Hedningarna (The Heathens) is a Swedish, and for some years partly Finnish, folk music band that mixes electronics and rock with elements from old Scandinavian folk music. Their music features yoik or juoiggus, a traditional Sami form of song.

History

Hållbus Totte Mattson, Anders Stake and Björn Tollin formed Hedningarna in 1987. Hedning is Swedish for , while ar is the plural suffix, and na is the definite article (thus hedningar 'heathens', hedningarna 'the heathens'). They wanted to go far back to the roots of the Old Norse culture, including the use of ancient instruments not much used in current Swedish folk music. Stake, a trained luthier, also began to invent and build new instruments, to produce new sounds.

In 1988, Hedningarna performed a major part of the music to the stage play Den stora vreden (roughly meaning The Great Wrath) which aroused great interest. Music arranger was Ale Möller. Their first album titled Hedningarna was released on Alice Records in 1989. the première of new CD called &, released April 2012. The album contained some strong political overtones and featured a collaboration with cult group Philemon Arthur and the Dung. In 2016, an album with previously unreleased recordings from 1992 to 2003 was announced, called Kult.

Members

Current

  • Hållbus Totte Mattson – mandora, lute, baroque guitar, moraoud, hurdy-gurdy, accordion, hummel, Swedish dulcimer, vocals.
  • Anders Norudde (formerly known as Anders Stake) – fiddle, hardanger fiddle, moraharpa, bass moraharpa, nyckelharpa, bowed harp, Swedish bagpipes, flute, willow flute, jaw harp, buckhorn, vocals.
  • Samuel Andersson, fiddle, percussion drone, vocals

Past

  • Björn Tollin – tambourine, percussion, hummel, bass mandora, saw, frame drum, string drum, hurdy-gurdy, moraharpa, sampling, vocals.
  • Anita Lehtola-Tollin – vocals.
  • Liisa Matveinen – vocals.
  • Sanna Kurki-Suonio – vocals, kantele, bass drum.
  • Tellu Paulasto (Virkkala, Turkka) – vocals, fiddle, bass moraharpa.
  • Ulf Ivarsson – bass guitar, bass-lute, bass mandora, sampling.
  • Christian Svensson – tambourine, percussion, hummel, sampling.
  • Magnus Stinnerbom – Octave Violin, viola, hurdy-gurdy.

Guest musicians

  • Wimme Saari – Yoik vocals on Trä and Hippjokk.
  • Knut Reiersrud – electric guitar, vocals on Hippjokk.
  • Johan Liljemark – didgeridoo on Hippjokk and Karelia Visa.
  • Ola Bäckström – fiddle on Hippjokk.
  • Per-Erik Nilsson – percussion on Kaksi.

Discography

  • Hedningarna (1989)
  • Kaksi! (1992)
  • Trä (1994)
  • Kruspolska SASHA mixes (1994)
  • The Heathens Fire (1996) (Includes tracks from Kaksi & Trä)
  • Hippjokk (1997)
  • Karelia Visa (1999)
  • 1989–2003 (2003)
  • & (2012)
  • Kult (2016)

Also appear on

  • Beginner's Guide to Scandinavia, 3CD compilation (Nascente, 2011)
  • Werewolf Songs − Music Inspired by Swedish Folklore, compilation CD (Malört förlag, 2012)

References

  • Official homepage – only in Swedish
  • Official MySpace