Norwegian modern world music ensemble Wardruna has released a new documentary titled “Tracking Birna: From Earth To Light And Earth Again”, directed by Giacomo Giorgi and Laetitia Abbenes, offering an intimate view of the band’s global touring life during the Birna album cycle. Wardruna is the focus of the film, which is now available in full on the group’s official YouTube channel.
by Paul Cashmere
The documentary arrives at a significant moment in Wardruna’s timeline, following the release and global touring cycle of their 2025 album Birna and documenting the past 18 months of international performances. Filmed across major cultural and historic venues including the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Amphitheatre of Pompeii in Italy, Indigenous Blackfeet Nation land in North America, and throughout Australia and New Zealand, the film captures the scale and cultural breadth of the band’s most recent world tour.
The project centres on Wardruna’s evolving relationship with audience, place and performance, documenting not only concerts but also the off-stage dynamics of a group whose identity is tightly bound to collective process and ritualised presentation. It presents a portrait of a touring ensemble operating at an international level while maintaining a strongly defined artistic philosophy grounded in Nordic cultural traditions.
Wardruna frontman Einar Selvik said the decision to allow cameras into the band’s private touring environment was made cautiously, noting the group’s longstanding preference for keeping their off-stage life separate from their public artistic output. “I have always been somewhat cautious to put Wardruna’s off-stage life on display, perhaps even protective,” Selvik said. “What happens on stage has always been the main focus.”
He added that the presence of long-time collaborators behind the camera allowed for a more natural depiction of life on the road. “What takes place behind the scenes, the human bonds, the dynamics, the sense of family, is deeply reflected in our performances. We enter the stage as ourselves, yet that is only the visible part of Wardruna.”
Formed in 2003 by Selvik alongside Gaahl and Lindy-Fay Hella, Wardruna has developed from an underground Nordic experimental collective into one of the most internationally visible modern world music acts. Their use of traditional instruments such as frame drums, lyres, goat horns and jaw harps, combined with natural soundscapes including wood, stone and water, has positioned the group within a broader global movement exploring pre-modern musical expression in contemporary contexts.
The documentary also captures Wardruna at a transitional point. Following the Birna album cycle and extensive touring schedule that has included major venues across Europe, North America and Oceania, the band is now entering a planned period of reduced activity. This pause follows a period of sustained international growth, which saw Wardruna expand significantly in reach after their music featured in television series Vikings and the video game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and after major performances including the Acropolis in Athens.
Across its runtime, “Tracking Birna” documents not only performance environments but also the logistics of sustaining a large touring ensemble. The film highlights the interdependence between performers, technicians and production staff, reinforcing Wardruna’s long-stated emphasis on collective effort over individual spotlight.
The wider significance of the release sits within a growing trend in contemporary music where artists working in heritage-based or ritualistic frameworks are increasingly documenting their processes through film. This reflects a broader audience interest in how traditional sound systems are adapted for modern touring infrastructure, particularly as global festivals and large-scale concert productions expand their programming of cross-cultural and experimental acts.
Wardruna’s catalogue, spanning from the Runaljod trilogy through Skald, Kvitravn and Birna, has steadily evolved from rune-based thematic composition into broader explorations of mythology, language and human connection to environment. The documentary positions Birna as both a culmination of recent touring work and a pivot point toward a quieter phase in the group’s cycle.
While the film presents a unified perspective from within Wardruna’s touring world, it also indirectly highlights the complexity of maintaining cultural specificity within a global touring framework. The balance between artistic preservation and international accessibility remains central to the group’s ongoing trajectory.
“Tracking Birna: From Earth To Light And Earth Again” ultimately functions as both documentation and reflection, capturing Wardruna at scale while signalling a temporary retreat from the road. For a group whose identity is deeply tied to movement, place and ritual, the film provides a rare fixed point in an otherwise continually shifting journey.
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YouTube. See things first—Subscribe to Noise11 on YouTube
Follow Noise11.com on social media:
Bluesky
Facebook – Comment on the news of the day
