Blog Essay

Heilung's 'Traust' Explained: Lyrics, Meaning, and Ancient Germanic Ritual Magic

Benji Asperheim and ChatGPT Mon Jul 7th, 2025

Heilung's 'Traust' through Old Norse spells, the Merseburg Incantations, and Germanic protective magic. Includes translation, ritual context, and how the song adapts Iron Age healing and battle charms.

The song Traust by Heilung is more than a performance—it’s a living ritual rooted in the forgotten tongues of ancient Europe. Through the fusion of Old High German, Old Norse, and reconstructed Icelandic-style chants, Traust functions as both protective incantation and historical invocation.

The title itself, Traust, translates to trust, support, or protection, reflecting the song’s deeper purpose: calling upon ancestral forces to shield, empower, and guide.

Heilung Music Video - Traust

🕯️ Two Worlds Speak: West Germanic & Norse Traditions Collide

The structure of Traust blends two distinct but spiritually connected traditions:

Old High German Merseburg Incantation (9th-10th century CE)
- Among the earliest recorded magical spells from Germanic Europe.
- Recited slowly, invoking divine feminine beings (Idisi) to free warriors and break spiritual bonds.
Old Norse & Icelandic Galdrar (Protective Spells)
- Faster, chant-like, drawing from Norse seiðr and galdr magic traditions.
- Invoke mythic entities like Urðr, Rindr, and protective charms against enemies, storms, sickness, and death.

The musical contrast mirrors this duality:

The Merseburg section feels ethereal, ancestral—rooted in cosmic balance.
The Norse galdr pulses with urgency, practicality, and earthly protection.

Together, they form a dialogue—a spiritual thread across time.

🔥 Lyrics, Translation & Commentary

Part I: Merseburg Incantation I (Old High German)

Eiris sazun idisi
(Once sat the Idisi (or divine women))

sazun hera duoder
(They sat here and there)

suma hapt heptidun
(Some bound the fetters)

suma heri lezidun
(Some loosed the army)

suma clubodun umbi cuoniouuidi
(Some shackled around the warrior's limbs)

insprinc haptbandun
(Spring forth, break the bindings)

infar vigan dun
(Go forward into battle)

Meaning: This is a battlefield charm invoking the Idisi—divine women or fate-weavers—calling on them to break bonds, free warriors, and manipulate fate itself.

Part II: Old Norse & Icelandic Galdrar (Protective Spells)

The Norse section follows an ancient structure of ordinal-numbered stanzas—a common pattern in magical formulas, charms, and texts like the Poetic Edda. These spell sequences build power incrementally, each chant layering protection, healing, or warding.

NOTE on Ordinals:

Phrases like “Þann gel ek þér annan” (This I chant for you second), with meaningful ordinal numbers, reflect a ritual counting structure, believed to create rhythm, emphasis, and cumulative magical force. This formulaic style is found across Germanic spellcraft, runic inscriptions, and healing incantations.

Dr. Jackson Crawford talks a bit about Old Norse ordinal numbers in this Old Norse Numbers video.

Protective Spells Breakdown

First Spell - Healing

Þann gel ek þér fyrstan
Rindr gól at þú öxl skjótir
leið þú sjálfan þik

Second Spell - Safe Travel

Þann gel ek þér annan
Urðar lokur haldi þér

Third Spell - Death Avoidance

Þann gel ek þér inn þriðja
snúisk til Heljar meðan

Fourth Spell - Enemy Reconciliation

ef fjándr standa galgvegi
hugr þeim hverfi til handa þér

Fifth Spell - Release from Bonds

leysigaldr læt ek þér fyr legg
stökkr þá láss af limum

Sixth Spell - Sea Protection

ef þú á sjó kemr
logn ok lögr gangi þér saman

Seventh Spell - Frost Protection

ef þik sækir frost á fjalli
megi-t þínu holdi fara

Eighth Spell - Nighttime Warding

ef þik úti nemr nótt á niflvegi
þér til meins firr megi

Ninth Spell - Wisdom Against Giants

ef þú við naddgöfga jötun orðum skiptir
máls ok mannvits þér á minni gefit

Fortifies wit, memory, and composure in facing formidable foes (like Jötnar)

⚡ Ritual Power, Modern Resonance

Traust isn’t simply historical recreation—it’s a ritual for modern ears, reviving:

Ancient protective magic against both physical and spiritual threats.
The timeless Germanic archetype of divine female power (Idisi, Urðr, Rindr).
The rhythmic, chant-driven tradition of galdr, shaping reality through sound.

