SIR OLAF
Herr Olof
Sir Olaf saddled his grey horse and he rode to the mermaid’s realm.Sir Olaf rode on his golden saddle into the sea.
He sank into the mermaid’s grasp.
‘Welcome, young Olaf, welcome to me.
For fifteen years I have waited for you.
Where were you born, and where were you raised?
Where were your courtly garments made?’
‘In the king’s realm I was born and raised.
There were my courtly garments made.
There lives my father and there lives my mother,
There live my sister and brother.’
‘But where are your fields and where are your meadows,
And where stands your bride’s bed?
Where is your true love, with whom you will live and die?’
‘There are my fields and there are my meadows,
And there my bride’s bed stands.
There is my true love, with whom I desire to live and die.’
‘But listen, Knight Olaf, come follow me inside,
And drink from my jug the clearest wine.
Where were you born, where were you raised?
Where were your courtly garments made?’
‘Here I was born and here I was raised.
Here were my courtly garments made.
Here is my father and here is my mother.
Here are my sister and brother.’
‘But where are your fields and where are your meadows,
And where stands your bride’s bed?
Where is your true love, with whom you will live and die?’
‘Here are my fields and here are my meadows,
And here my bride’s bed stands.
Here is where I have my true love, with whom I desire to live and die.’
PUNISHED MOTHER AND DAUGHTER
Straffad Moder & Dotter
The mother and daughter stood and baked bread.In came the fox with his pelt so red.
The mother and daughter stood and strained wine.
In came the wolf in his grey fur coat.
Aren’t you our mother who gave us no life?
Now you must be cooked up and eaten with the knife.
Aren’t you our mother who gave us no food?
Now you must be cooked up and set upon the dish.
Aren’t you our mother who gave us no drink?
Now you must be slaughtered and cut into pieces.
They took the mother and daughter and ripped their clothes.
They took the mother and daughter and tore them apart.
They took their bread and wine from them,
Began to scratch and lacerate their skin.
Now the mother and daughter are dead.
They sucked and drank their red blood.
They took the good mother and daughter,
Greedily drank their heart’s blood.
But scarcely had they drunk their warm blood
When a witch stood in front of them.
The witch hit them with an enchanted staff.
Two handsome princes were what that staff gave.
‘I hit you with my rod; broken is the curse
Caused by the punished mother’s cruel treachery.’
KULLERITOVA
no translation available
LITTLE KERSTI
Liten Kersti
There once lived a farmer on Oestervalla moor.He had daughters and they were very fine.
:And the little one,
In the royal stable she served secretly:
He had four children, he had five children,
Little Kersti was the finest of them all.
Little Kersti went to the tailors’ village
And there she had new knight’s clothes cut for her.
Little Kersti went to the shoemakers’ village
And there she had new knight’s boots made for her.
By day she rode horses in the green meadows;
By night she slept in the duke’s bed.
By day she rode the horses to water;
By night she slept in the duke’s arms.
Our stable-boy has become so strangely plump
That he cannot climb up into the saddle.
Our stable-boy has become so strangely fat
That he cannot ride when the sun shines hot.
When the queen stepped in through the stable door,
Little Kersti snuck away into a corner of the stable.
The duke spread out his cloak so blue.
Right there she gave birth to two sons.
Young girls and princesses cried out in resentment,
Because little Kersti slept in the young king’s arms.
Young girls and princesses cried rivers
Because he took for himself a farmer’s daughter.
WE WON’T WORRY
Inte sörje vi
We won’t worry about tomorrow, much less about another year.We shall spend our money on coffee and liquor,
And along the way we shall revel in the taverns.
SOLD AWAY
Den Bortsålda
A man lived on Sartavalla Island,He sold his daughter for a half a loaf of bread.
You must now go to the Jewish land to wander.
The sailors cast their oars overboard.
The beautiful maiden wrings her hands until they bleed.
Oh my dear sailors, wait a moment;
I see my brother coming in the rosy grove.
Oh my dear brother, you have no more than two golden horses.
You can sell one of them and set me free again.
I do not want to go to the Jewish land to wander.
I have no more than two golden horses,
But neither can I sell to set you free again.
You must now go to the Jewish land to wander.
The sailors cast their oars overboard.
The beautiful maiden wrings her hands until they bleed.
Oh my dear sailors, wait a moment;
I see my true love coming in the rosy grove.
Oh my dear fiancé, you have no more than two gold rings.
You can sell one of them and set me free again.
I do not want to go to the Jewish land to wander.
I have no more than two gold rings.
I will sell one, and give you the other.
You must not go to the Jewish land to wander.
