{"id":690057,"date":"2026-05-23T19:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T19:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/690057\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T19:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T19:42:12","slug":"sigur-ros-odins-raven-magic-and-the-end-of-heaven-and-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/690057\/","title":{"rendered":"Sigur R\u00f3s, Odin\u2019s Raven Magic and the end of Heaven and Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2020 Sigur R\u00f3s<\/a> released Odin\u2019s Raven Magic, a live album based on a medieval Icelandic poem that had been discredited before being re-evaluated. Written and first performed 18 years earlier, it saw the post-rockers collaborate with a number of leading lights of their country\u2019s art scene. The band\u2019s Georg H\u00f3lm took Prog behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never felt any pressure from any labels,\u201d says Sigur R\u00f3s bassist Georg H\u00f3lm with a gentle yet icy firmness. \u201cThey know when they take us aboard that we do what we want do to. It\u2019s always come naturally to us \u2013 it\u2019s not often we go in and say, \u2018We want to make this kind of record.\u2019 We write a bunch of songs and then realise, \u2018We have a full record here; we should release it.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s how they each have an exciting feel to them.When we were making Kveikur [2013], we thought maybe it should be a little more aggressive, and that was it \u2013 we said nothing else and started writing. It\u2019s always a natural process.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In 2002 that process led them to collaborate with a fascinating figure in Icelandic culture. Hilmar \u00d6rn Hilmarsson is a chief of the \u00c1satr\u00fa Fellowship, a neopagan religious order. In that capacity he presided over H\u00f3lm\u2019s marriage in 2005. But he\u2019s also a cult figure on the Icelandic music scene, composing award-winning film scores and playing in bands such as new wave outfit \u00deeyr and David Tibet\u2019s Current 93.<\/p>\n

\u201cHilmar\u2019s a very wise man,\u201d says H\u00f3lm, \u201ca master of so many things. He\u2019s unique; a fantastic character \u2013 it\u2019s great being in the same room when he\u2019s telling stories about things. He\u2019s the best storyteller.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sigur R\u00f3s – Dvergm\u00e1l with Steind\u00f3r Andersen, Hilmar \u00d6rn Hilmarsson & Mar\u00eda Huld Markan Sigf\u00fasd\u00f3ttir – YouTube
\n\"Sigur<\/p>\n

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When Reykjav\u00edk Arts Festival approached Hilmarsson to write a piece for their 2002 event, he contacted Sigur R\u00f3s with the idea of a work based on Odin\u2019s Raven Magic (Hrafnagaldur \u00d3\u00f0ins), a poem taken from the Edda, Iceland\u2019s rich medieval literary canon. It tells of the Norse god sending two ravens across the world, and the birds returning with portents of doom that spell the end for humans and gods alike.<\/p>\n

The poem is part of the Edda\u2019s overarching narrative of Ragnar\u00f6k \u2013 a great final battle that will sweep away the old world and make way for the new. While the poem had long been discredited as fake, by 2002 it had been re-evaluated by scholars and readmitted to the canon.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHilmar had wanted to do something with it for a long time,\u201d recalls H\u00f3lm, \u201cand it seemed to fit perfectly. We all contributed to the composition; it was a true collaboration. We created little riffs then added to them with strings and a lot of electric instruments, samplers as well as guitar, bass and drums.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt free; that we could do whatever we wanted to do. A lot of the ideas came from us playing around with the stone marimba.\u201d A sonic trademark of Odin\u2019s Raven Magic, the custom-made marimba was hewn from over 70 pieces of stone by sculptor P\u00e1ll Gu\u00f0mundsson. Spanning five octaves, it often took H\u00f3lm, Hilmarsson, J\u00f3nsi and another member of the ensemble to play the parts.<\/p>\n

Also on the project was violinist Maria Huld Markan Sigf\u00fasd\u00f3ttir. She and her ex Sigur R\u00f3s keyboardist husband, Kjartan Sveinsson, took on the lion\u2019s share of arrangement for the orchestra and choir, with lead vocals performed by Steind\u00f3r Andersen. The fishing boat skipper, another renowned guardian of Icelandic folk traditions, worked with Sigur R\u00f3s on 2001 EP R\u00edmur.<\/p>\n

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Sigur R\u00f3s – Stendur \u00e6va w\/ Steind\u00f3r Andersen, Hilmar \u00d6rn Hilmarsson & Mar\u00eda Huld Markan Sigf\u00fasd\u00f3ttir – YouTube
\n\"Sigur<\/p>\n

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He sang Odin\u2019s Raven Magic in the original medieval Icelandic, adding to an entrancing, highbrow listen with classical and rock forms colliding, as the band, orchestra and choir come together in spine-tingling form.<\/p>\n

The performance heard on the album was recorded in 2004 at La Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris, with the choir of the Schola Cantorum of Reykjav\u00edk and L\u2019Orchestre des Laureats du Conservatoire National de Paris. The piece prevously debuted at London\u2019s Barbican Centre in April 2002, before transferring to its patron festival in Reykjav\u00edk the next month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did two days of rehearsals before The Barbican,\u201d recalls H\u00f3lm, \u201cand it didn\u2019t really work as we wanted it \u2013 it didn\u2019t flow. At the hotel, Kjartan, Maria and Hilmar were running around, printing new sheet music and tearing their hair out trying to make it work. It was quite stressful; but we got it right and performed it a few times after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clips have appeared on YouTube ever since, but H\u00f3lm is glad that the definitive version is now available. \u201cWe\u2019ve been messing about with it for so long \u2013 in the end we just said, \u2018Let\u2019s stop thinking about it and let go of it.\u2019 We haven\u2019t released anything in a while either, so it just felt right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s perfect timing. The world is going to hell and the poem is about the beginning of the end, and the gods know it\u2019s the end for everyone. But with every end there\u2019s a beginning \u2013 that\u2019s what Ragnar\u00f6k is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sigur R\u00f3s – Spa\u0301r e\u00f0a spakma\u0301l w\/ Steind\u00f3r Andersen, Hilmar \u00d6rn Hilmarsson & Mar\u00eda Huld Markan – YouTube
\n\"Sigur<\/p>\n

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