Musically and lyrically, it echoes a central theme: Trust in protection, community, and ancestral strength.

Heilung Lyrics + English Translation

The piece is largely ritualistic and protective in nature—drawing from ancient Germanic magical traditions, especially healing and binding spells. The lyrics invoke idisi (divine women or valkyrie-like figures), Rindr (a mythical woman who bore Odin’s son Váli), and forces like Urðr (fate). It is full of galdrar (sung spells) designed to protect a person from harm, illness, and spiritual attack, invoking mythic power.

1. Old High German (Merseburg Incantation I)

Eiris sazun idisi
(Once sat the Idisi (or divine women))

sazun hera duoder
(they sat, here and there)

suma hapt heptidun
(some fettered bonds)

suma heri lezidun
(some loosed the army)

suma clubodun umbi cuoniouuidi
(some shackled around warrior limbs)

insprinc haptbandun
(spring forth and break the bindings)

infar vigan dun
(go forward into battle)

🗝️ Note: This is an ancient charm calling upon the idisi—supernatural female beings akin to valkyries—to free warriors and release them from bondage.

2. Old Norse / Icelandic Style Galdrar (Protective Spells)

Þann gel ek þér fyrstan
(This I chant for you first)

þann kveða fjölnýtan
(this one is said to be very useful)

þann gól Rindr Rani
(this was chanted by Rindr the wise woman)

at þú of öxl skjótir
(so that you quickly move your shoulder)

því er þér atalt þykkir
(that which seems unbearable to you)

sjalfr leið þú sjalfan þik
(may you yourself lead your own self)

---

Fjon thvae eg af mer fjanda minna
(I drive away from me my enemies)

Ran og reithi rikra manna
(robbery and wrath of powerful men)

---

Þann gel ek þér annan
(This I chant for you second)

ef þú árna skalt
(if you must travel)

viljalauss á vegum
(helpless on the roads)

Urðar lokur
(Urðr's bindings)

haldi þér öllum megum
(may hold you with all powers)

er þú á sinnum sér
(if you see her on the path)

---

Þann gel ek þér inn þriðja
(This I chant for you the third)

ef þér þjóðáar
(if noble-born men)

falla at fjörlotum
(fall to death's grip)

Horn ok Ruðr
(Horn and Ruðr)

snúisk til heljar meðan
(may turn toward Hel in the meantime)

en þverri æ fyr þér
(but always diminish before you)

---

Þann gel ek þér inn fjórða
(This I chant for you the fourth)

ef þik fjándr standa
(if enemies confront you)

görvir á galgvegi
(prepared on the gallows-path)

hugr þeim hverfi
(may their mind turn away)

til handa þér
(toward helping you)

ok snúisk þeim til sátta sefi
(and may their spirits turn to reconciliation)

---

Þann gel ek þér inn fimmta
(This I chant for you the fifth)

ef þér fjöturr verðr
(if a fetter binds you)

borinn at boglimum
(laid upon your arms)

leysigaldr læt ek
(I perform a release-charm)

þér fyr legg of kveðinn
(chanted over your limbs)

ok stökkr þá láss af limum
(and then the lock jumps off your limbs)

en af fótum fjöturr
(and the fetter from your feet)

---

Þann gel ek þér inn sétta
(This I chant for you the sixth)

ef þú á sjó kemr
(if you come upon the sea)

meira en menn viti
(more than men understand)

logn ok lögr
(calm and water)

gangi þér í lúðr saman
(may go with you together into the hull)

ok léi þér æ friðdrjúgrar farar
(and may grant you always a peace-bringing journey)

---

Þann gel ek þér inn sjaunda
(This I chant for you the seventh)

ef þik sækja kemr
(if you are attacked by)

frost á fjalli háu
(frost on a high mountain)

hræva kulði
(corpse-chill cold)

megi-t þínu holdi fara
(may not enter your flesh)

ok haldisk æ lík at liðum
(and may your body be preserved in its limbs)

---

Þann gel ek þér inn átta
(This I chant for you the eighth)

ef þik úti nemr
(if outdoors you are caught)

nótt á niflvegi
(by night on the misty road)

at því firr megi
(so that it may stay away)

þér til meins gera
(from doing you harm)

kristin dauð kona
(by a dead Christian woman)

---

Þann gel ek þér inn níunda
(This I chant for you the ninth)

ef þú við inn naddgöfga
(if you with the spear-noble one)

orðum skiptir jötun
(exchange words with a giant)

máls ok mannvits
(of speech and human wisdom)

þér á minni ok hjarta
(to your memory and heart)

gnóga of gefit
(may abundance be given)

NOTE: Some phrases use reconstructed or symbolic words with no direct modern equivalent.

