Stjörnur Og Aldrnari is one of a pair of pieces that adapt part of the Vǫluspá, a poem from the old Norse Poetic Edda. While Vituð Ér Enn deals with the reborn world, post-Ragnarǫk, Stjörnur is a far more dramatic piece, depicting with the end of the world itself. Likened to a ‘Nordic Dies Irae‘, Stjörnur Og Aldrnari was commissioned by the award-winning Western Australian ensemble the Baden Street Singers for their planetarium concert series. To tie in to the stellar theming of the concert the piece both begins and ends with the following line from the Vǫluspá: ‘Sól tér sortna, sígr fold í mar, hverfa af himni heiðar stjörnur‘ which in English roughly translates to ‘The sun turns black, the Earth sinks into the seas, and the flaming stars are hurled down from the heavens.’ Stjörnur Og Aldrnari was recorded by the Baden Street Singers in February 2022.
The sun turns black
The oceans rise
The flaming stars
From heav’n are hurled
Much I know, and yet I still see more
of Ragnarǫk: The Twilight of the Gods in battle
Garm howls loud before the gates of Hel
The fetters burst.
All bonds will break.
The great wolf, Fenrir
Runs free
And from the East
Sail the wretched dead
Loki helms them now unshackled
From giant’s wrath, the serpent Jörmungandr
O’er waves he writhes, the Miðgarðsormr.
And the world is wreathed in steam and flame.
The sun turns black
The oceans rise
The flaming stars
From heav’n are hurled
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