Wardruna, “Birna”

“From the deep woods now emerges Birna, Wardruna’s sixth studio album. Through his never resting dialogue with nature, Einar Selvik has been searching for the voice of the bear, our lost sister of the forest. Birna – the she-bear in Old Norse – is a work of art dedicated to the warden of the forest, nature’s caretaker, and her battles here on earth. Slowly driven out of her habitat by modern day societies, she has entered a stage of permanent hibernation. As a result, the forest is gradually dying, longing for its pulse and heart – its shepherd. Birna calls for her return.”

Wardruna’s discography is one of seeking. Each album, since the beginning, has felt at once like its own search, and a part of a larger journey towards re-discovering something that’s been lost. One can trace a trajectory throughout Wardruna’s albums through Kvitravn, where I feel like the band really found its voice, blending that organic, raw world of folk music with the darker mysticism inherent in the medievalist pagan revival of the 21st century, and tied together with a developed confidence and consistency in songwriting and composition.

The way I hear it, Wardruna’s music has only become more organic and earthy over time. Yggdrassil had that first characterstic “wooden” sound that carried over to the definitive style of Kvitravn, with Skald’s emphasis on minimalist acoustic performance definitely playing a role here too. But even though it was indeed organic, Kvitravn had a coldness to it. A coldness which also defined Wardruna’s previous albums. Read any comments under a wardruna video, or review from a major outlet, or just loo at the ways the videos reinforce this icy character of previous albums, and my point easily makes itself. This coldness is not at all a bad thing, of course, but the reason I’m establishing the history of a cold river running through Wardruna’s music, is because Birna, to me, is defined by its warmth.

Birna is a gentle giant. It has a softness in its demeanor that allows the space for other emotions and expressions typically excluded from this style often called “dark folk”. More than anything, as I listen to Birna over and over again, I’m taken in by a sensitivity, and even a vulnerability, which runs through the the record compared to that icy veil of earlier albums. It’s a vulnerability which made me, the listener, feel like I was being spoken with, rather than spoken to, and welcomed into a space to share in the catharsis. But make no mistake: much like the beast for which the record is named, the warmth of Birna does not sacrifice the teeth that Wardruna’s music has shown now for over a decade.

Writing this deep dive was a very daunting task – probably the most daunting of anything I’ve done here on the Nordic Sound. It will shock none of you to hear me say Wardruna is a band that I hold in very high regard, as a fan of good music of course, but also as a musicologist of Nordic Music and a musicologist concerned with how music can play its part in the real issues facing us today – climate collapse, more specifically. In this way, Wardruna is not only an ambassador of Nordic culture, though Einar doesn’t feel like one, but they are also ambassadors for the environmentalism movement itself. It’s a role they’ve had in the undercurrents, which became most explicit with Grá until now this whole album seems to be what I called an animist manifesto months back. And because of the scope of the album and its message, it feels like there’s still so much left to be said and uncovered as we sit with this album.

All of this is to say, that when Wardruna releases an album, it’s a global event that brings people together across so many spectrums for so many different reasons. And this beautiful unifying aspect of music is what I’m going to focus on in this deep dive into Birna – as I have done for many months now, I’m making this not-so-review so we can look into as many little nooks and crannies of this album conceptually and musically so we can better understand this music that holds so many of us utterly spellbound. But also, it would be an impossible task to unturn every stone, and more ideas will surely even come to me while editing this video, so please, as always, think of this video as the beginning of a conversation, rather than the end of one.

So, without further ado, and with much anticipation, let’s dive into Wardruna’s Birna – the gentle giant.

Hertan (Heart)

I don’t believe it’s insignificant that the coldest and most pained track on the album kicks it off, and instead I very much believe it to be intentional. In dialogue with the earth and forest, we all start with pain. It reminds me of Aldo Leopold’s world of wounds:

“One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. An [environmentalist] must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise.”

Beginning with that pain and vulnerability, this song about the heart, the most vulnerable part of us, allows us the record the sonic space to grieve and cathartically express the pain felt when looking honestly to the state of the world. In short, for this album to do any work in calling home the warden of the forest, we must first acknowledge the pain that has been inflicted. Musically depicted with the strained breathiness of Einar’s opening chant, what I believe to be one of his most impressive vocal performances which slowly fades into the heartbeat rhythm which drives the song, it’s just a really intense piece that starts the album running. I already talked about the musical components of this track in my review from last April, so check out that video if you want a deep dive into Hertan on its own.

Birna (She-Bear)

Speaking of previous Wardruna videos, in the review of Birna the single, I mentioned a point important to listening to the rest of the album: the Kantele symbolizes the bear, and may even be compositionally intended to be the voice of the bear itself. What I didn’t talk about in that first video, because it needed the context of where it sits compared to the rest of the album to be noteworthy, is, if we’re going to continue this spectrum of old cold versus new warmth, we see already the chill of Hertan being shed here in Birna. And, of course, what feels like an increased presence of Lindy’s voice throughout Birna compared to past records brings a light that makes the album shine. I really love her performance on this track and the songs to come – she brings the magic.

