Turisas - A Portage To The Unknown

Artist: Turisas
Album: Varangian Way
Year: 2007
Genre: Epic Metal
Lyrics:
We've sailed across the sea
Rowed for miles and miles upstream
Passed by Aldeigjuborg
Seen Lake Ilmen gleam
Ingvar took the lead
After Holmgard as agreed
What the end of Lovat meant
Was soon to be seen
Dripping with sweat a new day dawn on
The ropes cut flesh, as they've done in times foregone
I see my breath, my hands are going numb
Far from home we have come
An endless trail in front my eyes
A swift take off, had no time for goodbyes
What will we find and what was left behind
There's no return, get it off your mind
The water's changed to sand
Lakes and rivers turned to land
Plough up the rocky seas
Ride felled down trees
Foot by foot we edge
Once a ship, now a sled
Six regular edges and six vertices
Six equilateral triangles
Six square faces in another direction
Plato's earth transparent
Give me all you have!
Pull as hard as you can
Plough up the rocky seas
Ride felled down trees
The water's changed to sand
Lakes and rivers turned to land
The rug has been pulled from under my feet
All my life made of lies and deceit
All I have left is a symbol on my chest
My only lead on my desperate quest
Branded at birth with the sign of Perun
East of the sun and West of the moon
The road now continues, Northwind be my guide
Wherever I'm going, the Gods are on my side

[@fixdown5561]

I still listening to it 2023 🎸

[@Yamagatabr]

2024

[@robdenini6972]

To Holmgard and Beyond, as the beginning of the journey, shows the excitement in the beginning of the adventure. Everyone is joyful and hopeful, eager to explore the unknown lands to the east, to bathe in gold and glory. In A Portage to the Unknown the tone changes: it's the reality of the adventure. Pain and exhaustion, so much hard work and so few little things to appreciate. It's even implied that the protagonist was betrayed and abandoned somewhere by his fellowmen. The sequence is so perfect.

[@NestorMakhnotheCossack]

Journey is to the south, it's Vikings from the Nordic peninsula sailing through Kieven Rus' to Constantinople, a journey almost completely southward.

[@heyscoobydoo]

"GIVE ME AAAAAALLLLLLLL YOU HAAAAAAAAVE" feel like grabbing a sword and going to battle

[@carlosblake195]

Indeed

[@gabrielcowart6289]

more like aggressively trading

[@davecrupel2817]

​@@gabrielcowart6289 I pictured aggressive rowing.

[@lathouxaris]

Definitely my favourite Turisas song.

[@makakamakaki]

Lyrics in the description:"Give me all you have!" Sorry,panosc,you spelt it wrong.It should be: "GIMME ALL YOU HAAAAAAAAAAAVEEEEEEE!"

[@Freezeep]

I agree

[@WoodPostable]

The Character is called Haakon the Bastard, the mention of "East of the Sun, and West of the moon" is a reference to a folk tale of the same name, where a woman tries to find her lost husband. Haakon's father left the Sign of Perun on him as the only hint of his father's ancestry.

[@elbelielbeli2321]

cool

[@subtlenugs]

I found this band from a random dude on Omegle. He is my favorite person right now

[@CreamyGoodness]

2:07 "alright so what are we thinking for the next verse?" " let's get real geometrical up in here!"

[@timothymorrisii7165]

10 dislikes, seriously!? That's 10 too many...this song is epic, one of my favorites.

[@Stillskeen]

This song, and Turisas, are just completely awsome. I still have to say out loud 'Give Me All You Av' everytime i hear it said

[@WybjornVR]

These guys are fantastic, if you ever get the opportunity to see them live, DO IT.

[@DieterBuys]

All sons and daughters of the vikings are rightly proud of their heritage. Fellow descendants, keep the flame alive. May the Viking legacy echo through the ages forever more! Oh and ... AWESOME METAL!

[@Dreadgames1]

The Vikings came from Scandinavia, and they sailed to the East. They had many a settlement in those regions and you know what happens when you go to somewhere with a different culture.

