Skáld (stylised as SKÁLD) is a French

Nordic folk Nordic folk music includes a number of traditions of Nordic countries, especially Scandinavian. The Nordic countries are Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The many regions of the Nordic countries share certain traditions, many of w ...

group formed in 2018. Their songs bear a heavy Norse influence, making use of traditional instruments and the themes they treat are mostly centred on Scandinavian culture, especially on

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

and they use mostly

Nordic languages The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...

, particularly

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

History

Origins

The band was formed in 2018 by producer Christophe Voisin-Boisvinet, together with singers and musicians Justine Galmiche, Pierrick Valence, and Mattjö Haussy. They aimed to tell Nordic myths and legends singing mainly in

. The name "Skáld" comes from the Old Norse for "

skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionally ...

": a poet who composed skaldic poetry, usually in the courts during the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

. In August 2018, their first EP was released, featuring three songs: ''Gleipnir'', ''Ódinn'', and ''Rún.'' These three tracks were later included in their first album, released on 25 January 2019 by Decca: ''Vikings Chant''. This album was re-issued with the name ''Vikings Chant (Alfar Fagrahvél Edition)'' during the following September with three more covers and two new tracks. On February 29, 2020, Mattjö Haussy announced his departure from Skáld in favour of the new music project Hrafngrímr. Skáld's second album ''Vikings Memories'' was released on October 9 the same year, featuring Justine Galmiche and Pierrick Valence as official members of the group, with the first single ''Fimbulvetr'' published in August. Pierrick Valence departed from the group following the release of their second album, and on October 21, 2021, the single ''Jólanótt'' was published, preceding the release of their second EP ''Winter Songs'', released on 29 October 2021, featuring Justine Galmiche as the only official member of the band, besides composer Christophe Voisin-Boisvinet.

''Huldufólk'' and the new line-up

In June 2022, prior to the band's summer tour, it was announced that lead singer Justine Galmiche would leave the group due to undisclosed health reasons. She was substituted by singer Chaos Heidi, who toured together with new group members: Steeve Petit, Marti Ilmar Uibo, Ravn, and . On September 20, 2022, the new album ''Huldufólk'' was announced on Skáld's social media pages, and was released on January 20, 2023. The first single ''Troll Kalla Mik'' was released on November 17, 2022, featuring the new line-up of the band: Steeve Petit, Marti Ilmar Uibo, Ravn, Julien Loko, Lily Jung, Chaos Heidi, Kohann, Laetitia Marcangeli, and Michel Abraham. However, Chaos Heidi, who had taken part to the summer tour with Skáld, left the band before the release of the new album, and was substituted as a lead singer by Lily Jung during the band's European tour in October 2022.

Style

The band's repertoire is derived mostly from Norse texts, which were originally re-adapted by Christophe Voisin-Boisvinet alone, and since 2021, by Voisin and Anna Scussel. The most used language is Old Norse, but other Nordic languages have also been employed, including

modern Icelandic Icelandic (; is, íslenska, link=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Due to being a West Scandinavian language, it is most closely re ...

, Faroese,

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

, and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, as well as a few covers in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. The themes treated by Skáld in their albums are several. Their first album ''Vikings Chant'' focused mostly on some of the most famous elements of

and

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

, like the gods

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

and

Freyja In Norse paganism, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chario ...

Valhalla In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat e ...

, or the

ash tree ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergree ...

Yggdrasil Yggdrasil (from Old Norse ), in Norse cosmology, is an immense and central sacred tree. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds. Yggdrasil is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional s ...

, with texts taken mainly from the

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic me ...

. The main focus of their second album ''Vikings Memories'' is the element of water, collecting songs about mythological sea creatures, sea-kings, and voyagers like Yngvar víðförla. Their third album ''Huldufólk'' borrows its title from the

hidden people Hidden or The Hidden may refer to: Film and television Film * ''The Hidden'' (film), a 1987 American science fiction/horror film * ''Hidden'' (2005 film) or ''Caché'', a French thriller film * ''Hidden'' (2009 film), a Norwegian horror film ...

of Icelandic and Faroese

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, and shifts the focus to the woods instead, revolving around the theme of folkloristic Nordic figures like

trolls A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...

skogsrå The Skogsrå ( sv, skogsrået ; ), Skogsfrun ('the Mistress of the Forest'), Skogssnuvan, Skogsnymfen ('the Forest Nymph'), Råndan ('the Rå') or Huldran, is a mythical female creature (or ''rå'') of the forest in Swedish folklore. It appears ...

