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Who is Hedningarna: scandinavian folk music

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Hedningarna: a scandinavian folk music group

I discovered the Swedish group Hedningarna more than 10 years ago, when a friend of my roommate came back from archeological digs in the Gotland (a Swedish island). She spent her summer listening to Hedningarna and bought my roomate one of their CD ("Tra"). It was an instant love affair. The kind that makes you wonder how you could have lived before without their music.

Featured here: Hedningarna: 1989-2003 CD

Who is Hedningarna anyway?

Hedningarna means "The Heathens". Their music is an interesting mix between Scandinavian folk, electronic and rock. Some of their pieces even have a gothic appeal. This "techno-gothic" sound was very present on the album "Tra", making it their most successful album in term of sales.

Hedningarna is a Swedish band inspired by Swedish as well as Finnish traditional folk songs.The group is currently formed by 4 instrumentalists. Two of them have been with the group since the beginning in 1987: Hallbus Totte Mattson and Anders Norrudde. The other two, Magnus Stinnerbom and Christian Svensson joined the group in 1999 and 2000 respectively. These guys can play an amazing assortment of instruments, including many ancients: lute, hurdy-gurdy, mora-oud, mandora, Swedish bagpipe, willowflute, moraharp, goathorn, viola, hardingfela, basmoraharp and many more.

The original group was formed by Bjorn Tollin, Hallbus Totte Mattson and Anders Norrudde in 1987 and a first album was release in 1989.

In 1991 two female Finnish singers joined the group: Sanna Kurki-Suonio and Tellu Paulasto. This Swedish-Finno version of the group lead to their 2 best and most acclaimed albums: "Kaksi!" in 1992 and "Tra" in 1994.

In 1996 Tellu Paulastro left the group and she was replaced by Anita Lehtola. In 1997 Ulf Ivarsson, a bassplayer, joined Hedningarna and the album "Hippjokk" is released. He will leave the group in 1997.

In 1999, "Karelia-Visa" is released and after a three week tour in the USA, a new member, violin player Magnus Stinnerbom, join Hedningarna.

In 2000, Sanna Kurki-Suonio is replaced by Finnish singer Liisa Matveinen. Anita Lehtola and Bjorn Tollin left the group. Anita is replaced in 2001 with the return of Tellu Paulastro (now Turkka).

In 2003 a compilation album is released and after a Scandinavian tour, the Finnish singers left definitively.

One of the only music video By Hedningarna: Vargtimmen

One of my favorite song by hedningarna

Wait a bit, music starts at 30 seconds
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Hedningarna - Tra

Tra

Tra

Amazon Price: $20.00 (as of 02/15/2012)Buy Now

I discovered Hedningarna with this album and love what I heard . Tra packs a lot of punch and if you have to have one Hedningarna album in your collection this is the one.
It's from their best period (1991 to 1996 ) when the group was made of Bjorn Tollin, Hallbus Totte Mattson, Anders Norrudde, Sanna Kurki-Suonio and Tellu Paulasto.
- Fanfreluche

Preview or download some Hedningarna songs from their album Tra

The tracks:

  • Tass' on Nainen
  • Min Skog
  • Varg Timmen
  • Gorrlaus
  • Skrautval
  • Pornopolka
  • Raven
  • Saglaten
  • Tuuli
  • Tappmarschen
  • Tina Vieri


SCANDINAVIAN MAP Art Poster II print
SCANDINAVIAN MAP Art Poster II

Hoglorfen video by Hedningarna

One of the too few video of a live Hedningarna performance! From their album Hippjokk.
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Knarklaten By Hedningarna

"Knarklaten" (the Bulldog) perfomed lived. You won't find this track on any of their album, but on "Nordic Roots" volume 3
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Watch Hedningarna performing live on TV

There is only one Hedningarna music video that I know of, and close to none live performance available on video. It's a shame we can't see more of them outside live performances.
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websites with information on Hedningarna

Hedningarna
Official Hedningarna page
Hedningarna Lyrics
Lyrics in their original language
Scandinavian music
Nice pages dedicated to scandinavian music. A good way to discover new artists.
Scandinavian & Nordic Music
Buy scandinavian music CD's and DVD's. An online store specialized in Scandinavian music. They accept paypal.

Pornopolka by Hedningarna

a Traditionnal Finnish song

This track is on the "Tra" album. Sung in Finnish by Sanna Kurki-Suonio and Tellu Paulasto. If you need a little motivation to do your fitness training, play "Pornopolka".

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Buy your own Hedningarna CD

You will not regret this

Amazing music, you won't get bored. I listen to them since almost 15 years and it's still as fresh and interesting as it was the first time.
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What is represented on Hedningarna's Kaski cover?

Ok, I haven't found any information regarding the Kaksi album cover. Is it a blurry picture representing something, or just some doodle / modern art?
And if someone have a definitive answer (with proof) I'd be interested to know. So let's do some brainstorming here, your guess is as good as mine!


Does this album cover represent something??

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It's not abstract, it really does represent something

Mujjen says:

it looks like a ram's head, like the vikings used to have in front of their boats?

Posted January 12, 2011

wellwritwitch says:

I'm going to say an animal mask, with someone behind it.

Posted September 26, 2010

Amelia says:

a weird hamster

Posted July 11, 2010

Peter says:

It's a blurry picture of a skull, don't know what animal, though definitively not human. The eyes are placed frontal and up high in the skull, so a bit like a monkey's? Maybe they heard people say they made monkey-music. Better music than what most people listen to, though.

Posted November 17, 2009

Irenemaria says:

The Swedish word Hedningarna means "The heathens".
May be the photo is something mysterious, viking kind of supersticious thing? =)

Posted June 10, 2009

fanfreluche says:

Everytime I take this CD to play it, the cover just scream "Mooooo". It looks like a jersey cow to me. I am 100% certain it is NOT a Jersey cow, but I cannot figure out a better answer. What's your guess?

Posted April 23, 2009

It's just some insignificant doodle, nothing more.

Not-Pop says:

It's just a fuzzed-out sheep, I think. Or a baby giraffe. But I think they just included the picture because it will make people say, "What the heck is it?!" LOL

Posted September 12, 2010

 

Download or preview the album Kaski by Hedningarna

Downlaod all the album or just some of your favorite songs

Did you know about Hedningarna before coming here?

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If you enjoyed Hedningarna music, don't miss some of these artists

"Nordic Roots" will be a good pick to sample some of the best Scandinavian Folk-Rock artists. It includes tracks from Hedningarna, Vasen, Groupa, Hoven Droven, Hege Rimestad and many more. A great album that will make you want to discover these artist's work.

Swedish group "Garmarna" is another sure choice if you liked what you heard here.

"The Wizard Women of the North" features Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish female musicians.

And of course, you have to listen to one of "Varttina" album. The finish group is probably the leader in Scandinavian folk revival music. They certainly have open many doors to younger artists.
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About Lensmaster Fanfreluche

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The Vikings are coming. Norway print
The Vikings are coming. Norway

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fanfreluche

I am a huge fan of Hedningarna. Their music never gets old. If you've never heard of Hedningarna, listen to some of their songs on this page

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