About Helene Bøksle

Helene Bøksle (born April 1, 1981, Mandal, Norway) is a Norwegian singer and actress. Helene has performed with singers such as Bjørn Eidsvåg, David Urwitz and Eurovision 1995 winners Secret Garden. She entered the Melodi Grand Prix 2011 with the song "Vardlokk". She performs a mixture of traditional Norwegian folk music and popular music. The music accompanying the propaganda video which the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, Anders Behring Breivik uploaded to video sharing sites including YouTube at the same time that he published his manifesto, comes from the Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures soundtrack. Breivik writes of Bøksle's voice that it is the perfect sound to listen to when one commits acts of martyrdom. During his trial he also testified that he uses this music, particularly the song "Ere the World Crumbles" when he meditates, as he did in preparation for his terrorist acts on 22 July 2011. The lyrics of the music is in the Old Norwegian language and comes from the Völuspá, the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. Bøksle said in a press release in the week following the attacks that she distanced herself from Breivik's use of the music. The music's composer, Knut Avenstroup Haugen, has done the same.