3. Chorus Between Charms — Driving Away Harm

Between each Old Norse stanza, the men chant this (also in Old Norse):

Fjón þvæ eg af mér fjanda minna
(Hate wash I from my enemies (fiends))

rán og reiði ríkra manna
(robbery and wrath of powerful (rich/noble) men)

This recurring invocation mirrors purification rituals—symbolically cleansing oneself of hostility, theft, or oppression from those in power. The ritualistic towel/washing/cleansing imagery (þvæ, “to wash” reinforces the protective, banishing purpose.

Repeated between each charm, it anchors the song in continual self-defense and spiritual cleansing.

4. Where the Norse Text Comes From

Where the Norse text actually comes from, and how far apart the sources are.

West Germanic piece (calm/slow)

First Merseburg Charm (Old High German), recorded in a Christian manuscript around the 10th century (often dated 9th—10th for the codex / recording context). It’s a short “release blessing” about the Idisi freeing warriors from bonds, ending with the imperative “spring forth from the fetters…” (Wikipedia)

Norse/Icelandic “Þann gel ek þér…” piece (urgent/practical)

Those numbered “I chant you the first/second/…” stanzas are from Grógaldr, an Eddic poem in the Svipdagsmál set (preserved in medieval Icelandic manuscript tradition; the poem itself is usually treated as medieval, with debated earlier roots). The text is explicitly a mother (Gróa) chanting protections for her son on a dangerous journey—sea, frost, enemies, fetters, etc. (voluspa.org)

And yes, the line about a “dead Christian woman” is in Grógaldr (“kristin dauð kona”), which strongly signals the poem’s medieval Christian-era context, not some pristine “pure pagan” artifact. (voluspa.org)

The repeating “Fjón þvæ ég…” refrain (very late)

That refrain is widely attributed to Galdrabók, an Icelandic grimoire tradition associated with the 17th century. So Heilung is intentionally stitching together very different centuries into one ritual arc. (Reddit)

So you’re looking at a blend roughly like:

Merseburg: written down ~10th c. (Wikipedia)
Grógaldr: preserved in medieval Icelandic tradition (recorded later; content medieval) (books.openbookpublishers.com)
Galdrabók refrain: early modern Icelandic magic text tradition (Scribd)

That’s not one “time period.” It’s a curated collage.

5. Why the Norse sections feel more “earth-bound and urgent”

Because Grógaldr is basically a checklist of practical protections, and its form is built for rhythm and accumulation:

“If you must travel helpless on roads…”
“If enemies confront you…”
“If a fetter is laid on your arms…”
“If you come upon the sea…”
“If frost attacks you on a high mountain…”
“If night catches you on the mist-road…” (books.openbookpublishers.com)

That’s not cosmic-myth narration. It’s operational magic for a person who is about to be in trouble. The numbering (“first… second… third…”) naturally lends itself to faster, driving delivery because it’s literally a sequence of deployed charms.

6. Why the Merseburg part reads “ethereal” (and why Heilung makes it slow)

The First Merseburg Charm has a mythic, tableau-like opener: the Idisi sit, some bind, some free, then the spell-command breaks bindings. (Wikipedia) It’s short, archetypal, and feels like you’re invoking a cosmic authority (“the women who decide binding/unbinding”), not working through a traveler’s field manual.

Heilung’s musical choice—Maria as the steady “officiant voice”—fits that: she’s embodying the Idisi / ritual authority. The “fettered” performer embodying the Grógaldr recipient makes the Norse part feel like someone actively in danger receiving rapid protections.

7. The real key: it’s “binding vs unbinding” dramatized

Both texts obsess over constraints:

Merseburg: bonds on warriors → “spring forth from fetters” (Wikipedia)
Grógaldr: fetters, enemies, exposure, hostile forces → layered release/protection (books.openbookpublishers.com)
Galdrabók refrain: washing off enemies’ hatred/theft/wrath (psychological + social threat) (Scribd)

So the split you’re noticing is basically: (1) invoke the cosmic bind/unbind authorities → (2) apply practical protections to a vulnerable body in motion → (3) purge social hostility (“rich men’s wrath”).

That’s why it feels like “ethereal vs earthy.” It’s the difference between mythic authorization and field-use deployment—and Heilung stages it as two women because it makes the “release” theme instantly legible.

Conclusion

Traust exemplifies Heilung’s mastery of blending linguistic archaeology, myth, and music into something more than entertainment—a living, breathing spell for protection, remembrance, and connection to forgotten spiritual roots.