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Lindworm Massacre

Fă click aici pentru a vedea versurile originale (Germană)
On his steed, the man of steel,
fast he is riding along the road
to find a beast on the run,
to satisfy a craving burning deep inside
He feels no desire1 for woman nor glory
To kill is his only delight2
At a gallop and step by step,
always looking coldly at the mountains3
After a wild ride into airy heights
to stand black as basalt in front of the lair
The blade is diving like a feather
into the inky4 blood of the stomach of the lizard
Now he's standing there smiling broadly
surrounded by shine5 and entrails
 
He doesn't care for glory nor wealth,
only perhaps virgins now and then
But a dragonslayer he only became
for the reason of slaughtering
To do the thing that he likes
has made him a hero in the country and far beyond
He triumphantly stands in the pool of blood
like a monument to himself6
 
He is called Henry the Butcher,
famous and notorious all over the country
Black as night he is shining like the moon
Nothing will be spared7 by Henry the Butcher
 
Death! Death! Death! Death!
Death and cruelty and smiting8
are his best friend since childhood
As a child he passionately
chopped apart the skull of the neighbour's cat
And also the dear dog of the mother
bogged down with bag and stone9 in the black swamp
 
So he didn't think about it too long
and made his hobby his job10
because most likely no one will punish him
who is freed by him from a monster plague11
As long as it's enough for bread and beer
dragons still will be liquidated
and so he lives his perversion
for not much more than the minimum wage
 
He is called Henry the Butcher,
famous and notorious all over the country
Black as night he is shining like the moon
Nothing will be spared by Henry the Butcher
Dead!
 
  • 1. literary "There doesn't reign greed"
  • 2. "Pläsier" is a rarely used expression
  • 3. meaning "heading towards the mountains while looking coldly", literary "the mountains always in the cold view/look/sight"
  • 4. literary "inkblack"
  • 5. or "gloss", "splendor", glamour", "glory",...; refers to the idioms "Glanz und Gloria" ("shine and glory") and "Glanz und Glamour" ("shine and glamour")
  • 6. literary "Like a monument same as himself", meaning "Like a monument looking like him"
  • 7. literary "is spared"
  • 8. or "strife", "fight" or "quarrel"
  • 9. i.e. in a bag made heavier with a stone, a method of drowning animals
  • 10. lit. "into a job"
  • 11. translated very freely
Versuri originale

Lindwurm Massaker

Fă click aici pentru a vedea versurile originale (Germană)

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Vogelfrey: Top 3
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Comentarii
ScieraSciera
   Joi, 30/08/2012 - 22:38
Quote:

This song is meant to be funny, so maybe a little bit of inaccuracy would allow the English to sound closer to the tone of the original?

I'd gladly make it sound closer to the original. Thanks for giving me suggestions again!

Quote:

Nothing will be spared -> that might be my weak German, but I would have thought this was present tense.

It is present tense, I already mentioned that in a footnote. But I thought future would sound better here, don't you think so?

Quote:

strife -> a hero would rather fight than strife, I think

"fight" is only a veery old fashioned and rarely used meaning of "Streit", it mostly means "quarrel", "argue" etc., and as you see it is not a quite honourable hero. I chose "strife" since it combines the negative aspects of "quarrel" and the "physical fight"-aspects of "fight".

Quote:

(Is his) best friend since childhood -> it's not clear what it refers to : the 3 items above are all equal candidates. A plural would have sounded more natural, but the German seems to be singular.

It's not more clear in the original. But it's clear that it only can refer to the line before. I wrote so many things in brackets because the lyrics are full of incomplete and only halfly connected sentences.

Quote:

Denn wohl keiner ihn bestraft / Dem Bestien er vom Halse schafft -> if I get it right, it's "since surely the one he freed from beasts by taking them by the scruff of the neck (like kittens) will not punish him (for being a psychopathic killer)"
-> since no one will punish you / when you kill beasts instead of pets

"(sich/jemandem) etwas vom Halse schaffen" is an idiom that doesn't have anything to do with cats, it only means "to get rid of something".

ScieraSciera
   Vineri, 31/08/2012 - 10:25
Quote:

Nothing will be spared -> yes sorry, I did not pay enough attention to the footnote. I thought "nothing is spared by Heinrich..." would sound like "nothing is spared by time", as if Heinrich was a blind force of nature, in an humorous tone.

It could also be understood that way in german but I still think "is spared" sounds a bit strange.

Quote:

strife -> "strife" has also the meaning of "struggle", like in every day life or social conflicts. That's why I found it odd for a hero.
However I agree a better term could be found to convey the loutish nature of Heinrich Smile.
Assuming "Streit" is used on purpose in its old-fashioned sense (for the fake epic feel), maybe "smiting"? That's pretty old-fashioned (like in chivalry tales) and conveys an idea of ruthless might.

I didn't know that expression but I guess it fits better.

Quote:

etwas vom Halse schaffen -> we have a similar "attraper par la peau du cou" idiom in French, that usually does not refer to kittens either (though I suspect that's the origin of the expression, at least in French).
I was more trying to link the sentence with the previous story about doing horrible things to pets, using the idiom as a metaphor. Like if Heinrich was doing the same thing he did as a kid, only with monsters instead of pets. That's a very free translation of course.

I saw that you wanted to find a connection but in german there simply isn't any. And in a translation that is not meant to be are free adaption I don't want to translate it that freely.

Your version of the first verse is really good! Only thing that simply isn't right is in the last line: It doesn't say "blood" in the original but "Glanz", and I really wouldn't like to change that.

As I just said, this version isn't meant to be that free, and I also couldn't write it in English myself that way.
Also, your translation is so much more fluent than the original... as I mentioned above, the original is full of incomplete sentences.

Well, if you want you could add your own version.

Quote:

- craving is always happening deep inside

It is, but the original uses the expression "innig" which also means "deep inside" or "by heart".

Quote:

- worm or wyrm is frequently used for dragons in chivalry tales, don't know if there is an equivalent in German

If you look at the title you will see that we also use a similiar expression: "Lindwurm".
When the context is known, one could propably also say "Wurm".

Another thing: I now changed the "hero's" name to "Henry the Butcher", I guess that sounds better in English.

FreigeistFreigeist
   Luni, 27/02/2017 - 04:58

1. Strophe:
>"Im Galopp und Stück für Stück"
Ich höre: "Im Galopp und Schritt für Schritt"
>"Auf seinem Ross der stählernd‘ Mann" =
Auf seinem Ross der stählern' Mann

To call him "Henry the Slaughterer" might be an option.

I think you're a bit in error ref. your fn 9.
I don't think it referrs to that idiom.
It is just about the habit to drown cats in a bag with a stone in it.

fyi: I came upon that, because I added the Idiom "mit Sack und Pack"
;)

ScieraSciera
   Luni, 27/02/2017 - 09:56

Thanks. I think "butcher" sounds better, though.
I've corrected the lines you mentioned in the original text.
I think you may be right about it not referring to the idiom, I've changed the footnote.

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