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Morgana Post number 26473 Posted: 11th August 2020     Subject: Wardruna/ Einar Selvik
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Wardruna/ Einar Selvik
Column: Giving Voice to the Skalds – Einar Selvik and Assassin’s Creed
By Lyonel Perabo | August 7, 2020

... While I ultimately never really got into the series personally, the Assassin’s Creed games, published by Ubisoft Montréal and Ubisoft Québec, have become established as one of the largest video game franchises of all time, with over 140 million games sold in the last 13 years. This already-impressive number is likely to rise quite a bit with the release of the newest installment of the series, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, which will be launched on November 17.

Set in a semi-fictionalized version of Viking-Age England, the game is the first in the franchise to be set in the world of Norsemen and Anglo-Saxons. If the various trailers and livestreams that have been released in the past few weeks are anything to judge by, Valhalla promises to be just as successful as its predecessors.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Official Trailer
10,463,169 views•30 Apr 2020:
https://www.youtube.com ... ure=emb_logo

The series has, in recent years, received increasingly high levels of praise for its depiction of historical events and cultures – the previous two games were set in ancient Egypt and classical Greece. One would expect that a lot of work was dedicated to making Valhalla as historically accurate as possible. Indeed, in the process of developing the game, Ubisoft made use of a number of researchers, authors, academics, and artists to help shape the identity of the game.

Among these people are a number of individuals who, as Pagans and Heathens, had a unique perspective on contributing to the game. One of these creators is none other than Einar Selvik, the man behind the Nordic folk ensemble Wardruna, one of the most famous musical outfits in the genre. When it was revealed that he was to be involved with the music of the game, alongside seasoned game music professionals Jesper Kyd and Sarah Schachner, The Wild Hunt just had to talk to him.

In the following interview, which took place on July 21, he talks about his contributions to the game, his working philosophy, artistic approach and what he thinks Viking music needs more of right now.


Einar Selvik in 2018 [Tuukka Koski and Koski Syväri]

The story of Einar Selvik starts in the eighties in rural west-Norway, a rugged land full of tales, legends, and mighty nature. “I was very much exposed to history, growing up. I was told lots of stories, when out on the countryside or on walks in nature. These histories of the ancient past created some sort of connection with me. I can remember very vividly that quite early in my teens, when I was reading about these old myths, I became very fascinated, first of all because I could not easily understand them. Things moved in circles, there was no black or white thinking. It was more like nature, and it gave me this drive to try to understand it all better, and it still does. ”

Over the years, Selvik became even more interested in the occult and esoteric aspects of religion and philosophy. He soon became heavily invested in the Norwegian Black Metal scene, a cultural microcosm that blended anti-Christianity, Heathenism, Satanism, shocking antics and extreme heavy metal.

For more than a decade, from the mid nineties to well into the two-thousands, Selvik, who by then had taken the name Kvitrafn (“white-raven”), was most commonly seen drumming for various extreme Metal bands from the Bergen region. This experience was instrumental in developing his artistic and philosophical affinities. “I was never into the satanic aspect of it, what interested me with Black Metal is that the thoughts behind the music were just as important, perhaps even more important, than the music itself. This is what I call the ‘nourishment’ behind the music itself, it gives it its energy and supports it. ”

Even though Selvik achieved more than most in his time within this scene, it ultimately left him wanting more. “At some point, black metal became more technique-based. It stopped being about the message, and more about how fast you could drum or play guitar. ”
Gradually, he dialed down his involvement in metal and started to focus more of his time fusing his age-old interest in the myths and legends of the Norse world with his musical activities. This process started to bear fruits in the late 2000s, when Wardruna, his folk-project, began making waves. In 2009, the band released its sophomore album, Runaljod – gap var Ginnunga, and attracted even more attention when they performed live at the Oslo viking ship museum, playing in front of a thousand year old longship.

In the following years, Selvik took his project to new heights, releasing three more albums, playing live at some of the largest music festivals around, and even licensing, then writing music for, and even starring in the History Channel series Vikings. The meteoric fame of the series introduced him and Wardruna to mainstream popular culture.

“They wanted this sort of hybrid mixture of modern distorted electronics versus authentic traditional instruments, ” he says. “Some tonalities and instruments can automatically take the listener back in time, and I think the music of the show could have focused more on these authentic sounds, but I was just a small part of the musical team. ”

Einar Selvik Vikings:
https://www.youtube.com ... ure=emb_logo

In the years that followed, Selvik multiplied and diversified his work. He worked alongside fellow black metal veteran Ivar Bjørnson (of Enslaved) to produce a musical score celebrating the bicentennial of the Norwegian constitution, released a solo EP (Snake Pit Poetry), and was even invited to provide vocals for some gaming projects: Rend, whose score was penned by Neal Acree (Stargate SG-1, World of Warcraft, Starcraft), and League of Legends, on a track by Austin Wintory (Journey, Banner Saga). Then, in 2018, he was approached by Ubisoft to collaborate on their upcoming game, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla.

