Hey all,
My band posted two songs to our profile from our upcoming EP, and I would love some feedback on the second of the two,
Baldr's Doom.
Link:
http://www.myspace.com/officialhoarfrost
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Song Notes: In Baldr's Doom I am attempting a condensed retelling of the tale of Baldr's death at the hands of his brother Hodr, who was an unwitting pawn by the trickster god/jotun Loki. This is an interesting tale, and is an important one in the context of Norse mythology, for it is Loki's actions and Baldr's ultimate demise which begins the series of events leading to the end of this world and the birth of the new one, commonly known as Ragnarok.
I have left out some significant details in this story, not the least of which is the specific reason as to why the mistletoe was exempt from the oath, Loki's long quest for this particular plant, more details of Hermod's long quest to Hel's Palace in Niflheim, and his subsequent quest to seek out all the beings of all the worlds and have them mourn the death of his brother Baldr.
Of the above, I wish I had incorporated more of how Loki learned that Baldr's Bane was mistletoe, why exactly was mistletoe was exempt from the oath (for those curious, Frigga generally is to have said that the mistletoe looked too young and innocent to have sworn such an oath) and how Loki went about getting it, but I felt as though the instrumental section after my abbreviated conversation between Loki and Frigga held enough gravitas with how simply
dark it felt that it conveyed Loki's insidious nature well enough so as to act as a bridge to the next section of Baldr's death. I also wish I'd had the space to talk of Baldr's funeral pyre on his ship Hringhorni, which was the largest and greatest ship of any figure in Norse mythology. Baldr's wife Nanna hops onto the ship and dies in her grief in the same flames that consume the ship, and Thor kicks an annoying dwarf named Litr onto the ship as well.
Finally, I love the darker atmosphere of this tale, but a part of me wishes to convey that, in the end, it all works out rather well and Baldr and Hodr will be brought back to life and reunited to rule the new world after Ragnarok with the sons of Thor.
Enough rambling, here are the lyrics:
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Baldr's Doom
Music by Hoarfrost, Lyrics by Ryan Suche
Beloved of the Æsir, God of Light and Beauty
Was Baldr, who fell to Loki's treachery
Chorus:
Dreams of death, dreams of doom
Unconquerable fears in the night did loom
The froze his heart and stole the breathe from his lips
And all too soon, he'd be pierced by the mistletoe spear-tip
His mother, Odin's wife, gentle Frigga
Shared his dreams, and was the guardian of his well-being
She went to all the beings of all the lands
And made them swear that her son would not be killed -
- by their own hands... and so they swore the oath
To Odin and Frigga's son Baldr, they would do no harm
And so, the God of Light was henceforth safe
And all the Æsir took to playing games
Chorus:
With bow and arrow, spear and sword
The Æsir to a god failed to do him harm
Loki looked on, his heart cold with jealousy
Loki looked on, his heart hot with fury
And so in the guise of an old crone
Loki entered Frigga's palace, his heart filled with malice
He asked of her "why does your son go unscathed,
what in all the nine worlds could be his bane?"
Loki: "Hodr why dost thou, not partake in the games?"
Hodr: "It is for I am blind."
Loki: "Let me take thy hand, and let me guide thy throw.
Loki: Cast this bolt of mistletoe...."
And all the gods were filled with greatest sorrow
For the most beloved one had fallen, by his brother's hand
Odin struck down Hodr for his unwitting part
And Hermod took up the reins of his father's steed
For nine days and nines nights he rode without pause
Eight legs downwards carried him to the depths of the nine worlds
Through pitch-black valleys and over the river Gjöll
Sleipnir galloped ceaselessly, to the Gates of Hel
Chorus:
Splayed before the goddess of death
Hermod begged for his brother's life-breathe
To be returned to him, but Hel was not so easily swayed
Hel: "If all should mourn for him, I shall set Baldr free"