[@Cretaal]

@WoodPostable exactly, hence the portage, ships must be hauled over the portage as a sled "once a ship now a sled", but even if its just hauling a ship over a portage, it is to set sail once more, it just sounds like an epic one would sing as they sailed and rowed. I cant quite explain it, when i think of a nord on adventure, i think of him sailing.

[@Abarataphoto]

It's just a shame this song is so compressed on the mastering (DR 4, damn those sound engineers), that it sounds noisy. This song should be a perfect anthem, but that compression takes a bit of its power :(

[@Quantum973]

First song I played when my friends and I finished our longship in Valheim. \m/

[@maranathashalom9402]

2:05 Six regular edges and six vertices Six equilateral triangles Six square faces in another dimension Plato's earth transparent

[@Thisisnotausername_]

I'm glad the uploader got the genre right for this song.

[@Thisisnotausername_]

***** That's pretty interesting. I did not really know what they called themselves. A lot of their music does get you pumped up. I personally like to listen to this when I work out. I was more or less joking though about "epic metal." The uploader put the genre as "epic metal" in the description. I just like what he did there.

[@Werewolf914]

I've also heard them called Symphonic Metal, maybe some songs but I've always thought they were more of Folk/Epic Metal, when I think Symphonic Metal I usually only think of Fleshgod Apocalypse (well technically they'd be Symphonic Death Metal) because they have full on Orchestra type music.

[@SearynSever]

If I recall correctly, Turisas' first album is entitled Battle Metal. I'm not really one to split hairs about genre, though. Symphonic seems appropriate given the size of the band and the instrument choices. Folk is also appropriate, especially when you consider songs like Cursed be Iron.

[@WoodPostable]

@TheCrazyCello It's heavily implied that the albums protagonist's father was a Slav, as he references a Norwegian folktale where a woman uses the Northwind to find her husband. "East of The Sun and West of The Moon" is the name of the folktale.

[@WoodPostable]

@aurielMoon Lovat is a river that feeds lake Ilmen.

[@MíšaVápeníková]

The melody- Vltava by Bedřich Smetana! (Czech)

[@Yamagatabr]

OMG!!! And that music have bits of it on "The bosphorous freezes over" too! And I would also add "Into the Free" !!!

[@trex8282]

This is the best Turisas song!

[@DiceRowing]

I coach a rowing team. Gonna make them work out to this song at some point. PULL AS HARD AS YOU CAN!

[@silviadematteis3262]

as a rower, I second that

[@alastisalastis7515]

Здорово

[@DuskWolf224]

That's something not everyone knows. Everyone knows Odin, Thor, Frigg, Freyja... People, like me, don't know Perun, Iku-Turso (Turisas) unless they look it up.

[@VagelisOpeth]

GIVE ME ALL YOU HAVE!!!

[@Cretaal]

Lol sorry, i should have been more specific. Hakkon The Bastard is, in fact, half Slavic in the telling of the story. I forgot where they mention that his other half (the "bastard" side) is slavic. I'd have to listen to the album again. But it's a beautiful story

[@Cretaal]

A sailing nord, is there anything more powerful, beautiful and epic than that. I don't think so

[@KossolaxtheForesworn]

this song is just awesome

[@maqboolahmed007]

the song brings hope !

[@Jordy666sic]

Damn never payed attention to the lyrics. What a cool little story

[@0405ABBY]

EPICNESS!!@_@

[@ianneedstoshave123]

now this kind of metal i can listin to

[@rkt739]

Actually, the lyric is "once a ship, now a sledge"--not only does it rhyme better, it's more technically correct: a sled is something that just slides downhill, while a sledge is something that slides while being pulled.

[@OneTrueVikingbard]

when the river comes to a dead end, most people will just double-back and find another way around... vikings pick up their ship and walk to the nearest body of water! because NOTHING stops us!

[@HameNmk]

A whole Viking warship.

