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Heimi er farið að halla - The world is waning

from FUNI by FUNI

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  • 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.
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  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

This rhyme was written by Sæmundur Magnússon Hólm. He was a priest and also one of the best singers and music teachers of the19th century in western Iceland. It seems that men wrote about the declining state of the world then just as they do now!

(*In the old days Iceland was governed by a system of regional assemblies, which sent representatives to a national assembly. ** Gigantic rock formations in the lava. Iceland has a volcanic landscape, which abounds in spectacular and unusual shapes.)

lyrics

English lyrics follow the Icelandic ones.

Heimi er farið að halla,
í helið girnist falla;
kvöl má stærstu kalla,
kúgunin drepur alla;
blessun ágirnd slysar slyng,
slóttug orðin gjalla,
málum réttum þrykkja þing,
þverúð dóma spjalla;
kærleiksleysið kefur dáð,
kveikir alls kyns banvæn ráð,
nemur náð svo heift og háð,
hylur tinda fjalla;
björg er af landi flett og fláð,
en flærð og svik ef að er gáð,
hauðrið hrjáð, fyrir báli bráð
og býsna drífu salla,
er hleðst á holtastalla
og hvíta jökulskalla,
hraunkalla með galla.
Stríðin emja, lýðinn lemja,
löndin kónga og jarla.
Þussar í bölvun bralla,
bugar þá hefndin varla.

English

The world is waning,
desirous of falling into hell,
which may be called the greatest torture,
the oppression kills everyone;
the clever covetousness harms the blessing,
the sly words are resounding,
suppressing good causes at the assemblies,*
spoiling judgements with impenitence.
Lack of charity overwhelms good deeds,
igniting all sorts of lethal advice,
so grace becomes the recipient of spite and irony,
covering the valleys to the mountaintops.
All means of subsistence are
stripped and flayed off the land,
leaving only guile and treachery, if you look for it;
the land is afflicted, as well as the prey by the wild storms
and the heavy downfall of drifting snow
being loaded on the terraces of stony hills,
on the bald white heads of the glaciers
and the badly formed lava trolls.**
The wars are raging, flogging the people,
in the lands of kings and of earls.
The dunces are devising their damned schemes,
hardly held back by revenge.

credits

from FUNI, released June 1, 2004
Bára Grímsdóttir - vocal
Chris Foster - guitar
John Kirkpatrick - Button Accordion

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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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