Not to be confused with Anglo-Saxon poem The Wanderer (more on that later), Wanderer is a track from Finnish folk metal band Ensiferum‘s 2007 album Victory Songs.
Though, worth noting that both the poem and the song do both have the same themes of resigned perseverence in the face of melancholy solitude.
Formed in Helsinki in 1995, Ensiferum (the name is a Latin word that means ‘sword-bearer’) is listed on Wikipedia as playing Folk Metal (like fellow Finns, our good friends Korpiklaani), Melodic Death Metal, Power Metal (like our good friends Blind Guardian), and Viking Metal (like our good friends Týr).
Like Korpiklaani, Ensiferum draws a lot from the Kalevala, to the point of directly quoting the text in their songs. With that in mind, I’m not sure if the Wanderer from the song is supposed to be a specific hero like Väinämöinen (basically musical Gandalf) or Lemminkäinen (sort of a Heracles-type figure, featuring in Sibelius’ tone poem The Swan of Tuonela), or just a generic sort of Fantasy Hero.
Honestly, the lyrics could be pretty easily applied to Conan…
He will ride across land and time
To find a way through this endless night
There’s a storm in his heart and the fire burns his soul
But the wanderer’s part is to ride alone.Lyrics via Genius.
And, honestly, the whole “wanderer’s part is to ride alone” has always really resonated with me on a pretty deep personal level…
Ahem.
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