Dano-Norwegian Song Of The Battle Of Kringen - Sinklars Vísa

This video is not political in any way, but is simply for my own fun. I do not own any of the images or audio in this video, but I did set it all together without the use of AI. All rights and credit go to the original musicians and artists. Any corrections on wrong lyrics or descriptions are more than welcome in the comments! Sinklars Vísa (Sinclair's Ballad) is a Dano-Norwegian song written by Norwegian poet Edvard Storm in 1781, about the Battle of Kringen in 1612, during the Kalmar War. The song is written in Dano-Norwegian, used by both Danes and Norwegians during that era. I have used the original text, but modernized certain spellings for easier reading, such as getting rid of the letter C, which is not used in Danish or Norwegian in modern times (Sinclar = Sinklar, Cours = Kurs) and I've used the modern Å letter, rather than the old Aa spelling. The version of the song I've used in this video is sung by the Faroese band Hamradun. They are singing in Dano-Norwegian, but with Faroese accents, so pronounciation might not be completely authentic. The Kalmar War took place from 1611 to 1613, and saw Denmark-Norway fighting Sweden. Midway through the war, in 1612, the Swedes would pay for the services of Scottish Mercenaries under the leadership of George Sinclair, who were to land in Norway, march across the country to Sweden, and hopefully help turn the tide of war while the Dano-Norwegian army was busy in Sweden. The Scots had to reach Sweden by land through Norway, as the Dano-Norwegian fleet had blocked all sea routes. The Scots were pressed into service by Sir James Spens, to the dismay of the Scottish-English King James, who favoured Denmark-Norway. The Scots landed in the Isfjord, on the coasts of Romsdal in north-western Norway. In later stories the mercenaries were said to pillage the countryside, this is however untrue for the Sinclair mercenaries. They were mostly peaceful, however previous Scottish mercenary bands in Norway had pillaged the country, which spurred the Norwegian peasants into action. Word of the Scottish landing quickly spread inland, and Lars Gunnarson Hågå, a well known farmer and sheriff, is said to have entered a church in Dovre with a battle axe, striking the floor and yelling "The enemy has come to our land!" - I am unsure if that is true. The Norwegian peasants mobilized for war nonetheless. The Norwegian peasants had meticulously planned for their battle with the Scots, scouting out the mercenary army, and settling on Kringen as the place to ambush them. Kringen was an extremely narrow pass with only one road, which curved up steep mountain cliff sides, with an open fall down into the Lågen (or Laugen) river. The numbers of both sides vary depending on source, with upper limits for the Scottish mercenaries being more than a thousand, and the Norwegian peasants being around 500. The actual numbers were likely closer to 400 for the Scots, and 300 for the Norwegians. The Scottish mercenaries varied greatly in terms of experience, and even more so equipment, with a good amount of them having largely no equipment, which they expected to receive in Sweden, with others being more heavily armed. The Norwegian peasantry also varied in equipment, with pitchforks being used, alongside farmer's swords, spears, crossbows, and especially axes. Firearms were also used in much smaller numbers by hunters. The Battle of Kringen saw the Norwegians launch a surprise attack on the Scots, who had been distracted by a fleeing horse rider, with logs and rocks dropped on the mercenaries, before descending personally upon them on the narrow mountain path. Sinclair, who had been riding at the front of the column with a feathered helmet, was the first to die, shot dead instantly by a sharpshooter. Sinclair's death caused great panic and confusion among the Scots, causing many to attempt to flee, allowing the peasants to overwhelm them. Following the battle, most Scots had been killed, with a great number captured, and very few fleeing successfully. Those captured, around 130 men, were kept imprisoned in a shack in the village of Kvam. The peasants, the next day, decided to execute most of the Scots because they were unable to guard them all during harvest season. Only 14-18 were spared, sent to Akershus fortress in modern-day Oslo for interrogation, then sent to Copenhagen to stand trial. King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway was extremely pleased with the peasants, and gave them land grants, allowed them to keep looted weaponry and goods, life-long tax exemptions, and praised them publicly. A monument to the battle would be raised on the path. I depicted the map of Denmark-Norway with both Danish and Norwegian flags rather than just the Danish flag, as this song is fundamentally about Norwegian peasants in Norway. *The Nøkk is a folklore monster that hides in the water. The original song: Sinklars Vísa - Hamradun    • Sinklars Vísa