Visa or vise is nordic words for song - a musical tradition related to the english/french ballad(e) and the german "lied" traditions. The oldest ballads are knowns as folkevisar/folkeviser and are known throughout Scandinavia as a troubadour culture. The famous Swedish songwriter Carl Michael Bellmann (1740-1795) was inspired by this tradition, despite working within an within an "art song" context.
Just like the US had their folk and bluesrevival in the early 60s, there was a swedish and norwegian visa/vise revival in the 20th Century especially famous is the swedish singer-songwriters Evert Taube (1890-1976) and Cornelis Wreeswijk (1937-1987). (see more on Wikipedia: Swedish ballad tradition and "Carl Michael Bellman) . .
