Ethel Cain Sings For Eggers’ Werwulf
Ethel Cain has released “Wynter Waxeth,” an original song she made with composer Robin Carolan for Robert Eggers’ Werwulf. The whole thing is sung in Middle English.
An official lyric video is out now, and the song is up for pre-order on vinyl and digital. As Bloody Disgusting reports, the plan at first was to use Cain’s voice as a texture in the score. It grew into a full song after she and Carolan swapped medieval music, prayers and odd ambient recordings. With Eggers’ help, Cain got the Middle English pronunciation down in about one session.
It’s her first song for a feature film, though Dread Central notes you can hear her throughout the soundtrack. “It’s always been my dream to score a horror film in some way,” Cain said in a statement. She said the song started with a simple harp line she plucked out on a psaltery she bought online.
Carolan previously worked with Eggers on Nosferatu and The Northman. He said Cain brought “so much earthy, feral, haunted beauty to the score.”
Werwulf is set in 13th-century England, where a creature stalks the land and local folklore turns real. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson and Bodhi Rae Breathnach star. Focus Features opens it in theaters on December 25. The soundtrack arrives digitally on December 18, with physical editions following on January 29, 2027.
Listen to the song below.
