Away from sun’s light Deep roots remembered Wounds healed Dreams fulfilled

KARI TAURING VoluspaKariOla Wherein rides to Helhiem and pays the oldest staff-carrying woman to remember his öorlog. Her verses reveal my own lineage of the staff.

Frostbite Re-directing Cold away from my fingers.

Hvem Kan Segla Sung to me in Gudvangen – aching for my family and home, devastated to be leaving .

Hyi Hyi Drawing boundaries between the worlds of humans and trickster spirits.

Trolldans Wherein a human girl is invited to cavort atop the Blue Mountain of witches by an otherworldly boy through trolldans (magic-dance). Felling Trees About the Birch, sacred tree in the North, who starts and ends the cycle of the forest.

Hulda’s Spinning Song (Drømte) A dream remembered, a message received. sung to put things right.

Fast Black Dye De-colonizing my identity.

Skuld of Hogganvik / Avalanche Two need journeys into transformation, skin-shifting and the Ice Age Weasel.

Kråukvisa Celebrating courage and the benefits of facing down an abnormally large crow.

Journey Wherein stavers gather to beat the vett with staffs, riding each to their own depth through the holiest of trees. Produced by Kari Tauring and Drew Miller Recorded between 2009 and 2016 in Minneapolis Minnesota Additional recording, mixing and summing by Scott Nieman at dubNemo Studio Cover art by Aneesa Erinn Adams Logotype by Karin Odell Art direction by Kari Tauring and Jeanie Miller Design by Drew Miller Supported by one hundred nine Kickstarter donors during the final moon of 2015

VoluspaKariOla Written by Kari Tauring, 2005, based on selected verses from the Voluspa . Instrumentation Tauring / Miller.

Frostbite and Hyi Hyi From the collected Finnish poems by M. Edgar in Minnesota 1934, through Lynette Reini-Grandell.

Hvem Kan Segla Trad. Finnish / Swedish / Norwegian

Trolldans Trad. Norwegian, minor setting and English interpretation by Tauring. Instrumentation Tauring / Miller Felling Trees Tauring 2015

Hulda’s Spinning Song (Drømte) Tauring 2005; based on a verse from the Codex Runicus. Instrumentation Tauring / Miller

Fast Black Dye Tauring 2014

Skuld of Hogganvik / Avalanche Tauring 2010; from the Hogganvik as translated by James Knirk. Instrumentation Tauring / Miller

Kråkvisa Trad. Norwegian; English Interpretation Tauring, Instrumentation Tauring / Miller

Journey Improvisation based on Cosmology of the Body (Völva Stav) led by Kari Tauring with Stavers In The House – Aneesa Erinn Adams, Elizabeth Amin, Neva Benai, Johnathan Dregni, Sarah Franz-Wichlacz, Rachel Halvorson, Bethany Jacobson, Drew Miller, Karin Odell, Lynette Reini-Grandell, and Robin Reyburn. Incorporates “Komme Alle” Tauring 2003 and “Saule” trad. Lithuanian via Kulgrinda 2007. Recorded live at the Cedar Cultural Center by Scott Nieman July 2015.

Compositions and traditional arrangements Ꭿ Kari Tauring (BMI), except as noted. Thanks to Drew Miller for a collaboration and friendship that runs as deeply as our breadth of musical output. Scott Nieman for another masterful release. All Stavers in the House, spreading the rhythms of Nordic peoples since 2003. Kiitos to Lynette Reini- Grandell for exploring, singing and performing the Runos with me, both ancient and original. Great thanks to Jeanie Miller for inspiration, friendship, and strong support. Christopher Powers for videography and wine. Blessings to my family and friends in the US, Norway, and Finland who have heard me sing these songs and smiled. Kickstarter backers and direct supporters, your funding meant the completion of this project. “Hurrah, Hurrah, Hurrah!”

This is the dark companion to Ljos.

