It is interesting to follow the discussion if oth or geas (never heard before and as explained of gaelic origin) is the better translation of Schwur. Oath is parent with "Eid", Schwur is parent with "to swear", but it seems that the verb swear has no noun. May be that "vow" is an alternative?
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Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen → Übersetzung auf Englisch
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Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen
Hell's vengeance seethes
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Note 1: It is suggested that the exact translation of "Schwur" in this context is the early English term "geas" -
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/geas
However, as that word is little used even poetically in modern English, the translation as "oath" may be considered more accessible.
The early English term "geas" is derived from the Gaelic term "geis" -
https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/geis
- and is here used to denote the binding injunction which the Queen of the Night seeks to place upon her daughter, Pamina.
It is precisely because the obligation is being imposed by the Queen of the Night, rather than it being an obligation that she is taking upon herself, that "geas" is considered a more accurate translation than "oath".
Geas is pronounced like an elision of the two English words gay-ash, with the "a" in ash very lightly spoken, entirely unstressed.
Note 2: The preceding German to English translation by mario.rodriguezgonzalez.9 was a source for this translation.
1. | Die Zauberflöte - The Magic Flute |
1. | Sequence: VI. Lacrimosa |
2. | Sequence: V. Confutatis Maledictis |
3. | Laudate Dominum |
I would agree that the term "vow" could be used as an alternative to "oath".
However, the key difference between those terms and the proposed term, "geas", is that a vow / oath one swears willingly oneself, whereas a geas is an obligation that is imposed upon one.
The latter is the theme of this aria; the Königin der Nacht imposes the geas upon her daughter, Pamina.
(Unsuccessfully, as the plot of the opera eventually shows, but even so the obligation is imposed rather than willingly undertaken.)
This interpretation of the german wording is not correct. The mother swears herself , she imposes nothing.
With the greatest respect, there is no interpretation involved.
The plot of the Magic Flute includes the scene in which the Queen of the Night tries to impose this obligation upon her daughter, Pamina, and not upon herself.
She gives Pamina a dagger, she orders her to kill Sarastro with that dagger and she threatens to disown her daughter if she does not fulfil the obligation.
May be, but she is giving her orders to the daughter because of her vow.
I have presented my translation together with the rationale for the choice of the term "geas", a term which is in accord with the plot of The Magic Flute.
If you wish to differ in your interpretation, please create your own separate translation and then readers can decide for themselves which translation they prefer.
Please explain what is exactly " "imposed". Mother swears that the bonds will be torn ("shattered" as you translate) between mother and daughter.
I will add another translation, together with an explanation of the plot.
Natur Provence,
That explanation has already been provided to you in the preceding post; for your convenience, here it is again -
"The plot of the Magic Flute includes the scene in which the Queen of the Night tries to impose this obligation upon her daughter, Pamina, and not upon herself.
She gives Pamina a dagger, she orders her to kill Sarastro with that dagger and she threatens to disown her daughter if she does not fulfil the obligation."
If you wish to devise a plot which differs from the libretto used by Mozart, then please append it to your own translation thread, not to this one.
I insist: your interpetation is not correct. A dagger is a "Dolch", the instrument to commit the murder, but is not a oath/vow.
The lines "Hört ihr Rachegötter, hört der Mutter Schwur" imposes nothing, but affirms that the bonds between mother and daughter will be torned if the daugther does not kill Sarastro. Mother is threatening the daughter but the "Schwur" is made to herself.
If she is "ordering" or asking is also a question of interpretation, in any case daughter did not follow.
Btw: I did not add an other plot here but on my own contribution, Your request is gratuitous.
Schwur is still a very common word in German, whereas geas is archaic and obscure in English. This piece would be easily understood by native speakers of German so introducing a word most native English speakers would need a dictionary to understand in the translation seems counter-intuitive. It gives the impression that Schwur is some obscure, rarely used German word when it isn't.
If your average native English speaker doesn't even know what it means (and if you have to define it in a footnote, you already concluded that they would not) then using it is not doing anything to help them understand no matter how exact it is. People won't go "Oh, here it means THIS" if they don't know what geas means.
You are free to interpret this as you wish, of course, but I tend to agree with Natur Provence. I'm sure there are many words in old English that would give more exact definitions of many things, but even the rules of this website favor language that is easy to understand.
Preslynn,
As I say in the footnote "the translation as "oath" may be considered more accessible".
So if the reader wishes to read the text as "oath" rather than "geas", then that option is freely available to them.
But more accessible is not the same as more accurate.
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"Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" ou "Air de la Reine de la Nuit" est un air de l'opéra "Die Zauberflöte" ou "La Flûte enchantée" de W.A. Mozart. Chanté au second acte, scène 3, il est considéré comme l'un des airs les plus virtuoses de l'art lyrique. Le livret est d'Emanuel Schikaneder, ami de Mozart, qui a d'ailleurs joué le rôle de Papageno (baryton) lors de la 1ère représentation à Vienne, en 1791.
Il dépeint l'accès de l'amour vengeur lors duquel la Reine de la Nuit (soprano colorature) donne un poignard à sa fille Pamina et lui donne l'ordre de tuer le grand-prêtre Sarastro, menaçant même de la renier si elle ne lui obéit pas.
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La performance de Diana Damrau
Celle de Lucia Popp, 1969
Et celle de Edda Moser, 1987
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La première interprète de l'aria fut la belle-sœur de Mozart, Josepha Weber, alors âgée de trente-trois ans. Josepha avait une voix d'un registre extrêmement élevé et d'une grande agilité et sans doute, Mozart, familier de ses capacités vocales (et selon des rumeurs, ne s'entendait pas avec elle), a-t-il écrit cette grande aria à son intention (pour la mettre à l'épreuve!).
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Résumé : le Prince Tamino est chargé par la Reine de la Nuit d’aller délivrer sa fille Pamina des prisons du mage Sarastro, présenté comme un tyran. Guidé par les trois Dames de la Reine et accompagné de Papageno, un oiseleur dont la personnalité contraste avec la noblesse et le courage de Tamino. À Papageno revient un carillon et à Tamino une flûte magique – deux instruments qui les aideront dans leur périple. Mais Tamino découvre au cours de son voyage que les forces du mal ne sont pas du côté de Sarastro mais de celles de la Reine de la Nuit : cette dernière est prête à tout pour se venger de Sarastro, qu’elle déteste. Le parcours, truffé d'épreuves, de Tamino pour délivrer et conquérir Pamina, les mène tous deux, vers l’amour et la lumière, sous la sagesse bienveillante de Sarastro. La Reine de la Nuit et sa suite finissent anéanties.
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Pour plus d'informations sur l'opéra - La Flûte enchantée