“`Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English); `now I’m opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!’ (for when she looked down at her feet, they seemed to be almost out of sight, they were getting so far off).”
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 2, by Lewis Carroll
Like curious people everywhere…
I am, like “Alice” in Lewis Carroll’s story, a curious person. I am inquisitive. This penchant for prying leads me down interesting rabbit holes. All the songs on my newest album, “Divan”, are based on ancient texts and documents that range in age from 24th century BCE, to Tudor England. With each song, I ended up reading, taking apart, and translating all sorts of weird manuscripts and records, since I wanted to rewrite some of those documents as lyrics. Every time, I ended up falling down a rabbit hole and spending too much time trying to make sense of the syntax and semantics of these texts.
First up: “The Last Poem of Guthrun”
“The First Poem of Guthrun” (“Guthrunarkvitha I [one]”) is an Icelandic narrative poem that was written in Old Norse, around the year 1270, 13th century AD. It is about the death of Sigurth, also known as Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) and the mourning of his wife, Guthrun (Old Norse: Guðrún). Sigurd is a key figure in Norse mythology, a mortal and a mighty hero who kills a dragon. He is murdered in a family feud. He is descended from Odin (Old Norse: Óðinn), the one-eyed king of all the gods and the god of poetry and magic.
An epic poem in the Poetic Edda
“The First Poem of Guthrun” is a detailed narrative that includes graphic details like Sigurth’s hair still dripping with blood from the sword thrust that killed him. It is one of 31 poems in the “Poetic Edda”, of which several versions exist. The most notable of these is the medieval Icelandic manuscript, the “Codex Regius”, thought to be the most important source in existence on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends. Originally it was written in runes , and through the ages the runes have been turned into texts in various languages. The “Codus Regius” is distinct from the early 13th century Old Norse Icelandic textbook, the “Prose Edda”, written by Snorri Sturluson.
I wrote new verses from existing translations, fitted them into a new composition, and called it “The Last Poem of Guthrun” – as opposed to the first. The most aesthetically pleasing English translation and transliteration of the original Old Norse verses is by Dr. Jackson Crawford, called “The Poetic Edda – Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes”. There have been many translations of this important work, but it’s hard to make something readable out of writing that is hard to decipher.
He had turned the Old Norse runes into surprisingly readable verses. “The First Poem of Guthrun” has 27 verses, and is preceded and followed by other long poems about Sigurd and his despicable, power-hungry relatives, and Guthrun’s revenge for his death. (Which soon after led to her own death.)
I tried to stay true to the spirit of the epic poem in my lyrics, while telling a condensed, rhyming version of the larger story. I reduced the entire saga to a few concepts: that she had to physically sit with his corpse (gruesome); that she did not cry and that the loud weeping of others was faked (they had plotted to kill Sigurd); that she felt the pain that he had felt from a fatal sword thrust; that Sigurd would be buried in a proper Viking ceremony, on a funeral pyre; that he had not reigned long; that their marriage was an anomaly (there is a long story about why and how he married Guthrun rather than a goddess from Valhalla); and that, without him, Guthrun was now demoted to being a normal human and probably the next victim of Sigurd’s avaricious relatives. That’s a lot to squeeze into four verses.
The lyrics
Verse 1
Guthrun had been ready for death long ago.
By Sigurd’s body she sat in deep sorrow.
She did not weep, nor did she moan.
She did not cry like others had, like they’d done.
Refrain 1
Tears did not comfort her, her sadness stayed.
Her heart was pierced with pain like a blade.
Loudly the geese cry out, as they rise again,
while fires are lit for the end of a reign.
Refrain 2
Tears did not comfort her, her sadness stayed.
Her heart was pierced with pain like a blade.
Loudly the geese cry out for all her grief,
for Sigurd the Warrior, who reigned well, but brief.
Verse 2
Guthrun and Sigurd had a love like none other,
perfect in joy when they were still together.
Once a Valkyrie, now she’s a leaf,
drifting and fallen down,
worthless and small without her crown,
she sings her last poem as the sun goes down.
SEVEN CIRCUMSTANCES 
Like curious people everywhere…
I am, like “Alice” in Lewis Carroll’s story, a curious person. I am inquisitive. This penchant for prying leads me down interesting rabbit holes. All the songs on my newest album, “Divan”, are based on ancient texts and documents that range in age from 24th century BCE, to Tudor England. With each song, I ended up reading, taking apart, and translating all sorts of weird manuscripts and records, since I wanted to rewrite some of those documents as lyrics. Every time, I ended up falling down a rabbit hole and spending too much time trying to make sense of the syntax and semantics of these texts.
First up: “The Last Poem of Guthrun”
“The First Poem of Guthrun” (“Guthrunarkvitha I [one]”) is an Icelandic narrative poem that was written in Old Norse, around the year 1270, 13th century AD. It is about the death of Sigurth, also known as Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) and the mourning of his wife, Guthrun (Old Norse: Guðrún). Sigurd is a key figure in Norse mythology, a mortal and a mighty hero who kills a dragon. He is murdered in a family feud. He is descended from Odin (Old Norse: Óðinn), the one-eyed king of all the gods and the god of poetry and magic.
An epic poem in the Poetic Edda
“The First Poem of Guthrun” is a detailed narrative that includes graphic details like Sigurth’s hair still dripping with blood from the sword thrust that killed him. It is one of 31 poems in the “Poetic Edda”, of which several versions exist. The most notable of these is the medieval Icelandic manuscript, the “Codex Regius”, thought to be the most important source in existence on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends. Originally it was written in runes , and through the ages the runes have been turned into texts in various languages. The “Codus Regius” is distinct from the early 13th century Old Norse Icelandic textbook, the “Prose Edda”, written by Snorri Sturluson.
From 27 verses to 4
I wrote new verses from existing translations, fitted them into a new composition, and called it “The Last Poem of Guthrun” – as opposed to the first. The most aesthetically pleasing English translation and transliteration of the original Old Norse verses is by Dr. Jackson Crawford, called “The Poetic Edda – Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes”. There have been many translations of this important work, but it’s hard to make something readable out of writing that is hard to decipher.
He had turned the Old Norse runes into surprisingly readable verses. “The First Poem of Guthrun” has 27 verses, and is preceded and followed by other long poems about Sigurd and his despicable, power-hungry relatives, and Guthrun’s revenge for his death. (Which soon after led to her own death.)
I tried to stay true to the spirit of the epic poem in my lyrics, while telling a condensed, rhyming version of the larger story. I reduced the entire saga to a few concepts: that she had to physically sit with his corpse (gruesome); that she did not cry and that the loud weeping of others was faked (they had plotted to kill Sigurd); that she felt the pain that he had felt from a fatal sword thrust; that Sigurd would be buried in a proper Viking ceremony, on a funeral pyre; that he had not reigned long; that their marriage was an anomaly (there is a long story about why and how he married Guthrun rather than a goddess from Valhalla); and that, without him, Guthrun was now demoted to being a normal human and probably the next victim of Sigurd’s avaricious relatives. That’s a lot to squeeze into four verses.
The lyrics
Lyric Video
It all comes together in the lyric video – enjoy!
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