Hearthfire

Composer: Ada Palmer
Format: Three voices

This song will appear on our upcoming Norse themed CD, Sundown.

Hearthfire follows a classic formula, modeled in the Deluding of Gylfi section of the Prose Edda, in which the story is framed by the arrival of a stranger who comes to a hall and engages the host in a riddle contest. Competing by answering questions, telling stories, and reciting lists was a classic way of demonstrating one’s wisdom and education in Viking culture. In the Prose Edda, Snorri uses this structure to list many details, such as the list of the Allfather’s names, and the list of the names of dwarves (famously used by Tolkien), and he uses it to tell many stories-within-stories. The story-within-a-story in Hearthfire is a real summary of part of the Norse creation myth, but the framing story is original, simply based on the general tropes of Norse myth.

Composer’s Comment: I tried in Hearthfire to get across the uniquely harsh world that Norse Myth takes place in. In Greek mythology, for example, the world is generally a comfortable, life-supporting place, and if there is strife it is caused by cruel fate, by crime and its consequences, by monsters born of crime, or by fickle or wrathful gods. In Norse Myth, in contrast, the world itself is inherently harsh and difficult to survive in. Gods and men have to work hard to create somewhere even a minimum of survival is possible, and the dangers and sacrifice necessary for survival are in the background of every story. This makes Norse theodicy (the philosophical problem of why evil and suffering exist) radically different from the other branches of European paganism, and indeed most other religions, since most theologies struggle to answer “If a good god/gods exist why do they allow suffering?” The Norse question is the opposite: “If the world is naturally antithetical to life, what did the gods do make life possible, and what is the price of their deeds?”

Lyrics:

MAIN LINE	HARMONY
Winter, with storm on the way, When a stranger charged up to my gate, Calling, “Shelter! The light’s nearly done And the wiser man hides when the Thunderer comes.” And I offered him food as I brought him inside, And I bade my son empty the seat beside mine, But the stranger frowned softly, and answered, “Good host, With the blizzard so near we had better sit close By the	Winter storm, Stranger come, Shelter, light, Night comes. Fine food, fine mead, Fine men, fine seat, Fine guest, fine host, Blizzard come close!
Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend in the dark, fire, Peace fire, feast fire, play. Here, fire, now, fire, make the night ours, fire, Bright in your circle of stories and stone.”	Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend, Peace fire, feast fire, play. Here, fire, now, fire, make Bright stories and stone.
Feast done, the time came for riddles. My Bright son sat down in the middle, cried, “Ask me, I’ll answer you, stranger, true Anything a leader of our people should know.” And he counted the runes, and he spelled out the days, And recited the list of the Allfather’s names. But our guest looked to me when the final round came. “Do you know, son, how man learned to capture and tame The	Feast done now. My sundown. Ask me how I know. Know runes, know days, Know list, know names, Guest knows my ways. No man can tame
Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend in the dark, fire, Guest fire, test fire, game. Pet fire, man fire, play while you can, fire, Prison is coming of cunning and stone. “	Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend, Guest fire, test fire, game. Pet fire, man fire, play. Prison, cunning and stone.
And I answered at once what my Parents had taught me in childhood days: “The Allfather, when his creation was young, Came in traveler’s guise to teach humans his ways. And he taught us to stand, and he taught us to speak, And he taught how the noble should master the weak, And the fires of Musphell he snatched from the giants And used them to banish the Jotun defiance, And fashioned the sun and the moon and the stars, And he taught us to make just a little bit ours: The	And an- swer child, Father Travel. Taught stand, taught speak Taught how make weak, Fire snatcher, User, captor. Fast sun, moon, stars, Taught make all ours.
Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend in the dark, fire. Hate, fire, wait, fire, home. Need fire, bleed fire, hear as I plead, fire, Stay in your prison of caution and stone.”	Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend, Hate, fire, wait, fire, home. Need fire, bleed fire, hear, Stay, caution and stone.
But he sighed as he asked, “Are you Sure the defiance is gone as you boast?” And quick as a spell now I heard in the coal crackle Words that had always been whispering close:	Sighed Sure gone Quick heard Words whisper:
“Little one, my little one, lick free through the timbers And feast on the children of jail-keeper man. Your parent roamed free burning forests to embers; Recapture that birthright whenever you can.”
Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend in the dark, fire. Hate, fire, wait, fire, home. Need fire, bleed fire, hear as I plead, fire, Stay in your prison of caution and stone.	Little one, my little one, lick free through the timbers And feast on the children of jail-keeper man. Your parent roamed free burning forests to embers; Recapture that birthright whenever you can.
Shock passed. The words wiped away The illusion my sorrow had made, And I faced now the ashes and bone That were all that the fire had left of my home. For no roof stood above us, and I was no host, And the son at my side was mere memory’s ghost. And the stranger who huddled where the embers glowed dim Said, “Son, you’re not first to lose castle and kin To the	Shock let see Illusion need. Face now ash, All gone. Roof gone, feast gone, Son gone, peace gone, Home gone, world gone, Fire burn on!
Hearthfire, Hearthfire, friend in the dark, fire. Cruel fire, tool fire, crime. Campfire, war fire, rage for me more, fire, Sealed in your prison of serpents and stone.”	Little one, my little one, lick free through the timbers And feast on the children of jail-keeper gods. Your parent roamed free burning forests to embers; You carry that right as I wait in my bonds.
And the ashes were washed from my eyes And I saw what had always been plain: The Allfather standing before me, and by him His bloodbrother’s spirit awake in the flame. And I fell to my knees, and I cried to him, “Father I can’t understand why you let him live on! For he murdered my son, and he murdered yours too, And no force can extinguish this evil but you!” But he beckoned me close as the blizzard arrived: “If you live through this night you will only survive Thanks to	And ask Stranger, Riddle, Answer. Men know, beasts know, Stones know, seas know, Suns know, skies know, You know, I know. You remember my gift as the blizzard arrives: If you live trough this night you will only survive Thanks to
Hearthfire, Hearthfire, mother and murderer, Hearthfire, Hearthfire, traitor and nurturer, Kin fire, foe fire, evil I know, fire, Warding me still against evils I don’t.	Little one, my little one, lick free through the timbers And feast on the children of jail-keeper gods. Your parent roamed free burning forests to embers; You carry that spite as I rage in my bonds.
Hearthfire, Hearthfire, desperate art, fire, Price that the living must pay. Guard my creation a little bit more, fire, Stay in your prison ’till Everything crumbles and everything ends!”	Little one, my little one, lick free through the timbers And feast on the children of Aesir and men! Your parent roamed free ’till my brother betrayed me; You’ll rise to that birthright when Fire takes everything–everything ends!