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The lyrics are a shortened and cut version of “Alvíssmál”, from the Poetic Edda. in the poem, Thor challenges the dwarf Alvíss (“All-wise”) to prove his wisdom by asking him a long series of questions, to which the dwarf answers promptly. However, Thor’s real intention was to keep the dwarf answering until the sun would rise and, touching him, turn Alvíss to stone.

The names listed out in the lyrics are mostly more or less elegant variants of the main term (hence why I left a few of them untranslated). For some of these words, scholars haven’t yet agreed on the meaning, and some of them have a still unknown meaning. Here’s the list:
0:35 - “mylinn”: term of unclear meaning. Other texts translate it as “flame” or as “fake sun”.
1:39 - “sílægja”: literally “lying flat”. In this case, it’s a poetic synonym of “sær”.
1:42 - “lagastaf”: very obscure term. Some interpretations want to read it as “prepaing-thing” (where “prepare” stands for “food”), hence “water (to cook or to drink)”. Some other suggest linking it to Laguz, the rune of water.
2:13 - “vág”: this word that could bear multiple meanings, from “wildfire” to “wave”.

*In the title “öll of rök fíra” a part of the sentence was actually cut out, making the line “the fate of all people” kind of nonsense in the context: the sentence was supposed to be “I know that you, dwarf, know the fate of all people”.

I know a transcription in runes of such a text doesn’t really have any reason to be, if not as a treat, but yeah…that’s just what it is, bear with me.

Any suggestion and/or observation is warmly welcome.

The lyrics are pronounced by singer Justine Galmiche as modern Icelandic, instead of using Old Norse pronunciation: e.g. she sings “ó” as the Icelandic diphthong /ou/ instead of the Old Norse /o:/, or “hv” as /kv/ or /ku/.

#FlamSparks #SKALD #VikingsChant #VikingsMemories #SKÁLD #Norse #OldNorse #vikings #nordicmusic #nordicmythology #norsemythology #scandinavia #scandinavianfolklore #nordicfolklore #norsefolklore #norsemusic #OllOfRokFira #ÖllOfRökFíra

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