[@DanishDoom]

Always gives me chills... :3

[@WoodPostable]

@Cretaal But Hakon The Bastard is Half Slav, that's what their talking about with the sign of Perun. And they're not even sailing in this song, they're pulling ships overland.

[@antrygis1]

I just took a chance on this. Who are these guys? I'm in U.S. in 2019...interesting...like a hard rock marching to war anthem or something....Relentless drums. Overture. keyboards....what's the story here?

[@Cretaal]

the vikings are worth all the respect in the world. Even with wood and iron they would have made the spartans tremble in fear >:D see how well their shield fairs against a danish bearded longaxe! Perhaps i get too zealous of my heritage. i'm just so damn proud to have viking in my blood! I plan to one day own a viking longship and learn to sail her like the wind!

[@blacksheepinthebigshitty9544]

"Six regular edges and six vertices Six equilateral triangles Six square faces in another direction Plato's earth transparent" A flat earth?! I don't know how I overlooked these lyrics before...

[@whatsitooyah1484]

+V Marius too bad the existence of shadows totally disprove this theory. god bless ancient Greece

[@blacksheepinthebigshitty9544]

Uvatha the Horseman You're dreaming.

[@rkt739]

Wouldn't Plato have known the world was round?

[@kevinj4204]

Actually, the reason this bit of lyrical content is in here is made apparent at the bottom; "Branded at birth with the sign of Perun." Perun is the highest deity in the Slavic pantheon, God of thunder and lightning, the symbol of which has been viewed as a hexagon with bisecting lines, creating 6 equilateral triangles all adjacent to each other, sometimes referred to as "thunder marks."

[@orion_x-000]

Mad Max I always hear "another dimension" and not "another direction". Can someone please help?

[@noodlecity]

D-Devil ScarK come back again . Nice to breath the death air !

[@lorenzorobert60]

A perfect song to play to World Of Warcraft

[@rileyvogel9848]

i play everything to this lmfao honestly even league ever played olaf to this shit

[@SpaceChampi]

Qui vient de Metalliquoi ?

[@eliemadic905]

+SpaceChampi Moi.

[@saturniia_ttt]

✋

[@alexandertigtrager7107]

Moi! J'adore le metal mais je ne connais pas tant de groupes et grâce à sa chaîne je me cultive ^^ VIVE SATAN ET VIVE LE METAL MES FRÈRES!!! \m/

[@Rikit93]

+SpaceChampi Pas moi

[@alexandertigtrager7107]

osb

[@SirKazadilla]

i just had an awesome thought, Turisas vs Alestorm :~O

[@TAGMATAGMATON]

@kochammojelozko Notice! They were vikings. They became the Varangian Guard after they were ass kicked by the Byzantines who dared to oppose, making a treaty instead of getting slaughtered to the last.

[@prehistorCZ]

Reminds me Smetana´s Vltava :)

[@Jordy666sic]

Inspired by! As confirmed by Mathias on Twitter.

[@Dreadgames1]

How about THREE sailing nords?!

[@makakamakaki]

+kochammojelozko Perun-a slavic version of thor?I highly doubt that,my friend.Let's see it. Perun's weapons-axe and a bow Thor's weapons-Mjolnir. Perun's sign-Gromoviti znaci,Thunder signs Thor's sign-Mjolnir Perun's nemesis-Veles,one of other gods. Thor's nemesis-Loki/Jormugandr or however you spell it. So as you see,I don't quite think that we just borrowed Thor and gave him our name.I personally think that both Perun and Thor are versions of Indo-european thunder-god-that they are brothers,not father and son.After all,Germanics(especially Vikings) are very close to us Slavs.I think that both of us just took the idea from the same god,and gave him a little bit of our own stuff.Example-Perun's bow.We the Slavs were highly praised for our marksman skill,that got us out of trouble numerous times.Our favorite weapons were the bow and an axe,so we gave 'em to our favorite god.Yes,Perun was our favorite god.He is still the most famous.I'm not trying to hate,I'm just trying to offer my opinion.If you have any arguments,post 'em.I would respond to you but..you know.

