Garmarna is a now-defunct folk music band from Sweden. They specialized in taking old Norse folk tales and putting them into song using both modern and Midevil instruments. One of the pleasures of watching their videos is the energy and vitality which they possess as a group. Another bonus is the glimpse into another culture, one in which I have spent several years living in.
Their song ‘Euchari’ is one that is poignant for me, I miss the gutteral sounds of Germanic languages being spoken on the street… I miss also the sights of the architecture of the ‘Old World’. Watching a video like Euchari brings back some deep memories…
Here their tale is a sad story, but one which we all know happens often enough…
It is the story of the parents wishing their daughter to marry into wealth,
but instead she settles for the love of her life.. a poor shipsmate.
Friends and kinsfolk met to deliberate
To whom would they marry off their kinswoman this year
Rosy youth
They deliberated
To whom would they marry off their kinswoman this year
We want you to wed the son of a king
Who has more gold than poor Roland has land
Wed the son of a king
Who has more gold than poor Roland has land
On Saturday and Sunday the word it was spread
Monday and Tuesday will show what she gets
Word was spread Monday and Tuesday will show what she gets
On Wednesday and Thursday the wine was made
Friday and Saturday the wedding was cheered
Wine was made Friday and Saturday the wedding was cheered
They drank for days, they drank for two,
But the bride wouldn’t to the chamber go
They drank for two
But the bride wouldn’t to the chamber go
They drank for days, they drank for three
But the bridal bed she refused for to see
They drank for three
But the bridal bed she refused for to see
Then entered in a poor ship’s hand
Wore a blue blouse both tattered and torn
Poor ship’s hand
Wore a blue blouse both tattered and torn
He stood at the table and he spoke
“I see only masts and the places where they go”
And he spoke “I see only masts and the places where they go”
And the maiden went up to the high loft
And ran down the path to the broad sea shore
Went to the high loft
And ran down the path to the broad sea shore
She ran on the rocks, she ran on tiptoe
But took great care to mind the blue waves below
Ran on tiptoe But took great care to mind the blue waves below
And she was invited on board the ship
And there they bade her drink both mead and wine
On board ship
And there they bade her drink both mead and wine
“I see, I see on your white fingers small
The wedding band has not been there for long
White fingers small
The wedding band has not been there for long”
“I see, I see on your golden hair
That before yesterday the wreath was not there
Golden hair
That before yesterday the wreath was not there”
“I see, I see on your lily white breasts
That small children they have not consoled
Lily white breasts
That small children they have not consoled”
And now the maiden lays at poor Roland’s side
She feels neither sorrow nor anguish
Rosy youth
At poor Roland’s side
(lyrics translated by Milicent)
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‘Herr Holger’ is an old Swedish tale about a corrupt tax official (Mr. Holger) whos perfidy is uncovered by the King who has him beheaded. Sent to hell for his crimes, his ghost pleads with his wife to return the purloined goods to their rightful owners and save him from hell. His wife refuses to live in poverty, so his sentence is sealed by his wife.
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Some people think cultural cross-pollination is a new thing. But I submit that the foreign is always exotic when it is seen in glimpses. Adam Smith wrote in ‘Wealth of Nations’ of the beneficial influences of cross-cultural meetings and teachings. This is a subject that has long fascinated me, I suppose because of my own family history in these matters. My mother was born in Budapest Hungary which was once known as ‘The Paris of eastern Europe’. As such it was at the crossroads of Eastern influences on Europe. My fathers’ family spent three hundred years making their way from Maryland where they landed in the late 1600’s, and working their way west valley by valley, marrying into native peoples as well as the other immigrants from Europe. Learning of other peoples and cultures and customs can deeply enrich what you know and how you perceive things.
In this next video we can see some cross cultural growth, the seeds of belly dance are bred with the seeds of Northern Europe to produce an interesting amalgam of dance in this one video… with the song ‘Klevebergselden’ by Garmarna.
The dancer is a student of Midevil history and Norse Sagas, so she took a Norse tale about a murdered woman, and using her belly dancing skills, turned it into a mix of Mid Eastern and Norse…. yeah, I like it.
In agriculture we call this ‘Hybrid Vigor’. It means that cross-bred, line-bred, or even just a static population with no new gene introduction becomes weak. One needs the new seed from other places, in the end it makes for a vigorous and active organism, or in the example of a culture, it makes for an invigorated and strong society. This is the secret that has made the USA so strong… we are an amalgam of a hundred peoples, most anyone whos’ ancestry is here for several generations has the blood of a dozen tribes and countries. This made for a strong people, and a people that can reach back for inspiration from the deep recesses of ancestral development.
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