ൿᎯ 2016 Kari Tauring and DeSelby Productions, Inc. KariTauring.com OmniumRecords.com 1 VoluspaKariOla Track One VoluspaKariOla 2 Frostbite This composition rests on a few selected verses (1, 2, 19, 20, 21, and 22) from the 3 Hvem Kan Segla Voluspa (, Iceland circa 1200ACE). I added an additional chorus: 4 Hyi Hyi Heidi, Heidi, Heidi, utti fram. 5 Trolldans Utvinner krafti av Freya Nerthus Stav! 6 Felling Trees Shining Heidi from Gullveig you come. Winning out the power of Freya and 7 Hulda's Spinning Song (Drømte) Nerthus’ staff Over the years I have performed it solo 8 Fast Black Dye with just voice, stav, and tein and in duet with Drew Miller. This version tells the 9 Skuld of Hogganvik more complete story about how Odin rode to the underworld to get advice from 10 Avalanche perhaps the original staff-carrying woman. 11 Kråkvisa 12 Journey Hljóðs bið ek allar helgar kindir, Þat man hon fólkvíg fyrst í heimi, meiri ok minni mögu Heimdallar. er Gullveigu geirum studdu Viltu at ek, Valföðr, vel fyr telja ok í höll Hárs hana brenndu, forn spjöll fira, þau er fremst um man oft, ósjaldan; þó hon enn lifir,

Ec man iötna ár um borna, Heiði hana héto, hvars er til húsa kom, þá er forðom mic fœdda höfðo; völo velspá,vitti hon ganda; nío man ec heima, nío íviði, seið hon, hvars hon kunni, miötvið mœran fyr mold neðan seið hon hug leikinn, æ var hón angan illrar brúðar. Ask veit ek standa, heitir Yggdrasill, hár batmr, ausinn hvíta auri; Heidthri, Heidthri, Heidthri, Gullveig utti fram þaðan koma döggvar - þærs í dala falla, Utvinner krafti av VanFreya Nerthus Stav! stendur æ yfir grænn - Urðarbrunni. Lyric Interpretation Þaðan koma meyjar - margs vitandi þrjár ór þeim sæ, - er und þolli stendr; Hush now I bid you , all you sacred folk Urð hétu eina, - aðra Verðandi, Highest and lowest Heimdal’s kin - skáru á skíði, -Skuld ina þriðju. As you wish Allfather I will tell you Ancient songs and stories Þær lög lögðu,- þær líf kuru of the very first men alda börnum, - örlög seggja. I remember the giants birthed me In the great hall of Har, They gave me life in the ancient of days there they burned her Nine world homes and Nine giant women Gullveig pierced on the points of spears The glorious wish tree in the earth beneath Three burned, three times born Over and over and yet she lives! Ash tree I know, her name Mighty tree sprinkled with the Heidi they call her come into their homes snow white clay Wisewoman spae wife, wise magic wand From her falls the dew down the valley Seiding, all knowing, Standing ever green above Urdur’s well seiding out the meaning Always welcome to brides and sick wives From there come the maidens and those who need her at birth and death. wise in all things Three of them living under the tree Track Two Frostbite Urd is one the other Verthandi Scoring the runes and Skuld makes three. This is a Finnish charm was known in both Winton, MN and Kangasniemi, Finland and They write down the laws, collected by M. Edgar, Journal of American they choose all the lives Folklore, Oct.-Dec. 1934 in Northern Of all who are born, their öorlog weave Minnesota. In Nordic tradition, knowledge of the name and lineage of a thing puts one The very first war, remember it well in deep relationship with it and in a Gullveig pierced on the points of spears good position to bargain. Gullveig pierced on the points of spears In our rendition, I am imploring cold to I translate kjæresten as “dearest friend” find a different place to rest than my hands. (to fit the music) but it really means Lynette Reini-Grandell sings as disr or “deeply beloved.” ancestor spirit, whispering the charm in Finnish to good effect. Hvem kan segla for uten vind? Hvem kan ro uten årer? Pakkanen puhurin poika Hvem kan reise fra kjæresten sin Älä kymää kynsiäin Uten å felle tårer? Älä käsiäin palele Palele ve pajuja Who can sail without the wind? Kymlä koivun konkaleita Who can row without oars? Who can part from their dearest friend Track Three Hvem Kan Segla without shedding tears?

