SKÁLD

SKÁLD is a unique music project inspired by Nordic mythology. They bring the poetry of the ancient skalds back to life, who told the stories of the Vikings and their gods in the ancient Old Norse language.

In the early Middle Ages, skalds of Scandinavian culture were storytellers, poets and musicians. Thanks to some unique documents, such as the beautiful poetic Edda, we can still enjoy parts of the Skalds' legacy centuries later.

This legacy is brought to life by the ambitious music project SKÁLD. They do this by immersing the listener in a lifelike soundscape created using a vast arsenal of instruments specially chosen for the occasion. Tribal percussion with shamanic drums of different sizes are used to evoke martial power and victory. Other smaller percussion, such as animal bones or deer antlers, have a specific pagan inspiration, while the musicality of stringed instruments such as the lyre, the talharpa, the jouhikko and the nyckelharpa showcase the richness of Scandinavian culture.

Above all, SKÁLD is a vocal project, carried by three singers who have specialised in the singing techniques of the skalds, singing what has come to us through the rare lore of stories from that period. Using the full power of their voices and extraordinary tessituras, their songs, whether guttural or lyrical but always profound and organic, bring forth a multitude of strong and life-like images.

The group's repertoire draws inspiration mainly from La Völuspá and Gylfaginning, both part of the poetic Edda. These texts deal with Scandinavian cosmogony and mythological stories about the gods of Ásgard. Skáld's songs bring the runic alphabet to life, shed light on symbolic places of the Viking universe such as Valhalla and the nine kingdoms of Yggdrasill, and create portraits of titanic confrontations between the Asesand giants.

Thanks to SKÁLD, you will board the familiar longships that accompany explorers to discover unknown lands; you will engage in great battles, clanking during the clash of axes and swords as they strike the shields of warriors; you will dance amidst the Völur, the priestesses who foretell the future - and then as if entranced, you will cross the Bifröston on the back of Odin's horse and be invited to the banquets of the Nordic gods.

SKÁLD is no ordinary music project. They will immerse you in a distant story, one that has its origins in a primaeval time when kings from the northern seas shook the empires to their foundations...

Huldufólk

Far from the lands of the North, the echoes of their legends still ring out. The beliefs of those who used to populate these distant lands have been perpetuated, and despite the pressures of modern industrial society, the old folk traditions live on. It was in the countries where the people we call Vikings were to be found – Norway, Denmark, Sweden or Iceland – that the Huldufólk ("the hidden people") remained anchored in their everyday lives and traditions. At roadsides, deep in the forests and in the heart of the mountains, elves and trolls huddled together in a discreet coexistence with humankind, melting into a strange and wonderful wilderness. And now, it's from among those people born of a far-off imagination that the poetic, epic sounds of SKÁLD are now venturing forward!

In this new album dedicated to the Huldufólk (who first made their appearance in the 13th century "Prose Edda" texts of Snorri Sturluson), SKÁLD honours an entire people in whom many Scandinavians still believe. It was skalds like Snorri, and other Scandinavian poets and singers of old, who made these legends popular thanks to their writings. In an exploration that only Nordic mythology is capable of achieving, these tales also provide us with information about the origins of the skaldic poets. A strange brew, created by dwarves who mixed honey with the blood of the god Kvasir, transformed those who drank it into poets and sages. And there's no doubt that the latter found their inspiration when contemplating the volcanic landscapes of Iceland. In only a few verses, the slightest rock, the smallest lump of earth, takes on fabulous, supernatural dimensions.