Wulf ond Eadwacer

Anglosaxon poem of Wulf and Eadwacer, set to new music by Hanna Marti.
Performed and recorded by Hanna Marti in tempore pestilentiae 2020.
This song is part of Ensemble Sequentia's new concert program "WORDS OF POWER : Charms, Riddles and Elegies of the Medieval Northlands", directed by Benjamin Bagby.
www.sequentia....

[@historywithhilbert146]

One of my favourite pieces of Old English poetry. Great job!

[@Survivethejive]

Exquisite rendition. Bravo

[@urubutingaz5898]

Very Anglo-saxon.

[@Anicius_]

Her name is bravo? How do you know

[@Survivethejive]

@@Anicius_ big difference between . and ,

[@Anicius_]

Ok, survive the jive. Thank you

[@inlikeflynn7238]

I have become uncomfortably obsessed with this song, listening to dozens of renditions, reading the text, and even making attempts to sing it myself. This is my favorite version of Wulf and Eadwacer. It is magic.

[@hannamarti70]

Thank you! I hope we get to hear your own rendition some day!

[@inlikeflynn7238]

​@@hannamarti70 Maybe during an intimate gathering in someone's back yard around a campfire when I'm half certain that nobody is listening I might strum a note or two and mutter a lyric. It might even sound vaguely like Wulf and Eadwacer but I don't have your courage to play in front of so many.

[@the_miracle_aligner]

Just discovered your channel with this Vid, Love your work, truly amazing

[@hannamarti70]

thank you very much!

[@historywithhilbert146]

When can we expect the Bardcore remix?

[@bcgonynor]

Amazing job, I'd read this poem before but you gave it fresh life. I wonder which theory you subscribe to about its meaning: A married woman missing her lover and mocking her husband, an unmarried woman wishing her beau would settle down, a captive woman wishing her wandering husband would rescue her, a mother missing her exiled son, or something else? Again, thank you for this rendition.

[@hannamarti70]

I think the poem is deliberately open, so that we can interpret it as it speaks to us most

[@Marco_Venieri]

beautiful. my favorite language, anglo saxon. a folk so gifted and rich of poetry, the most melancholic of all european in the middle age

[@HerrAndreasSkog]

This needs to be sooo much more viral than it is. Marvellous.

[@user-kc1ww8px4g]

Can’t stop coming back to this. Beautiful.

[@shannondavis3686]

It calls to the depths of my spirit. And stirs that ancient passion. Great Work❤🔥🩸

[@fefe_naomif]

chills👏🏻✨👏🏻 I'm obssessed!!!!!

[@Paraphen]

hard to put into words how into this I am

[@TheTypewriterError]

It's beautiful to see a poem from so long ago having a new life today.

[@alexwilson365]

Very nice, and nothing beats live music, the imperfect resonance draws close to the heart

[@missymoonwillow6545]

This is beautiful Hanna. I'm happy I found you and this beautiful ancient music brought back to life. Spirits bless you, and may these songs heal many souls. 🙏🏽💖🎶🌈✨

[@Skiltonius]

Beautiful. The algorithm calls methinks (if not now then it will do eventually) and rightly so.

[@alexlancaster7681]

Wow, just beautiful. This is why I'm learning the old language.

[@maryamevermore]

I love your voice Hanna. I hope you do not take offence if I pray for your eternal blessing. May God bless you abundantly. +++

[@neilsanders1097]

Wonderful... again. Thank you for being a source of happiness through 2020, much appreciated!

[@jsz1998]

I love the way you perform this and every other story. Your open emotion embodies the spirit and humanity of these storytellers in a way that we can easily miss when we're only reading the lyrics. With history, we often have a tendency to think of people in the past as distant characters in a novel, but performances like yours help to bring these ghosts back to life and remind us of our own place in this world. This is beautiful, as are all of your performances, Hanna!

[@hannamarti70]

Beautifully said, I am on the same page with you about wanting to keep the beauty of these songs alive. So many of them still carry much meaning for today's humans.

[@shlomosheklebergstein1272]

Absolutely stunning work. I'm commenting so more people see your passion and love for these parts of our history we've forgotten. Amazing work

[@oldenglishandlyre]

Fantastic singing and playing. I loved it. Thank you

[@roryobryen6732]

Beautiful work, Hanna.

