The title "Hagall" comes from the Old-Norse Runic symbol for hail (as in hailstorm). "Hagall" is the first of the "Winter" runes, implying a not yet fully-frozen landscape, but instead a period of transition and struggle. The individual runic symbol is accompanied by an ancient elemental poem in three parts, which creates the large-scale structure of the piece:

Cold Grain (Earth),
Shower of Sleet (Sky),
Sickness of Serpents (Sea).

There are several references to "primordial" instruments, including: the contra-bass clarinet imitating a Nordic lure, the French and English horns imitating primitive cow horns, non-pitched percussion instruments, various "non-octave" scales and complex compound-rhythms, and a variety of microtonalities including several uses of the overtone series.

Hagall is an expressive and dramatic representation of a turbulent Scandinavian winter storm set in one large mythical arc, comprised of constantly varied landscapes of intense moods and esoteric images, creating an epic journey of death.