THE STEPMOTHER
Styvmodern
The small children asked their father for permissionTo go visit their mother’s grave.
:You noble maiden and beautiful virgin:
Yes, you may, you have my permission to go to the grave
If you can find anything worthwhile there.
The first cried tears, the second cried blood,
The third cried her mother up from the blackest soil.
Mrs. Goldberg knocked with her small fingers.
Mrs. Silverlode immediately stood up to draw the bolt.
If you will not be a good mother now, I shall make you a chair in hell,
But if you will be a good mother now, I shall lay a table for you in heaven.
SIR MANNELIG
Herr Mannelig
Early one morning before the sun rose,Before the birds began to sing,
The mountain troll proposed to the fair young knight.
She had a deceitful tongue.
Sir Mannelig, please say you'll marry me
For all that I so willingly offer.
Surely your answer can only be yes or no,
If you want it nor not.
I will give to you these twelve horses
That gallop in a rosy grove.
Never have they worn a saddle upon them,
Nor had a bit in their mouths.
I will give you the twelve mills
That stand between Tillö and Ternö.
The millstones are made with the reddest brass,
And the wheels are fitted with silver.
I will give you a gilded sword
That jingles from fifteen gold rings,
And you will fight with it however you wish to fight,
On the battlefield it will bring you victory.
I will give you a new shirt,
The best and most lustrous to wear.
It is not sewn with needle or thread,
But crocheted of the whitest silk.
Such gifts I would surely take
If you were a Christian woman.
But now I see you are the worst mountain troll,
From the offspring of the water demon and the devil.
The mountain troll ran out the door,
She wailed and moaned loudly,
‘If I had gotten that fair young knight,
I would have been free from my torment.’
FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Vänner och Fränder
Friends and family met to give adviceAbout who should marry their daughter this year.
:Blossoming youth:
We want you to marry a princely man,
Who has more gold than poor Roland has land.
On Saturday and Sunday the announcements were prepared,
On Monday and Tuesday we shall see what she gets.
On Wednesday and Thursday the wine was made,
On Friday and Saturday they drank to honour the day.
They drank for days, they drank for two,
But the bride would not go to the bedroom.
They drank for days, they drank for three,
But the bride would not see the bedroom.
Then a poor cabin boy came inside there,
And he had on a worn out blue shirt.
He stood at the table and spoke,
I see only masts and where they go.
So the young woman went up to the high loft
And ran down the path towards the low seashore.
She ran upon the rocks, she ran on tiptoe,
But she was very careful on account of the blue waves.
So they invited her on board the ship,
And there they offered her both mead and wine to drink.
I see on your small white fingers
That the wedding ring was not there before yesterday.
I see in your golden hair
That the bridal wreath was not there before yesterday.
I see on your snow white breasts
That they have never consoled small children.
And the young girl lies at poor Roland’s side,
She feels neither sorrow nor despair.
MY HUSBAND
Min Man
Do you know the one who danced with me?He was wearing yellow leather trousers,
But my husband has green ones.
Do you know the one who followed me home?
He was wearing black leather boots,
But my husband has brown ones.
Do you know the child in my arms?
Maya Berger is her name,
But my husband’s girl is named Stina.
Do you know the one who gladdened me so?
Now he is old, now he is grey,
But my husband still lives.
THE WEREWOLF
Varulven
The maiden wanted to go to the cottage,So she took the path towards the blue forest.
:Lindens trembled in the grove
For she was in the mood for making love:
And when she reached the blue forest,
There she met a grey wolf.
Dear wolf, please don’t bite me.
I will give you my silver gown.
A silver gown won’t suit me at all;
Your young life and blood must go.
Dear wolf, don’t bite me.
I will give you my silver shoes.
Silver shoes won’t suit me at all;
Your young life and blood must go.
Dear wolf, please don’t bite me.
I will give you my golden crown.
A golden crown won’t suit me at all;
Your young life and blood must go.
The maiden climbed high up into an oak,
And the wolf paced back and forth and howled.
The wolf tore up the oak by the roots
And the maiden let out a frightful cry.
The young rider saddled his grey horse,
He rode a little faster than a bird could fly.
And when he came to the that very place,
He found nothing more than a bloody arm.
God comfort, God improve me as a young knight.
My maiden is gone, my horse is dead.
HILLA LILLA
Hilla Lilla sits in her bedchamber.So many tears run down her cheek.
:No one knows my sorrow except God.
The one with whom I could share my sorrow lives no more:
An urgent message for the queen came.
Proud Hilla Lilla wildly sews her seams.
The queen wears her blue coat
So that she may go to see proud Hilla Lilla.