, and

dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

. The band uses a variety of instruments from the Norse tradition, dating back to the 14th century. Among the instruments the group has employed, their repertoire numbers, among others, shamanic drums,

lyre The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...

talharpa The talharpa, also known as a tagelharpa (tail-hair harp) or the stråkharpa (bowed harp), is a four-stringed bowed lyre from northern Europe. It was formerly widespread in Scandinavia, but is today played mainly in Estonia, particularly among th ...

citole The citole was a string musical instrument, closely associated with the medieval fiddles (viol, vielle, gigue) and commonly used from 1200–1350."CITOLE, also spelled Systole, Cythole, Gytolle, &c. (probably a Fr. diminutive form of cithara ...

jouhikko The ''jouhikko'' (Finnish: �jou̯hikːo is a traditional, two- or three-stringed bowed lyre, from Finland and Karelia. Its strings are traditionally of horsehair. The playing of this instrument died out in the early 20th century but has been ...

, and

nyckelharpa A nyckelharpa (, "keyed fiddle", or literally "key harp", plural ) is the national musical instrument of Sweden. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when a key is depressed, serve as frets to cha ...

Members

Current members

* Christophe Voisin-Boisvinet: composer * Steeve Petit:

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, vocals * Marti Ilmar Uibo: drums, vocals * Ravn: nyckelharpa,

, moraharpa,

gudok The gudok (, russian: гудок), gudochek (, russian: гудочек) is an ancient Eastern Slavic string musical instrument, played with a bow.

, lyra viol,

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

, double harp * : vocals,

Irish bouzouki The Irish bouzouki () is an adaptation of the Greek bouzouki (Greek: μπουζούκι). The newer Greek ''tetrachordo'' bouzouki (4 courses of strings) was introduced into Irish traditional music in the mid-1960s by Johnny Moynihan of th ...

, talharpa * Lily Jung: vocals * Kohann: vocals * Laetitia Marcangeli: vocals,

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...

* Michel Abraham: vocals,

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

morin khuur The ''morin khuur'' ( mn, морин хуур, morin khuur), also known as the horsehead fiddle, is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a ...

Former members

* Chaos Heidi: vocals (2022) * Justine Galmiche: vocals (2018-2022) * Pierrick Valence: vocals, talharpa, nyckelharpa, citra,

(2018–2020) * Mattjö Haussy: vocals (2018–2019) * Xavier Bertand: vocals (2018–2019)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

* ''Vikings Chant'' (2019) * ''Vikings Chant (Alfar Fagrahvél Edition)'' (2019) * ''Vikings Memories'' (2020) * ''Huldufólk'' (2023)

EPs

* ''Skáld'' (2018) * ''Winter Songs'' (2021)

Singles

* 2018 – ''Ódinn'' * 2018 – ''Gleipnir'' * 2018 – ''Rún'' * 2018 – ''Ó Valhalla'' * 2019 – ''Flúga'' * 2019 – ''

Seven Nation Army "Seven Nation Army" is a song by American rock duo the White Stripes. It is the opening track on their fourth studio album, ''Elephant'' (2003). V2 Records released the song to American alternative radio on February 17, 2003, as the lead single f ...

'' * 2019 – ''Hross'' * 2020 – ''Fimbulvetr'' * 2020 – ''Grótti'' * 2020 – ''Norðrljós'' * 2021 – ''Jólanótt'' * 2022 – ''Troll Kalla Mik'' * 2022 – ''Då Månen Sken'' * 2023 – ''

Du Hast "Du hast" () is a song by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. It was released as the second single from their second album ''Sehnsucht'' (1997). It has appeared on numerous soundtracks for films, most notably '' The Matrix: Music from the ...

'' * 2023 – '' Elverhøy''

References

External links

* {{Official, skaldvikings.com Musical groups established in 2018 Neofolk music groups French musical groups Modern pagan musical groups