Wardruna releases ‘Helvegen II’, a new recording of ‘Helvegen’
Wardruna released “Helvegen II,” a new recording of “Helvegen” with a music film by Tuukka Koski, on October 30, 2026 via By Norse Music.
Photo: Chantik Photography
Norwegian group Wardruna released “Helvegen II” on October 30, 2026 through By Norse Music, a new recording of “Helvegen,” one of the band’s best-known compositions since its original 2012 release. The track comes with a new music film directed by Finnish filmmaker Tuukka Koski, and the single is also available on colored 12″ vinyl.
Wardruna founder and composer Einar Selvik said the re-recording grew out of how the song has been used by listeners over the past fourteen years, including at funerals, weddings and births, and in communal singing traditions outside Scandinavia, now performed in multiple languages. “For some years now, we have been quietly working on a new recorded version of ‘Helvegen.’ Not to replace the original, but to reflect what the song has gradually become,” Selvik said.
In the music film, Finnish dancer Sofia Ruija portrays a deceased person through dance, accompanied by a raven named Krummi as a silent witness to the transition. “At some point, we realized that the song no longer existed only as the version we recorded in 2012. It had become something larger, shaped by the people who embraced it and by the countless moments in which it had been given a place and a purpose. This recording is our way of acknowledging that journey,” Selvik said.
The single carries two versions: “Helvegen II” and “Helvegen (Skaldic Version),” the latter exclusive to the vinyl edition.
“Helvegen II” is available as a digital single on Bandcamp, with the 12″ vinyl edition open for pre-order through the band’s own stores.
About Wardruna
Wardruna is a Norwegian group based in Bergen that builds its music around Nordic cultural and esoteric tradition, combining historical instruments and poetic metres with lyrics in Norwegian, Old Norse and related languages. The band’s sound took shape across the “Runaljod” trilogy – “Runaljod – gap var Ginnunga” (2009), “Runaljod – Yggdrasil” (2013) and “Runaljod – Ragnarok” (2016) – built around the 24 proto-Norse runes, before moving toward stripped-down, acoustic writing on “Skald” (2018). “Kvitravn” (2021), which explored Northern European magic, spirit animals and animism, reached number one in Canada and Austria and number two in Germany, among top chart placements in thirteen countries overall. A live album, “Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven,” followed in 2022, and the band’s most recent studio album, “Birna,” came out in 2025 to similarly strong chart results.
Founder, composer and multi-instrumentalist Einar Selvik grew up on the island of Osterøy north of Bergen, where an early interest in runes and Scandinavian history led him toward music rooted in historical sources after years in metal bands. He has studied pre-Christian Norse culture, philosophy and mythology since 2002, lectured on Old Norse history and music, and collaborated with artists including Mari Boine, Tina Guo, Matoma and Eivør. Outside Wardruna, Selvik composed music for the History Channel series “Vikings” (2014) and, with Jesper Kyd and Sarah Schachner, the soundtrack of the video game “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020).
Side-Line first covered Wardruna in 2020 around the announcement of “Kvitravn.” “Helvegen II” marks the band’s first new release since “Birna,” revisiting a song that has become one of its most personal to listeners since 2012.
Support Side-Line
More people read Side-Line than ever, and there is still no paywall and no advertising. Readers pay for it instead - from $5 a month.
Why we ask
Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations we have not put up a paywall, and we refuse to add annoying advertising, so we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes time, money and hard work to produce, and we do it to push the artists we like, who are equally fighting to survive.
Handled by PayPal.
Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!
