Sognafjorden ligge mørke og blanke
Møddlo viddle fjeddl
Braott so lyse so lyse fjorden opp
Frao himmedl høyre ein tordenskreddl
Eit dimt lys so bli klarare mot land
Lyset vise veg
Pao gravferdsdagen e da dar baoten vi sigla
Dao e da likferd
Feigdaklokkene kime, dao veit ein ke so venta
Dauden e komen, kem e da han ska henta?
Lagnadstundi e komen, dauden ha sendt bod
No ska livet enda, no e da tid for sorg
Uglao site å remje pao take
Dao veit ein da ekje noken veg tebake
Feigdi ha varsla at ho inkån skal henta
Eg veit kem, men lyte berre venta
Dinna dagen so addle frykta
Frao dinna dagen kan ingen flykta
Ao jord e ein komen te jord skal ein bli
Kroppen e daue, men sjeli e fri
Dagen dan e komenm da e dommedagen min
Livet mitt ha enda, eg ha visna inn
Eg kjempa ti eg daua, men kampen blei for hard
No e mi tid ute, eg ha faddle I dag
Feigdaklokkene kime, dao veit ein ke so venta
Dauden e komen, da e meg han ska henta
Møddlo viddle fjeddl
Braott so lyse so lyse fjorden opp
Frao himmedl høyre ein tordenskreddl
Eit dimt lys so bli klarare mot land
Lyset vise veg
Pao gravferdsdagen e da dar baoten vi sigla
Dao e da likferd
Dauden e komen, kem e da han ska henta?
No ska livet enda, no e da tid for sorg
Dao veit ein da ekje noken veg tebake
Feigdi ha varsla at ho inkån skal henta
Eg veit kem, men lyte berre venta
Dinna dagen so addle frykta
Frao dinna dagen kan ingen flykta
Ao jord e ein komen te jord skal ein bli
Kroppen e daue, men sjeli e fri
Livet mitt ha enda, eg ha visna inn
Eg kjempa ti eg daua, men kampen blei for hard
No e mi tid ute, eg ha faddle I dag
Dauden e komen, da e meg han ska henta
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I may have slaughtered the lyrics, I had to copy and paste (obviously I don't speak Norwegian, much less this dialect of it). Ola Nordal's lovely translation, though:
Dauden (”Death”)
The word ”likferd” is a bit tricky to translate. In the dictionary the word translates to ”funeral”, but the ”likferd” was also the ritual when the body was moved from the farm to the church to be buried. In Sogn the farms are scattered around the fjord and the mountain-sides, and the body has to be sent to church by boat. Another possible translation is ”funeral procession” – but that’s also not the precise meaning of the word. I’ve therefore cowardly decided to let the word ”likferd” remain untranslated.
The Sognefjord lies dark and clear under wild mountains Suddenly the fjord lights up From heaven sounds a crack of thunder A faint light then gets clearer by the shore The light shows the way On funeral day that is the boat that we sail Then it is likferd
The bells by the ferry chimes, then I knows what lies in wait Death has come, who is it that he will take?
The moment of fate has come, death has sent his greeting A life is going to end, it is time to grieve
The owl sits on the roof screaming, Then someone knows that there's no way back An omen that someone will be taking I know who, but still I wait
This day that everyone fears From this day no one will escape From earth you have come, and earth you will be The body is dead, but the soul is free
The day has come, it is my day of doom My life has ended, I have faded I fought until I died, but the fight was to hard Now my time has come, I have fallen today
The bells by the ferry chimes, then I knows what lies in wait Death has come, and it is me he has taken
@LaDiablo This is a solid translation, and the original doesn't have any rhyming words (tho it has a rhytm and "poetic feel" to it). The times described 1700s to the early 1800s were hard, and words were pretty direct and descriptive, so I would simply translate Likbør mostly directly to "corpse burden" (lik=corpse and bør=burden). It's the progression, as you mentioned) from the place of death (usually the deseased home) to the Church and the funeral. In Western Norway there were few roads, so it was often by boat. To lessen the burden (pun intended) tiny Churches were over...
@LaDiablo This is a solid translation, and the original doesn't have any rhyming words (tho it has a rhytm and "poetic feel" to it). The times described 1700s to the early 1800s were hard, and words were pretty direct and descriptive, so I would simply translate Likbør mostly directly to "corpse burden" (lik=corpse and bør=burden). It's the progression, as you mentioned) from the place of death (usually the deseased home) to the Church and the funeral. In Western Norway there were few roads, so it was often by boat. To lessen the burden (pun intended) tiny Churches were over time buildt in even the smallest of villages around the coast, since it was important to be buried in Hallow ground.
I mean't to write 1700s to mid 1900s. Norway kept this tradition a loong time, and many places were only reachable by boats until surprisingly "resent."
I mean't to write 1700s to mid 1900s. Norway kept this tradition a loong time, and many places were only reachable by boats until surprisingly "resent."