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Hávamál 138

2026 - | knife-borne sound body and electronics

for Ivar the Boneless (robot)

138. Jag vet, att jag hängde på det vindiga trädet
nio hela nätter, djupt stungen med spjut
och given åt Oden,
jag själv åt mig själv,
uppe i det träd, varom ingen vet,
av vad rot det runnit upp.

138. Veit ek, at ek hekk vindga meiði á
nætr allar níu, geiri undaðr
ok gefinn Óðni,
sjalfr sjalfum mér,
á þeim meiði, er manngi veit
hvers af rótum renn.

138. I ween that I hung on the windy tree,
hung there for nights full nine;
with the spear I was wounded, and offered I was
to Othin, myself to myself,
on the tree that none may ever know
what root beneath it runs.

recitation: Ingeborg
choir: Töcken
robot voice: Malm

Part of an ongoing installation- and performance-based practice drawing on Hávamál as textual and structural material.
Hávamál 138 is conceived as both a video work and an installation.
The installation unfolds within a contained spatial structure referred to as Hägn.
A knife-bearing sound body moves through constrained, dragging motion. Contact microphones capture friction, impacts and mechanical strain, producing a continuous sound layer generated by the body itself.
The robotic sound voice may operate autonomously, with or without the accompanying recorded choir and recitation.
The choir and recitation also appear as part of upcoming project with the duo Vento Nero.