Ljos til Jord (Light to Earth)

The next three songs, from Ljos til Jord through Dvaledraumar, to Jord til Ljos, together create what in music we call a cycle. Cyclic music is one of the oldest large scale forms of music we know of, and essentially means smaller pieces of music are strung together with related themes to create one large coherent work. In the case of ljos til jord through jord to ljos is also literally depicts a cycle of going into hibernation, then emerging from that hibernation. I really love the chanting that opens this, again in 5/4 which creates that driving pulse of the tune. This is also the track that, at least in my ears, has the most influence from the general medieval or pagan music scene of the early 2000s like Faun for instance. Lastly, the tagelharpa line is insanely good on this one.

Dvaledraumar (Dormant Dreams)

The building tension from Hertan through Ljos til Jord meets a long quiet leading into Dvaledraumar, broken by a simple, sleepy bukkehorn call over the sound of breaking ice. This has to be one of if not the most ambient tracks in Wardruna’s whole discography, fitting for the subject matter of the tune being one of dreaming and hibernation. I love the way different sounds, instruments, and motifs flow in and out to create the atmosphere of a deep dream. From the Bukkehorn, to solo singing from Einar, to a descending kantele line decorating gentle humming from Lindy, then the bowed strings, to the male chorus... it’s like the fading in and out of deep sleep and into the subconscious, with the increased layering of sounds as the track goes on also feeling like an awakening. The whole piece very much feels like a dream thanks to these compositional techniques.

Which brings me to just how beautifully and artistically done it is to end this track with guest performer Jonna Jinton singing lokk – a musical calling, beckoning, or summoning – alongside blooming birdsong and the seljefløyte – the willow flute - to musically depict the coming of spring at the end of this long meditative winter to transition into Jord til Ljos. A willow flute is specifically made from new growth of spring Willow trees if I understand correctly, which is where that spring connection with that instrument comes from.

With that in mind, Musical painting like the way it’s done here is effective on two levels. The first level, for those who don’t know why these particular sounds are being used, will enjoy it just because it sounds good and definitely creates a strong neofolk ambience. But at the second level, for those who get the references with the cultural context of lokk and the seljeflojte, that adds just one more layer of artistry to love and appreciate about the way these songs, and the album as a work, tell its story through both text and music. This is from a compositional standpoint, one of the coolest tracks Wardruna has ever done, and it requires a lot of confidence to put a 15 minute track like this in the middle of an album. And it pays off immensely.

Jord til Ljos (Earth to Light)

As I said, this song transitions cleanly from Dvaledraumer off the momentum of the building spring soundscape, using the kantele (again the musical character of the bear) to mark the bear’s emerging from hibernation to walk the landscape once more. I can literally feel like warmth on my skin of that first spring day when I listen to this track. And as a side note, it’s funny how short a 5 minute song feels after coming off the 15 minute titan of Dvaledraumar. Thus ends the song cycle of the last three tracks, some of my favorite music in Wardruna’s whole discography, before we start to bring it all home.

Himinndotter

I pretty much have all of the same feelings about Himinndotter as I did in the initial video I did on the single release a few months back. It’s cinematic, it’s majestic, and I like the way it poses a question or uncertainty at the final note with the incomplete cadence. But of course, my favorite part of this track is Lindy’s vocal solo in the middle that really does feel primal in all of the right ways, giving the song something it would have been missing otherwise. The addition of the choir too was a great choice, adding even more to that grand scope the piece has. Check out that video if you want more of a deep dive into this song in particular.

Hibjørnen

This is the track that sticks with you. It’s the one song that takes everything behind Birna and distills it to its most basic essence. This song was the one that stuck out to me the most of all the singles, it’s the one I found myself thinking about the most and reflecting on even now all this time later and after all of the repeated listens. It has a beauty to it that sets it apart of all of Wardruna’s music, because of that warmth, combined with the simplicity and rawness of the other Skaldic performances from Einar. The lyrics alone lull me into the mossy dreamspace that the music video clearly wants me to be in, and the softer, more major inflected refrain highlights that vulnerability I mentioned at the top of the video. All around, Hibjørnen is my favorite composition on this album, and shows Einar at his strongest as a composer as well as a performer.

