Mjötviður Mær
Encyclopedia
Mjötviður Mær, released in 1981, was the second album by Iceland
ic New Wave
/rock
group Þeyr
. It was edited through Eskvímó in 12” vinyl.
Mjötviður Mær was Þeyr's most important work, according to the repercussions achieved in the media. Formed by 12 songs, "Iss", "Þeir" and "2999" could be deemed as attempts to create a futuristic pop style thanks to voice distortions, keyboards and additional rhythm. “Úlfur” is a track that outstands due to its angry mood and thus became into one of the most famous.
Also important are, “Mjötviður”, an instrumental track and “Rúdolf”, a song loaded with rock anger and constitute an antifascist lampoon of Adolf Hitler
.
This record was never reissued. However, some of its recordings appeared in Mjötviður til Fóta
(2001), a special release to commemorate the 20 anniversary of Þeyr's reincarnation. This CD also featured recordings from the single
Iður til Fóta
(1981).
had both exactly the same front covers, the only difference was the title. The image cover depicted a pentagram
with the naked drummer inside it. It is a symbol that represents the interest in magic
that their members had, and it is also a representation of the five-member band, and the perfect proportions of the human being, as defined by Leonardo da Vinci
's Vitruvian Man
.
The background photograph portrayed Keilir
, a cone-shaped mountain
located at the outskirts of Reykjavík
and which is believed to have magic powers. The road shown on the image is Suðurgata.
This image is accompanied by runic writings which were taken from Völuspá
.
The title refers to Scandinavian mythology, where the word Mjötviður, also known as Yggdrasil
, means The Tree of Destiny, whose roots penetrate the three Underworld wells, and whose branches and foliage stretch throughout the whole Universe. The word Mær means Fair or Good.
The inserts of this album contain the lyrics to the songs and also feature several images related to magic and mathematics
. Drawings of Pythagoras
taken from Theorica Musica, by F. Gaffurio, represent the discovery of numeric relationships between harmonic sounds, known as Pythagorean tuning
(see drawings). This is also complemented by other illustrations such as fragments of music writings from Alexander Scriabin
’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in F sharp minor, Op. 23, engravings by Theodor de Bry from Robert Fludd
's Utriusque Cosmi, and several pentagram illustrations, including Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
's pentagram taken from Three Books of Occult Philosophy which represents the golden symmetry of the human body. Other symbols featured are images of the Yggdrasil, drawings from Ancient Egypt
, and satanic
symbols, among others.
Tracks:
1: Music: Þeyr. Lyrics: Magnús Guðmundsson.
2: Music: Hilmar Örn Agnarsson. Lyrics: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
.
3: Music: Hilmar Örn Agnarsson. Lyrics: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
4: Music and lyrics: Þorsteinn Magnússon.
5: Music: Þeyr.
6: Music and lyrics: Þorsteinn Magnússon.
7: Music: Hilmar Örn Agnarsson. Lyrics: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
8: Music: Magnús Guðmundsson. Lyrics: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
9: Music: Þeyr.
10: Music: Hilmar Örn Agnarsson. Lyrics: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
11: Music and lyrics: Þorsteinn Magnússon.
12: Music and lyrics: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
Characters on the record label: Sigga Vala.
Album, design and the wolf logo featured on the record label: Robert Guillemette.
Photographs: Gunnar Vilhelmsson.
Acknowledgement: Eyjólfur and Jóhannes Vestdal.
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
/rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
group Þeyr
Þeyr
Þeyr was a renowned Icelandic New Wave band from the early 1980s. Shrouded under a veil of mystery, their three-year existence was characterized by a deep interest in ancient wisdom...
. It was edited through Eskvímó in 12” vinyl.
Mjötviður Mær was Þeyr's most important work, according to the repercussions achieved in the media. Formed by 12 songs, "Iss", "Þeir" and "2999" could be deemed as attempts to create a futuristic pop style thanks to voice distortions, keyboards and additional rhythm. “Úlfur” is a track that outstands due to its angry mood and thus became into one of the most famous.
Also important are, “Mjötviður”, an instrumental track and “Rúdolf”, a song loaded with rock anger and constitute an antifascist lampoon of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
.
This record was never reissued. However, some of its recordings appeared in Mjötviður til Fóta
Mjötviður til Fóta
Mjötviður til Fóta was an album released in 2001 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the creation of Þeyr, one of Iceland’s most important bands of the early eighties....
(2001), a special release to commemorate the 20 anniversary of Þeyr's reincarnation. This CD also featured recordings from the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
Iður til Fóta
Iður til Fóta
Iður til Fóta was a single released in 1981 by the Icelandic New Wave/rock group Þeyr through Eskvímó and it was edited in 10" format. The title translates as "Moving Your Feet" but in Icelandic also forms a pun which can equally translate as "Guts at Your Feet".This record was never reissued since...
(1981).
Cover design and inserts
This album and their second work, As Above...As Above...
As Above... was an album released in 1982 by Þeyr, a legendary Icelandic New Wave and rock group and it was issued through Shout on a 12" vinyl record.Formed by 12 tracks, As above... contained English versions of the group’s hits...
had both exactly the same front covers, the only difference was the title. The image cover depicted a pentagram
Pentagram
A pentagram is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes...
with the naked drummer inside it. It is a symbol that represents the interest in magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
that their members had, and it is also a representation of the five-member band, and the perfect proportions of the human being, as defined by Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
's Vitruvian Man
Vitruvian Man
The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci circa 1487. It is accompanied by notes based on the work of the famed architect, Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and...
.
