Viking Saga Songs. 4: Sing us a saga

School Radio > Music > KS2: Viking Saga Songs

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Clips

Time to meet Thor, god of thunder. The song celebrates storytelling…and in the first part of our saga - Thor and the giants - Thor and Loki are on their way to Jotunheim when they stop at the home of a humble villager…and Loki finds a new way to cause trouble.

Tutorial: 'Sing us a saga'

Key timings in the tutorial are:

00 00: Exploring the lilting rhythm of the song through simple rowing actions - like Vikings crossing the North Sea. Noting the direction of Viking voyages. Singing the tune of the song to 'La' while performing lyre-plucking actions.
02 57: Beginning to learn the words of the song, beginning: 'Sing us a saga…' Listening then repeating a line at a time. Then singing the whole verse.
04 58: Noting that each of the four verses has a long introduction to add actions (rowing, swaying, plucking) before learning Verse 2.
06 27: Learning Verse 3, noting that the verse begins and ends the same as the other verses, but has different words in the middle.
07 32: Learning Verse 4, making the most important words 'dramatic'.
08 34: Getting into two groups to learn the coda, which is sung as a 'round'. Noting that the coda should sound like waves fading.

The saga: Thor and the giants - Part 1

Synopsis

Loki says that great stories need great characters - and that Thor is a character who makes for a great story, because everything he does is that little bit 'different'. Thor is a sworn enemy of the giants of Jotunheim and in this story he ventures into the frozen home of the giants, taking Loki with him for company, intent on challenging the giants to a contest.

In the first part of the story Thor and Loki go as far as Midgard, where they spend the night with a humble villager. Thor slaughters his two goats for meat, warning Loki and the villager during their meal to keep all the bones safe. Loki - up to his tricks again - whispers to the villager to ignore Thor and break a bone or two if he wishes.

In the morning Thor brings the goats back to life with a magic spell - but there's a problem…one of the goats is limping.

See Resources below for a quiz about the story.

Song: 'Sing us a saga'

Learn the song 'Sing us a saga' - about the power of songs and storytelling.

Learn with the full vocal version of the song. Then polish your performance by singing with just the backing track.

Click here for the lyric sheet.

Click here for the music sheet.

Listening music: an extract from 'Dawn' from 'Four sea interludes' by Benjamin Britten

This extract is from a piece called 'Dawn' which is part of 'Four sea interludes' by Benjamin Britten. The music features in his opera Peter Grimes premiered in 1945 and evokes the North Sea coast at dawn.

• What sort of atmosphere does the music create?
• Can the children identify the contrasting high and low notes?
• Do they detect the movement of the wind across the surface of the water?

Resources

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