Björk – Fagurt Er í Fjörðum Lyrics

“Fagurt Er í Fjörðum” is the sixth track from Björk’s 10th album, Fossora. The title translates from Icelandic to “How beautiful it is in the fjords”. Originally, it is a poem that was written in the 18th century by Björg Einarsdóttir (aka Látra-Björg). Later the poem became a traditional Icelandic folk song, which celebrates the beauty and fertility of Icelandic lands when the weather is mild, until the extreme hostility of winter, that kills humans and other animals.

Látra-Björg (1716–1784) was an outcast fisherwoman believed to be a “fiskin”, a person with a supernatural sense of the sea. She was able to read the weather, predict when seals would swim into certain areas so that they could be easily netted. Her poems were also believed to cast spells on those who crossed her. She reportedly passed on her fishing skills to a farmer by writing a poem about him catching trout.

[Verse]
Fagurt er í fjörðum
Þá frelsarinn lánar veðrið blítt
Heyið grænt í görðum
Grös og heilagfiskið nýtt
En þegar vetur að oss
Fer að sveigja
Veit ég enga verri sveit
Um veraldarreit
Menn og dýr þá deyja