The Varangians – Epic Byzantine Norse Music

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An original composition by Farya Faraji. Please note that this isn’t reconstructed music from the Medieval Norse or Eastern Roman cultures; it’s modern music with a historical theme. The artwork featuring the human figure is by J.F Oliveras, check out his wonderful historical recreations: https://www.artstation.com/jfoliveras

The Varangians were the Vikings (Scandinavian traders and raiders) who specifically operated in Eastern Europe, and would become a foundational turning point in the history of nations such as Russia and Ukraine in their early days. They would make their way to Constantinople where they would become the Varangian Guard, which was an an elite section of the Eastern Roman Emperor’s forces, serving as its bodyguards. They were originally Rus, then mostly Scandinavian Norsemen who effectively fought as mercenaries and later as the Emperor’s personal bodyguards—trusted both for their lack of local political ambitions due to their remote origins, and their strong sense of oath-based loyalty typical of Norse and Anglo-Saxon cultures. The Varangians would later also be comprised of other ethnicities like the Anglo-Saxons, but for a good part of its history, the institution was almost exclusively Norse.

The music utilises elements of both Scandinavian and Greek music; both Medieval and modern. The Scandinavian part uses a modern fiddle, a nyckelharpa which appeared in the 14th century, and a jaw-harp, which was utilised by the Viking-age Norse. The Greek part uses a lauto, byzantine lyra and an oud; the latter two did exist during the Byzantine era, at least from the 800’s onwards.

The lyrics are in Old Norse and in Greek. The Old Norse lyrics are extracted from the second stanza of the Voluspa, an Old Norse era poem written down soon after the Christianisation of Scandinavia. I used reconstructed Old Norse pronunciation instead of the more typically used Icelandic one, which is similar but not the same; see Jackson Crawford’s excellent channel for more info on Norse language, culture and myths: https://m.youtube.com/c/JacksonCrawford

Lyrics in Old Norse and Greek:
Ek man jötna ár um borna,
þá er forðum mik fœdda höfðu;
níu man ek heima, níu íviði,
mjötvið mœran fyr mold neðan.

Χαίρε, αδελφέ,
Βορέα, Χειμόνα,
Έρχεται χειμώνας στην Ρωμανία,
Χαίρε, Βάραγγε!

English translation:
I remember yet the giants of yore,
Who gave me bread in the days gone by;
Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree
With mighty roots beneath the mold.

Hail, Brother,
Ye Boreas, ye Winter,
Winter has come upon the land of Rome,
Hail, Varangian!

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49 thoughts on “The Varangians – Epic Byzantine Norse Music”

  1. An original composition by Farya Faraji. Please note that this isn’t reconstructed music from the Medieval Norse or Eastern Roman cultures; it’s modern music with a historical theme. The artwork featuring the human figure is by J.F Oliveras, check out his wonderful historical recreations: https://www.artstation.com/jfoliveras

    The Varangians were the Vikings (Scandinavian traders and raiders) who specifically operated in Eastern Europe, and would become a foundational turning point in the history of nations such as Russia and Ukraine in their early days. They would make their way to Constantinople where they would become the Varangian Guard, which was an an elite section of the Eastern Roman Emperor’s forces, serving as its bodyguards. They were originally Rus, then mostly Scandinavian Norsemen who effectively fought as mercenaries and later as the Emperor’s personal bodyguards—trusted both for their lack of local political ambitions due to their remote origins, and their strong sense of oath-based loyalty typical of Norse and Anglo-Saxon cultures. The Varangians would later also be comprised of other ethnicities like the Anglo-Saxons, but for a good part of its history, the institution was almost exclusively Norse.

    The music utilises elements of both Scandinavian and Greek music; both Medieval and modern. The Scandinavian part uses a modern fiddle, a nyckelharpa which appeared in the 14th century, and a jaw-harp, which was utilised by the Viking-age Norse. The Greek part uses a lauto, byzantine lyra and an oud; the latter two did exist during the Byzantine era, at least from the 800’s onwards.

    The lyrics are in Old Norse and in Greek. The Old Norse lyrics are extracted from the second stanza of the Voluspa, an Old Norse era poem written down soon after the Christianisation of Scandinavia. I used reconstructed Old Norse pronunciation instead of the more typically used Icelandic one, which is similar but not the same; see Jackson Crawford’s excellent channel for more info on Norse language, culture and myths: https://m.youtube.com/c/JacksonCrawford

    Lyrics in Old Norse and Greek:
    Ek man jötna ár um borna,
    þá er forðum mik fœdda höfðu;
    níu man ek heima, níu íviði,
    mjötvið mœran fyr mold neðan.

