The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Farsotstider" by the artist "Thyrfing"

The lyrics of the song "Farsotstider" by the Swedish band Thyrfing tell the story of the dark times of the plague epidemic that swept through the medieval world. The imagery used in the song is bleak and terrifying, conveying the atmosphere of horror and despair that prevailed in those times.

The opening lines "Blood flows down bare backs, in penance for a lost fate" paint a picture of self-flagellation – a common practice among believers who tried to atone for their sins and appease God in the face of mortal danger. The flagellants mentioned later are sects of fanatics who, in religious ecstasy, publicly tortured themselves with whips, believing that their suffering would ward off the plague. However, their "hungry roar" is just "a loud echo in a mournful cry" of millions dying.

In the song, the plague appears not just as a disease but as a mystical force, "beautiful but destructive," bringing death and purification at the same time. The lines "For the whip will be sung with a healing hymn in the sorrowful times of plague" suggest that pain and suffering, symbolized by the whip, are perceived as an inevitable part of this "healing." The processions of "hostages of sorrowful plague times," reflected in the mirrors, are funeral processions carrying away more and more victims.

The image of the "feast of Black Death," where ashes are scattered by the wind, symbolizes the triumph of death, the final victory of the plague over life. The last verses of the song introduce the image of a deserted city, where "in the parish register of the dead there are only blank pages," and "silence, fever, and pain have found peace in the graves." The pastors, who have witnessed the mass death of their parishioners, understand that all human suffering has ended, the "final peace" has come, and even the echo sounds "in unison" – as if the voices of the dead are merging into one mournful choir.