Swedish for “the pagans” or “the heathens,” Hedningarna puts a new, self-proclaimedly rebellious twist on Nordic folk music. They combine traditional instrumentation and lyrics - with occasional help from Finnish singers - and modern technology to bring one of the most enjoyable and listenable acts to world folk music today.
They gained a wider audience when Finnish metal band Finntroll covered their song “Varg Timmen”.
Current Hedningarna members are Hållbus Totte Mattson (lute, hurdy-gurdy, mandora, mora-oud, etc), Anders Norrudde (violin, hardingfela, moraharp, basmoraharp, stringed harp, swedish bagpipe, willowflute, cow- and goathorn), Magnus Stinnerbom (viola, hurdy-gurdy etc) and Christian Svensson (percussion and sampler).
Former band members include Tellu Turkka, Sanna Kurki-Suonio, Anita Lehtola-Tollin, Liisa Matveinen (vocals), Björn Tollin (percussion, programming, samples) and Ulf Ivarsson (bass).
