It's obvious what this song means - it is about Valhalla, the eternal home of those slain in battle. Half of the warriors who die in battle are brought to the hall of Freya and half are brought to the hall of Odin (Valhalla). They fight and die for all of eternity (resurrected again each day) to prepare themselves for Ragnarok, when most of the gods will die in a huge battle and the world will be destroyed and reborn.
I'm commenting on it not because it needs interpretation but because it is a fucking powerful song. If there was one thing Quorthon always carried across to me it is emotion. If you've ever lost someone then maybe you can identify with this song. I know I can.
One thing that I love about the religion of the Vikings (Asatru I believe?) is what it shares with most ancient pantheon-based religions. That is that gods and men/women are almost one and the same. Gods can be petty and cruel and lustful and silly, just like people can. They are at least somewhat all-knowing and powerful, but they are subject to the same whims that people are. Likewise, people aren't "sinful" for doing what they want to do. They just have the potential for honor and the potential to do great things. There is no accepting the gods into your heart and blah blah blah because your life has been planned by them since before the dawn of time. It's about YOU doing what YOU want and trying to sway the opinions of the gods to in your favor. I'm more atheist than Odinist, but I feel that this if I could ever believe in an all-powerful being, this is exactly what I would believe and this is the kind of thing that this song gets across.
Every other religion wants to die and go to heaven so that everything will be better for them. Vikings don't mind dying and going to Valhalla because they know they'll be doing exactly what they're doing now - and they love it. Fighting and drinking and paying tribute to the gods was exactly what they did and exactly what they always expected themselves to do. My favorite line in this song is at the end, "Rise and stand, my brother - whole again a man". It catches all of what I'm trying to say above.
Interesting fact - valkyries only took those slain in battle and the scariest fate for a Norseman was to die otherwise. Vikings who were about to die of old age would sometimes cut themselves to try to trick the valkyries into thinking that they had died in battle.
It's obvious what this song means - it is about Valhalla, the eternal home of those slain in battle. Half of the warriors who die in battle are brought to the hall of Freya and half are brought to the hall of Odin (Valhalla). They fight and die for all of eternity (resurrected again each day) to prepare themselves for Ragnarok, when most of the gods will die in a huge battle and the world will be destroyed and reborn.
I'm commenting on it not because it needs interpretation but because it is a fucking powerful song. If there was one thing Quorthon always carried across to me it is emotion. If you've ever lost someone then maybe you can identify with this song. I know I can.
One thing that I love about the religion of the Vikings (Asatru I believe?) is what it shares with most ancient pantheon-based religions. That is that gods and men/women are almost one and the same. Gods can be petty and cruel and lustful and silly, just like people can. They are at least somewhat all-knowing and powerful, but they are subject to the same whims that people are. Likewise, people aren't "sinful" for doing what they want to do. They just have the potential for honor and the potential to do great things. There is no accepting the gods into your heart and blah blah blah because your life has been planned by them since before the dawn of time. It's about YOU doing what YOU want and trying to sway the opinions of the gods to in your favor. I'm more atheist than Odinist, but I feel that this if I could ever believe in an all-powerful being, this is exactly what I would believe and this is the kind of thing that this song gets across.
Every other religion wants to die and go to heaven so that everything will be better for them. Vikings don't mind dying and going to Valhalla because they know they'll be doing exactly what they're doing now - and they love it. Fighting and drinking and paying tribute to the gods was exactly what they did and exactly what they always expected themselves to do. My favorite line in this song is at the end, "Rise and stand, my brother - whole again a man". It catches all of what I'm trying to say above.
Interesting fact - valkyries only took those slain in battle and the scariest fate for a Norseman was to die otherwise. Vikings who were about to die of old age would sometimes cut themselves to try to trick the valkyries into thinking that they had died in battle.
Anyways, I'm rambling now. Hail to the hordes.