Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Have you heard this rare song that combines Celtic cosmology with Greek myth? “King Orfeo” is a unique ballad collected in the Shetland Islands that tells the story of a king attempting to rescue his wife who has been stolen by the King of Fairies. This moment in the ballad is when Orfeo, after years of searching for his wife Isabel, plays his pipes in the fairy court as a bid to have his wife returned to him.
In my upcoming co urse “Singing the Wheel of the Year,” we’ll be learning traditional ballads like this one alongside rounds, parts songs and folk songs to deepen your understanding of the holidays of the neo-pagan Wheel of the Year. These songs will help us explore the authentic beliefs, history and practices behind these holidays as they’ve been celebrated in Scotland, England and Ireland (+you’ll get bonus material and review sessions for the next 10 months!) You’ll walk away with over 30 songs to use for ritual and communal celebrations for the rest of your life!
I firmly believe these are the songs we need to ground with community, the land and the deities in these disorienting and painful times.
We start next week! Get all the info you need by going to sarosings . c o m and scrolling down for the lynk!
Lyrics:
First he played the notes of noy
Refrain: Green the wood grows early
And then he played the notes of joy
Refrain: Where hart runs yearly
Then he played the gabber reel
That would have made a sick heart heal
The king of faeries then did say
“What shall we give you for your play?”
Have you heard this rare song that combines Celtic cosmology with Greek myth? “King Orfeo” is a unique ballad collected in the Shetland Islands that tells the story of a king attempting to rescue his wife who has been stolen by the King of Fairies. This moment in the ballad is when Orfeo, after years of searching for his wife Isabel, plays his pipes in the fairy court as a bid to have his wife returned to him.
In my upcoming co urse “Singing the Wheel of the Year,” we’ll be learning traditional ballads like this one alongside rounds, parts songs and folk songs to deepen your understanding of the holidays of the neo-pagan Wheel of the Year. These songs will help us explore the authentic beliefs, history and practices behind these holidays as they’ve been celebrated in Scotland, England and Ireland (+you’ll get bonus material and review sessions for the next 10 months!) You’ll walk away with over 30 songs to use for ritual and communal celebrations for the rest of your life!
I firmly believe these are the songs we need to ground with community, the land and the deities in these disorienting and painful times.
We start next week! Get all the info you need by going to sarosings . c o m and scrolling down for the lynk!
Lyrics:
First he played the notes of noy
Refrain: Green the wood grows early
And then he played the notes of joy
Refrain: Where hart runs yearly
Then he played the gabber reel
That would have made a sick heart heal
The king of faeries then did say
“What shall we give you for your play?”
