Inspiration: myths, music, and magic.

I usually post music that is slower and calm so this is a warning that this song is nothing at all like that. Amberian dawn's River of Touni is one of those songs I can't help but love. Yes, the music is downright awesome, and beautifully composed (seriously, close your eyes and take apart the song. there are tons of layers in each of there songs that you'll miss if you don't really listen.) but the lyrics are connected to an interesting story. Take a listen.

River of Touni- Amberian Dawn Lyrics:

Along the black death-land river
The mother runs and tries to find her son
Searching for her lost hero she wades the river deep
to her belt in mud

Oh! Heavy-hearted am I
Tuoni has taken my son!

Oh! Heavy-hearted am I
Tuoni has taken my son!

Fear in her heart she calls her son,
as she rakes the Tuoni river and sees the black swan
Now she wades the river deeper to deathlands shoals and shallows
and finds her son

Oh! Heavy-hearted am I
Tuoni has taken my son!

(This is the EXTREMELY SHORTENED VERSION, and i implore you to look into and read about the whole myth as it is very captivating. I, however, will not be covering the story in its entirety because i'm opposed to lengthy posts. That being said I will happily leave links to some of the sources) 

This song centers around the mother of Lemminkainen. In Finish Mythology Lemminkainen was killed by a blind cattle herder, who he had insulted . The cattle herder proceeds to hack Lemminkainen's body into several pieces and tosses it into a river. His mother sifts through the river to collects all of her sons remains. She eventually finds all the pieces of his flesh and revives him using magic.



The reason i like this song is because the mother's anguish was expressed in very few words. "Touni", the deity that rules over the underworld, "has taken my son." might be the part of the song that made me say "hey, let's look at why this deity did that. Now, i'm not expert in myths, but i'm always up for learning more. If you have a favorite myth, a song tide to an interesting story, or some folklore you'd like to share, then feel free to share.