While filming the Norwegian reality show Jeg kan segla for uten vind Alt for Norge in 2009 I collected the crew’s Og jeg kan ro uten årer. favorite folk songs. I was really missing my Men ei reise fra kjæresten min husband and two young sons after 3 weeks Uten å felle tårer. of no contact while filming. In the final days my favorite cameraman Martin shared this I can sail without the wind. song with me. The tune has origins in I can row without oars. Finland and is also well-known in Sweden. But I can’t part from my dearest friend Here I sing it in Norwegian, as he taught me. without shedding tears. Track Four Hyi, hyi, Hytölään Thumbs make the rune crosses of nauthiz (need) and gifu (giving/receiving in balance). Another of the Finnish charms collected by Begin side step left. Edgar, in 1934. It seems to be for protecting the farm from the haltija (invisible that Hyi, hyi, Hytölään sometimes attach to people). Side step left in a circle Hytölä koirat haukku “Hyi” is a calling sound in the Finnish Everyone bark and howl - tradition sounding something like “Whooee” flip/roll hands counter-clockwise and described as a sharp whistle. Piikani, poikani I believe Hytölä to be the home of the Stop side step drop hands. haltija; there is no direct English translation Raise left on piikani, right on poikani. of this word. Katsomaan! Shade eyes and look around full circle Charm dance motions by Kari Tauring with Joka ne Lynette Reini-Grandell, 2014. May be done Scoop energy from the center in both English and Finnish, all together or of the circle with arms as call and response. Kaukana Turn out from the circle Begin in a circle. Tuloo! Dancers hold left palm up to receive the Throw the energy outside the circle hand of their neighbor and right palm down to give their hand to their neighbor. Track Five Trolldans Lyric Interpretation

I learned this tune from the “Seattle Oh shall we dance this Summer’s night Leikeringen” dance collection. It is a in the woods, in the dwarf woods. conversation, possibly on midsummer night, Elves will dance and Huldre laugh between the young girl Gro and the oh, hei ho to bewitch you. mysterious Per. He tempts her to “fly to the Blue Mountain” where witches cavort. Lightly we’ll sing and dance She is afraid; her heart beats so fast she and play ’neath the mountain. fears it may burst. He shows no concern Lightly we’ll sing and dance for Gro because three women await him and play ’neath the heaven’s web. who could be the (three sisters of öorlog) themselves! Oh Hey there Gro, what are you doing here? Will you ride to Blue Mountain with me?

Oh no there Per, why are you talking so? I’m afraid my heart will burst!