The background photograph portrayed Keilir
Keilir
Keilir - Atlantic center of excellence is a private, non-profit, international graduate school located in Ásbrú next to the Keflavik International Airport in the city of Reykjanesbaer in Iceland. The school was established in 2007The school is owned by the University of Iceland along with top...
, a cone-shaped mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
located at the outskirts of Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
and which is believed to have magic powers. The road shown on the image is Suðurgata.
This image is accompanied by runic writings which were taken from Völuspá
Völuspá
Völuspá is the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end related by a völva addressing Odin...
.
The title refers to Scandinavian mythology, where the word Mjötviður, also known as Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
, means The Tree of Destiny, whose roots penetrate the three Underworld wells, and whose branches and foliage stretch throughout the whole Universe. The word Mær means Fair or Good.
The inserts of this album contain the lyrics to the songs and also feature several images related to magic and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. Drawings of Pythagoras
Pythagoras
Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...
taken from Theorica Musica, by F. Gaffurio, represent the discovery of numeric relationships between harmonic sounds, known as Pythagorean tuning
Pythagorean tuning
Pythagorean tuning is a system of musical tuning in which the frequency relationships of all intervals are based on the ratio 3:2. This interval is chosen because it is one of the most consonant...
(see drawings). This is also complemented by other illustrations such as fragments of music writings from Alexander Scriabin
Alexander Scriabin
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Frédéric Chopin. Quite independent of the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed an increasingly atonal musical system,...
’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in F sharp minor, Op. 23, engravings by Theodor de Bry from Robert Fludd
Robert Fludd
Robert Fludd, also known as Robertus de Fluctibus was a prominent English Paracelsian physician, astrologer, mathematician, cosmologist, Qabalist, Rosicrucian apologist...
's Utriusque Cosmi, and several pentagram illustrations, including Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim was a German magician, occult writer, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist.-Life:Agrippa was born in Cologne in 1486...
's pentagram taken from Three Books of Occult Philosophy which represents the golden symmetry of the human body. Other symbols featured are images of the Yggdrasil, drawings from Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, and satanic
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
symbols, among others.
Track listing
| Track | Title | Length | Lyrics | Mp3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Side A | ||||
| 01 | Úlfur | 02:03 | - | - |
| 02 | Iss | 03:12 | - | - |
| 03 | Current | 03:15 | - | - |
| 04 | 2999 | 02:00 | - | - |
| 05 | Mjötviður | 02:55 | - | - |
| 06 | Ópið | 03:00 | - | - |
| Side B | ||||
| 01 | Þeir | 03:35 | - | - |
| 02 | Rúdolf | 02:53 | - | - |
| 03 | Never Suck (on Fun-Days) | 02:40 | - | - |
| 04 | Það er Nóg | 02:28 | - | - |
| 05 | Hva-Than | 03:07 | - | - |
| 06 | Ónefnt | 02:50 | - | - |
Track notes
- ”2999” is the same as “Technologos” in As Above...As Above...As Above... was an album released in 1982 by Þeyr, a legendary Icelandic New Wave and rock group and it was issued through Shout on a 12" vinyl record.Formed by 12 tracks, As above... contained English versions of the group’s hits...
(1982). - The tracks translate to English as 1. Wolf, 2. Duh! 3. Current, 4. 2999, 5. World Tree, 6. The Shout, 7.They, 8. Rudolf, 9. Never Suck, 10. That is Enough, 11. Hva-Than, 12. Unnamed.
Credits
- Vocalist: Magnús Guðmundsson.
- Guitars: Guðlaugur Kristinn ÓttarssonGuðlaugur Kristinn ÓttarssonGuðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson , guitar player and engineer. He is a mathematician, an inventor, a practising polytechnic engineer, lecturer and the author of several scientific papers....
and Þorsteinn Magnússon. - Bass: Hilmar Örn Agnarsson.
- Drums: Sigtryggur BaldurssonSigtryggur BaldurssonSigtryggur Baldursson is an Icelandic drummer and singer.Sigtryggur was born in Norway to Icelandic parents. He was a founding member of the Sugarcubes and has been a longtime fixture on the Icelandic punk and alternative music scene. Other bands he has played in have included Þeyr, KUKL,...
.
Tracks:
1: Music: Þeyr. Lyrics: Magnús Guðmundsson.
2: Music: Hilmar Örn Agnarsson. Lyrics: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson , also known as HÖH , is a musician, an art director, and allsherjargoði of Ásatrúarfélagið ....
.
3: Music: Hilmar Örn Agnarsson. Lyrics: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
4: Music and lyrics: Þorsteinn Magnússon.
5: Music: Þeyr.
6: Music and lyrics: Þorsteinn Magnússon.
7: Music: Hilmar Örn Agnarsson. Lyrics: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
8: Music: Magnús Guðmundsson. Lyrics: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
9: Music: Þeyr.
10: Music: Hilmar Örn Agnarsson. Lyrics: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
11: Music and lyrics: Þorsteinn Magnússon.
12: Music and lyrics: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.
Characters on the record label: Sigga Vala.
Album, design and the wolf logo featured on the record label: Robert Guillemette.
Photographs: Gunnar Vilhelmsson.
Acknowledgement: Eyjólfur and Jóhannes Vestdal.
External links
- Page about Þeyr
- Website about the history and discography of Þeyr
- Tónlist.is - Page about Þeyr. It features mp3 samples (in Icelandic).
- Intravenous.de - Page about Icelandic music. It includes a section for Þeyr.
- Official site of Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson
- Page about G. K. Óttarsson at Isound.com
- Page of G. K. Óttarsson at MySpace.com
- Page of Þorsteinn Magnússon at Isound.com
- Page of Þorsteinn Magnússon at MySpace.com
- Official site of Sigtryggur Baldursson