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Har​ð​ar gl​í​mur - A hard fight

from FUNI by FUNI

/

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Featuring 18 tracks of Icelandic traditional songs and hymns. It comes in a beautifully designed 3 fold digipak with a 36 page illustrated booklet containing notes about the songs and full lyrics in both Icelandic and English.

    Includes unlimited streaming of FUNI via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £1 GBP  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

My father was diagnosed with leukemia in the summer of 1994. He did not give up hope, however, but sought inspiration from the goddess of poetry; “To write away the misery” as he says in one verse. Verses flew to fellow patients, doctors, nurses and other staff on ward 11-E of the Landspítali-hospital in Reykjavík. These lines were written there. He died on the 23rd October, 1995. I learnt this tune from him.

lyrics

English lyrics follow the Icelandic ones.

Veruleikann varla flý,
verða harðar glímur.
Upp mun rísa enn á ný
annar Skalla-Grímur.

Hárskerinn af hausnum skóf
hárið fagurbúna.
Sem gyðingur hjá Gestapó
Gríms er útlit núna.

Aldrei skal ég missa móð
mig áfram að keyra.
Það skal enginn æðruhljóð
í mér fá að heyra.

Gatstunginn er garmurinn
gengur rykkjótt lækningin.
Blárósóttur búkurinn,
beyglaður er karlanginn.

Kveða niður kvölina
þá kroppurinn var heltekinn.
Yrkja frá sér eymdina
allra best var lækningin.

Ef við göngum nærri grát
gott er skap að eggja.
Aldrei skulum upp í bát
árar fara að leggja.

Vonin gefur veikum þrótt,
vonin hugann glæðir.
Vonin birtu veitir gnótt,
vonin kvíðann bræðir.

English

Reality I can hardly escape,
it will be a hard fight.
Up will rise a second
Grímur the bald.

From my head the barber shaved
my beautiful hair.
Grímur now looks
Like a jew with the Gestapo.

Never shall I lose heart
force myself onwards.
No talk of death
will be heard from me.

Stuck full of holes this weakling is.
Spasmodic is the cure.
Black and blue this body is.
Battered is this poor old man.

Shake off the pain
when the body is overcome.
To write away the misery
was the best cure of all.

If we walk close to tears
it is good to challenge the spirit.
I shall never lay my oars
down to rest in my boat.

Hope gives the weak strength.
Hope enlivens the mind.
Hope gives abundant brightness.
Hope melts away the fear.

credits

from FUNI, released June 1, 2004
Bára Grímsdóttir - vocal

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FUNI Reykjavik, Iceland

FUNI, an old Icelandic word meaning flame or fire, are Bára Grímsdóttir & Chris Foster. Since 2001, they have been breathing new life into great songs that have been hidden away in old recordings, old books and manuscripts for too long. They also add new songs to the tradition. Bára and Chris tour widely in Europe, as well as Iceland and Britain. They have also played in China and the USA. ... more

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