Oh hey you Gro, it doesn’t matter much to me. At home await me the kjærringe three! Track Six Felling Trees Track Seven Hulda’s Spinning Song (Drømte) The poet magician Väinämöinen, from the Finnish national epic Kalevala, was said to Based on the only surviving lines of the have clear cut the old forest making way for oldest known tune written down in Scandi- farming. He left the Birch, however, so the navia, Drømte was discovered on the back cuckoo would have a place to rest. of the last page in the Codex Runicus, I heard my first cuckoo at the lake near a collection of manuscripts circa 1300 ACE, Preikestolen, Norway in 2009 after throwing written in runes and in an ancient musical a prayer rock into it for Misty Rose. It sounds notation. The tune has been used for just like the clock! decades as the sign-off sound for Danish Radio. Many Scandinavian musicians have Birch was the favorite tree of four genera- performed this motif and built original tions of women in my family. The tree in my interpretations of it. front yard when I was born is still growing there. It makes so much medicine! In my version, the dream is a premonition. A trading ship on its way home is blown Beorkana or beorc is the rune for Birch. off-course in a storm. A rune spell is cast through spinning to save the ship, crew and cargo. Hulda is a woman’s name in Scandinavia ii. and Germany and the name of the Icy Waves, cold dark sea. Germanic goddess of spinning, seasonal My beloved back to me… change, and the life / death / rebirth cycle. Crashing waves top the prow, Spinning, due to its trance-inducing nature wind dragon wet fields plow! and connection to the Norns (öorlog goddesses), was often used in seidr (magic) iii. sessions. Women’s spinning, weaving, and Desert sands, far from fjords, churning chants were banned by the years away, far off shores Christian church in the 1600s due to their I will sing you home, pre-Christian connection with goddesses gifts for safety come and magical acts. iv. i. Casting on, casting off, Drøm, Drøm, Drøm, Drøm Drømte, Drømte Cutting, cutting, cutting through – Husker du? Dream, dream, dream, dream. Austri, Vestri, Sudri, Nordri It dreamed, It dreamed Four Dwarves Chant: – do you remember? East, West, South, North (These are the four pillars holding Drømte mik(g) en drøm I nat ’s skull up over .) um silki ok ærlik pæl It dreamed me a dream in night, of silk and finest fur Radiho, Othilo, Eohl, , Ehol, Tyr* Track Eight Fast Black Dye North star steer, Northward steer Back to me, lost at sea, back to me, victory… In preparing for my at the re-enactment camp in Gudvangen, Norway Ritual Performance Notes (2014), I realized how powerful it was to create my own clothing by hand. Spinning Begin by drop-spinning the rhythm; the thread, weaving, plant dying, and sewing vehicle of remembering the dream is the that which we wrap ourselves in. It put the spinning trance. The vehicle of remedy is meaning back into the phrases “cut from the the spindle. It becomes the tein beating out same cloth” and “dyed in the wool.” There is the rhythm of the spell on the staff. something thoroughly feminist about It becomes the wand for casting the spell. re-claiming these processes from the Tying off the yarn binds it the spell. patriarchal / industrial model.

