Viking Battle Song 

GRIMFROST HIRD GEFA (charity) PROJECT
All profits from this song are donated to the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation (www.barncancer...)
You can find the song on most streaming platforms. The Spotify link is:
➼ open.spotify.c...
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➼ 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲: Nils Edström
➼ 𝐋𝐲𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬: Stanza 156 from Havamal, slightly reworked
➼ 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠: Nils Edström from Hindarfjäll, Johan Hegg
➼ 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: Hird Hafn Vårgårda, Hird Hafn Umeå, Hird Hafn Reykjavik, Hird Hafn Gatineau
➼ 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐭: Midgardsblot Festival 2023 in Norway and Grimfrost Hird HQ in Sweden.
𝙒𝙒𝙒.𝙂𝙍𝙄𝙈𝙁𝙍𝙊𝙎𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙍𝘿.𝘾𝙊𝙈
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𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐘𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐒 (𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞):
Þat kann ek á ýta sjǫt
ef ek skal til orrustu
leiða langvini,
undir randir ek gel
en þeir með ríki fara;
heilir hildar til,
heilir hildi frá.
Koma þeir heilir hvaðan.
𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍:
In Midgard, I know that
if I lead old friends
into a battle,
I enchant their shields
so that they will have the victory;
they will go to battle unharmed,
and return from battle unharmed.
They will come home without harm.
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𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐃
Grimfrost Hird is a global organization dedicated to exploring and reconstructing Viking Age combat. The main tool for this is the Holmgang setting, where two fighters are facing off according to the old rules from the Viking Age. The historical duels were fought with sharp weapons and without armor - the Hird uses blunt weapon and all the necessary armor to stay safe (which includes a lot of non-Viking period gear - safety first!)
𝐖𝐇𝐘
The main objective is to find out what techniques really worked in the small 4m x 4m ring. We do know that the fighters had extra shields with them, which indicates that the fights were aggressive and that the strikes used a lot of force. That is expected in a life and death situation that can't be escaped.
𝐇𝐎𝐖
The fights are full contact in the true sense of the word, and most body parts are allowed targets.
To further simulate the setting, a points system is used where 1 scoring strike that would have incapacitated an unarmored opponent ends the round. It basically means that the opponent would have died or been severly injured. Just imagine putting a wood chopper's axe into your thigh - you'd be out of action quite quickly.
You can see Hird Holmgang fighting in greater detail here: • Viking Holmgang
To make things more interesting for the fighters, the rounds continue until one has reached 3 points.
Worth noting regarding historical accuracy when it comes to the armor: The Hird reconstructs combat - not appearence. Mail would be preferable, but lamellar armor is necessary in a full contact Holmgang setting to rigidly protect the fighters. Nobody wants to be injured badly. The exception is for experienced fighters who feel comfortabe with their defensive skills.
Find out more here: www.grimfrosthird.com