2025, DistroKid. All rights reserved Ásatrú Records. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~↓ Youtube ↓~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ https://www.youtube.com/@Alextheviking ~~~~~~~~~~~~~↓ Explanation ↓~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This piece is, for me, an ancient invocation, a ritual hymn to the Sónargǫltr, the sacrificial boar once offered to the gods in midwinter. I didn’t want it to speak of violence or feasting, but of the sacred exchange between life, death, and renewal. It begins with a slow, tribal chant, low voices and steady drums echoing like the pulse of the earth. I wanted the rhythm to feel heavy and alive, like a heart beating beneath frost and fire. Each verse is meant to sound like breath meeting flame: the breath of man, the spirit of the animal, and the silence of the gods above. In the chorus, I envisioned a communal chant, a call and response carrying both joy and mourning. I wanted it to sound like something sung around fire and stone, voices rising and blending with smoke and wind. The female choir’s ethereal harmonies drift like ancient spirits through the cold air, bringing grace and sorrow in equal measure. The bridge softens, warmth, mead, the murmur of friends, and the unspoken bond between men and beast. Through the lyrics, I tried to express that sacrifice is not cruelty, but communion: “we eat his strength, we drink his spirit.” In that moment, the night becomes sacred, bound by oath, memory, and gratitude. By the end, the fire fades. Laughter turns to silence, yet the song remains, carried by the wind, rooted in the soil. The blood of the boar, both literal and symbolic, nourishes the world once more. With this piece, I wanted to create a ritual of remembrance, a hymn to the eternal cycle of offering and rebirth, primal and solemn, beautiful in its brutality. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~↓ Lyrics (Old Norse) ↓~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hold hans syður, andi dansar, í feiti ok eldi saman... ok sǫngvar várrar rísa, þungir af þǫkk, til himins, er eigi svarar... Sónargǫltr, drekk með oss! (Hey!) Sónargǫltr, blóð þitt lifir! Sónargǫltr, bróðir skógarins, (Hey!) dauði þinn er máttur vár! Sónargǫltr, drekk með oss! (Hey!) Sónargǫltr, blóð þitt lifir! Sónargǫltr, bróðir skógarins, (Hey!) dauði þinn er máttur vár! Kvén hellr hunang, menn slá borð, ok börn sofa við veggi... Hver dropi vinar er eiðr, hver bitr hold, loforð haldit... Vér etum afl hans, drekkr hug hans... ok á morgin, er vindr bít bein várr, muna vér þessa nótt, er goð smakkaði blóð galtsins... Sónargǫltr, drekk með oss! (Hey!) Sónargǫltr, blóð þitt lifir! Sónargǫltr, bróðir skógarins, (Hey!) dauði þinn er máttur vár! Sónargǫltr, drekk með oss! (Hey!) Sónargǫltr, blóð þitt lifir! Sónargǫltr, bróðir skógarins, (Hey!) dauði þinn er máttur vár! Eldr dofnar, feiti reykir, hlátr deyr í øsku... En jǫrð man, ok vindr ber sǫng várr... Því blóð galtsins nærir enn rœtr heimsins...