* Rune chant: Radiho means riding / vehicle used to gain During the Iron Age, Europe didn’t have fast control of the ship as well as the storm (which has be- black (or bright red) dye; they came in with come the vehicle for the ship). Othilo means homeland. This rune directs the ship towards the homeland and potatoes, coffee, and other resources from calls all departed kin to help. Eohl/Algiz is often used as the Americas. Thus, the Norwegian national a protection rune and means elk. The Tyr rune is named costume, favorite beverage, and lefse could for the one handed god of victory. It anchors the rune spell to the north star and pulls the ship back on course. not have existed! Neither did they knit sweaters. I had a Norwegian-American identity crisis; It was liberating! After eliminating these colors from my At Equinox 2009 a rare runestone was wardrobe for a summer, I decided to give unearthed on the Hogganvik farm in Vest away all my fast black dyed clothing. Agder, Norway, where many Iron Age (750 There is something therapeutic about BCE - 750 ACE) burial mounds are to be rejecting this “gift of colonization” – found. This stone was not a cover for a however coffee and chocolate are grave mound, nor did it mark a grave. harder to part with. It stood as a monument on a stone setting excavated by Frans-Arne Stylgar in the Tracks Nine and Ten pasture named Hestenhagen (an enclosure Skuld of Hogganvik / Avalanche for horses.) The stone has been re-mounted on its original stand and is displayed openly Two compositions based on to the public. I have yet to visit the place. the Hogganvik Runestone The words and rune symbols are in the The discovery of the Hogganvik runestein Proto-Norse used during the Germanic (runestone) answered a prayer I made on Tribal Migrations (350 - 500 ACE), pre-dat- Summer Solstice 2009. After returning ing the Viking Era by 300 years. James home from filming Alt for Norge, I was Knirk published the first reading of this looking for a project to connect me back to stone in October of 2009. It is a poem of Norway on a deeper artistic level. four lines with alliterative rune letter magic between verses. I believe the stone to be of deep ritual sig- Knirk suggests that the stone “...was proba- nificance. Even its placement in bly a rounded shell protruding from vertical Hestenhagen is significant as horses have bedrock which developed a crack at the been sacred to the Nordic people since at top; weathering continued in the crack and least the Scandinavian Bronze Age (circa the shell probably finally simply broke away 2000 BCE). Horses are a vehicle of as there are no signs that wedges were connection to deity. There is a strong poetic used to split it off.” There is wordplay in the use of the sound which is the rune raido first line of the poem to suggest it may have (circa 100 BCE), meaning vehicle. Raido come down in an avalanche; a shelf stone, appears in the rune magic script as a central “skelba thewas steinar.” rune, a wheel hub for the spell song to center on. The concept of hub comes into Mythically, the hlidskalf (high shelf) is the play with the second line of the inscription. seat of power for Odin and . In Volva Uncertain of the letter and translation, this Stav teaching, this is the pineal gland which line could mean “deep inside the...” hub of regulates sleeping and dreaming, seasonal the wheel / eye of the needle / (or) cabin body changes, and generates the feeling corner. To me, all of these images are of enlightenment. equally meaningful. Why Skuld? Skuld is the Norn whose name The stone itself is rounded on top with means “should,” “necessity” and “debt.” a straight bottom edge set into the stone She is the first on the battlefield, stand. Scholars believe the stone came off the one who decides who should or should of a rock face in its natural shape as there is not get the attentions of , the second no evidence of it having been re-worked. Valkyrie who is the healer. Skuld is first to arrive when need strikes. She would have heard the first crack of the She shuts down our emotional responses, avalanche. I heard one for the first time directing us toward proper action. This can in Gudvangen, Norway in my last days of mean the difference between life and death. filming Alt for Norge. A colleague and I were I have felt it before. talking. With a sharp inhale he put his finger to his lips and pointed at the sky. In the Around 350 ACE, I imagine a woman sudden silence I heard the avalanche. Hold- standing in front of the stone, remembering ing our breaths in deep listening we shared and commemorating the desperate magics an ancient fear, and relief in our own safety. performed on that day. Knirk flirts with the possibility that is invoked in the first One of my ancestors was killed by an line of this stone. I concur. Freyja’s shaking avalanche on this fjord, Easter morning servant, the guest of compelling need, 1945. Everyone skis at Easter; he was head- surrounded by the death maidens: ing across Nedbergo (the mountain where , the maidens wise in all things; all my mother’s mothers come from, just Norns from ancient of days. As a survivor, around the corner from Gudvangen). He her disr (ancestor spirits) suffuse her with was headed to see his fiancée at the magic, transforming shock into action, Skjerdal farm, but the snow came so hard death into survival, giving her the heart and fast that he was thrown off the moun- of wolverine. tain and into the fjord below. I have imag- ined this tragedy many times while staring at old photos and paintings. My Skjerdal cousins told the story in About The Inscription September 2011 when I was visiting. In the summer of 2016, I will trek that route and a. [s]kelbaþewas s^tainaR aaasrpkf pour a horn to my 3rd great uncle. His body was never found. Skelba: According to Knirk, skelba can trace to skelfr (shaking or trembling) but could My heroine must have listened deeply, also indicate an “place-name following the sound with her mind’s eye: the element” skalf as in shelf (such as Hliðskjálf, crest of the wave riding the vibrations down; the high seat of Odin and Frigg). Skalf was snow uprooting trees, crashing into milk also “known as a name for the goddess houses; smashing spring goats and children Freyja.” All of these interpretations work in who could not run. This quake, this shake, the context of my story. this tremble ends as suddenly as it begins. Sending her mind out, she finds no life left Thewas: Translated as “servant” but also under tons of rock and snow. relating to thew in Old Norse; a law, or law-speaker; one who is steeped in the Then, quelling her grief and despair, she traditions and customs of the people. centers, calling her disr. They come as Norns, Valkyrie, Hail, Ice and Need-fire. StainaR: The stone itself, brought down in This gives her both the courage and the the avalanche. Perhaps the stone is the survival skills of the wolverine. Summer servant of the shaking avalanche, just as the thaw will uncover the dead. She has the writer is the servant of the stone. duty of the runewise to clean up the mess, the scavenging job best suited to wolverine. The law-speaker could indeed be the the past. In this context, the rune writer is servant of Freyja, the first seið bearer and calling on the Norns and understands her leader of the Valkyries. obligation to the past of the avalanche.

