Wardruna

Norwegian Neofolk Band

This band brought their “A” Game to San Antonio.

We attended the San Antonio performance 9/4/2025 @ the Tobin Center for Performing Arts. The musicians in Wardruna are amazing. Jon mentioned that out of hundreds of shows he’s been to, throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s, this show was in the top 4 – Pink Floyd quality in creativity and musicianship. The band sings in the Old Norse language, which creates a totally immersive experience. I’ll link to translations soon…

These folks are from Norway a land of incredible beauty and the power and awe of nature. The closest I’ve come to Norway is Iceland. Jon & I had gone there during the pandemic – as it was one of few countries open for visitors.

We found people not just surviving, but thriving, amidst the fire and ice, by harnessing knowledge, skill, creativity and perseverance to create a home that is exists in harmony with the challenging environment. It was a life changing experience.

Why does this matter? So last night, during the Wardruna show, I felt as though Iceland had come to San Antonio for a fleeting moment — a respite from the heat and dust, to give us a glimpse of the courage and creativity of the northern peoples.

As the songs played, visions floated through my mind’s eye. Visions of the raging sea at the black sand beach in Vik, where I had stood in wonder and awe in the knowledge that my Nordic ancestors had harnessed that wind and rode those waves to the far corners Earth.

As I listened to Wardruna pound the tribal drums, I could smell the crisp clean air at Jökulsárlón and taste the pure water from the crystal clear streams that flowed from the glacier down through the countryside.

Wardruna’s show is creative — in every way possible.

At one point criss-crossed gold and orange light beams somehow reminded me of Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon – a gorgeous, very remote hotel which became a sanctuary as a blizzard blew through the area. We were exhausted from the ice cave tour we’d hiked through that day, the roads were closed, and so we slept in this fortress as the ferocious gale-force winds howled all night.

Wardruna’s creativity extended to the shadow play on the background. It brought the whole stage to life. It became very apparent that the artists had spent a good deal of time planning, designing and choreographing the entire show.

The players shadows WERE the visuals, incredible concepts followed all the way through. There was a point in the show the shadows became truely terrifying, simply by the position of the artist’s bodies and the flashing lights. The scene resolved with Einar Selvik singing a single sustained note in a profound demonstration of Clarity.

The sound of the band, also incredible. They used only acoustic instruments, sound from nature and truely power-full drums. The wind instruments – I’ve never seen before. They seemed to be authentic and ancient. The sound was crystal clear, like a glacial stream. We could here the tinkling of chimes as clearly as the strings, horns and drums.

The DRUMS! The drums became the heartbeat of the entire auditorium. No doubt the hearts of the entire audience were synchronized LOL. We were bathed in heavy sound waves which felt like the artists were pounding the rhythm directly on my chest. It felt as though the calcification in my chest dissolved and my heart was released from it’s cage. Jon and I were sitting in the grand balcony and may have been near a subwoofer LOL. I felt as though it was a 2 hour full body massage…tears flowing nearly the entire show.

The best part for me personally, is that I actually felt as if I was hearing my own tribe reimerge from the mist of time to call me home.

THANK YOU WARDRUNA. It was transcendent experience.

Visit Wardruna’s website: https://www.wardruna.com/

******************************************************************************************

Wardruna is a Norwegian music group formed in 2003 by Einar Selvik along with Gaahl and Lindy-Fay Hella.^[1] They create musical renditions of Norse cultural and esoteric traditions and make significant use of Nordic historical and traditional instruments, including deer-hide frame drums, flutes, kraviklyra, mouth harp, goat horn, and lur. Non-traditional instruments, like the Finnish jouhikko, and other sources of sound like trees, rocks, water, and torches are also used.^[2]

The band have released six full-length albums, the first three based on Norse runes, the fourth based on the sayings of Odin from the Völuspá and other old Norse sources. The name Wardruna means “the guardian of secrets” or “she who whispers”.^[3]
Source Wikipedia

********IMPORTANT NOTE********

Einar has explicitly distanced the band and their music from any form of ethno-cultural discrimination (aka Racism). The Norwegian neofolk band Wardruna has set out to take back Viking-era instruments and imagery from the far right who have appropriated symbols from Norse culture.

Known in the blogosphere as “antifascist neofolk,” (ANZUS, 2018) Wardruna’s music (part of the soundtrack for Vikings) includes not only hard-driving hits like “Helvegen,” about the journey to the Norse land of the dead, but also unplugged “skald” or bard songs with simple string instruments, and songs using Celtic musical modes.

***********************************

I didn’t get any pictures of the show I was so immersed in the sound so i’m offering their formal band portrait and a pic of black sand and pebbles from the black beach in Vik, which have pride of place in my studio.