Long Nights from Long Nights by Winterblade
Around the year 890 AD, King Alfred of Wessex held an audience of one Viking traveler: a man named Ohthere of Hålogaland. This Northman in the royal court told stories of seafaring, whaling, and the frosty wasteland that was northern Norway.
Until Ohthere's report, however, there was no such term as "Norway," nor Denmark. His account is generally credited as the first instance those geographic names were used to describe the places we know them as today.
A less historically-significant, yet still impressive, aspect of Ohthere's travels is the story of how his fellow sailors killed around 60 whales in two days. This number seems unreasonable, but perhaps the seafarer meant to describe a walrus, instead of a whale, to the King of Wessex.
His perilous life at sea is captured in this song, from what Ohthere's perspective may have been in the royal court of Wessex that day.
Tracklist
| 2. | Long Nights | 3:14 |
Lyrics
I told my king that I lived north-most of all
Braving the snowfall and ice
Close to the top of the world, I called home
Sailed off to leave it tonight
Long were the nights that I traveled
Long were the nights, lost at sea
Long were my chances to make it alive
But none would have shed a tear for me!
I joined with the whalers on ships in the fog
Noble and solemn, they died
Wait for the wind gales to favor my path
Can’t let the land out of sight
Credits
License
All rights reserved.
Winterblade is one man with a passion for the Old Norse Æsir and heavy metal. Those passions are combined on the album "Long Nights," a project rooted in Viking history and often drawn from historical texts. Just released: GREATEST SAGA, the 11-part story of how Norway's first king rose to power in the most unusual way...