First Rune Spell Decoded Sigel: The sun, heat and light, the goddess Sunna, power. The strength of the sunlight Aos, Aos, Aos melting the ice is what causes avalanche. Sigel, Raido In this context, the runesong honors Perdhro, Kauna Fehu the power of the sun while calling on it for personal fortitude. Aos: Mouth of god / sacred word magic that transforms through naming Raido: The wheel, the waves of the avalanche. The runesinger rides the waves Aos: Repetition creates imperative, of the avalanche in her Hliðskjálf (mind’s even expletive power. eye).

Aos: A commonly-repeated rune in other Pertcha: Luck and the great mysterious, inscriptions using alphabet magic. It is Norns and deep magic. Knirk points out that significant in that there are three Norns this rune only appears in the context of full whose names are Urd (primal past), alphabet inscriptions in the oldest rune- Verthandi (that which is becoming) and stones. Its appearance in alphabet magic is Skuld (necessity and debt to the past). unique here; moreover, it is used in both There is no future tense in Old Norse or Old magical rune verses on this stone. German: the future is based on amending In my experience, this rune is rarely pulled b. aarpaa inana naloR/naboR/nawoR at random in a reading unless the person is an older woman or the question is about Second Rune Spell Decoded seeking knowledge of the deep mysterious. Aos, Aos Kenaz: Knowing, seeking to know or Raido, Perdhro understand, also the ulcer, the sore and pain Aos, Aos in children and in people who are constantly agitated. I use the meaning “to illuminate” This line is also bracketed by aos aos: as in the fire of knowledge. mouth of god, invocation and call to prayer. Pertcha and raido are the meat of this spell, Fehu / Fe: Livestock, the sacred cow, and this time with the great mysterious first and wealth. This is and Freyja’s rune. Here wheel / riding second. This formula creates the runesinger is searching for and praying the poetic meter and repetitive nature of for the safety of the domestic animals on spell songs. It is the formula for keeping the which life depends. seer steady in the center of the energy. This is where the thew creates a state for Seið. I also add nauthiz and raido to my spell song, foreshadowing the line, “I am the guest of need.” inana naloR c. ek naudigastiR naboR nawoR I am the guest of need.

The eye of the needle in nålbinding and Naming oneself as the “guest of...” other fiber arts is significant in womens’ is common in Old Norse as well as modern magical working. The hub of a wheel is the Heathenry where it is used to indicate a stable center of the whirling vortex. Within cultic familiarity. Naudi-gastir (guest of need) the cabin corner is a place of prayer and would be used by someone familiar with the safety. Often a corner of the hytte (cabin) Norns, Valkyrie and other venerated female contains the ancestor altar; the place where ancestors. house wights or spirits might be acknowl- edged. Knirk suggests, “the reading As I began work on this piece, of nawoR one might try to connect with Old two additional lines came to mind: Norse nár (corpse, ghost).” In my reading, being “from within the corpse, ghost” is the Nornir heita thaer nauth skapa goal of the seiðkona as she chants the rune Norns create compelling need magic. She is at one with death as – Skaldskaparmal 89 a devotee of Freyja, a follower of Skuld, a collector of corpses. Hveriar ro theaer? nornir er naudthrogonglar ro Who are they? The norns who arrive with compelling need – Fafnismal 12 Childbirth and death are the two times d. ek erafaR every human meets their norns; the times of most compelling need. This also ties the I am the Wolverine. stone back into the (albeit tenuous) relationship to Freyja. This interpretation fits Another guest of compelling need, the with the rune magic as well, bringing trans- wolverine has survived since the Ice Age, formation through perdhro within the hub of able to digest anything it eats no matter raido’s protective energy. how far dead. Called “greedy guts,” the wolverine cleans up after avalanche. I added this invocation as well: Following such powerful rune magic, Naeringsmoyar komme! we can speculate whether the author has Need maidens come! taken the totem of wolverine figuratively or Nornar disr come! literally. It could be the fylgia (soul form) of Norns and deified mothers, come! the writer. It could be the (family animal totem). It could even indicate that the writer shape shifted her hamr (outer soul skin), to manifest as wolverine. Skinskipte (shape-shifting) is a high magic that Freyja and Frigg accomplish through falcon cloaks. Other deities (and their devotees) shape-shift as well. In researching wolverine, I kept seeing the Sources image, hearing the sound, and feeling the power of avalanche. These animals Knirk, James, University of Oslo tunnel through the snow and are incredible Scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/ survivalists. 2009/11/runological_report_on_the_ hogg.php About Pronunciations of the Runes Khm.uio.no/forskning/publikasjoner/ As an artist, I often choose between rune runenews/hogganvik.htm name pronunciations (Germanic, Anglo- Saxon, Icelandic, Norwegian) based on the Bauschatz, Paul, “The Well and the Tree: rhythmic need of the song. There are times World and Time in Early Germanic Culture” when nauthiz works better in the context of (1982) the rhythm than nied or nod, isa versus is, hagal over hagalaz. The added lines are Kvilhaug, Maria, “Maiden with the Mead: from written 700 to 1000 years after A Goddess of Initiation Ritual in Old Norse this stone was written. I give you my best Mythology” (2009) effort and two potent and heartfelt rendi- tions of a poetic spiritual expression from Nästrom, Britt Mari, “Freyja, the Great my ancient forebears. Goddess of the North” (1995)

