Bleeding4Metal Forum
Zombies => Falconer => Thema gestartet von: Ancient Minstrel am September 15, 2008, 10:18:12 Vormittag
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Hi everyone!
I haven't visited these forums for a long time now, but if anyone remembers I translated the Swedish lyrics on some Northwind songs, and now I felt that it would be fun to do it again.
So, here it goes:
Vargaskall: Wolf-bark
Through the deep forests of goblins,
over the peaceful solitude of bogs,
the flame of fear burns forth.
Through moon-illuminated dells,
over the back of the mountain to an unknown destination
a hunted wolf now hurries forth.
The stick* now moves in the shires**
now there will be wolf-bark.
Grasp spear and be courageous
in a beat*** to the fall of the wolf.
Hour of dawn, filled with hate,
encircle and exterminate.
The horror of the people shall no more roam
through meadow, through bog and forest
in land of Men.
Into the darkness safety keeps
its shy children of lonesome breed
from the shrill alarm of the hunt.
Wide territory is now slowly declining
by the hands of Men in wilderland
the black arm of destiny sweeps.
Fight bravely, fight diligently,
feel the embers of fire in your wilderness-blood.
Show the beat the courage of wolves!
Hour of twilight, heavy with blood.
Encircled and exterminated.
The horror of wolves shall forever roam
through meadow, through bog and forest
in the land of Wolves.
* "Stick" is my choice of translation of "kavle", which was a means of communication among the peasants in medieval Sweden. A carved stick with a message was sent around among the farms when all men needed to be alerted, for example did the peasants of Småland in the 16th century do this when they would decide that they would join Nils Dacke's uprising against the king Gustav I.
** I have chosen "shires" for socknar. "Socknar" is in reality the smallest administrative area in the church organization of medieval and post-medieval Sweden. The people within a "socken" cooperated concerning many things and went to the same church each Sunday.
*** ´By "beat" (which is the real word for it in English) I mean the people chasing out wild animals so that hunters can take care of them.
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Viddernas Man: Man of the Expanses
Distant church sounds muffled
out over wide plains
where a lonesome wanderer walks.
Neither well-to-do nor farmhand.
Freedom is his brother.
The embrace of the forest is his safest bed.
Under heavy and grey-clouded sky
the beggar wanders forth restlessly.
Wander on, you man of the expanses
towards new adventures.
Weather forces, worn skin
shows the trial of life
and a heart of purest gold.
For his gifts, given by the forest,
he gets food and new pants,
before the road calls again.
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Skula, Skorpa, Skalk: Waste-food, Rusk, Rind
A man has worked on lord Lager's farm
for summer and winter, year by year.
Tell me: who now provides for you?
For labour and hardship under grey sky
he merely receives his bread as payment.
Tell me: who now provides for you?
So the message swiftly comes:
"Our lord takes your daughter!"
Tell me: who now provides for you?
And the thrall through the doorway stepped,
he left the plough by the field.
Tell me: who now provides for you?
"Lord Lager, now hear my words,
you have made my daughter your whore,
Tell me: who now listens to you?"
And Lager said in anger:
"You are not careful with your thrall-blood.
Tell me: who now listens to you?"
Neither ale nor wine intended for you,
nor right to own, but waste-food, rusk, rind.
Neither ale nor wine intended for you,
nor right to own, but waste-food, rusk, rind.
The thrall did not react,
before his throat was cut.
Tell me: who would care for you?
"This is enough payment for today
and the daughter I take when I wish to.
Tell me: who would care for you?"
"Come let me show you my right
to comfort you in any way.
Tell me: who now provides for you?"
"Oh thanks!" he said, with tender voice
and thrust the knife in his chest.
"Tell me: who now mourns* for you?"
The Swedish word "sörja", which I have mostly translated as "to provide" can also mean "to mourn", so there is an interesting ambiguity, especially in the last line, where the thrall almost certainly means to ask who the hell would grieve the horrible lord. ;) Stefan has managed to create a very interesting play with words here.
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"Vi Sålde Våra Hemman" is the traditional Swedish song with traditional lyrics which has been translated (competently) in the Falconer song "We Sold Our Homesteads".
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Thank you so much for your work! The last Skula, Skorpa, Skalk's lyrics are really interesting indeed.
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Hi there, Ancient Minstrel!
Great job with the translations!!! I´m also swedish, but not as good at english as you, but as far as I can tell your translations are really accurate :tup:
The only thing I´m not sure about is your choice to translate vargaskall as wolf bark. I think I would have called it Wolf Hunt. I think that the word "skall" in the song is more related to that in "skallgång", that it´s the people making loud noises and not the wolves barking. Today we would call it "klappjakt". Or I might be totally wrong :D
Anyway, great job!
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Awesome job Ancient Minstrel!!
