Heyr himna smiður

"Heyr himna smiður" (literally "Hear, smith of the heavens") is a medieval Icelandic hymn written by chieftain and poet Kolbeinn Tumason in the 13th-century. The music that accompanies the text was composed by Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson (1938–2013) in 1973. This was the first known musical setting of the hymn to become widely popular, although the Icelandic composer Sigvaldi Kaldalóns set the text in the early 20th century; today, Sigurbjörnsson’s setting is among the best-known Icelandic hymns overall.

Text and English translations

The original text is presented here with the medieval and 19th-century Icelandic versions. The third column features, a rough, literal translation into English, while the fourth column is a looser translation regularized to a metrical pattern of 5.5.5.5.5.5.5.5 and stating all first-person pronouns in the singular.

Notable recordings

Recordings featuring Sigurbjörnsson’s 20th-century melody:

• 2008, Hallgrimskirkja Motet Choir, album: Ljósið þitt lýsi mér: Icelandic Church Music
• 2021, Voces8, album: Infinity

Notable singers

• Árstíðir
• Eivør Pálsdóttir
• Hamrahlíðakórinn
• Ylja

In popular culture

In September 2013, the hymn went viral thanks to an impromptu performance by Árstíðir, an Icelandic indie-folk group. As of 2021, the video, which is published on YouTube, has more than 7.6 million views.

In 2017, two episodes of the American dystopian television series The Handmaid's Tale featured the hymn. The version used was arranged and performed by Hildur Guðnadóttir from her 2014 album "Saman".

References

• Árni Daníel Júlíusson, Jón Ólafur Ísberg, Helgi Skúli Kjartansson ″Íslenskur sögu atlas: 1. bindi: Frá öndverðu til 18. aldar.″ Almenna bókafélagið, Reykjavík 1989.
• Árni Heimir Ingólfsson. ″Iceland’s Favorite Hymn.″ https://www.arniheimir.com/post/iceland-s-favorite-hymn, access date November 8, 2023.
• Sigurður Nordal et al., ″Sýnisbók íslenzkra bókmennta til miðrar átjándu aldar.″ Reykjavík 1953.

1. Battle of Víðines
2. Music of Iceland
3. Árstíðir
4. 1170s in poetry
5. Kolbeinn Tumason
6. Timeline of Icelandic history
7. Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson
8. 1208 in poetry