Kersti Ståbi

Performing poems from the Poetic Edda

I am a folk singer and oral storyteller. In my Masters project I have made a series of concerts performing the poem Vǫluspá from the Poetic Edda in its original Old Norse.

Building on the musical elements in the Eddic poems, I’ve been searching the borderlands between speech and singing, using melodic material in the modern Swedish and Norwegian languages. As a method I have imitated singers in different living epic singing traditions from around the world, basing the creative process on mimicry and improvisation. This was a fast route to performances of great diversity: the Manas singer from Kyrgyzstan gradually enters a trancelike state, while Pansori from Korea made me think "unmelodic folk opera" and the Indian Pandvani is all-or-nothing storytelling with music serving as an engine. One specific perspective I have researched is the concept of a ”First Listener” - a representative of the audience on stage that can, but doesn’t necessarily have to, contribute musically. Traditionally the First Listener in Pandvani is very active; singing, shouting and challenging the teller, while the Pansori First Listener is a supporting commenting percussionist. As a storyteller and lead singer I found the presence of a First Listener highly fruitful in the process leading up to the performances. As a stage concept it offers forceful dynamics between the singer, the listeners and the poem.

The poems of the Poetic Edda were created and performed in an oral tradition, but survived to modern times only via written text. I regard myself a performer formed in a literate culture but in an oral music tradition. With that in mind I have explored performance of this epic material and its metres. Translation has become a keyword with many facets.