Sidebar

Bear with me here as I think aloud: I’ve had this album for a few months now. Listened to it repeatedly and had a lot of time to think about this. But, I feel like Birna “proper” ends with Hibjørnen. It started when I kept thinking “man, this song would fit so much better as a closer” – a quiet reflective song like this at the end of an album is usually quite powerful. But then I realized, that I think it does end the Birna portion of the album that exact way. Because there is a throughline from the title track through hibjornen that is heavily threaded through with the album’s concept, but then after hibjørnen, we still have three songs left. None of which are bear themed. One is a banger about the grim or the death horse, the other is a single we’ve all been loving since 2020, and Tretale is related by way of being tree and forest themed (and is my favorite of the three, but we’ll get there), but all three feel like they’re doing their own thing.

I think I’m just bringing this up because I’m curious to know how you guys feel, but there is definitely a change of pace and feel after hibjørnen, almost as if they lay beyond the dramatic contour from Hertan through Hibjørnen. That’s not to say these songs aren’t good, far from it – I feel like a lot of really cool new ideas are shown in these tracks - but they do feel like a postlude. Let me know what you think in the comments down below.

Skuggehesten

Skuggehesten rips. I love this track. It has a good pulsing, snarling energy to it, and I love the way the (organistrum?) emulates a metal riff without distortion, but the chorus opens up to a more beautiful soaring character that makes the track well rounded and dynamic. It’s funny but I can’t actually think of any other track in Wardruna’s discography that sounds like Skuggehesten, maybe you guys can help me down in the comments. As I said a few minutes ago, an absolute banger that will no doubt feature on many a playlist.

Tretale

I may be reading into Tretale too much like a proper musicologist, but the track is called voice of the trees, and the foremost sound you hear throughout the track is the rustling of leaves. It’s more of that sound painting that I was talking about with Dvaledraumar – using recorded sound that wouldn’t typically be considered musical, but in a musical way. That kind of music concrete as it could be called also really drives home the animist or even transcendental message of the album in that the world has its own music that we have forgotten how to listen to. I just think it’s a really creative and clever touch. But I don’t want that to overshadow my actual favorite part of this track, and the album in general, which is the chanting chorus half way through the track. Tretale gives me strong Runaljod – Yggdrassil vibes which are always welcome.

Lyfjaberg

And lastly with Lyfjaberg… what is there really left to say about this track that we’ve had since before even Kvitravn. I was surprised to see this song on the album with that fact in mind, but it’s true that it didn’t have a home, so considering Birna’s theme it was probably the best for it. To this day, again talking about recorded sound, the use of hiking footsteps to set the marching two rhythm of the song itself, blurring the lines between life, nature, and music in a very intentional way just really impresses me from a creative standpoint starting a song about a mountain. And, of course, one of the fan favorite choruses of any wardruna song, so I do think it was a good pick for the album closer if it wasn’t going to be hibjørnen.

Conclusion

You guys know that I have been pointing out the Dark Folk and Pagan Folk genre’s narrowing expressive range for practically as long as this youtube channel has existed. As someone who loves this genre, it’s always bothered me how reluctant artists are in exploring emotional ranges beyond the doom and gloom, and I’ve wanted musicians to try and open up a little bit to see what other emotions can be explored through this genre. Einar put it best in challenging the bear as a masculine figure typical to the Viking sphere – we have plenty of odes and homages to the ferocity and savagery of the bear through the big bad berserker. But what can we gain if we instead gave more attention to the symbol of the bear as a mother which has gone completely underexplored in this music style. This simple reframing of the bear’s character begins of course with the name of the album hiding in plain sight, the feminine birna as opposed to the more common bjørn or bern, but also of course in the art accompanying the album as well focusing on cubs, and nurturing mothers.

This is the very reason I latched on to Birna’s warmth and vulnerability from the outset of this deep dive. Look at what such a simple reframing of how we understand an animal through tropes changes about how we understand it and what we learn from it. As a central argument to Birna as a rhetorical work of art that Einar talked about in our interview back in October, Wardruna makes a pretty damn good case for it here. If this is what comes of such reframings from the aggressive and violent to the nurturing and caring, think of what else can be said through this style of music if more were to take this same approach.

Considering the indisputable scope of Wardruna’s influence, the fact that this band has now given to the world an album with these emotional and expressive dimensions previously overlooked in the very genre they have defined over the last decade is hopefully a sign of things to come for a development or growth in this style that I think is long overdue.

We all need to mourn, and to grieve. We do. But what do we do after we grieve? After we mourn? After we get our anger out? As it stands, the style of viking or pagan folk or whatever name you prefer struggles to look beyond the grief and the anger, but to live only for the grief becomes oppressive and self-defeating. And that’s what makes Birna such a powerful work of art. It does look beyond the grief. There’s a hope to it, an optimism that, while difficult to hold in spite of everything going on, we should hold on to nonetheless, because the natural world beyond humans depends on us to do so. That’s why Birna is that animist manifesto: it looks forward to what we need to do, and argues for the beauty in the world around us, while also reminding us what’s at stake if we lose it. A powerful message that’s needed now more than ever, and one that needs as many voices as it can find.

Thank you for reading.