I just though that if anybody is interested in the story behind the new album, I recall Mathias saying somewhere that it's fairly loosely based around story of Harald Hardrade (Certainly at least the Varangian way was contemporary with him, considering he spent time with Yarosleif and went to Constantinople with an honour guard of 500...)
So, if you want to know any more about the history behind some the stuff in the lyrics, you can find a translation of Haralds part in the Heimskringla here - http://omacl.org/Heimskringla/hardrade1.html
Basically charting his path from the death of his father and fleeing to Kiev down to his own defeat at the Battle of Stamford bridge 1066.
So, if you want to know any more about the history behind some the stuff in the lyrics, you can find a translation of Haralds part in the Heimskringla here - http://omacl.org/Heimskringla/hardrade1.html
Basically charting his path from the death of his father and fleeing to Kiev down to his own defeat at the Battle of Stamford bridge 1066.
