Staffan Var En Stalledräng - Swedish Christmas Carol

Arrangement & vocals by Farya Faraji. This is a traditional Christmas carol from Sweden. Many different versions exist in different melodies, some of the more well known one being in the major scale and arranged for choirs. This one however is from a less well known version in the minor scale, and my arrangement owes a lot to Folk & Rackare’s rendition. The instrumentation I used consists of a Scandinavian zither and a Swedish nyckelharpa, alongside sleigh bells. The combination of the zither and nyckelharpa gives this an older and more traditional touch, as much of Scandinavian folk used such instruments rather than more newly introduced ones like the acoustic guitar or accordion. The video was filmed in Sweden across Stockholm, Visby, and the Sápmi region of Sweden north of the Arctic Circle. Lyrics in Swedish: Staffan var en stalledräng, Håll dig väl, fålen min! Han vattna sina fålar fem. Allt för den ljusa stjärna.