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Translation
Yggdrasil
I know that I hung
in a windy tree
for nine whole nights,
wounded by a spear
and given to Odin,
myself given to myself;
in that tree
of which nobody knows
which roots it runs from.
They did not bring me bread,
I looked downwards [from the tree];
I took up the runes,
I took them screaming,
and down from there I fell.
Nine magical songs3 I got
from the famous son of
and a drink I got
of the precious mead
poured out from Óðrerir6.
Then, I started to be vigorous,
and I became wise,
and I grew and felt well.
Speech fetched my speech
for speech again;
action fetched my action
for action again.
- 1. The world "brewage" refers to beer. The original Hávamál text uses the word "hornigi" ("horn") to refer to this beverage, as the Norse people drank beer from a horn.
- 2. The first two lines of this verse differ from the corresponding lines in the original version of the poem, that roughly translate to "No one cheered me with a loaf or a horn."
- 3. The word "tyllesongar" can alternatively be translated as "mighty songs" or "spells" instead of "magical songs".
- 4. In Norse mythology, Bölþorn (Old Norse for "evil thorn"; also written in English as "Bolthorn" or "Boelthor") is a frost giant and the maternal grandfather of the god Odin.
- 5. In Norse mythology, Bestla is the mother of the gods Odin, Vili and Vé; the sister of an unnamed being who assisted Odin; and the daughter or, depending on source, granddaughter of the frost giant Bölþorn.
- 6. In Norse mythology, Óðrerir (also "Óðrørir" or "Óðrœrir") refers either to one of the vessels that contain the Mead of Poetry
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Collections with "Yggdrasil"
| 1. | Viking inspired songs (part 1) |
Enslaved: Top 3
| 1. | Havenless |
| 2. | Sigmundskvadet |
| 3. | Yggdrasil |
Comments
Sciera 
joe1212
Mon, 18/07/2016 - 10:09
Enslaved is originally from Haugesund, and is currently based in Bergen. Therefore, purely based on their geographic location, the main dialect group their dialect could be considered a part of would be Western Norwegian (vestlandsk).
Thank you for your comment on what this text is derived from! I will try to look into those translations of the Hávamál verse!
joe1212
Mon, 18/07/2016 - 13:33
I did a new translation based on some of the sources I mentioned in the author's comments. Sometimes, the lyrics by Enslaved were slightly from the original Hávamál text. Proofreading would still be welcomed, but, in my opinion, the translation is currently a lot better than it was before.
About translator
My translation is based on the only other translation of this song available on the internet (http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/enslaved/frost.html#5), two different translations of Hávamál verses 138, 139, 140 and 141 (http://www.beyondweird.com/high-one.html and http://www.voluspa.org/havamal136-140.htm), and my own knowledge of the Norwegian language. Hávamál is the name of the Old Norse mythological poem that the original lyrics to this song are derived from. For the names of mythological creatures and locations (for which many spellings exist), I used the spellings used for the titles of Wikipedia articles as some kind of standard.