[@wodanstruth3379]

I've seriously watched this like 14 times since finding it. Made my day

[@THINKincessantly]

I could feel that and I was blown away... 👑When I am King you’ll always be welcome at court, my minstrels gallery will be all yours😊 Hello from Texas

[@kateeaves9087]

Hanna, your work here is beautiful and inspiring. I am currently building my own anglo saxon lyre, and when it is finished, I hope one day to sing and play as well as you. Thank you for uploading this. Your work is incredible! x

[@byzantiumn8564]

Love this

[@Haunted.Pumpkin]

Wow. This was my favourite Anglo-Saxon poem from university, and you really made it shine in a way it never has before. Incredible.

[@cathdodd5072]

Love it!! One of my favourite pieces of Anglo-Saxon poetry.

[@valeriewedel2775]

WOW

Great work Hanna!

[@iancraigbintliff9738]

I wish I could like 👍 this every time I listen!!!!! I am so grateful for you Hanna Marti.

[@MrAmericanaSam]

Gorgeous tribute, Ms. Marti.

[@joalexsg9741]

Amazing channel, thank you so much for your precious work, I've subscribed, giving the due thumbs-up and sharing!

[@AmerikancaEnglish]

goosebumps - great work- thank you

[@juliaspencer2155]

This is so Powerful, in every way. Your voice and pathos with the material, the Lyre is magical.

[@KennethHall-tp4hw]

That was spine tingling.....I was back there in the fenlands..amazing thank you!

[@urubutingaz5898]

Oh gods, this is by far the best version I've heard of this song. Why isn't it available on Deezer? ; - ;

[@MurmurMori]

Amazing voice, style and aesthetic. 🌹

[@hannamarti70]

thank you. and thanks for leaving this comment. I am now discovering your interesting project!

[@MurmurMori]

@@hannamarti70 Thank you so much!

[@Liska78]

Beautiful and haunting ✨

[@FrankGGuitar]

Very powerful and authentic sounding

[@stefconnersong]

Genius!

[@dipro001]

I am struggling to agree with your translation but i am glad someone is doing something like this.. Please keep up. Cheers!

[@allisonforfornsed]

Your voice is epic!!!

[@anafernandez7237]

Love, love, LOVE your work

[@Bromunculi]

if possible, would you consider adding this to spotify?

[@barefootarts737]

Just found this. Very excited. Great playing.

[@Iceican]

you have a great voice keep it up.

[@AlejandroColeteMoya]

It was very moving, I love it. You made an amazing work. I just took a brief look at you channel and subscribed inmediately. OUTSTANDING. I will definetely share this.

[@alphamale3141]

What a voice - haunting; beautiful.

[@chaseriddick3058]

Thanks for the beautiful performance and the important work of keeping this stuff alive.

[@Kasaix]

I just found you, and I'm glad I did. Your music is incredible.

[@kas6223]

Hauntingly beautiful, thank you

[@tylerdelgregg7879]

From the heart, you were there. 🌙

[@leornendeealdenglisc]

Very well done.

[@justicebeske5704]

Absolutely beautiful.

[@christianfreedom-seeker934]

WOW!!!!

[@chrisjones8968]

absolutely beautiful

[@hellomate639]

This is so cool. It feels so appropriate to the instrument, raw, and real. Well done. Also loved you on the Boethius album. I think I'm going to make me an Anglo-Saxon lyre next, maybe learn to mass produce them and make them as authentically as possible.

[@zackberesheim]

Amazing. Instantly subbed, amazing performance 👏

[@denisgiusto3719]

this is really cool. This take on the poem make it sound like some heavy Metal from the past. Really cool

[@BrennaCorbit]

What tuning are you using. This is really nice. I'd love to try the song on my trossingen lyre. Thank you for such a nice video

[@LandersWorkshop]

Amazing skill and performance!

[@wodanstruth3379]

This is so beautiful! Seriously exquisite stuff

[@cvgould1]

Þin sang hæfð me bewogen, ic mæg gemyndigian þæra forma daga þe ic gehyrde swilice sangas. Þa sangas minra were-hleapas and minra cildra ceorlas mec lædan on slæpe.

[@WolfgangSchweizer]

Wow, that was strong! It hit me hard.

[@ArticulateAnodyne]

Love to listen to this while playing chess. Thank you so much for making this music! Your voice is incredible 🔥🔥🔥

[@VedunianCraft]

Beautifully performed!!

[@feedYOURchildrenKORN]

Beautiful!

[@whitedruid2122]

brilliant

[@VIKINGSAGAS]

Fantastic!

[@rev.corneliousmcelroy1869]

crunchy mate, double crunch

[@tuatara2418]

" In tempore pestilentiae 2020". Heh. Good one Hanna.

