Hypnotic Viking folk project Wardruna have shared a typically epic video for their new single, Birna.
It’s also the title track from the outfit’s upcoming album, which they will release through Music For Nations/Sony on January 24.
“The song illustrates a dialogue between man and bear, exemplifying the various traits and abilities we humans have sought to borrow from these significant totemic animals throughout history,” explains Warduna mainman Einar Selvik.
The new album sees the band explore the relationship between man and bear (Birna means the she-bear in Old Norse).
“The bear doesn’t need my help or any human traditional ornamentation to be its own powerful self,” Selvik continues. “It is quite the opposite if one looks to past bear-traditions worth remembering. We learn, we dream of borrowing its traits and abilities. We fear, revere, and try to walk alongside but on separate paths. Respectfully, claim space and give space. However inconvenient it may be, further taming of the wild can never be the fruitful way forward. For me, it profoundly felt like the right time to give voice to the Birna, mother and shepherd of the vanishing woods.”
The striking video was filmed in Rondane National Park in Norway and directed by Wardruna´s longtime collaborator Tuukka Koski and produced by Breakfast Helsinki and Ragnarok Film.
Wardruna will also release a Blu-Ray and DVD, Live At The Acropolis, alongside Birna on January 24, which was recorded at the world heritage site Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Acropolis, Athens.
Wardruna – Birna (Official Music Video) – YouTube 