The Rise of Bardcore
By: Alex K.
Tags: Medieval, Music, Bardcore, History, YouTube

Everyone needs an appropriate soundtrack for huddling in their homes while a devastating pandemic rages outside. Enter: Bardcore.

Von Blingin’s profile picture

Bardcore is the popular catch-all term for medieval-esque covers of modern pop songs, which have proliferated on Youtube in the past three months. The genre has been around for a while, but two viral artists managed to propel it to the forefront of internet fame: Cornelius Link and Hildegard Von Blingin’. Both of their channels favor comical medieval-style graphics over personal musings, so I set out to learn more about their artistic process and recent rise to fame.

Cornelius Link, the trailblazer of the recent trend, is a 27 year old web developer from southern Germany. In his free time he is a gamer, a history buff, a musician, and a woodworker — he built several of the historical instruments he uses in his songs. His first videos were medieval versions of Astronomia (better known as the song from the coffin dance meme) which were inspired by a medieval-esque image of pallbearers posted in a gaming group chat during the height of the meme.

The full song was initially posted on 9gag where, Link says, “it all started to get out of hand.” He later uploaded it to Soundcloud and then to Youtube to prevent it from being copied or reposted. It was then that he started getting requests for more covers, and Link realized this might be something worth pursuing.

Link describes his process as mostly trial and error. His instruments are both modern and medieval, real and virtual, so he starts by breaking a song down and determining what instrument fits into each part. Acoustic songs, he notes, are harder to cover, because in order to feel like Bardcore they need to sound distinct from the original. In addition to Astronomia, Link has published 2 additional instrumental medieval song covers — What is Love and Pumped up Kicks — both of which have been expanded upon by legions of vocalists.

One such vocalist is Hildegard von Blingin’ — the other pioneer in this movement — though she quickly transitioned to doing both the musical arrangements and the vocals herself.

But who is Von Blingin’? For starters, her name is a play on Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century German abbess, mystic, and polymath who was also known for composing a vast number of liturgical songs. She was eventually canonized, and remains one of the most prominent women in medieval history.

A painting of Hildegard of Bingen. Perhaps receiving a divine revelation, perhaps being eaten by Cthulhu.

Though we know quite a lot about the real Hildegard, von Blingin’ declined to provide any specific information, saying “I prefer to remain shrouded in mystery, because the truth is rarely all that interesting .’’ However, she is a self professed lover of history, strange art, music, and dungeons and dragons, and has an often-mentioned collaborator who goes by the moniker “Friar Funk”.

Von Blingin’ says she has no formal training in music making and production, though she is a longtime dabbler and claims anyone with a midi keyboard and a bit of interest could pick it up if they tried. Perhaps harder to pick up is her knack for “translating” pop song lyrics into medieval-esque language, which lends her covers a comical effect.

You might wonder how historically accurate Bardcore really is. To find out, I reached out to E. R. Truitt, a professor of medieval history at Bryn Mawr College. According to Truitt, both the sound and the lyrics are more influenced by Medievalism than by the actual medieval period. In other words, although they have a Ye Olde vibe, they’re entirely based in a modern perception of the middle ages.

Von Blingin’ has a theory on why Bardcore has gained such popularity: “I think the interest in medieval covers, fondly known as Bardcore, is partly thanks to the previous success of 80s remixes of modern songs, and also to the success of D&D and Game of Thrones.” Says Von Blingin’, “ Moreover, there seems to be a real demand for levity and fun right now. People are anxious, bored, and feeling disconnected, not to mention many of us have a lot of time on our hands to pursue creative outlets.”

Both von Blingin and Link are a little apprehensive about their sudden rise to fame. Von Blingin’ notes, “It’s easy to start worrying about pleasing everyone and keeping up momentum and quality, but it’s also important to remember that the internet is fickle and fads come and go.” Link echos that sentiment, and adds that there is a sense of tension between needing to satisfy fans’ expectations while still being creative. A little stage fright won’t stop these two, though: both von Blingin’ and Link say fans should stay tuned for more covers, and eventually some original music.