[@teovaltonen4072]

I think you are on the right tracks, and actually the range of similar thundergods is even wider. Thor in Scandinavia, Perun in Slavic lands, Perkunas in Baltia, Ukko, or later Perkele in Finland (name changed basicly after Christianity landed in Finland, and the Christian church wanted to demonize Ukko, and probably took influence from the Baltic Perkunas when figuring out what to call him). All together northern European and Slavic gods are very similar in many ways, and they probably have originated from the same stories, that have changed regionally.

[@TheA2930]

Exactly. Perun's axe and Thor's hammer would originally have been the same weapon. And Veles changes shape into a snake when fighting Perun, right? Something else that's interesting is that Thor's grandfather is named Fjörgyn. It might not be obvious just by looking at the name but it's descended from the same Indo-European name as Perun.

[@ZenCrust]

Because this band is Finnish, they don't share the same gods

[@jademaudmusi2918]

je viens de métalliquoi😊

[@Lammfloisch]

Yes, they took that melody from the Moldau theme

[@makakamakaki]

I know I take everything too seriously.I'm a bit of an idiot,I admit.But I'm a Slavic patriot,and I'm pissed off when people something Slavic is Viking,just because they thing everything folk is about Vikings.Damn me,Perun.

[@Werewolf914]

No Viking Metal is about Vikings, Folk Metal is more Celtics, Ancient German tribes, lot of Ancient Finnish tribes,etc. Or at least that's what I've always thought.

[@Grafknar]

I *really* don't know much about the groups over there, I'm just a simple American Southerner...but just enough to know that I'd be ticked off about it too if I were you. There is so much diversity in Europe, and it even seems to change over the thousands of years of history. Just because folks these days can't keep track of it all doesn't mean we can't learn what we need to to respect different cultures. :)

[@cyber5659]

Not Harald Hardrada but Ingvar Vittfarne the song mention thirty ships and a Ingvar leading them just like the sagas of Ingvar the far travelled the last of the Swedish vikings.

[@mousaey]

"Hunting Pirates" and "Back Through Time"

[@blastoffintoinfinity]

knee shot takes an expert marksman...

[@makakamakaki]

I like how you guys write about nords,while the song clearly says:PERUN.Slavic god.Not Nordic.

[@fiddlesticks7245]

Not like it really matters, he doesn't exist anyways

[@kohinarec6580]

Baltic: it is made clear the characters are Finns. Finland was never a strong place for Asa-worship, even though Scadinavian settlements existed in Finland as well.

[@Cretaal]

a child of the children of the vikings i see. Hail Voden

[@simplyethan]

@MrJondread They're still pretty fucking awesome, my friend.

[@daylinmarianaortizdiaz5583]

Zta bien persona la rola lmL

[@Eddn102]

The lyrics refer to Perun, and being branded with the sign of Perun. That seems to imply slavic blood rather than norse blood?

[@kohinarec6580]

Turisas is a Finnish God/monster. Some of the characters on the album "Kyy and Kokko" are clearly Finns. Finnish folk faith was influenced by Baltic gods and some are direct cognates to those gods. It is a happy mish mash!

[@viktord2025]

@@kohinarec6580 The mention to Perun refers to the fact that Haakon the Bastard is half-Slav

[@PassingArcturus]

Two sailing Nords, and a Slav.

[@Cretaal]

@UberepicQuel Shooting arrows off at people at a viking reenactment..... i'm baffled that he didnt catch an axe to the head...

[@simplyethan]

@eiffel65isawesome Thank you! I'm tired of people calling Turisas viking metal.

[@zanderjohn1]

Instant Viking-slayer: Just add cannons.

[@BigBoiTurboslav]

@Kag3maru Maybe a descended of one, but I usually like to join historical reenactments from time to time, during one time, some dude took sharp arrows and shot me and some other people to the knee...He was fined, not to sure if jailed though. :/

[@sporebyosoch]

im fucking obssesed with vikings, when i am at school i draw a drakar everywhere

[@dayanemonteiro9086]

Foda

[@TranceMasterZ.]