    Χαίρε, αδελφέ,
    Βορέα, Χειμόνα,
    Έρχεται χειμώνας στην Ρωμανία,
    Χαίρε, Βάραγγε!

    English translation:
    I remember yet the giants of yore,
    Who gave me bread in the days gone by;
    Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree
    With mighty roots beneath the mold.

    Hail, Brother,
    Ye Boreas, ye Winter,
    Winter has come upon the land of Rome,
    Hail, Varangian!

    Reply

  4. هذه ليست المرة الأولى التي اسمع فيها هذا النوع من الأغاني القديمة ونادرآ ما تعجبني أغنية من هذا النوع
    وبصراحة هذه الأغنية اعجبتني كثيراً جداً
    اتمنى لك التوفيق في مسيرتك ♥️

    Reply

  8. Referring to the Varangians and the Rus as one and the same is a relatively modern phenomenon in historiography and has its roots in the work of Normanist historians, and is more or less based entirely on the contents of the Legend of the Invitation -an ahistorical event and an Early Russian appropriation of the Fight of Aeneas. The Germanic Sagas, the Primary Chronicle (barring the aforementioned chapter of the Legend of the Invitation), and the Rus-Roman treaties refer to the Varangians and the Rus as two separate groups, and the latter as being worshipers of Slavic deities, and being "one people with the Slavs, and even originally Slavs before their exposure to the Varangians (who are denoted as being a foreign entity both to the Rus and the Slavs) on page 63 of the Primary Chronicle.

    Reply

  10. Hello, love your music but could you please make some slavic music, I would love if you could do some songs.
    Pozdrav iz Bosne 🇧🇦 puno ljubavi brate ❤

    Reply

  19. A very interesting mix of Norse and byzantine aesthetics, befitting of the legendary varangian guard, amazing work! The varangians were great adventurers, fighting and creating kingdoms and legends of their own far away from their homeland.A peoples truly worthy of guarding the emperor's life and exercising his will. The most well known varangian in the roman empire would be Harald the bluetooth, who after being exiled from norway fought all over russia, became a member of the varangian guard,defended the east from the Seljuks and even reclaimed sicily from the arabs.He would later go on to become king of norway and even lay claim to the kingdom of england, eventually being defeated by harold godwinson at the battle of stamford bridge.Truly the stuff of legend!

    Reply

  21. Immagine a Basileus of Rhomaion named Basil, of Spartan descendence (from his mother's Theofano part), leading 6.000 Vikings in a battle against the usurpers of the throne, while having this epic music on your head! Excellent work again!

    Reply

  32. I actually met a woman whose lastname was an old Norse word the Greek -poulou ending, She was a greek from Constantinople. It was the Norse word for a brave man or a man why goes to adventures btw. There are probably more that just don't realise it though.

    Reply

  36. This is just so beautiful… My favorite one was always Hikanatoi, which was also the first one I listened to, but this one is making me question that. At this point I think I've heard pretty much all of them lol. But this one is just different, man… It has to be my favorite vocals from you.

    Reply

  39. Heed my words,
    all classes of men,
    you greater and lesser
    children of Heimdall.
    You invoked me, Odin,
    to tell what I recall
    of the oldest deeds
    of gods and men.

    I remember the giants
    born so long ago;
    in those ancient days
    they raised me.
    I remember nine worlds,
    nine giantesses,
    and the seed
    from which Yggdrasil sprang.

    It was at the very beginning,
    it was Ymir's time,
    there was no sand, no sea,
    no cooling waves,
    no earth,
    no sky,
    no grass,
    just Ginnungagap.

    But Odin and his brothers
    created the earth,
    it was they
    who made Midgard.
    The sun shone from the south
    upon the stones of their hall,
    and the land turned green
    with growing plant-life.

    The sun, companion of the moon,
    shone from the south,
    as the heavenly steeds
    pulled it east to west.
    The sun did not yet know
    where it rested at evening,
    the stars did not yet know
    their places in the sky,
    the moon did not yet know
    what kind of power it had.

    Then all the gods
    went to their thrones,
    those holy, holy gods,
    and came to a decision:
    they named
    the night and the hours,
    the morning,
    the midday,
    the afternoon and the evening,
    so they could tell the time.

    The gods had their meeting
    at Ithavoll,
    where they built
    temples and high shrines;
    they made workshops,
    they made treasures,
    they made tongs
    and other tools.

    They played in the grass,
    they were cheerful;
    they had no
    lack of gold,
    until three
    giantesses came,
    fiendish giantesses
    from Jotunheim.

    Reply

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