“I had been asked to write game scores quite a few times at this point, for both Norwegian, and international companies, big and small. For some reason, it never happened, but it had been on the radar for some time. ” In the eyes of Selvik, collaborating for any kind of music project is not something to be undertaken lightly. “I am very picky with collaborations or projects. If it does not resonate, I don’t say yes. It needs to feel right on all fronts. ”

As far as this new Ubisoft-lead project was concerned, though, things could not have clicked better. Even though he had not actively played games for many years and only ever touched the first game in the series, his co-composers, chosen by Ubisoft fit the bill quite well. “I already knew about Jesper Kyd, I had heard his music before. Then, when I got the request from Ubisoft, I did a little bit of digging, to see what their soundtracks sounded like. ”

Upon delving into the works of Schachner and Kyd, he was confirmed in his initial impression that such a project could go on. “In general, I don’t really listen to music, because I work so much with it. After a long day in the studio, I don’t go back home and put on some music. But sometimes I do, and I enjoy listening to soundtracks, all in all. ”

When, following this initial first contact, it was time to discuss more specific matters, things seemed to fit just right. “We first met in late 2018, and spent several days discussing the concept, and what could be my role and my work. In the end, I am very happy to say that Ubisoft and myself had a very similar vision when it comes to the game’s music. It has been really great working with them. They let me go to the unpolished realm, try to use as historically accurate instruments and sounds as possible. They let me give voice to the skalds. ”

On July 17, the first musical morsel from Valhalla was released. It took the form of a digital EP titled Out of the North, containing seven tracks that are to be played in the game. Three each were composed by Kyd and Schachner, and one by Selvik.

“We primarily work separately, ” he notes. “I have my responsibilities and they have theirs. My work is very much based on the ‘ethnic’ aspect of the game. Some songs I pick and choose and they are edited to fit a game location, or a specific quest. Some of my stuff will be part of sound design as well, music you will hear in the game world, not just as background music. We did collaborate on something in the end, but this will be announced in early August. ”

For the full article... read on... :

https://wildhunt.org/20 ... 43-238023049
Morgana Post number 26474 Posted: 11th August 2020     Subject: The Vikings - series
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Series: The Vikings:

Vikings Theme song- If I Had A Heart(Lyrics)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT7jxSmbMbs

Vikings - soundtrack (Einar Selvik/Wardruna - Völuspá)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYYrckwGETo

Einar Selvik - Ragnar Lothbrok's Death Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK_b1X5J4Vw



(from the interview: https://www.invisibleor ... ik-wardruna/)
Morgana Post number 26696 Posted: 13th December 2020     Subject: An Audience with Einar Selvik of Wardruna
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An Audience with Einar Selvik of Wardruna
Published on
December 12, 2020
When I started the DruidCast podcast in 2007 one of the things I was most excited about was meeting and talking to some of the songwriters, poets, deep-thinkers of the Pagan traditions. Over the years we have featured many of them and there are so many more to come. Each one guiding and challenging, each one opening more possibilities and deepening my love of the Paths we follow.

What I didn’t see coming happened this past Thursday. As the host of DruidCast I was invited, along with music press journalists from Metal Hammer, Kerrang, Classic Rock and many more to a private audience with Einar Selvik, founder and leader of the band Wardruna, talking about their forthcoming album, Kvitravn (due for release on the 22nd January 2021). I remember hearing their debut album and falling in love with their music, and then seeing them live at the Queen’s Hall in London – it was like being part of an on-stage Ritual Journey. So when I was contacted to be part of the live Zoom audience about their new album I was delighted! It seems that Einar recently discovered DruidCast and particularly enjoyed the recent (sadly in hold due to COVID) Walking the Talk section of the show.

So at 4pm me and Cerri logged in to watch and listen.
The American presenter opened the presentation welcoming us, and then handed over to Einar who sang a song from the album live. A song called Munin about one of Odin’s two ravens. If you’ve heard Wardruna’s albums you will know they are multi-layered musical Journeys, but here on my screen was one man, playing an ancient Nordic stringed instrument, and singing. No overdubs, no backing tracks. Just strings and a voice. I’ve always thought that one of the signs of a good song is that it can be stripped back this way – to the very essence of the song, and that it still speaks to the heart. That it’s not the multi-tracking and other instruments, but the very soul of the song that captures us. As Einar sung I found myself being taken across the land and seas to the Fjords and high peaks of Norway, held on the back of a flying raven. It was as magical as seeing the entire band live.
After the song there was a long Q & A section where people asked their questions about the album, Einar’s songwriting process, and his views on Nordic history. It was all fascinating. As a songwriter I always love hearing about the way we find our inspiration, and from listening to Einar I think we are brothers from a different mother. He gets his inspiration from walking the land, and listening. The land tells him its stories, its melody, and then he goes back to the studio to translate those messages into a song. I just sat nodding my head. The new album is called Kvitravn which means White Raven – my mind turned to the Second Branch of Y Mabinogi – Branwen, the White Raven (or Crow).

This led my thoughts to go down a rabbit hole. There are huge connections between Pagan myths all across the world. We can see threads that connect the tales of Odin and Loki with those of Gwydion. To many the Norse and Celtic myths are not obvious bed-fellows. We can see the past power-struggles by the peoples that held these myths and for some that influences how we interact with the Gods in our times, some 1000 years or so later. Einar’s music has been used in the new Assassin’s Creed Valhalla game, it was also used in the Vikings TV series, so it was very interesting when he was asked about that. His response was quite reserved and thoughtful. He said that Nordic history goes back many thousands of years and that it was a shame that when people thought of Norse history they focussed only on the Viking age, which was only a small portion of the population, and only lasted a few hundred years. It’s the reason he avoids the word Viking when it comes to his music – to Einar it is Nordic music.

(read on... )


https://www.paganmusic. ... of-wardruna/
Mike The Blacksmith Post number 26697 Posted: 13th December 2020     Subject:
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Thank you Morgana for posting this.

I may have missed it and Dave and Einar are two of my favorite pagan musicians. I have spent many hours with them as the sound track in my shop:)

Bright Blessings from the Forest,
Mike the Blacksmith
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