Wow, so "Vargaskall" is actually a pro-Wolves songs, if I'm not mistaken. Man hunts them down, but they fight on and prevail for the moment, right?
Great lyrics indeed!
Parts of the topic and the view of the subject is kind of similar to a song I myself wrote for my band. At least I interpreted it that way ;)
It's about man trying to dominate over beast but is after all forced to bow before the superiority of nature. Oh and it hints to a little supernatural twist too. It's called "Domination On Their Mind" (http://www.harmanic.at/brustfettgesicht.html).
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Hi,
thanx a lot 8)
especially for the specific details.
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Thanks for the positive reactions!
Yes, Vargaskall is indeed a pro-Wolves song, and if I am not mistaken also a little argument from Stefan in the debate in Sweden concerning the Wolves' right to exist, in a medieval disguise. ;)
Concerning Vargaskall's translation: you are probably right, cynic73. I am not that familiar with hunting, so the only meaning of "skall" that I knew was the noun formed by the verb "att skälla". But if your theory is correct, that suits the rest of the chorus better theme-wise.
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Well, Ancient Minstrel, only God (i.e. Stefan) knows how it´s supposed to be interpreted ;)
Men som sagt, otroligt bra gjort av dig!
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Tack! :icon_smile:
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Once Again the Best translations I can find :D you do really good work
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Hej,
Thanks for the translations as well. Do you guys think they might redo the songs in English just for fun? I mean, it could be great I guess.
I'm new n'way here, hello to everyone from Canada! :)
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Welcome to the forum, Disconouny!
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Yeah, welcome. Hope you´ll enjoy it here. :)
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I'm kinda new here and I don't speak swedish but I kinda noticed that where Swedish and English are oddly similar wouldn't "wolf's call," and "wilderness man" sound a bit more...Iunno... appropriate? Viddernas-wilderness? Varga-skall wolf's call?
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How is English more appropriate than Swedish?
I don't understand most of the Swedish lyrics, either, but the language gives these songs a folksy charm that makes them special to my ears and it motivates me to look up some Swedish words, so it's also educational. Besides, "varg" sounds much more ferocious and awesome than "wolf" IMHO. And it reminds me of LOTR. :biggrin:
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Hey, just like you said. At first I didn't like the songs because they were Swedish and couldn't understand at all but the more I listened to them, the more I liked and enjoyed them. And as you said, it's part of the song's charm, it adds something deeper to the song.
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One of the (many) reasons I like Falconer is BECAUSE of the Swedish songs.
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Oh well, if it becomes Swedish only, I'll stop listening to Falconer... :P
oh well.. maybe not! lol I like them too much!
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The swedish lyrics and especially the way Mathias sings them is one of the trademarks of Falconer and one of the many reasons why we Falconites love the band. Vargaskall anyone? ;)
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I'm talking about the translation. I love the songs. But the translation is what I was talking about,
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You are both right and wrong. The swedish "Vidder" is correctly translated as "(open) expanses". "Wilderness" would instead be "vildmark".
"Vargaskall" could certainly be translated into wolf's call (however, skall and call don't necessarily share etymological origins), after all its pretty much the same thing as wolf's bark... though since wolves technically don't bark i guess I'd give you the right with "call".
The whole point of using the words "skall" and "sörja" is as has been mentioned that they can mean different things. Since they don't in english the exactness of the translation becomes less meaningful.
Its overall a pretty good translation, i wouldnt have used the exact same wording in all cases but Ancient Minstrel gets my thumbs up :tup: Do keep in mind though that these swedish originals, as with all Falconers songs, are somewhat... archaic? oldfashioned? traditional? ...to different degrees. It's planted firmly in folkmusic, folklore and history and those nuances are of course a little tricky to translate.
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You will have your work cut out for you with the next album, Ancient Minstrel. :) I can't wait.
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MasterOfTheFalcon: I will return for new translations, I promise. :) I will, as you say, have a lot more work this time. ;)
Vennificus: I think that similarities in spelling between the words you talked about might have fooled you a little.
"Viddernas" is the genitive plural definite form of "vidd", which means "expanse" or generally a large area (often rather empty).
"Wilderness" is built on the word "wild", which is Swedish is "vild", and as Ursus wrote, the Swedish equivalent is "vildmark". It is important to note though that "vild" and "vidd" have no etymological connection - i. e. they are not the same word, so "Wilderness" merely sounds close to "Viddernas".
"Wolf's call" would have been an acceptable translation, but "skall" and "call" are not related either, so the reason that translation would have been ok anyway is, as Ursus wrote, that wolves don't really "bark". However, they are usually not connected with "skälla" either, so Stefan is really the one who has chosen the special wording, that also carries (or so I have learned now) a second meaning connected to hunting.