Pirate

[@Aventurrio]

I think it sounds a bit like "ma vlast" (Moldau) from Smetana.

[@Nicamon]

It does,I think it's a cover or something.

[@brickct123]

The French Navy?

[@coalblack666]

@Cretaal i agree, except this song is about a portage lol

[@TAGMATAGMATON]

A byzantine ''dromon'' equiped with the so-called liquid fire is the answer to funny boats of the time. Whatever there is, the Greekks are one step forward!

[@Kag3maru]

@UberepicQuel wow, you were a Viking?

[@mrchriss]

@Cretaal Two sailing nords :P

[@eiffel65isawesome]

@Noiprox If they're fully Finnish, they probably don't have any viking heritage. That's why this is BATTLE metal, not VIKING metal.

[@TAGMATAGMATON]

The Flying Dutchman ?

[@TAGMATAGMATON]

@TAGMATAGMATON What about then? They did what a respected one should do. Founded a 1000 yrs Empire and then, as ONLY EMPIRES are entitled to do, they declined. Simple as that. Remember Alexander's empire. That is the right way.

[@Cretaal]

@Nyoggzathulhu Dude. Don't insult my blood. Any real historian will tell you how wrong you are. They were an intelligent war machine with organized tactics and formations. That whole "barbarian" label came from the victorians. Weapons were built with purpose and each had a special way to wield it. They werent like celtic woodmen, running around in loincloths with clubs. These were conquerers who commanded a naval super power and don't forget it. There is a reason they were feared.

[@TAGMATAGMATON]

@bookworm1138 What about the Byzantines?

[@KossolaxtheForesworn]

what can be expected from country like finland XD

[@GeeBarone]

I think Vikings in the 11th century (1066) would disagree.

[@nathan.m5894]

moi je viens de metaliquoi

[@20lau02]

Hail Satan✋

[@Beanjuice]

I wish my descendants were Vikings :(

[@robertschmidt8701]

Epic Part 3:50

[@Reinhard96]

What was "Lovat".

[@georgiregrarians]

Lovat is the name of a major river in Russia. It was used by the Varangians who traveled along its length to Greece / Byzantium. After reaching lake Ilmen ("Seen Lake Ilmen gleam..") you go up the Lovat river from whence you can eventually reach the Black Sea and Constantinople ('What the end of Lovat meant..").

[@OTTRU]

You are right. Also the tune is slavic.

[@aurielMoon]

Lovat?

[@TAGMATAGMATON]

A ship of fools?

[@rogerthat155]

1,25x speed oooohohhhohohohhohhhhhohoohohohohohohoohohohoohohohooh

[@TheKazragore]

Slightly less screamy vocals and this song would be PERFECT. As it is it's pretty good.

[@filip3374]

hmm the danish greatest income from the vikings era, was gold from plundering england;) but what we learned them to talk their language, alot of the basic english words has danish roots. just look at the word grass, which in danish is gras. foot = fod mouse=mus cow=ko hat= hat stool = stol and much much much more... :P¨

[@TAGMATAGMATON]

@bookworm1138 If you were a true viking, you would know that all rivers end to the sea, not dead ends. And stop calling your rafts as ships. A drakkar were no larger than a fishing boat. Byzantine Dromon is a SHIP at that time. Compare them both and see the truth. So, control yourself and just enjoy music.

[@Nyoggzathulhu]

@Cretaal I didn't say they were *cavemen*. They were primarily raiders, though, and were in no way as organized and disciplined as the Spartans. My only point is that, in my opinion, they wouldn't win in an engagement with the Spartans.

[@TheFerrara44]

Slaves, nords... all hippie viking fellas (? Horned helmets and berserkers (? Dude. Take it easy.

[@bobthebakedpotatoe]

0 fucks given about your nationality....its music, you dont have to be a certain nationality to like music.

[@ThiccNThirsty]

In case anyone forgot what reality was