“Spellbound” by Eivør Pálsdóttir

You’re welcome. (FYI, apparently the statue in the background is the “seal woman of Mikladalur”, Faroe Islands.)

(Faroese)

Trøllabundin

Trøllabundin eri eg eri eg
Galdramaður festi meg festi meg
Trøllabundin djúpt í míni sál í míni sál
Í hjartanum logar brennandi bál brennandi bál

Trøllabundin eri eg eri eg
Galdramaður festi meg festi meg
Trøllabundin inn í hjartarót í hjartarót
Eyga mítt festist har ið galdramaður stóð

(English)

Spellbound I am, I am
The wizard has enchanted me, enchanted me
Spellbound deep in my soul, in my soul
In my heart burns a sizzling fire, a sizzling fire

Spellbound I am, I am
The wizard has enchanted me, enchanted me
Spellbound in my heart’s root, my heart’s root
My eyes gaze to where the wizard stood

“After All”, by Dar Williams

Dar Williams is one of my favorite artists, starting  back when I first saw her perform my freshman year of college. She’s witty and vulnerable; a sensitive soul guided by beauty and hounded by depression. When I’m empty, I fight the same fight; but when I take care of myself, I remember that neither emotion nor beauty are my adversary; there doesn’t need to be a fight.

Go ahead push your luck
Find out how much love the world can hold
Once upon a time I had control and reined my soul in tight

Well the whole truth
Is like the story of a wave unfurled
But I held the evil of the world
So I stopped the tide
Froze it up from inside

I was the match and you were the rock/maybe we started this fire…

[Edited to add: “These are the things…the things we lost in the fire…” Like, say, my only representation of Freyr, which literally went up in flames a few weeks ago? Subtle, Freyr! Well played. (Or, at least, engagingly sung.) Thank you for the reminder. Feel free to send me a pretty musician boy with a message any time you need my attention.]

So I was out driving today, doing errands, and skimming through the local radio stations trying to find one that didn’t completely irritate me. (A high bar; I hate the radio.) And I heard a song going out and coming back home. All I could remember was this fascinating English accent that I couldn’t place, on a guy that sounded like he was singing while giving a lapdance.

Several hours later, the song turned out to be “Pompeii”; the band, Bastille; and I found yet another pale-skinned dramatic Brit with intense cheekbones to crush on. Who, I might add, is inspired by ancient history (literally), writes in four-part harmony, and uses a lot of interesting percussion in his songs (which apparently is primarily due to his drummer, but still). /smitten He also reminds me a lot of what I think Robert Smith and Morrisey would have been like, had I listened to them back in high school. (Though it seems odd to me now considering how many pale, moody musician types I fall for, I was #notagoth).

In any event, this is why I don’t listen to the radio. I fall in love too easily and I waste hours on You Tube trying to get it out of my system. (It definitely beats all of the hours of work overtime I’ve been logging on this computer, though…) Here is my current fave song, which I feel should be a tribute to Gullveig. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

“Fylgia” article update

As requested, I’ve updated my “On Fylgias” article. You can find the new version here: https://thegoldthread.wordpress.com/on-fylgias/.

And in honor of my He who is deeper in my heart than Freya, I offer this:

Apprentice, by Vixy and Tony

A great song which captures some of my love for Freya and how I often feel in my relationship with Her. (The only good recording I can find is on their page, here. It’s definitely worth a listen.) They say that this was meant to provide some background for Inara, from Firefly, which Whedon and Co. left out, but it works just as well for Freya. 😉

Lyrics:

She was all the stars in a velvet sea
A gem of perfection she seemed to me
Skin like silk and a rose red smile
All grace when I brought her tea

And her laughter cut through my girlish dream
“Don’t you know that we’re all silk and cream
And roses and velvet and gems and stars?
You must be more than what you seem.”

One night I stole into her garden
And I overheard her sigh…

“You don’t have to be wild to want to run
Look at the roses and you’ll see
See them climbing ever higher toward the sun
These garden walls are not for me.”

I had come so young to the Twilight School
Quiet and shy and a bit of a fool
A hopeless handmaid, so awkward and awed
Until she saw an uncut jewel

She taught me all the Companion’s art
Beauty and charm and the skills to set ourselves apart
We were teacher and student, we were friend and friend
And we were sisters of the heart

Sharing afternoon tea in her garden
She would gaze up at the sky…

“You don’t have to be wild to want to run
Look at the ring-doves and you’ll see
See them stretching their clipped wings out toward the sun
This pretty cage is not for me.”

She could see her path laid out in flowers and in stone
Priestess, Lady, Head of House, and nothing left unknown
She whispered to her teacup that it chilled her to the bone
“When others look to you to make their choices
You no longer make your own…”

Now my clients say there’s no lady as fine
The skill and the charm and the garden are mine
But I walk outside the gate at night
And see the stars and planets shine

They say she’s done battle, they say she fell in love
They say she near died in that endless sky above
And all of her lessons I took to heart
Even that of the rose and the dove

She taught me to look beyond the garden
And she never said goodbye…

You don’t have to be wild to want to run
Look at the river and you’ll see
See it leap and dance away, laughing in the sun
Perhaps it knows a place for me.

Foxes and Norway. Two of my favorite things.

It’s really too bad this got memed to death. This is genius.

And the guys are adorable. If I see either of them in Norway, I’m taking him home. (I wonder if he’s duty-free?)

“Portals” album project, from Sharon Knight et al.–Indiegogo fundraiser ending soon!

Sharon Knight and her partner Winter are running an Indiegogo campaign to help fund a professional music video! From their Indiegogo page:

Imagine, if you will: An otherworldly carnival, traveling in and out of mystery, magic, the unexplained. You feel the hair raise on the back of your neck as a motley band of skillful and possibly dangerous musicians brandish their bows, their voices, their tambourines, and open portals to the realms of the fantastical! You thrill to the charms of seductive sirens, pixie pirates, steampunk sailors, metal warriors, witches and wanderlings, as a mighty cast of characters wield their mightiest mojo in a Theatre of Enchantment crafted to delight and awe!

If they raise their full total, they will be putting together a stellar crew of cool and interesting artistic compatriots (including Morpheus Ravenna and Shauna Aura Knight) for what looks to be a really neat, innovative creation process. I can’t wait to see it!

Her Indiegogo campaign is wrapping up on March 30th, of if you can, donate before then. Even a small donation helps–and is essentially the same as pre-ordering the album. Not a bad deal, imho. But I’m a tad biased 🙂

If you haven’t heard of or seen her, let me tell you– Sharon Knight is an awesome Bay Area local pagan/musician. She and T. Thorn Coyle have put out several albums of chants for various Gods and Goddesses. Our “Facets of Freya” ritual used the “Freya” half of their “Frey and Freya” (Songs for the Strengthening Sun) chant in the Blot section: