Varulven - Garmarna cover on Irish Bouzouki

This is Sergio’s own take of Garmarna's "Varulven" (The Werewolf).
The lead melody on this ballad is by Garmarna’s Gotte Ringqvist and while the band adapted the lyrics, the primeval version of this song is known under the name "Jungfrun i blå skogen" and it is part of a group of ballads known as Swedish Medieval Ballads. The title means “the maiden in the blue forest”... well, actually, in past times “blå” was a colour that could also refer to black, and it makes reference to the crepuscular darkness of the woods setting. You can find this ballad in an old book from called "Svenska Folk-visor från forntiden. Vol 3." by National Romantic Poet and amateur Historian / Ethnologist Erik Gustav Geijer. There he says: "This beautiful fragment of an ancient Nordic song reminds us of Pyramus and Thisbe's moving story and it follows a melody recorded in Northern Västergötland, Sweden".
The theme on this ballad is common: there’s darkness, people doing what they shouldn´t and physical and moral danger to their actions as consequences. So, a maiden ventures into the woods with the goal of meeting with her fiancée, her lover. In one of the variants, the maiden arrives at her fiancée’s house but he refuses to open the door as it is past night. In another variant, the maiden helps her father lie down in his bed and then she sneaks out to meet her fiancée. In the woods she runs into a werewolf in the shape of a common wolf, but with the gift of speech. She tries to get out of the conundrum by promising the werewolf all sorts of things in exchange for her life. She offers him all sorts of valuables but he only wants her. In most of the versions the maiden, about to die, screams with all her strengths. This scream is heard by her fiancée, who comes to her rescue. But when he arrives at the scene she lies dead, eviscerated on the ground. In cruder versions, her fiancée would then meet a wolf with an embryo in its maws, giving us to understand the maiden was actually pregnant. Dark, isn´t it?
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[@futurella813]

Me encantan! Vilsevind y Garmarna

[@kavikv.d.hexenholtz3474]

You wouldn't happen to have the 'dots' for this would you?? Would love to learn it!

[@chatmandoline1065]

Great sound! What kind of Irish bouzouki is this?

[@Vilsevind]

Hi Chat Mandoline. Thank you kindly. This is a Trinity College, modified by Sergio (nut, bridge and frets replaced). The video was recorded using a Shure SM7B mic.