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."
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."