Icey
NaestumHollur
Fri, 11/09/2020 - 20:22
Thank you for this! This is the best that SKÁLD has put out.
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The awful winter
I remember Fimbulwinter,1
when the snow falls from every direction,
a lot of frost and sharp winds.
Such is the winter to come.
Three winters like this will go by,
with no summer in-between.
I remember Fimbulwinter.
Time of winds, time of wolves, the sun darkening,
it will fall everywhere.2
Such is the winter to come.
He has the shape of an eagle,
and when he soars
all the winds rise under his wings.
He has the shape of an eagle,
and when he soars
all the winds rise under his wings.3
Where does the wind come from?
It cannot be seen
Where does the wind come from?
Where does the wind come from?
It cannot be seen
For it is magnificently shaped
I remember Fimbulwinter.
When the snow falls from every direction,
a lot of frost and sharp winds.
Such is the winter to come.
He has the shape of an eagle,
and when he soars
all the winds rise under his wings.
He has the shape of an eagle,
and when he soars
all the winds rise under his wings.
Wind, Fire, fury of the giants, Hræsvelgr blows.
Wind, Fire, fury of the giants, Hræsvelgr blows.
Wind, Fire, fury of the giants, Hræsvelgr blows.
She sees surfacing once again
the ever-green earth from the sea,
waterfalls flow, an eagle flies above,
It’s fishing on the mountains.5
- 1. A three-years long winter which in Norse mythology is prelude to the forthcoming of Ragnarök. It's not clear why the lyrics say "I remember", as Fimbulwinter is an event yet to happen in Norse mythology.
- 2. While all previous lines come from stanza 51 of "Gylfaginning", this one line alone for some reason comes from "Vafþrúðnismál", and it fact it doesn't connect well with the rest of the lyrics (it literally means "he is on every way", in the contest of the original text, it means "[the fortress] measures [a hundred leagues] on each side").
- 3. These and the upcoming lines come from "Gylfaginning", but from stanza 18, and they tell about Hræsvelgr, the eagle-shaped giant who creates the wind.
- 4. Kári ("wind") and Logi ("fire") are two of the three sons of the giant Fornjót, who represent the three forces who shape the world. I was unable to find the origin of this line.
- 5. From stanza 59 of "Völuspá". The "she" at the beginning is the seeress who tells the Völuspá. The stanza describes the new, post-apocalyptic world which will follow Ragnarök.
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About translator
«Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earthbound misfit - I»