Folking welcomes in the May with Gjallarhorn’s Suvetar

Gjallarhorn SjofnGjallarhorn’s Suvetar is my cinematic backdrop to Welcoming in the May and I felt the need to share it again with you. 

I love the light and dark imagery and themes of the piece. The daughters of the earth: Suvetar the corn golden goddess, Manutar on the surface pulling and pushing up the roots and the underground crone shaking herself from the dark winter months and turning over the peat and forcing the seeds from the dark depths of the earth.

New beginnings and ends to the circle of life that effects us daily, some too painful to talk about and other so joyous that they have to be shared. As different and as changeable as the seasons themselves.

Gjallarhorn’s music finds its roots in the Swedish folk music of Finland. The material (especially the album Sjofn)  features a layered style of mythical medieval ballads, whirling minuets, prayers in runo-metric chants and Icelandic rimur epics. There are some moments of sheer improvisation and others that are “composed” and influenced in the classic Indian style.

Suvetar, fine matron
Arise to see the seeds
Raise the matron´s corn
So that we may be spared pain

Manutar, matron of the earth
Lift up the shoots from the ground
New shoots from the stumps
So that we may be spared pain

Feed us with honey-hearts
Give us honey-drink
Delicious honey-grass
On a blossoming knoll

Suvetar, fine matron
Arise to see the seeds
Raise the matron´s corn
So that we may be spared pain

Manutar, matron of the earth
Lift up the shoots from the ground
New shoots from the stumps
So that we may be spared pain

Feed us with honey-hearts
Give us honey-drink
Delicious honey-grass
On a blossoming knoll

You have shining silver
You have glistening gold
You have shining silver
You have glistening gold

Suvetar, fine matron
Arise to see the seeds
Raise the matron´s corn
So that we may be spared pain

Manutar, matron of the earth
Lift up the shoots from the ground
New shoots from the stumps
So that we may be spared pain

Feed us with honey-hearts
Give us honey-drink
Delicious honey-grass
On a blossoming knoll

You have shining silver
You have glistening gold
You have shining silver
You have glistening gold

Rise up, O maiden black from the soil
Rise up, O maiden black from the soil

Underground crone
Most ancient of Nature´s daughters
Make the peat shoot forth
And the ground turn over

Underground crone
Most ancient of Nature´s daughters
Lift up a thousand seedlings
To reward my efforts

Suvetar, fine matron
Arise to see the seeds
Raise the matron´s corn
So that we may be spared pain

Manutar, matron of the earth
Lift up the shoots from the ground
New shoots from the stumps
So that we may be spared pain

Feed us with honey-hearts
Give us honey-drink
Delicious honey-grass
On a blossoming knoll

You have shining silver
You have glistening gold
You have shining silver
You have glistening gold

Rise up, O maiden black from the soil
Rise up, O maiden black from the soil

Underground crone
Most ancient of Nature´s daughters
Make the peat shoot forth
And the ground turn over

Underground crone
Most ancient of Nature´s daughters
Lift up a thousand seedlings
To reward my efforts

Twin fiddles or fiddle and viola add depth and variation and a wonderful slide-didge creates a shamanistic pulse that underpins many of the compositions. Jews Harp is also used to produce really interesting effects and Afro-Cuban, Indian and Middle-Eastern percussion heightens the dance as the drum beats out a trance-like rhythm.

Gjallarhorn are: Jenny Wilhelms (Vocals, fiddle), Christopher Ohman (Viola, mandola, vocals, Kalimba), Tommy Mansikka-Aho (Didgeridoo, slideridoo, jews harp, udu, djembe), David Lillkvist (Percussion, Kalimba).

If you never had the pleasure of getting your hands on the album then you can order it form the Amazon link below.

folkmaster – Welcoming in the May 2013