SKYFORGER new video

SKYFORGER unveiled their new video "Dieva suns" (Hound of God) taken from their upcoming album "Teikas" (Folktales) set to be released in May 2025.

The song is based on actual events that took place more than 333 years ago in the Vidzeme region of Livonia (Latvia). In the 1600’s, the land of Livonia had gained the notoriety of the most werewolf-rich region of Europe.

In 1691, a local court convened to hear a case involving robbery from a church in the Zaube village. During the trial, an 86-year-old peasant Thiess of Kaltenbrun was called as a witness, who suddenly confessed having been a werewolf for many years.

The court quickly established that the old man Thiess was fully mentally competent. When asked how exactly he had become a werewolf, Thiess explained that some years ago, he had accepted a bewitched drink from a man from Alūksne. Anyone who would drink from a cursed mug, would then transform into a wolf, while the ex-werewolf was freed from his supernatural obligations.

Thiess then explained how tree times a year, werewolves would run to the gates of Hell, which were located in a swamp near the town of Mālpils. The gates of Hell were only visible to those who belonged there, and the Hell itself was full of all sorts of earthly goods – grain, fish, fruit and meat – stolen from people and brought there by witches and wizards.

The judges were outraged – was Thiess in league with the Devil? Thiess strongly objected. He was not the servant of the Devil, whose job was to harm people, but rather a “Hound of God”, a creature of light. A werewolf's mission is to fight the forces of evil and bring back as much of the stolen goods as he could bear. If werewolves failed to arrive at the exact moment before the gate to Hell closed, the stolen goods would remain in Hell and the people would then have a year of poor harvest.

Eventually, the court ruled to convict Thiess for his forbidden and ungodly offences – disobedience to pastor, non-attendance at church, divination & sorcery – and sentenced him to public flogging. In view of the defendant's advanced age, his sentence was set at twenty lashes. After the trial, Thiess disappeared without a trace.

The curious case of Zaubes Thiess, the famous Livonian werewolf, has endured through centuries as one of the most enigmatic and captivating mysteries of the local lore, a story whose true nature remains unexplained to this day.