Over her decades long artistic career, Iceland's best known musician Björk Guðmundsdóttir has not only broken new ground artistically, but also reinterpreted Icelandic national classics. Among these are two classic Icelandic Christmas songs, Jólakötturinn and Jólasveinar ganga um gólf.
Read more: Exclusive interview with Björk: The pain was a journey
The first song is a 1987 recording of Björk singing a early 20th century poem by Jóhannes úr Kötlum, who codified the many old folk stories and myths relating to Christmas. The poem Jólakötturinn tells the story of the dreaded Christmas Cat, a horrible beast which ate poor children who didn't get new clothes for Christmas. A Christmas tale which is somehow perfect for a Björk cover!
The lyrics to the second, Jólasveinar ganga um gólf, are known to virtually every single Icelandic child. It is sung at all Christmas tree balls, Christmas parties and other festive gatherings during the Holidays. The song is a old folk song, a nonsensical song about the Yule lads and their evil mother.
Björk made the recording in 1995 for a Christmas compilation cassette published in the UK.
The lyrics in Icelandic:
Jólasveinar ganga um gólf
með gildan staf í hendi,
móðir þeirra sópar gólf
og flengir þá með vendi.
:.: Upp á stól
stendur mín kanna,
níu nóttum fyrir jól
þá kem ég til manna:.:
English translation:
Yule-lads tread the floors
with a thick staff in hand
their mother sweeps the floors
and spanks them with twigs
::On top of a chair
my pitcher stands
nine nights before Christmas
I head towards mankind::
Over her decades long artistic career, Iceland's best known musician Björk Guðmundsdóttir has not only broken new ground artistically, but also reinterpreted Icelandic national classics. Among these are two classic Icelandic Christmas songs, Jólakötturinn and Jólasveinar ganga um gólf.
Read more: Exclusive interview with Björk: The pain was a journey
The first song is a 1987 recording of Björk singing a early 20th century poem by Jóhannes úr Kötlum, who codified the many old folk stories and myths relating to Christmas. The poem Jólakötturinn tells the story of the dreaded Christmas Cat, a horrible beast which ate poor children who didn't get new clothes for Christmas. A Christmas tale which is somehow perfect for a Björk cover!
The lyrics to the second, Jólasveinar ganga um gólf, are known to virtually every single Icelandic child. It is sung at all Christmas tree balls, Christmas parties and other festive gatherings during the Holidays. The song is a old folk song, a nonsensical song about the Yule lads and their evil mother.
Björk made the recording in 1995 for a Christmas compilation cassette published in the UK.
The lyrics in Icelandic:
Jólasveinar ganga um gólf
með gildan staf í hendi,
móðir þeirra sópar gólf
og flengir þá með vendi.
:.: Upp á stól
stendur mín kanna,
níu nóttum fyrir jól
þá kem ég til manna:.:
English translation:
Yule-lads tread the floors
with a thick staff in hand
their mother sweeps the floors
and spanks them with twigs
::On top of a chair
my pitcher stands
nine nights before Christmas
I head towards mankind::
