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LT → German, English, German (Middle High German) → Faun → Walpurgisnacht → English
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Walpurgis Night

Click to see the original lyrics (German)
In the night-sky tonight
The witches1 rise
Wild folk and Lilith's kind
Lurking, secretly ride the winds.
 
Let us wander to the fires
Whispering, reach for the stars
Both the good and the bad word
Take us (further) on and on tonight.
 
In the meadows our dreams will ring
And the winds will sing our songs.
Let us leap over the fires with the sparks
On Walpurgis Night!
 
Hear the fiddles, hear the fiddles,
The fires are kindled!
Follow the round dance, follow the round dance
On Walpurgis Nicht.
 
Unruly in the fiddles' play2
Our nightly round dance spins
And we join, wild and free,
This old magic.3
 
Only once in great circles
We dance in that way
Until the first light of morning
Breaks our dream-web.
 
In the meadows our dreams will ring
And the winds will sing our songs.
Let us leap over the fires with the sparks
On Walpurgis Night!
 
Hear the fiddles, hear the fiddles,
The fires are kindled!
Follow the round dance, follow the round dance
On Walpurgis Nicht.
 
  • 1. "Zauberweisen" would literally be "knowers of magic", so maybe "magi" or "sorcerers" would be better, but I've currently put "witches" due to them being most commonly associated with Walpurgis Nicht - but I'm open to countersuggestions.
  • 2. Just like the English verb "play", so does the German "spielen" mean both "to play (a game)" and "to play a musical instrument".
  • 3. I'm aware that the order of words in my translation might sound unusual in English and appear to be too literally taken from German, but I was afraid that if I put "And we join this old magic wild and free", which would sound better, it might sound like "wild and free" referred to "magic", and not to "us".
Original lyrics

Walpurgisnacht

Click to see the original lyrics (German)

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Please help to translate "Walpurgisnacht"
German → Romanian Radu Robert
Collections with "Walpurgisnacht"
1.Top Pagan Songs
2.Songs about witches
Faun: Top 3
1.Federkleid
2.Tanz mit mir
3.Walpurgisnacht
Comments
LangalfLangalf    Tue, 23/06/2015 - 19:53

Preciouss,

A good English translation. I would comment on a couple of your notes, and translation:

1. Although Walpurgisnacht has been associated with witches, given the overall pagan theme of Faun's albums, magi might be a little better translation. Not a major issue.

4. An acceptable English translation, leaving out the "when", would be "Until the first light of morning breaks our dream-web."

PrecioussPreciouss
   Wed, 08/07/2015 - 20:43

1. You have a point generally, but isn't the mentioning of Lilith in the next line a little more witch-like?

4. No counterarguments here, that's better - editing.

malucamaluca
   Sun, 09/08/2015 - 01:26

Just wanted to point out that "Zauberweisen" here means "magical tunes".
It's not a word used as a synonym for "Hexen".
On Walpurgisnacht only witches gather by the way, no male sorceres. They come together on the top of a mountain called "Brocken" in the Harz mountain range where they sing and dance around a huge bonfire.

IceyIcey
   Mon, 28/08/2023 - 21:56

The source lyrics have been updated. Please review your translation.

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