Hårgalåten in Old Swedish | Norse Folk Music

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115,298回視聴 2026/01/25

Here is my translation and cover of the well-known Swedish folk song Hårgalåten (also spelt Horgalåten) into Early Old Swedish (äldre fornsvenska). Arrangement, music and translation by The Skaldic Bard, vocal performance by my lovely wife, Lady Skald. I’ve chosen a very conservative/early form of Old Swedish here – so conservative that it is borderline Old East Norse barring changes to the diphthongs (e.g. [æi] - [e], [au] - [ø], [øy] - [ø]), among some other changes (e.g. æ as short [ɛ], initial [h] reduced before r, [-ʀ] - [-er] and so on). Old East Norse dialects weren’t fully uniform, however, and this dialect is weighted slightly towards features common in the south. There was also no uniform orthography (every manner of spelling is attested), so I’ve used spelling conventions that in my reading seem to be most common. Hårgalåten, literally “The Hårga Song”, is one of my favourite folk songs. I first heard it years ago covered by the Swedish metal band In Flames on their early album Lunar Strain (any real ones remember that album? ;)). It details the arrival of an unknown fiddler (who turns out to have hooves, a feature traditionally associated with goat-form depictions of the devil) in the town of Hårga. His frantic fiddle-playing bewitches the townsfolk so intensely that they’re kept away from their Sunday church duties and ultimately end up dancing to death. I’ve tried to keep the sense of the modern Swedish original in the Old Swedish translation, as well as the ABAB rhyming signature in the refrain. I’ve also tried to use the etymological forebears of the modern Swedish words where semantics and rhythm allow. The modern Swedish is presented at the top of the screen, the Old Swedish in the middle, and an English translation of the Old Swedish at the bottom. Just as a disclaimer as more and more people ask: I do not nor have I ever used AI in the creation or production of my songs/melodies, nor in my translations / songwriting, and I never will. In the past, I have (regrettably) used occasional AI pictures in the thumbnails/background images, but that is all (and never again). The background art is Dancing Fairies (Swedish: Älvalek) by the Swedish painter August Malmström. I hope you enjoy the song! Please like and share the video and leave a comment letting me know what you think. Please also feel free to leave any requests for songs in the future, either a cover of a traditional song or an idea for a new original. If you’d like, you can also support the channel by leaving a donation at https://buymeacoffee.com/theskaldicbard. Every little helps. Thank you so much in advance. God bless! Follow me on Spotify (The Skaldic Bard): https://open.spotify.com/artist/7E7Qq...

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