Available on tape via Wulfrune Worxx, contact kommandoskogen@hotmail.com for pricing and ordering info.

The ash tree Yggdrasil is the center of Norse cosmology, and beneath it lies Urðarbrunnr, the Well of Fate. Within the Well of Fate dwell three
sisters; the Nornir, the weavers of Wyrd (Fate). Their names are Urd (What Once Was), Verdandi (What Is Coming Into Being), and Skuld (What Shall Be). Destiny is shaped by the Nornir as they carve runes into the trunk of the tree, weaving destiny like a web. No one, not even the gods, can escape Wyrd, although destiny is never unalterable and within every individual lies the power to change their fate, even retro-actively changing the past. Time in Norse cosmology is cyclical, a concept much older than the linear idea found in monotheism. For nine nights and pierced with a spear, Odin hung sacrificed upon Yggdrasil with no bread nor mead to learn the secrets of the runes. The runes, the magical glyphs of primal forces, are a window into the weavings of the Nornir and the Well of Fate itself. The wisdom of the runes won by Odin have been recorded by man in three Rune Poems; written in Old English, Norwegian and Icelandic. These poems survived on medieval manuscripts written during different periods in history. The Weavings of Hagal's Aett is a dark musical journey into the ancient mysteries of pre-Christian Northern Europe; a tribute to the power of the World Tree, the Nornir, Wyrd, the runes, and the Allfather.

"I will sing from the sage's chair
by the Norn's sacred spring;
I watched and listened, I looked and thought
about the words of the wise
when they talked of runes and what they reveal
at the High One's hall, in the High One's hall-
here is what I heard..." - Hávamál (Sayings of the High One)

Recorded during Ostara 2014. All music written, performed and recorded by MacTaidh. Album artwork "Die Nornen" by Johannes Gehrts, 1889. Cover art manipulation by Gareth/Mithrim Records. Click 'Lyrics' next to each respective song to read a passage from one of the three Rune Poems relating to the rune that the song is dedicated to.