Ásgarður [English translation]

Heroes stream from Iðavöllr1

Nobody gave their life in the game today

Weave into poems and songs for kings2

Complex verses about Gnipahellir3

The inky black blood is wiped from the swords

Thrown into the drowning pool4 with chain mail

Purify and run away and almost shake5

Everyone's hungry, so invite them in

The sound of joy rushes over the hall towards us

The gods sit there and drink their mead

The trunk and leaves of Yggrasil6 shelter you

Battling armies and large gangs

Be silent, be a good and well-behaved child,

you are of the Æsir7 dynasty

There are few out there who scare us

Freyja8 is taking care of you, so you are saved

If I finished this poem

We would probably hear shouts:

He's watching from Breiðablik9

Baldur, watching over us all

The wind blows towards Valhalla10

Whining, hissing, and breaking

Heimdallr11 locks us up in here

Here sleep the greatest Æsir

Here sleep the greatest Æsir!

Sleep long now, and sleep well

The quilt has the most expensive fabrics

- hide yourself, Odin, and let Hel12 be forgotten -

The soft, golden pillow

Your beauties, skill and grace

seem to me a terrible payment13

Wights14 may hide you, my friend

We'll see each other again in the morning

1. A meeting place for the gods in Norse mythology.2. Neither of these words means 'poems' or 'songs' exactly, but refer to forms of Icelandic/ Norse poetry. All Skálmöld's lyrics are written in traditional Icelandic poetic verse, so I wonder if these are examples of the forms they use.3. This is a mythical cave, where the dog Garmr lives when he's not guarding the gates of Hel, another of the nine worlds.4. Not just any drowning pool, but Drekkingarhylur, an actual location of southwestern Iceland.5. It is left unclear what these verbs relate to, I'm guessing it's a description of why 'we' are seeking/ giving shelter on this world.6. A key theme of this album. Yggrasil is the tree which connects the nine worlds of Norse mythology. This album is nine songs, each one a 'lullaby' from each of the nine worlds.7. These are essentially the main Norse gods, including Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Týr.8. A Norse goddess of love and beauty, among other things.9. This is where the god Baldur, mentioned on the next line, lives.10. In Asgard, this is the great hall where half of those who die in combat end up after death.11. The Norse god who watches over Bifröst, the rainbow bridge between this realm and Midgard, aka Earth.12. Two more Norse gods, Odin, the ruler of Valhalla, and Hel, the ruler of the world of the same name, where she torments the dead.13. Again, I'm unsure what this refers to. Comments with suggestions or better translations are welcome!14. Mythical creatures in Norse mythology. If the previous Skálmöld album to this is anything to go by, they can take various forms and be kind or evil.

• Artist:Skálmöld
• Album:Vögguvísur Yggdrasils