Draumr Baldrs – Fyrsta Söngur / Baldr’s First Dream / 巴德尔之初梦]
[The stage is cloaked in dim blue moonlight. A vast hall of Asgard looms at the back, with shadowed columns shaped like spears. Baldr lies restless upon a golden couch, his head turning from side to side in sleep. A mist creeps across the stage floor, glowing faintly. In the far background, the faint sound of a single Gjallarhorn note echoes.] [Eddic chant fused with Nordic funeral lament. The main vocal line uses fornyrðislag metre adaptation in melody, performed in deep resonant Old Norse chant alternating with soaring female lament.] [Low war drums pulse slowly, bowed tagelharpa drones weave with overtone singing, and a bass lur sounds in the distance. Wind soundscapes mimic fjord breezes, mixed with low rumbling thunder.] [alternating male slald chant & female lament. Strings: Tagelharpa, nyckelharpa, Hardanger fiddle. Wind: Lur, bone flute, overtone throat singing. Percussion: Frame drums, deep war drum, bone rattle. Soundscape: Cold wind, distant thunder roll, faint raven calls.]
Draumr Baldrs – Fyrsta Söngur / Baldr’s First Dream / 巴德尔之初梦]
[The stage is cloaked in dim blue moonlight. A vast hall of Asgard looms at the back, with shadowed columns shaped like spears. Baldr lies restless upon a golden couch, his head turning from side to side in sleep. A mist creeps across the stage floor, glowing faintly. In the far background, the faint sound of a single Gjallarhorn note echoes.] [Eddic chant fused with Nordic funeral lament. The main vocal line uses fornyrðislag metre adaptation in melody, performed in deep resonant Old Norse chant alternating with soaring female lament.] [Low war drums pulse slowly, bowed tagelharpa drones weave with overtone singing, and a bass lur sounds in the distance. Wind soundscapes mimic fjord breezes, mixed with low rumbling thunder.] [alternating male slald chant & female lament. Strings: Tagelharpa, nyckelharpa, Hardanger fiddle. Wind: Lur, bone flute, overtone throat singing. Percussion: Frame drums, deep war drum, bone rattle. Soundscape: Cold wind, distant thunder roll, faint raven calls.]
Lyrics
Baldrs Draumar / Baldr’s Dreams / 巴德尔之梦
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldrs_draumar
Act I – Scene I
Original Title in Old Norse: Draumr Baldrs – Fyrsta Söngur
English Title: Baldr’s First Dream
Chinese Title: 巴德尔之初梦
Scene Description
The stage is cloaked in dim blue moonlight. A vast hall of Asgard looms at the back, with shadowed columns shaped like spears. Baldr lies restless upon a golden couch, his head turning from side to side in sleep. A mist creeps across the stage floor, glowing faintly. In the far background, the faint sound of a single Gjallarhorn note echoes — distant, almost hesitant. The audience senses the weight of a dream that will unmake the joy of the gods.
Style of Music
Eddic chant fused with Nordic funeral lament. The main vocal line uses fornyrðislag metre adaptation in melody, performed in deep resonant Old Norse chant alternating with soaring female lament.
Low war drums pulse slowly, bowed tagelharpa drones weave with overtone singing, and a bass lur (bronze war horn) sounds in the distance. Wind soundscapes mimic fjord breezes, mixed with low rumbling thunder.
Instrumentation
• Lead vocals: alternating male skald chant & female lament.
• Strings: Tagelharpa, nyckelharpa, Hardanger fiddle.
• Wind: Lur, bone flute, overtone throat singing.
• Percussion: Frame drums, deep war drum, bone rattle.
• Soundscape: Cold wind, distant thunder roll, faint raven calls.
Verse 1
The night wraps gold in shadowed fear,
Baldr’s brow is wet with the sweat of dread,
Dreams rise like frost from the roots of Yggdrasil,
And whisper of a fate no god can still,
“Ek sá dauða Baldrs”
Translation: “I saw the death of Baldr”
Verse 2
The moon’s pale face peers through clouded veil,
Silver light bending on the spear’s cruel tip,
A raven circles thrice above the silent roof,
Its cry a curse the wind dares not carry,
“Rúnir deyja með honum”
Translation: “Runes will die with him”
Chorus 1
O sons of Odin, wake from feast and fire,
The dream has teeth sharper than mortal steel,
The hall of joy now shakes in unseen wind,
And even the ale tastes of bitter snow,
“Vé foldar skelfr”
Translation: “The holy ground shakes”
Verse 3
A root splits under a weight unseen,
Blood runs where only sap should flow,
The ash-tree groans, its leaves turn black,
Baldr’s name is written in falling ash,
“Nornir hafa kveðit”
Translation: “The Norns have spoken”
Verse 4
Light curls away from his sleeping hands,
A ring of gold turns cold upon the floor,
Frigg’s tears fall before she wakes,
For her mother-heart has heard the cry,
“Harmr kemr án endi”
Translation: “Grief comes without end”
Chorus 2
Let the horn be silent, the feast grow dim,
The shadow’s hand moves before the dawn,
One dream can turn the sky to stone,
And bind the will of gods and men,
“Skuggi fellr yfir goð”
Translation: “Shadow falls over the gods”
Bridge
The fire will not warm him, the sun will not find him,
The dream has walked from Hel’s own door,
The seeress waits in her mound of frost,
And the wind calls for Odin’s ear,
“Kalla hann völvuna”
Translation: “Call the völva (seeress)”
Chorus 3
Rise, Allfather, take the road to Hel,
Ask the dead what the living cannot bear,
Let the runes bleed truth from stone,
Before the wolf swallows the sun,
“Veg til Heljar”
Translation: “Road to Hel”
Chorus 4
The dream is a door, the door is of bone,
Beyond it waits the silence of the ash,
Baldr’s breath is counted in ravens’ wings,
And the last laugh belongs to the dark,
“Draumr er dauði”
Translation: “Dream is death”
Outro
The mist closes over the golden couch,
Only the sound of the lur remains, long and low,
A pale hand twitches once in uneasy sleep,
And the hall of Asgard forgets to breathe,
“Þögn fellr yfir heiminn”
Translation: “Silence falls over the world”