Gracious queen, please sit down here,
That I may tell my sorrows to you.
My father kept me so virtuous.
A knight served me daily.
He was the Duke of Hillebrand.
With him I fled from this country.
When we came to a rosy grove,
There the Duke of Hillebrand lay down to rest a while.
He nodded off a moment at my side,
There he fell asleep so lovely and sweet.
Hillebrand, Hillebrand don’t sleep now.
I hear my father and my seven brothers.
I had barely just spoken these words
Before seven wounds cast my Hillebrand to the ground.
One brother took me by my golden hair
And tied me to his saddle horn,
And when we came to the first gate,
My sorrowful mother stood there.
Then my brother wanted to strangle me,
But my mother wanted to sell me away.
So they sold me for a new bell.
It hangs in Mary Church village.
When my mother heard the chime,
Her heart broke into pieces.
Thus proud Hilla Lilla concluded her tale,
So she fell down dead at the queen’s knee.
TODAY AS BEFORE
Idag som igår
Today as before with a bottle at my hip,As we walk along we’ll have us a sip.
HUNGER
Njaalkeme
The caterpillars have become so numerous.Hunger, greater now than ever before.
The trees hold their breath, die and fall.
Man is like a blinded wolf.
Hunger is the only thing I can feel.
Hunger everywhere.
SIR HOLGER
Herr Holger
Lady Tala dreamed a dream in the night.She woke up here just in time.
She dreamt that the rich Sir Holger was done in,
That rich Sir Holger.
I dreamed about our grey horse.
He carried you to town and you died there.
My dear Lady Tala, speak not so,
Your dreams won't come true for eight years.
They banged on the door with poles and spears.
If Sir Holger is in there, then he must come out here.
Sir Holger told his two squires
To put the golden saddle on the grey horse.
When they arrived at Copenhagen,
There stood King Christian on the white beach.
I welcome you to me, Sir Holger.
But Sir Holger, it will cost you your life.
King Christian chopped his head off
And the blood ran down all the way to his feet.
When Lady Tala saw that her master was dead,
She passed out under the white sheets.
Sir Holger was buried at twelve o’clock,
But at eleven o’clock, he came back again.
He knocked at the door with fingers so thin.
Lady Tala, get up and open the lock.
I have not arranged to meet anyone,
And no one will bother me in the middle of the night.
My dear Lady Tala, give the farmer back his cows,
Because it is so difficult to reside in Hell.
Lady Tala, give back Romman and Skromman,
For in Hell it’s hard to burn for your friend.
Even if I would be in Hell as a swan,
I shall not become a penniless nothing.
Go to Hell with your squires.
So I can come after you with my maidens.
GOD’S MINSTRELS
Guds Spelemän
Where are those men who went along the pathsWith gentle eyes and sorrow for crime and shame?
Small brothers in the dark forests with wolves and snow,
Where are those men who went so brazenly towards death?
They smiled widely in the face of snowdrifts and cold and arrows.
Small brothers in dark forests, walking miles upon miles,
From people’s homes and farms where evil lurks.
Who hears their silver bells in the cloudy night?
Where have the brothers and the minstrels gone?
I have been told that in the valley they still live on.
ONE DAY HE’LL CRY
En gång ska han gråta
Oh then she cut her linen nightgown in two.She wants to forget.
She cannot wear it now,
She doesn’t want it anymore.
It was intended to be shown to the one
Whom she promised.
He was the one who never came back,
The one who doesn’t love her anymore.
She takes what he has given,
Goes out into the twilight.
It shall go down into the black soil,
And she looks towards the sky.
:One day he’ll cry,
Although no one is able to forgive.
What were his dear words worth?
They can die in the black soil.
One day he’ll understand.
She cried, but then she will laugh,
Then she will dance upon unburdened legs
With someone else in the moonlight.:
Nothing can be the way it was before;
She shall forget.
Love can also come to an end,
Then it can die with its deceit.
Oh then she cut her linen nightgown in two.
She wants to forget.
She cannot wear it now,
She doesn’t want it anymore.
And she takes his false gift,
Goes out into the twilight.
There in the soil it will sleep,
And she looks towards the sky.
THE VULTURE
Gamen
King Vallemo was a very wise man.He married off his daughter in a foreign land.
The one day she stood as a bride,
The next day she stood in iron shackles.
And why have you bound me?
For you were no maiden when you came to me.
If only I had a faithful friend
Who would bear these words to my father tonight.
And then along came an old vulture.
Perhaps I could fly there quickly,
If I had something for my young ones,
I could be there within a couple of hours.
Lay your young ones down at my breast,
So they may eat as much as they like.
