Wardruna: Touring Europe with Music Rooted in Norse Mythology

Upon entering the venue, one couldn't help but notice the band's huge white logo on a red backlit background. It is bind runes that can be translated as the "guardian of the secret" or "she who whispers". This is also the ever-present feeling that Wardruna brings. Mystery, magic, something deeper that transcends us. Most of the brooding songs are written by Selvik, who also uses whispers in many of the songs. The band plays historical instruments such as the taglharpa, kravik-lyre, mora-harp, bukkehorns, lur, neverlur, mouth harp and various percussions. Still, they don't shy away from modern drums, samples and drones. The impression of being somewhere out in nature is so perfect also thanks to the bubbling water, the cawing raven, the howling wolf, the heartbeat, the clatter of bones.

Wardruna present their show as a ritual uninterrupted by any onstage talks between the songs, and in addition to absolutely mesmerizing music, they offer an outstanding visual show that is spare and rich at the same time. A textured fabric hanging behind and on the sides of the stage is used as a huge screen to project material related to the songs (feathers, a bear's fur), deep colours, or, on the contrary, an austere but effective black and white shadow play that creates a visual storyline by rapidly changing the lighting on each player. There is a tasteful stage set of grass, and other than that just instruments and an antler, a magical symbol, attached to a microphone onstage. It gives a natural and uncluttered feel.

Wardruna’s recent albums are named after animal guides, such as Kvitravn (white raven) or Birna (she-bear) from their upcoming album. It is just "Kvitravn" (white raven) that opens the concert with a projection of white feathers, drawing the audience into the ritual show with its cawing. The ostinato tagelharpa and the repetitive melodic theme work wonderfully. This is followed by "Hertan" (heart) bringing the rhythm of the heart and interestingly used mouth harp standing out. Selvik recites excitedly at the beginning and one can feel that he is not trying to play it. The fans duly appreciate the performance with thunderous applause.

The next song is "Skugge" (shadow) which uses the just mentioned shadow play to the max. Its incantation deals with “the balance between seeking answers and wisdom internally and externally“. In this piece, Hella is also dancing onstage which brings even more dynamics to the show. This is followed by "Solringen" (the ring of the sun) from the First Flight of the White Raven album, which brings one of the positive and warming moments on stage, as the animation creates a beautiful yellow-red circle of the rising sun to the sound of the heart touching flute. Everyone takes out their mobiles to take a picture.

The band play song after song, transferring strong energy onto their listeners, and when the sound and tension is already too much, Selvik is left alone on stage with "Voluspá" – the prophecy of Volva. It's a perfectly timed intimate moment in this top-notch show because he is an enchanter par excellence, a shaman who, perhaps thanks to the Proto-Norse language he masters, can hypnotise his audience to perfection. Only with his kravik-lyre on stage, his phenomenal voice stands out, with which he literally captivates the whole Forum Karlín.

For me, one of the highlights is "Isa" (ice, from Runaljod Ragnarok), accompanied by a deep blue colour projection with a cone of white light in which the singer Lindy-Fay Hella is standing. She is currently the only female member of the Norwegian band and also a co-writer of some of the music with Selvik. Her initially fragile, wailing-sounding singing gradually turns into a rich, throat vocal. The hypnotic music layer graduates to a stunning climax. Hella also gets her floor in a tribute to the wolf as a totem animal: the "Gra" (grey), of course with the wolf's howl in the background.

The band also revisits their earlier album Runaljod – Ragnarok (2016) in the impressive "Tyr" (God of War), which begins with two huge bronze lurs creating a magical spectacle, before being joined by shamanic drums. Several fans in the crowd catch on and during the applause reward the band by playing their own goat horns, which they brought into the music hall, one "to drink the beer from", the other "to play".

There's also a new song from the upcoming album, "Himinndotter" (Daughter of Heaven), which the band describe as "the search and call of our lost forest sister". The song is based on a strong melody and again begins with a simple lyre play. A multi-layered phenomenal gradation follows. Definitely a new hit.

There are dramatic rapid flashes of lights and a fire is lit onstage which hints at the finale of the evening. However, unlike the entire concert, Selvik starts talking and opens up to the audience with a message that for the band, "it's not like time travel, trying to be Vikings, trying to be someone else, but it's about taking something old and making something new out of it... whether it's back home in Norway, here or in South Africa, South America or the Far East, you can see that if you go back far enough, you'll find that there are more similarities than differences... this whole competition about who has the better culture is just pointless and has no meaning."

This is followed by the first encore "Helvegen" (Way to Hel) "a song about death, dying and remembering those who have gone”. It is not about hell, but Hel, a mysterious place where all the dead go. (Except for the warriors, who according to Viking tradition enter Valhalla.)

Listeners are also given homework by Selvik. "There are many things that we used to have, rich traditions that are now more or less gone. And one of them is the tradition of singing. There used to be songs for all sorts of occasions where people were born into this world, baking bread, cooking Pilsner (laughs)... Singing brings people together almost like nothing else. I sing a lot, but I'm guessing a lot of you don't. So everyone go home and sing."

The second encore and the very last piece of the evening is "Ormagardskvedi" or Snake Pit Poetry about the Viking king Ragnar, who was captured in northern England and thrown into a snake pit. The song is movingly sung by Selvik on his own playing the kravik-lyre. This particular song was also part of the soundtrack for the Vikings series. (After all, looking around, it feels a bit like being at the casting for the aforementioned Vikings.)

The audience in the sold-out venue gives a thunderous ovation, showing that Wardruna are "among their fellows". How deeply their fans are devoted shows a scene I spot in the crowd of a young man proposing to his girlfriend when "Ormagardskvedi" is played.  

The white raven flies away and a "she-bear emerges from the deep woods". In some cultures, "walking the bear trail" is what you are truly meant to do in life. Judging from these two teaser songs from the new album Birna, we have a lot to look forward to in January 2025.

Source: www.wardruna.com