[@bronkobrumby776]

Viele Interpretationen von Wulf und Eadwacer gibt es nicht, aber diese ist klar ganz vorne mit dabei. Eine fantastische Stimme! Da wünsche ich mir doch mehr z.B "Deor oder The Wanderer". Klar noch deutlich längere Texte, und die ältere angelsächsische Sprache, die noch etwas weiter vom heutigen Englischen entfernt ist, ist nicht eicht zu meistern. Von "The Wanderer" habe ich leider noch keine Version in Originalsprache mit Harpa gefunden. So oder so, bin ich gespannt, was noch folgen wird.

[@hannamarti70]

Ben Bagby performt eine Version des Wanderers, soweit ich weiss, allerdings im Konzert, da gibt es (noch) keine Aufnhame. Deor haben wir mit Ensemble Sequentia vertont im Programm Charms Riddles and Elegies. Das ist auf YT als Gesamtkonzert.

[@bronkobrumby776]

@@hannamarti70 Vielen Dank für die Information, da bin ich gespannt. Benjamin Bagby ist mir natürlich auch ein Begriff, habe seine Artikel gelesen und kenne natürlich auch seinen Beowulf. Aber höre mir das Konzert gerne an.

[@SirChaucer1]

Wonderful! I love the presentation of this difficult text! Is there any possibility that you could send me a sheet for the music? I would like to learn it on my own lyre!

[@hannamarti70]

There is no sheet music! My work methods are like that of oral tradition, I do not write my pieces down in a score. I encourage you to make your own version of Wuld ond Eadwacer and share it with all of us!

[@noukkiepoukkie]

Beautifully sung! I just got confused by the translation as my Longman Anthology book, which I use for my Philology course, has a completely different translation of the poem...

[@hannamarti70]

a translation is always also an interpretation. That is the beauty of language!

[@johannesdegarlandia]

Dang! She's good!

[@samanthathompson9812]

Besides this being fantastic, I would love to know what microphone and software you’re using. All my recordings of voice close to a microphone sound terrible

[@sthom4bad]

Hanna I would love your perspective on where you feel you are "placing" your voice here, as opposed to straight classical music. I'm struggling to back off from sounding too trained, and I love your balance here. Do you consciously modify your "opera voice" for ancient music, or does it just happen naturally?

[@hannamarti70]

hi! I don't have a strong vibrato in my voice naturally, but I do additionally bundle/focus the sound for this type of music that requires very clear pitches. I focus a lot on the words rather than on the sound, and on lines, on pitch. I guess the image is to keep the voice narrow and very fluid, rather than wide and thick/boomy. I often imagine my voice to sound more like a bagpipe or other drone instrument, where the sound is constant, trying to get away from the accenting by weight that we do a lot in classical music (and especially in Baroque). Instead of syllable stress by weight or accent, I emphasize by length of tone. I work really well with imaging rather than with technical/mechanical ideas, so I can't really tell you how I mechanically do it.

[@sthom4bad]

@@hannamarti70 Thank you so much, that's very helpful. I generally find imagery much more helpful than mechanics anyway. I don't have much vibrato either, but I think that's rather from a tight larynx from being asked not to use it in early music groups. I tend to sound hooty in a countertenor-like way (I'm an alto). I love your work.

[@theoleadventurer1199]

I have a question on your lyre is that top bar by the tuners notched for the strings, or the strings just lay across the bar?

[@based_prophet]

Fire

[@DwarfLordAirsoft]

Leodum is minum swylce him mon lac gife; willað hy hine aþecgan, gif he on þreat cymeð. Ungelic is us. Wulf is on iege, ic on oþerre. 5 Fæst is þæt eglond, fenne biworpen. Sindon wælreowe weras þær on ige; willað hy hine aþecgan, gif he on þreat cymeð. Ungelice is us. Wulfes ic mines widlastum wenum dogode; 10 þonne hit wæs renig weder ond ic reotugu sæt, þonne mec se beaducafa bogum bilegde, wæs me wyn to þon, wæs me hwæþre eac lað. Wulf, min Wulf, wena me þine seoce gedydon, þine seldcymas, 15 murnende mod, nales meteliste. Gehyrest þu, Eadwacer? Uncerne earne hwelp bireð wulf to wuda. þæt mon eaþe tosliteð þætte næfre gesomnad wæs, uncer giedd geador.

[@alexg007]

If my lover sang this song to me, I would go all the way against the invaders from the mainland

[@TheKjtheDj]

I thought y was a close front rounded vowel, like German ü? Just curious, I’m no expert.