Oh King Vallemo, here you are.
Tomorrow your daughter will be burned at the stake.
Be off with you, old vulture,
My daughter has married an honourable man.
Oh, if you don’t want to believe these words,
Look at her key which I hold in my claw.
Vallemo went into the stable,
And saddled his black horse.
When he came to the count’s realm,
The black horse whinnied from the wall,
And lifted up its foot,
Then Black struck the count in the root of his heart.
So she climbed up onto the black horse’s back,
And they rode home at a good pace.
EUCHARI
O Euchari in leta via.The sun’s warmth dripped into you like the aroma of balsam.
The sun’s warmth dripped into me like the aroma of balsam.
Everything that moves breathes calmly, driving across the lands.
The sun’s warmth trickled into you like the aroma of balsam.
Your hands reach out for me in the heat of our longing.
My hands reach out for you in the heat of our longing.
Everything that moves breathes calmly, driving across the lands.
Your hands reach out for me in the heat of our longing.
HALLING JÅRON
Halling Jåron, lay with the young men day after day.That crazy Jåron, small and frail, lying with the young men night after night.
VENGEANCE
Vedergällningen
I was born before the rooster crowed.My mother was dead before the sun rose.
:My paths lie so wide,
Only she can heal her own wounds.:
My father travelled throughout the land,
Such a wicked stepmother did he find.
First she turned me into a needle and said that I would yearn,
Then she turned me into a knife and said that I would not enjoy it.
Then she turned me into scissors and said that I would not grow anymore.
Then she turned me into a grey wolf and said that I would never amount to anything.
She said that I would never be cured unless I drank my brother’s blood.
So there I lay suffering until my stepmother rode away.
So there I lay under the footbridge until my stepmother rode up.
There I took my stepmother from her horse.
With great wrath I took the foetus from her bosom.
When I had drunk my brother’s blood,
I became a knight, bold and good.
NINE YEARS
Nio år
The first gift she got from her stepmother.For nine years you shall go with your unborn child.
Kari asked to Sir Peter,
How long a woman goes with her unborn child.
My lonely sorrows wake me.
Forty weeks it surely is,
So did Mary with Jesus Christ.
When the ninth year arrived,
She wanted to go home to see her father.
Sir Peter said to his young pages
To go and saddle his grey horse.
Go so quietly over the bridge
So that you don’t wake anyone up and worry them.
Go so quietly through the village
So that you don’t wake any dogs and they start to bark.
When she came to her father’s home,
There her father stood waiting for her.
My dear father, don’t be happy to see me,
For no happiness has followed me.
When I left, I was young,
Now I come back and I am so heavy.
When I left, I was a maiden,
Now I come back and I will die.
WOEFUL TONE
Sorgsen Ton
With a woeful tone I will sing about a terrible wonder.You who hear it, pay close attention, and remember each moment.
In the village of Gibbau, on the Penne sea, in Pomerania, in Germany,
These events took place.
A poor farmer lived there, and he had so many children
That it was very difficult for him to live only on bread.
The eldest daughter said goodbye to her dad and mom and siblings,
And went out to become a servant.
A while after that, her father died,
And her mother was in a deplorable state, standing on cane and crutch.
She called upon her rich daughter to help bury her father’s body,
As should a child’s duty be.
She answered by saying not to come to her,
But to bury him however they wanted, without wasting her money.
How I am dressed is what people see, not what some dead old man has on.
It’s none of my concern.
When her kind mistress heard this, she had much nobler intentions.
She was compassionate in her mind, and she sent food and money.
The mistress gave her two loaves of bread to take to her needy mother
And to give whatever help she could.
When she had gone a little way, carrying the bread in anger,
Rejecting her mistress’s compassion and angry with her starving mother,
Along the path she came across some mud, and she thought of a way
To spare her fine shoes.
There were no stones, there were no planks upon which she could tread.
The other paths around her were all long, and she didn’t want to get dirty.
She dropped the bread into the mud so that she could walk upon it,
But punishment was the result of this journey.
Her feet immediately stuck to the bread as she stepped upon it.
In vain she pulled at her legs, and she cursed and swore,
For like a large and half-buried stone, she stood immobile,
And her legs appeared to be held firmly.
She cried, ‘I am a wretched child for rejecting my kind-hearted mother.
I have ensnared myself in the bonds of sin, but only now do I see it.’
She begs people for help, and they offer to, but no one can
Move her feet from that spot.
She had not spoken those last words with a heavily shaking voice,
Before the otherwise firm earth began to move.
She clasped her hands together and sunk down into a hole,
And all traces of her were covered up at once.
