You Are Skalds Already

folk, world - 3:21

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Song Background/Inspiration

A Nordic folk chant in adapted drott-kvaett - the six-syllable, three-stress meter of the Viking court poets - written in praise of the Festival of Skalds in Angora, Minnesota. The first verse teaches what a skald was: the keeper of a people's memory, whose songs kept the honored dead alive. The middle verses walk the festival grounds past the archery range, the axe throw, the forges, the minstrels, dancers, fire-spinner, and dragon hunters in training, and the bridge hands the tradition to the listener: keep the stories, and you are a skald already.

Lyrics

Skalds were keepers, singers Holding hard-won stories Weaving words like weapons Wielded in the mead-hall Every deed worth keeping Lived within their verses None who fed the ravens Died while skalds still sang them Come to green Angora Hear the hammers ringing Songs of old are living Skalds are singing summer Festival of Skalds Festival of Skalds Bows of birch are bending Arrows find their targets Axes fly and flicker Thrown to thudding timber Smiths at glowing forges Shape the singing iron Merchants bring their marvels Carved and forged and woven Come to green Angora Hear the hammers ringing Songs of old are living Skalds are singing summer Festival of Skalds Festival of Skalds Minstrel strings are strumming Tales are told till twilight Watch the dancers whirling Silver bells a-shimmer Fire-spinners flaring Trace their runes of ember Dragon hunters drilling Lead the little warriors When the fires dwindle When the stalls are folded Still the song will linger Long beneath the birches You who keep the stories You are skalds already Come to green Angora Hear the hammers ringing Songs of old are living Skalds are singing summer Festival of Skalds Songs of old are living Skalds are singing summer Festival of Skalds