[@hannamarti70]

neither am I. I felt inspired by the scandinavian languages today, where the y is somewhere between ü and i, for a German speaker like me much brighter than I would normally do an ü, so that is what I tried. I'm certainly not claiming to have the ultimate truth here!

[@grovermartin6874]

I was caught off-guard by the pure strong clarity of your powerful voice. You looked so ephemeral at first. Wonderful.

[@rowjoh3933]

Incredible voice. Any new Lord of the Rings film/TV project should sign her up fast !

[@johnstevenson1709]

Tried to give a 2nd thumbs but it wouldn't let me what beautiful poem pardon my french

[@bengoodwin1767]

perhaps a silly question, but how did you come up with the chords and strumming patterns for the song and what is the lyre tuned to?

[@hannamarti70]

not at all silly questions, Ben, but really big ones, the answer would require a whole article. I am guided by a mixture of my knowledge about how medieval modes work and then letting myself be inspired by the text's ductus, the instrument's strengths (and weaknesses) and a good portion of creative intuition. I change the tuning depending on the mode I want to use, here it is f g bflat c d f.

[@bengoodwin1767]

@@hannamarti70 can you recommend a book or article that teaches how to use the medieval modes like you are talking about?

[@hannamarti70]

@@bengoodwin1767 I'd say it's more of a decade-long experience with modal music. I would recommend perhaps Leo Treitler's With Voice and Pen. But mostly I would recommend listening to and singing a lot of modal music.

[@LandersWorkshop]

@@hannamarti70 What is Ductus?

[@hannamarti70]

@@LandersWorkshop This may indeed be a word I took from German and mistranslated into English. The word Duktus means the direction of a thing, in this case the direction of a sentence structure. Very simplified example: If you imagine speaking the sentence "I met my parents yesterday.", there is a certain length and accent you give to the individual syllables. Some changes in that could render the sentence like gibberish (e.g. the word parents is accented on the first syllable, not the second), while other changes in the direction could change the meaning. (e.g. I met my PARENTS yesterday, vs. I met MY parents yesterday, etc.). This is an example in the microcosmic of one sentence. A story also has a ductus, or some portions of it move perhaps slower or faster, depending on the meaning and the intent of telling (e.g. a passage describing two lovers meeting might be more tender and gentler than a war scene -- Or not, depending on what you want to artistically express in your storytelling). Duktus creates meaning. I wonder if you'll find the proper English translation of this German word though ;-). Thanks for the question!

[@cuthbertsboots5733]

Beautifully done! I am curious to know if you consulted Benjamin Bagby on the strumming method you used. I read an article by him in which he indicated that this block-and-strum method with a diatonic tuning rather than pentatonic was probably used by the pagan Anglo-Saxons before their conversion to Christianity, whereas afterwards they likely adjusted the style to the one Bagby employs, with skipped notes and plucking, which sounds a bit less harsh. In other words, this method would seem to be suited for the setting, as Wulf and Eadwacer may be a pagan poem, or at least secular.

[@hannamarti70]

I am a member of Sequentia, so I work with Ben Bagby a lot :)

[@cuthbertsboots5733]

@@hannamarti70 I realized right after sending this comment that you are Hanna Marti, haha! I have the Consolations album and listen to it all the time. Hoping to see you all in February when you play in Wisconsin.

[@NoNameThoughtOfYet]

I’d Interpret This As An Infanticide Due To An Extramarital Affair, Wulf Has Gone To Battle For Too Long, Eardwacer Has A Child With The Singer… The Tribe Of The Singer Says That Their Village Is Safe From “The Different, Bloodthirsty Men” (Wulfs Tribe) Who Reside Beyond The Village, Wulf, Enraged Kills The Child Born To Eardwacer As “It’s Easy To Tear Asunder What Was Never United” (i.e. A Child Born Of Lust & Not Love)…

[@christianfreedom-seeker934]

My guess is the poem is about a relationship between a Celtic woman and a Saxon man. He is forced by the community to leave the child to die in the woods because the child was "mixed blood" and the Saxon Kings forbade intermarriage between the Celts and Saxons. That law MIGHT have lapsed under the Norman Kings but since the Welsh remained hostile for a long time, intermarriage was likely forbade by custom. Even in modern times some of the old dislike still lingers. My old dad warned me against making friends with the Welsh girl across the street from us! 😅🤣😂 that was years ago (back in MA)

[@aimee-lynndonovan6077]

So poignant and natural, Blues.

[@IrishFuryan]

View him a threat and keep your tribe, nation

[@FrankGGuitar]

Why do good girls like bad Wulfs 😀

[@90RiderLow]

👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏿

[@urphakeandgey6308]

Bardcore af.