Silent Waters | Amorphis | Concept Explained
The story behind Amorphis’ 2007 album Silent Waters is based on Finnish folklore and mythology. Many of Amorphis’ albums play out scenes and characters from Kalevala (a compilation of epic poetry).
** What follows is my personal interpretation of the story based on the lyrics along with the my research on Finnish mythology.
This album follows a shaman hero from Kalevala named Lemminkäinen.
I must admit, I did not read the entirety of Kalevala. As with most epic poems, it’s extremely long! However, I did read sections of it and compared the poems with the lyrics to create the story explanation for this album. If you have extensive knowledge on this mythos or any pertinent fun fact about Finnish mythology, I encourage you to leave those down in the comments!
Track 1) “Weaving the Incantation”
This is a scene about our hero getting ready to go into battle—one which he knows he will die. He is preparing for his death in this scene and has bitterly accepted his fate as we see him combing and braiding his hair into war braids using his father’s brush.
The brush in this song is mentioned in the poem of Rune 14 “Death of Lemminkäinen” from Kalevala where Lemminkäinen’s mother learns of his death when his hairbrush begins bleeding.
Track 2) “A Servant”
This is the one track I found very difficult to figure out how it relates to Lemminkäinen’s story. My best guess would be it involves a scene where Lemminkäinen is given snake beer in Rune 27 “The Unwelcome Guest” from Kalevala.
Lemminkäinen crashes a wedding he was not invited to. He watches everyone leaving for the party while he’s out tending the fields. He decides to crash the party despite his mother warning him not to go. He goes anyway. The road to Pohjola is wrought with danger but he overcomes all the obstacles and goes on to the wedding. He arrives demanding food and drink and he is given a beer with live snakes in it. He kills the snakes, drinks the beer, and then enters into a swordfight where he kills the host, the master of Pohjola.
Track 3) “Silent Waters”
Lemminkäinen’s mother comes to his rescue in Rune 14 “Lemminkäinen’s Restoration.” This track follows Lemminkäinen’s mother. Upon her finding out her son is in trouble, she entreats the god Ilmarinen to construct a magical iron rake to use to rescue her son from the river. She then asks the sun god to light her way in the underworld and hold back the monsters of Tuoni while she searches for her son.
However, Lemminkäinen is dead. She finds his dismembered body in the river.
Track 4) “Towards and Against”
Here we back up a little and learn of the events leading to Lemminkäinen’s death. Our hero is quite boastful, overly proud, reckless, and complacent. This song shows his confidence not only in battle but in completing any task set before him.
In Rune 14 “Death of Lemminkäinen” we follow our hero in his pursuit if the Maiden of the North. To earn her hand, he must complete three tasks: capture the Hiisi moose, tame a fiery gelding, and shoot the black swan of Tuonela.
Lemminkäinen is feeling confident after successfully completing the first two tasks. He goes on to Tuonela (the underworld) to seek out the swan. He sings to the gods on his way in the hope they will grant him safe passage.
Track 5) “I of Crimson Blood”
In this track we back up even further before his death. In Rune 12 “Kyllikki’s Broken Vow” from Kalevala, we learn of our hero’s desire for Kyllikki—a maiden who has vowed to never marry him. However, Lemminkäinen is persistent and uses magic to make her marry him. They are wed, but Kyllikki soon grows bored with domestic life and goes to a village dance. This throws her husband into a rage and leads to him leaving on another quest to seek a new bride.
Track 6) “Her Alone”
In Rune 13 “Lemminkäinen’s Second Wooing” Our hero returns to the land of Pohyola to the north and entreats his host for a new maiden.
The “her” in track could be seen as the maiden–Louhi’s daughter– whom he seeks to win over. OR it might also refer to his mother. She is a constant throughout these tales. Her love for her son defies all bounds. She is always warning him of what can come from his actions and running to his aid when he doesn’t listen. Although he loves his mother, he is intent on defying her at every turn.
Track 7) “Enigma”
Here we see Louhi giving Lemminkäinen his three tasks to complete. Lemminkäinen completes his first two tasks, capturing the evil moose and taming the fire-breathing horse. He has once task left: to shoot and kill the swan on the river of death.
Track 8) “Shaman”
We flashforward again to after Lemminkäinen’s death. His mother transforms into a bird to search for her son. She collects all the pieces of his body using the iron rake forged from the gods. She then uses her magic in combination with divine honey and her unending love to stitch him back together and bring him back to life.
Track 9) “The White Swan”
We now finally see Lemminkäinen’s death play out. He arrives at the river of death in Tuoni and finds the swan. However, a blind and crippled shepherd named Nasshut guards the river and sits in waiting for Lemminkäinen’s arrival. Lemminkäinen has the swan lined up in his sights as he pulls back his bow. He is about to shoot it when Nasshut shoots a serpent like an arrow from a bow. The snake pierces Lemminkäinen through the chest. He falls into the river. As he dies, he wishes he had heeded his mother’s warning.
Track 10) “Black River”
Lemminkäinen returns from the dead to see the error if his ways. He travels home and sees the world with a new perspective on life. He now has new-found wisdom and sees how arrogant and selfish he has been.