You people should bear in mind that pride is a dangerous song,
And avarice can be seen as a risky trap.
Let this maid’s journey warn you to stay away from sin and vanity,
And away from a life of conceit.
SIR HOLKIN
Herr Holkin
Herr Holkin has enticed me to put my faith in him.:Promise me wild roses.
When the others are sleeping he plays in the evening.:
And if Sir Holkin has enticed you so,
You shall never again live under my roof.
And the queen would teach all her attendants
How to defend their honour.
Oh, if only I had such a faithful friend
Who would bear a message to Sir Holkin tonight.
The dishonest attendant was so quick to answer,
If no one else will, then I shall bear this message.
And when she came to Holkin’s home,
Sir Holkin stood out waiting for her.
Little Kersti has sent me to you,
She asks you to ride to her tonight.
She has given birth to a daughter
And she is blacker than the blackest soil.
Then give her these bottles of wine.
Tell her to drink all the sorrow out of her mind.
Tell her not to sorrow or worry.
Tomorrow I will ride to her.
The attendant went to the seashore
And there she drank the wine and filled the bottles with water.
Sir Holkin has given you these water bottles,
For he never will ride to you again.
Sir Holkin was not far from there,
And he heard well how the story went.
Little Kersti, do not turn away from me.
I would never mean to forsake you.
This false attendant shall be buried alive,
For she wanted to betray so gentle a soul.
INK
Bläck
Come here, and give me a little ink and a pen.I want to write you a letter.
You will always find and consider
That I hold no one dearer that you.
Rocks will crack like ice,
The sun will lose its shine,
The forest will transform into a dove,
Before I will abandon our friendship.
Once I spent all my time playing dice,
Once I spent all my time playing piano,
With you I abandon all my sorrows.
I will never lose you again.
BRUN
Brun rides to the maiden’s home.The maiden stands out waiting for him.
:Brun sleeps all alone.
There is wind and rain
in the mountains to the north; three northerners also rest there.:
Brun spreads out his blue cape,
And lifts the maiden up onto it.
Brun rides to the rosy grove,
There he stops to rest awhile.
Now listen, my maiden, to what I will tell you,
Here I have done in fifteen maidens.
And Brun lay with the maiden,
Until a sleep so sweet ran through him.
The maiden undid her golden braids,
And she bound Brun’s hands and feet.
Stand up quickly, Brun,
I don’t want to kill you in your sleep.
And the maiden took up her golden knife
And she stabbed Brun right in his young heart.
And now you shall lie here, both for dogs and for rams,
Still I will bear my name as a maiden.
And now you shall lie here on the black ground,
Still I will bear my virginal prize.
EUCHARI
When you tarried with the Son of God, you trod in the path of joyousness,Touching Him and seeing the miracles that He wrought.
You loved Him perfectly when your fellow travellers were terrified,
Because they were men and had no chance to see the Divine Good perfectly.
But you, in the full love of burning devotion,
Cherished Him when you garnered the bales of His command for yourself.
GREENEST BRANCH
Viridissima Virga
O greenest branch that burst forth in the rush of the wind out of sacred prayers.When your time had come to blossom on all your branches, the word rang out:
Hail, hail.
The sun’s warmth dripped into you like the aroma of balsam.
SAVIOUR
Salvatoris
O how great is the kindness of the Saviour, Who sets all freeThrough His incarnation which divinity breathed out, unbound by sin.
And thus those garments are cleansed by the greatest grief.
O LEAFY BRANCH
O Frondens Virga
O leafy branch, standing in your nobility as the dawn breaks forth,Now rejoice and be glad and deign to set us frail ones free from evil habits
And stretch forth your hand and lift us up.
WHENCE, WHEREVER
Unde Quocumque
Whence, wherever they came,As though rejoicing with heavenly paradise, they were received,
Because in the religious life they appeared honourable.
O ETERNAL POWER
O vis æternitatis
Eternal Power, Who ordered all things in Your heart,Through Your Word all things are created just as you willed,
And Your very Word calls forth flesh
In the shape which was drawn from Adam.
BRANCH AND DIADEM
Virga ac diadema
O branch and diadem of the purple kings,You who are in your enclosure like a breastplate,
Burgeoning, you blossomed after another fashion
Than Adam gave rise to the whole human race.
Hail, from your womb came another life,
Of which Adam had stripped his sons.
O flower, you did not spring from tew
Nor from drops of rain, nor did the air fly over you,
But the divine radiance brought you forth on a most noble branch.
KYRIE
Lord have mercyChrist have mercy
Lord have mercy
Special thanks to Alistair Cochrane and Christopher Page from Garmarna.com.
