Ole Olsen: Asgaardsreien, Op.10 = The Wild Hunt of Thor?

[AndrewC]

My curiosity was piqued today when I saw an advert for a concert playing (amongst other things) Ole Olsen's "The Wild Hunt of Thor". (No opus given)
I'd not heard of this piece before, and google didn't turn up much of use.
However, I do have a recording of Olsen's Asgaardreien, Op.10, which might be the same piece.

Does anybody know either the piece or Norwegian well enough to say if they are one and the same, or whether a truly obscure piece is being played?

[thalbergmad]

I have no idea, but what a wonderful title for a piece of music.

Really makes you want to hear it.

Thal

[Alan Howe]

"Asgaardsreien" means "The Ride of Asgaard". The sleevenote accompanying the Sterling CD suggests that Thor indeed led the ride across the skies - maybe above Asgaard...

<<Asgaard (from As, plural Aeser, or in English, "Ases"--Norwegian for the gods--and gaard, "yard", i.e. enclosure, garden; the Garden of the Gods).>>
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01775a.htm

[AndrewC]

Interesting! The translation seems possible, but not completely certain. I shall have to attend to find out!

Edit: In case anybody else is interested and local, it's on Sun 24th Oct, 7.30, at the Cambridge Corn Exchange (UK)

[M. Henriksen]

I do not have access to Ole Olsen's complete worklist, but I've never heard of a work of his with this title.
I think this is an attempt to make the title "Asgaardsreien" more juicy, but it's not very authentic I'm afraid.

"Asgaardsreien" is derived from the word Oskoreia which is a old Norwegian word for a party of ghosts riding over the skies, especially around Christmas time. The ghosts could drag people's souls with them on their wild ride.

In the romantic era, many authors combined old "countryside-superstition" with the world of the Norse Gods. Therefore the name "Asgaardsreien" was created, combining Åsgård (- the home of some of the Norse Gods, among them Odin & Tor) with reia, the last part of Oskoreia.

As we can see from the painting Asgaardsreien by Peter Nicolai Arbo used as front cover on Sterling's Ole Olsen CD, Tor - The God of Thunder is in the middle of this riding bunch of unrestful souls. However, this is just a part of the above-mentioned romantic tradition of incorrectly combining Norse religion with superstition. Tor drove over the skies with his wagon pulled by two gigantic goats. The old tales of superstition does not mention him in context with Oskoreia.

So my guess is that someone has taken the liberty of changing "Asgaardsreien" to a more eye-catching title for the potential concert audience.

I might be wrong of course!


Morten

[Alan Howe]

I think you have it absolutely right, Morten. Thanks!