Soundtrack

Although I’ve made soundtracks for the majority of my novels, this one’s a bit of an odd duck. See, the original draft of the book itself dates back to when I listened to just one or two songs on repeat ad infinitum et nauseam — I didn’t even make whole mood playlists then. But there is also music I listened to while writing my senior thesis (which gave rise to the novel), like Sequentia’s album Edda: Myths from Medieval Iceland. And music that felt like it had the right vibe, even if I never listened to it while working on anything remotely related to this book. So, very much post facto, I’ve assembled a proper soundtrack!

If you think a couple of artists and a handful of albums are wildly over-represented here, you’re not wrong. That’s because of what I said above about doing this after the fact — I was drawing from a much smaller pool of possibilities. The good (and astonishing) news is, every bit of that music is on Spotify! Yes, even the medieval-style Icelandic text! So if you want to hear the mood of the book, head on over there to check it out.

The track listings below carry the usual caveat about spoilers, but less so than usual, since the bleak atmosphere of this setting led me to go with almost exclusively single-word titles.

The Waking of Angantyr

  • The Waking of Angantyr — “Cantus,” Faith and the Muse, Annwyn, Beneath the Waves
  • Bondsmaid — “Leikr elds ok ísa (The song of Fire and Ice),” Sequentia, Edda: Myths from Medieval Iceland
  • Voices — “Hávamál,” Jacob Lincke, The Frostrune
  • Berserker — “Inquisition Symphony,” Apocalyptica, Inquisition Symphony [beginning trimmed]
  • Drauðr — “Elyria,” Faith and the Muse, Elyria
  • Viking — “Odal,” Wardruna, Runaljod – Ragnarok
  • Houseman — “Hearthsong,” Jacob Lincke, The Frostrune
  • Moot — “Helvegen,” Wardruna, Runaljod – Yggdrasil
  • Witch — “Coma [Live],” Apocalyptica, Cult
  • North — “Isa,” Wardruna, Runaljod – Ragnarok [beginning trimmed]
  • Truth — “Hyperventilation,” Apocalyptica, Cult
  • Samsey — “Kauna,” Wardruna, Runaljod – gap var Ginnunga
  • Fury — “Betrayal/Forgiveness,” Apocalyptica, Apocalyptica
  • Wanderer — “Kaamos,” Apocalyptica, Cult
  • Jarl — “Nothing Else Matters,” Apocalyptica, Inquisition Symphony
  • King — “Rísinn, Dísin, Óðinn, Ísinn,” Alexander K. Lykke, Hjarahljóð – Chorals from The Frostrune
  • Holmganga — “IngwaR,” Wardruna, Runaljod – Yggdrasil
  • Barrow — “Dirge of Defeat,” Glenn Danzig, Black Aria
  • Sons — “Raido,” Wardruna, Runaljod – Ragnarok
  • Dis — “Until It Sleeps,” Apocalyptica, Cult