The world behind the songs
Viking music &
Old Norse influences
A listening guide to AEYSA’s Viking music project.
AEYSA approaches Viking-inspired music through a contemporary Nordic music project. Aeysa’s songs and visual world draw on Norse imagery, language and storytelling, with an eleven-track debut album that can be heard in full. This guide introduces that inspiration and gives new listeners a place to begin. You can explore the ideas first, or go straight to the album and follow its track list from Valkyrja to My Mother Told Me.
A singer inspired by Old Norse
Aeysa is a singer and songwriter inspired by Old Norse language and Nordic storytelling. For listeners drawn to the Vikings and the wider Norse world, her project offers a contemporary artistic connection. Follow the official AEYSA YouTube channel for her videos, and use the music page to find all eleven songs in CD and download order, with a listening link for each one.
Viking music: history and creative interpretation
Studying music from the Viking Age involves bringing together different kinds of evidence. The National Museum of Denmark’s music bibliography discusses surviving instruments, including lyres and pipes, alongside written accounts and later research. It also notes the need to read historical texts critically. These sources help us ask informed questions about past music without treating a present-day recording as direct evidence of how the past sounded. National Museum of Denmark: Musik i vikingetiden (PDF, Danish).
AEYSA’s connection is artistic. Norse references provide ideas for new songs, imagery and storytelling. The project does not present its album as an archaeological reconstruction. Here, Viking-inspired describes the creative setting of the work: music made today with an interest in the Norse world.
Old Norse influences and the words of the songs
The album’s lyrics draw on Norse language, Nordic and Icelandic-style forms, pronunciation-based writing and English. These influences meet in contemporary songs. Old Norse describes an important source of inspiration; individual texts need their own linguistic context.
For readers interested in the historical language itself, the University of Copenhagen’s Dictionary of Old Norse Prose documents vocabulary from medieval Norway and Iceland. Its entries connect words with historical sources. It offers a useful starting point for language research alongside listening to contemporary music. University of Copenhagen: A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose.
Where to start with AEYSA
Start with Valkyrja, the separate single that opens the CD and download edition. Dagr Rís begins the ten-song streaming album. Continue to FRJÁLS, track six on the CD, and the English-language My Mother Told Me, which closes both editions. The music page brings the eleven songs together with individual listening links and CD running times.
For the artist’s story, The Name explains the inspiration behind AEYSA and introduces the music project.
Listen now or preorder the physical CD
The ten-song streaming album is on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and YouTube Music, with Valkyrja available as a separate single. You can also buy the album on iTunes. The AEYSA shop lists the current physical CD editions and preorder availability, each including the complete eleven-track download immediately after successful payment. Physical dispatch is expected within 30 calendar days after payment; carrier delivery time is additional. Visit the tracklist to listen, or choose a CD preorder in the shop.
AEYSA is a real Viking music project from Oslo, Norway. Read about the project and its creative process.
Listen with the lyrics
Follow Ek Geng Fram from moonlight into morning, explore the freedom at the heart of FRJÁLS, or return to the sea with Flóð Rís. Each song page pairs the original words with an English version and a reading of its themes.