Allhough it is certain that in ancient oral traditions such as the Edda represents, pieces were always "vocalized" and even acted out before gatherings of knowledgable listeners, we are obliged to imagine performance contexts which were never specifically described by contemporaries. In our performances, we represent a performing tradition as it might have existed in both Iceland and Norway (and perhaps as far afield as the Continent) during the time of Snorri Sturluson (ca. 1200). The performers themselves arc not local fanners, but rather profcssional minstrels (Icelandic: leikari), possibly joined by other Nordic, Celtic or Saxon minstrels who travel widely in northern lands (which would also account for the use of the fiddle); and the performance itself could be taking place either in the dwelling of a poweti'ul Icelandic chieftain or the hall of a Norwegian lord.
              The music and texts they sing represent last vestiges of the ancient oral traditions of the pre-Christian north, now performed by spe­cialists in a nominally Christian society which still has strong links to the archaic world of the myths and the worship of the old gods.
              And so, in this recording, the voices can be heard alone, as in parts of the long visionary tale of the Volva; or the fiddle, playing solo, can conjure up a world of mythological beings; or the fiddle (and/or the lyre) accompany the singers who re-enact the stories.

2 lyres by Rainer Thurau (Wiesbaden, 1990)
5-string fiddle by Richard Earle (Basel, 1989)
3-string fiddle by Richard Earle (Basel, 1995)
5-string fiddle by Rainer Ullreich (Wien, 1990)

 

The liner notes include complete English texts of the mythological poems included on the album, translated by Ursula Dronke ~ who is perhaps the foremost scholar currently in the field.