Released: 04/12/20
Odin’s Raven Magic is a 14th or 15th-century Icelandic poem from the Edda tradition, rich in Norse mythology and pagan motifs now lost. It tells of a grand feast in Valhalla where ominous signs predict the end of the gods and men.
The album Odin’s Raven Magic is an orchestral collaboration between Sigur Rós, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Steindór Andersen, and Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, premiered 18 years ago at London’s Barbican Centre and now released for the first time. The performance blends classical and modern elements, featuring a custom-built stone marimba by Páll Guðmundsson.
The poem was dismissed as a 17th-century forgery by scholar Sophus Bugge in 1867 but remains a powerful piece of ancient Norse lore.