i recently downloaded "Dauði Baldrs" and Hliðskjálf" by Burzum and they blew me away. i've looked into some other dark ambient stuff but nothing seems to be as medieval sounding as these albums, if that's an accurate word to use. melodic might be another word i would describe them as. i would greatly appreciate any recommendations.

i apologize if this question has been asked before, my search turned up nothing.

You may know them, but Elffor is as about as medieval sounding as you can get.

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KrzOBAqRP0

Try Invictus from Hungary. It's here on the archives

Elffor-Atmospheric BM that uses alot of epic synths. His "Into the Dark Forest" album is completely void of guitars and fits your request perfectly imo.
These other bands are worth mentioning and are worth a listen. They don't use any electric guitars at all but rely on heavy complex synth and other instruments to convey their sound and they have a primarily dark atmosphere. All three have primarily female fronted vocals which is the reason I reccomend Elffor over these.
Chaostar
Die verbanntan Kinder Evas
Dargaard

Also, if you enjoyed Die Verbannten Kinder Evas and Elffor you may enjoy summoning if you havent heard them, but they do not fall under your request so...

Most of Vinterriket's stuff is pure Dauði Baldrs/Hliðskjálf worship. Not that I particularly enjoy it (due to its rather excessive lack of originality), but if you really want something that's very similar to those Burzum albums you might want to give it a try.

seconding Invictus. great music!

you should also take a listen to LORD WIND. Especially their latest album "Atlantean Monument" is fantastic.
Also WONGRAVEN, old MORTIIS stuff (up to and including "The Stargate"), FATA MORGANA (also a Mortiis project), SALTVIND and the great neo-classical band L'EFFET C'EST MOI are worth checking out. Though some of them may sound a bit more "driving" and less "sad" I think they also could be what you're looking for.

edit: PAZUZU may also be worth a try

I've had my own solo-project along the lines of very early Mortiis back in 1997-2001. Recorded 6 songs with a total span of 90 minutes in my bedroom from a really amateurish keyboard directly into my stereo, without any overdubs, editing, sound processing or post-production.
It's very melancholy and "isolated" sounding, and i'd love to send you a CDR for free if you PM me your postal address. No more than 10-15 people have heard this so far yet i like the idea to send it to a stranger who might later give me a review on some of my earliest musical attempts.

Deal?

Damn you have good taste

wow, elffor is exactly what i was looking for! thanks for the advice. i'll be checking out the rest of the bands asap

If you're just going to throw out random metalhead ambient projects (Lord Wind is like ambient Burzum how????) then don't forget BEHERIT, CINTECELE DIAVOLUI, BATHYM, PARTHENON, CYBER BAPHOMET, TRIAL OF THE BOW, KARL SANDERS, THE WHITE AUTHORITY, SUMMONING et all...

Man, metalhead ambient kicks ASS!

Nope, I didn't threw out "random metalhead ambient projects". The ones I posted are either imo somewhat similar (Mortiis, Saltvind) or, while not being exactly like the mentioned Burzum albums, at least have some partly medieval (as reuqested by the OP) sound to them (Lord Wind, Wongraven, Pazuzu).
Which is why I didn't posted e.g. Karl Sanders, whose music surely is great but is def. different to those.

@Frostwind: Thanks

Alright, PengPeng, I take that back. I didn't need to be mean for no reason.

So to be a bit more specifically helpful (though, OP, you should check out all things I mentioned) certain Bathym releases are very similar to Hildskjalf, particularlly "Ever Darkness", and Summoning's "Lost Tales" is similar to Hildskjalf as well, though a bit more tangentally. Also Cintecele Diavolui is quite medieval sounding, but more in the sense of it sounding modern trying to give a medieval vibe rather than actually being medieval in a genuine sense, however, it is still super-great. Check out or risk dying unfulfilled!

Get this split.
http://metal-archives.com/release.php?id=32433

Both bands fit your description perfectly in my opinion.