__NOTOC__ ''Darraðarljóð'' is a

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

ic poem in

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...

found in chapter 157 of ''

Njáls saga ''Njáls saga'' ( ), also ''Njála'' ( ), or ''Brennu-Njáls saga'' ( ) (Which can be translated as ''The Story of Burnt Njáll'', or ''The Saga of Njáll the Burner''), is a thirteenth-century Icelandic saga that describes events between 960 a ...

''. It consists of 11 stanzas recounting the vision of a man named Dörruð, in which twelve

valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ( or ; from ) is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become ('single fighters' or 'once fighters').Orchard (1997:36) and Li ...

s weave and choose who is to be slain at the

Battle of Clontarf The Battle of Clontarf () took place on 23 April 1014 at Clontarf, near Dublin, on the east coast of Ireland. It pitted an army led by Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, against a Norse- Irish alliance comprising the forces of Sigtrygg Silkbea ...

(fought outside

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1014). Their

loom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...

uses human entrails as warp and woof, swords as treadles, an arrow as the batten and men's heads as weights. Of the twelve valkyries weaving, six of their names are given:

Hildr In Norse mythology, Hildr (Old Norse "battle"Orchard (1997:192).) is a valkyrie. Hildr is attested in the ''Prose Edda'' as Högni's daughter and Hedin's wife in the ''Hjaðningavíg''. She had the power to revive the dead in battlefields and u ...

, Hjörþrimul, Sanngriðr, Svipul, Guðr, and Göndul. Stanza 9 of the song has been translated:

:Now awful it is to be without, :as blood-red rack races overhead; :is the welkin gory with warriors' blood :as we valkyries war-songs chanted.Hollander (1980:68).

The poem may have influenced the concept of the

Three Witches The Three Witches, also known as the Weird Sisters, Weyward Sisters or Wayward Sisters, are characters in William Shakespeare's play ''Macbeth'' (c. 1603–1607). The witches eventually lead Macbeth (Macbeth), Macbeth to his demise, and they ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

''.Simek (2007:57). Dörruð's vision is located in

Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Scotland. There are two towns, being Wick, Caithness, Wick, which was the county town, and Thurso. The count ...

and the story is a "powerful mixture of Celtic and Old Norse imagery".

In popular culture

"The Fatal Sisters: An Ode" (published 1768) by

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, and classics, classical scholar at Cambridge University, being a fellow first of Peterhouse then of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College. He is widely ...

is a paraphrase of ''Darraðarljóð''.

Einar Selvik Einar Selvik (born 18 November 1979), also known by his stage name Kvitrafn ("white raven"), is a Norwegian musician known for being the drummer of black metal band Gorgoroth from 2000 to 2004, and for fronting the Nordic folk project Wardruna ...

and Trevor Morris used stanzas from ''Darraðarljóð'' in the opening battle in season 2 of ''

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

''. ''Darraðarljóð'' was set to music in a 1964 composition for mixed chorus and orchestra by the Icelandic composer Jón Leifs (Op. 60). The work was premiered on the 6th of March 2025 in Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik by the

Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa (concert hall), Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution u ...

and the combined forces of two choirs, Kór Langholtskirkju and Kór Hallgrímskirkju, conducted by Eva Ollikainen, as part of a concert celebrating the orchestra's 75th anniversary.

Notes

References

* Crawford, Barbara E. (1987) ''Scandinavian Scotland''. Leicester University Press. * Hollander, Lee Milton (1980). ''Old Norse Poems: The Most Important Nonskaldic Verse Not Included in the Poetic Edda''. 936 Forgotten Books. * Ingólfsson, Árni Heimir (2019) ''Jón Leifs and the Musical Invention of Iceland''. Indiana University Press * Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. D.S. Brewer

External links

Darraðarljóð
in Old Norse, Kulturformidlingen norrøne tekster og kvad, Norway.
Translation of the relevant part of ''Njal's saga''
by George Webbe Dasent (1861), Icelandic Saga Database
One version and a translation in English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darradarljod Skaldic poems