Tauring, Kari C., “The Runes: A Human Journey” (2007) Track Eleven Kråkvisa Å nebben den brukt ‘an te kjorkjbåt så folk kunde sigla på te å frå This old ballad has many versions all over the Scandinavian world. The verses I sing Ov augo so gjore han stoveglas here are in Norwegian with a singable å nakkjen den sett 'an på kjorkjo te stas English interpretation. If you want to dance and sing the chorus along with me, use the Å kjøte da salt'an i tødne å fat standard circle dance: step left, together, å tungo den hadd 'an te julemat left, together, holding hands together with left palms up and right palms down. Lyric Interpretation

Ma’n han gjekk seg på veaskog A man rode into a forest old Hei fara, på veaskog And there sat the crow in a golden grove Då sat der ei kråka i lunden å gol Hei fara. Faltu riltu raltu ra He thought to himself as he looked up that tree Ma’n han tenkte med sjøle seg “In truth will that crow be the death of me?” <<å tru no den kråko vil drepa meg?>> He fell to one knee Å ma’n han spente sin boge for kne and he drew back his bow So skaut han den kråko, så hu datt ned The shot found its mark and down came the crow Ov skidne so gjore han tolv par sko da beste pare for ært ‘an te mor He skinned it and made himself Track Twelve World Tree Journey twelve pair of shoes The best pair he saved Kari is joined by Stavers in the House: for his mother good • Robin Reyburn, Karin Odell, Neva Benai, From the beak he carved up Sara Franz-Wichlaz (2006) a goodly boat • Lynette Reini-Grandell and Drew Miller So people could sail in it (2008) to and fro • Aneesa Erinn Adams, Bethany Jacobson, Johnathan Dregni (2010) He plucked out the crow’s eye • Rachel Halvorson, Elizabeth Amin (2014) a colorful hue And made him a window Begin with the Rune Call the sun could shine through Komme Komme Alle He cut up the fat Alle Synge Ehol and he salted the meat Gifu, Gifu, Mannaheim The tongue he saved Komme Komme Alle. for a juletide treat Come, come, everyone. Everyone sing the runes for elk, reciprocity/gifting, community Summon the Dwarves Return to Midgard of the Four Directions Based on a Lithuanian invocation to Saule (Austri, Sudri, Vestri, Nordri), the sky father (the sun goddess) learned through the (Odin) and the earth mother (Jord). recording “Giesmes saulei” (2007) by Kulgrinda. It calls the stavers back from Traverse the World Tree the journey.

This improvisation is based on my work in Saulala motula Volva Stav where the nine worlds exist within uztekek, uztekek the body. I lead the group into alignment Sun goddess, mother with the nine worlds of miötvið (the wish tree wheel across the sky of the Voluspa Edda.) so we can have enough.

Ꭿ Kari Tauring Edited by Drew Miller Version 1.0 14 February 2016 sa’n KARI TAURING