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
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
[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!
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.
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:
My cheeks are red as holly
berries, red as blood;
the earth is frozen solid like
a heart that will not love
But you can only keep that
feeling locked inside so long
until the water flows and
bursts its banks;
you cannot hold it in
And of the gifts that winter
brought to me, you were the one
Who fought away the biting winds
and brought me back the sun—
The lion in the winter who saw me as I am
who came when snow was falling,
and took me by the hand.
Through the bitter frost and snow,
a-marching we will go
through the bitter frost and snow…
And if there is a song in your heart
Then let us sing
To warm the darkness of the earth
From winter’s ravaging
To warm the shadows of the heart
That some small breeze can break
So beat the drums and say the words
To usher in the spring
–Susan McKeown, “Through the Bitter Frost and Snow”, 1997
One of John Denver’s guitarists, who used to tour with Elvis, talks about how John could take an audience of, say, 32,000; invite their emotions up there on the stage with the band; and make each of them feel like they were sitting around some private campfire with him, sharing stories and songs deep into the night. Many of his songs talk about happiness, nature, being content, and appreciating beauty and love–just the simple pleasures of being fully in that moment and appreciating it for the gift that it is, all of which are key components of Freyr’s character, in my opinion.
To me, this song is one of the most Freyr songs that there is–talking about feeling love through all of your senses, as if it were the very air, land, and sea around him. I specifically chose this version of “Annie’s Song”, because, though the sound quality is not great, his heart clearly shines through, and we get a glimpse of what it was like to attend one of his concerts. (The recordings of this song that he made after he and his wife divorced, though still beautiful, have more of an underlying layer of poignancy to them.)
I like to think that Freyr and Gerd–or even Freyr and Freya–never lost that open-hearted innocence in their love for each other. That there are some facets of Them and Their relationships where this is still as true today as it was when they first connected. If I’m lucky, I get a glimpse of it–the lightness of heart to balance out the raw intensity; innocence and openness to balance ages of obsessive carnality.
Anyway… here he is, in all of his raw-boned, shaggy-haired glory, singing one of my favorite songs. Singing from the heart, about the woman he loved, and drawing us all in as if we were sitting right next to him, feeling that hush and intensity with him. An avatar of Freyr? Why yes–I do believe he was.
(And the things I would have loved to do with that man, let me tell you…granny glasses and all. /sigh)
I’m been getting the “I love you and all, but no, really–I love my kin, too, so….” from my dear Lady. Which is true; I sometimes focus on her to the exclusion of her otherwise cool and much adored kin–Freyr and Njord, in particular. Freyr and I have an interesting relationship, in that it’s more of a dance that a relationship as of yet, but I’m sure that will change in time. Njord, though–Njord I love. He is a Daddy and I am a Daddy’s girl, particularly as I’m one of Freya’s. I have never received anything from him but generosity, love, and joy. He’s like the great-grandfather I’ve always wanted but never had.
So, for Njord, I offer an Anchor Steam beer, and this:
Ode to Njord
Hail to the wise, sea-weathered God
The generous and calm Van
Father to Freyr, and Freya, his sister
Peacemaker, oathkeeper
Who brings the fishermen safely home to their kin
with tales and treasure in equal measure.
Hail to the father of the Vans
Husband to Skadi, a huntress bright and sure
And dweller of Nóatún, when not visiting his independent bride.
Perhaps no one would have partnered better with her than him,
(he did raise strong-willed Freya, after all).
Hail to this comely God, of the shining white feet,
and the hearty laugh, and the happy home.
Hail the father of the Vanic twins!
Hail!
"To be a catalyst is the ambition most appropriate for those who see the world as being in constant change, and who, without thinking that they can control it, wish to influence its direction." -Theodore Zeldin
Silver and Gold 