WARDRUNA released “Helvegen II” on 30 October 2026, revisiting their 2012 song with a new recording and a music film shot in Iceland. The film was directed by longtime collaborator Tuukka Koski, while Finnish dancer Sofia Ruija portrays the deceased and a raven named Krummi appears alongside her. The single is issued by ByNorse Music.
The new version was recorded over several years and is intended to reflect how “Helvegen” changed through more than a decade of performances, different orchestrations, collaborations and guest appearances. The band have said it is not meant to replace the original. Listeners have used the song at funerals, memorials, weddings and other personal events, while communities have also sung it in different languages and traditions.
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.
- WARDRUNA
Iceland gives the song a film
The new music film was filmed on location along the Icelandic coastline. Its imagery follows the song’s themes of death, passage and remembrance, with movement and landscape forming the setting for Ruija’s performance. Tuukka Koski has worked with WARDRUNA on earlier projects, and the production also features the band’s Einar Selvik, Lindy-Fay Hella, Eilif Gundersen, John Stenersen, Hans Christian Dalgaard, Sondre Veland and Arne Sandvoll.
The release also includes a physical edition. The limited 12-inch vinyl is available to pre-order through Wardruna’s official webstores until 30 November 2026, and only the quantities reserved during that period will be pressed. It is scheduled for release and estimated shipping in February 2027 under the ByNorse Music label.
Side A contains “Helvegen II”, while Side B carries “Helvegen (Skaldic Version)”. The record comes in a marbled fog sleeve with a four-page insert, and customers who order other items with it will receive the complete order once all products are available.
Lindy-Fay Hella co-founded Wardruna
Lindy-Fay Hella is a co-founder of WARDRUNA, having formed the Norwegian group with Einar Selvik and Gaahl in 2003. She remains part of the current line-up and features in the “Helvegen II” video credits. The group built its music around Norse cultural and esoteric traditions, using instruments including frame drums, flutes, mouth harp, goat horn and lur.
WARDRUNA released its debut album, “Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga”, in 2009, followed by “Runaljod - Yggdrasil” in 2013 and “Runaljod - Ragnarok” in 2016. Gaahl left the group in 2015. The band later released the acoustic album “Skald” in 2018, “Kvitravn” in 2021 and the live release “Kvitravn - First Flight of the White Raven” in 2022.
The band said the new recording is intended to encourage listeners to treat a song as something that can accompany life, rather than something only performed or heard. As the announcement puts it, a tradition survives when it is lived rather than simply remembered.
