bridgehead I lay watching
Till I saw her horse approaching.
And as she passed I caught her
And down from her horse I brought her.
In vengeance cruel and bloody
I took the child from her body.
And when I had drunk my brother's blood,
I became a knight, gallant and good.
Translation by Alistar Cochrane
The werebeast (be they wolf or bear) are dangerous to pregnant women, since they can steal the life of the unborn and take back their human form – just like the protagonist of this song.The other way to beat the werewolf curse was to have somebody recognize you and call your name. Oddly enough I know no songs about that scenario – perhaps the blood drinking just made for a better story?
Very few of the old Scandinavian medieval ballads are about werewolves. Most tell of trolls, the usage of runes and every now and then a knight. Then again what the werewolf songs lack in quantity they regain in quality.
Garmarna: Varulven/The Werewolf
The lyrics are as following - in swedish first, and then the english translation from the Garmarna website:
Jungfrun hon skulle sig åt stugan gå
Linden darrar i lunden
Så tog hon den vägen åt skogen blå
Ty hon var vid älskogen bunden
Och när som hon kom till skogen blå
Där mötte henne en ulv så grå
Kära ulver du bit inte mig
Dig vill jag giva min silversärk
Silversärk jag passar ej på
Ditt unga liv och blod måst gå
Kära du ulver bit inte mig
Dig vill jag giva min silversko
Silversko jag passar ej på
Ditt unga liv och blod måst gå
Kära du ulver du bit inte mig
Dig vill jag giva min guldkrona
Guldkrona jag passar ej på
Ditt unga liv och blod måst gå
Jungfrun hon steg sig så högt i ek
Och ulven han gick ner på backen och skrek
Ulven han grafte den ek till rot
Jungfrun gav upp ett så hiskeligt rop
Och ungersven han sadlar sin gångare grå
Han red litet fortare än fågeln flög
Och när som han kom till platsen fram
Så fann han ej mer än en blodiger arm
Gud trösta Gud bättra mig ungersven
Linden darrar i lunden
Min jungfru är borta min häst är förränd
Ty hon var vid älskogen bunden
Translation:
The maiden she would to the cottage go
Linden trees quiver in the grove
So she took the path through the forest blue
She was carrying the fruit of love
And when she reached the forest blue
There she met with a gray wolf
O dear wolf please don't bite me
To you I will give my silver gown
The silver gown won't suit me at all
Your young life and your blood must go
O dear wolf please don't bite me
I will give you my silver shoes
Silver shoes won't suit me at all
Your young life and your blood must go
O dear wolf please don't bite me
I will give you my golden crown
A golden crown won't suit me at all
Your young life and your blood must go
The maiden she climbed up high in an oak
The wolf he paced the ground and howled
The wolf dug up the oak by the roots
The maiden gave a heart-rending cry
The young page saddled his gray steed
He rode slightly faster than a bird could fly
And when he came to the wooded place
He found nothing more than a bloody arm
God comfort, God improve me, young page
Linden trees quiver in the grove
My maiden is gone, my horse is dead
She was carrying the fruit of love
The story seems rather straight forward; a girl alone in the woods gets eaten by the wolf, but the circumstances might be a little bit more complex.
Firstly –the line about the linden trees quivering in the grove. The Linden is in Nordic folklore a symbol of family, and the quivering linden trees give the impression that something is threatening the family. Secondly the expression of being “taken by the wolf” was sometimes used as a euphemism for loosing once virginity. Then there is the last line in each verse “She was carrying the fruit of love” – this seems to indicate that the maiden is pregnant. In swedish this line is slightly more ambiguous and could also be translated as “she was by love bound”. When Garmarna have chosen to translate it as carrying the fruit of love it’s probably based on the lore that Scandinavian werewolves were particularly dangerous to pregnant women. The next song is a good example of this danger.
Garmarna: Vedergällningen/vengeance
This is perhaps one of the creepiest songs I know. The first time I heard the song it was playing in the background, and I wasn’t paying any attention to the lyrics until the last verse. But then I sat up and said: “What!?”
Jag blev född förr än tuppen gol
-Mina stigar de ligga så vida
Min moder blev död innan upp rann sol
-Själv måste hon sorgen förbida
Min fader drager så vitt om land
Så ond en styvmoder han på fann
Först skapte hon mig i nåler
och sade jag skulle tråna
Så skapte hon mig i kniver
och sade jag skulle icke trivas
Så skapte hon mig i saxer
och sade jag skulle icke växa
Så skapte hon mig i ulven grå
och sade jag skulle åt skogen gå
Hon sade jag skulle ej få bot
Förrän jag druckit min broders blod
Så lade jag mig under lida där
styvmodern min skulle framrida
Så lade jag mig under spånge
Där min styvmoder skulle framgånga
Där tager jag till med mäste
Min styvmoder utav häste
Så tog jag till med harme
hennes foster ur hennes barme
När jag hade druckit min broders blod
Så blev jag en riddare bold och god
Translation:
Before the cock crew I was born
- Far are the paths that I follow -
My mother was dead before the dawn
- Long, long she awaited her sorrow
- My father travelled the country round,
An ill stepmother to me he found.
Into a needle she conjured me
And said that longing would torture me
And then she turned me into a knife
And said I would suffer all my life.
She turned me into a pair of shears
And said I'd be stunted all my years.
A grey wolf then she made of me,
And said no good would come of me.
Under this curse I was to suffer
Till I drank the blood of my own brother.
So then I lay in hiding
Till my stepmother came riding.
By the bridgehead I lay watching
Till I saw her horse approaching.
And as she passed I caught her
And down from her horse I brought her.
In vengeance cruel and bloody
I took the child from her body.
And when I had drunk my brother's blood,
I became a knight, gallant and good.
Translation by Alistar Cochrane
The werebeast (be they wolf or bear) are dangerous to pregnant women, since they can steal the life of the unborn and take back their human form – just like the protagonist of this song.The other way to beat the werewolf curse was to have somebody recognize you and call your name. Oddly enough I know no songs about that scenario – perhaps the blood drinking just made for a better story?
