Windsong

Back in D.C., my boss and I worked on a documentary about Leif Eiriksson with a television company in town. One of their other consultants was Valgeir Guðjónsson, he made the music for the documentary and did some of the voiceover work; he had also arranged some funding from the Icelandic government. I had no idea who he was, although the producer said to me that he had been in a band in Iceland (a few years later I saw the Studmann movie, and was like, hey, I know that guy!). He was personable, and it was nice to have an Icelander on the project. When the exhibition opened, we showed a 10 minute re-edit of it as an intro film. I tell you what, Valgeir's song was not only the highlight of that video, it was one of the things we got the most visitor feedback about. 

Last week, on Thursday, I showed that video to our computer consultants, and have not been able to get Valgeir's song out of my head since then, not really. The chorus goes, 

"Listen to the windsong, 

See the waterplay, 

Carry us, carry us, 

far away."

I think what captured people's attention was not only the nice beat and his voice, but also the sentiment of the song. The idea that voyaging out on the open ocean, heading for distant shores that may be wholly unfamiliar, such a voyage is not to be feared. That the Norsemen who settled Iceland and Greenland had a sense of joy and adventure about it, they were ready for the challenges ahead, were calm enough about it to be able to notice the sound the wind makes and the way the ocean heaves with the waves. When a person has that sort of attitude, just a calm resolution, nothing can dissuade them, no matter how crazy it sounds to anyone else.  

Thank you, Valgeir.