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Ulveham (Eurovision version)

Eg var meg så ven og fager ei møy
Med stimoder vond, mi moder ho døy
Ho skapte meg om til eit svær og ei nål
Under lie
Og sende meg av ti kongens gård
Mæ soli skin ho så vie
Og vreida mi stimoder kjende mest
Når alle dei gillaste lika meg best
 
Ho gav meg ein ham som ulve grå
Ho svor meg einsam i skogjen gå
Og aldri blir eg heil og god
Før eg fær drukkje min broders blod
 
Så reiv eg ut hennes vistri sie
Så hennes blod de sprang så vie
Så reiv eg ut hennars hjarterot
 
Translation

Wolfskin (Eurovision version)

I was so fair and lovely a girl
With an evil stepmother, my mother had died
She turned me into a sword and needle
Under the hill
And sent me away to the king's court
As the sun shone so far
And my stepmother felt the greatest rage
When all the richest liked me best
 
She gave me the skin of a grey wolf
She cursed me to walk the forest alone
And never become whole and good
'Fore I had drunk my brother's blood
 
Then I tore out her heart
So her blood poured forth
Then I tore out her heart's root
 
Please help to translate "Ulveham (Eurovision ..."
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Comments
fatixfatix    Sat, 24/02/2024 - 15:42

I felt like their is a word short in the english translation at line 9
'She gave the skin of a grey wolf' > 'She gave me the skin of a grey wolf'
in the norwegian version it says: 'Ho gav meg ein ham som ulve grå'
i found this import because a lot of users/translators use the english version as a PIVOT language (to translate from)

another little issue is, that i couldn't settle in my interpretation the word 'richest' in line 8
this is also an interpretation of course but where does the word 'richest' match in the norwegion sentence:
'Når alle dei gillaste lika meg best' > does 'gillaste' means 'rich/est' .. what is the real translation of this sentence, i just want to know 🤔
almost all the other translations are translated like 'richest
but this causes a loose of language in all the other translations about this sentence.
thanx in advance. regards.👍

somethingswellsomethingswell
   Sat, 24/02/2024 - 18:36

Yeah that was a typo, cause I had originally used a different verb. I fixed it.

As for the word "gillaste", you could also translate it as "stately" or "noble". These are all pretty close adjectives and you could reasonably use any of them.

fatixfatix    Sat, 24/02/2024 - 18:42

best something,

thank you for your answers.
1 thing still stucks to me though; 'gillaste' means 'liked' as i checked it at several translations motors.
could you give or help me to find a source whereby we can understand it better.
it's not to do difficult, but i am now working on the turkish translation and want to learn tis word-understanding
thanx in advance 👍

somethingswellsomethingswell
   Sat, 24/02/2024 - 18:49

I’m assuming that “gillaste” is a dialectal version of “gildeste”, which is the superlative of the adjective “gild”. I’m not a native speaker but I’ve never heard of “gill” as any different word, nor am I finding it in any dictionary.

fatixfatix    Sat, 24/02/2024 - 20:50

best [@icey],
could we find a user who is a native speaker of the norwegian language.
i'm not willing a proofreading, only a help with the word 'gillaste' and the entire meaning o/t sentence at line 8
just asking who to find, i don't know norwegian users who frequently are online here at LT.
regards

IceyIcey
   Sat, 24/02/2024 - 21:19

The explanation somethingswell gave is pretty on point, and I doubt you'll find a better one even asking a native speaker. You must see that this song uses an old variety of Norwegian spoken in Telemark, so an old local dialect no one speaks anymore.
The analysis somethingswell provided is correct: "gillaste" is certainly a superlative form of a substantivised adjective, and linking it to the adjective "gild" makes sense imo.

If you wish to contact a native Norwegian speaker, you're free to do so. You can find the list of members by language here: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/members/none/0/36/0/0/1-1-2008/24-2-2024

fatixfatix    Sat, 24/02/2024 - 22:52

thanx a lot 👍

sciscitatiosciscitatio    Fri, 05/04/2024 - 11:47

Hi Fatix,
Icey is correct here that the text is difficult to translate, even for a native speaker.

However, the Eurovision version of the song, which had to be changed as ESC regulations requires songs to be original. Gåtes original version of Ulveham is based on a version written in 1857, which is what Icey is referring to, in the old form of Telemark dialect. As a precausion, the text was changed for the ESC version.

I too pondered on the word "gillaste". From my knowledge, Rogaland is the only region with dialects that uses this word today. And it is correct that they use it for things they like. Things that are likeable. I do not believe the word in these lyrics means this, as the word that follows "gilleste" is literally "lika", which means "liked". Thus, I think somethingswell is correct to assume that it's a version of "gildeste", the adjective "gild", but I would not have translate it to "richest". I would probably use the word "greatest".

If you are interested, you can read more about the word here: https://naob.no/ordbok/gild

I know from experience how much it sucks to translate a song using another persons translation, as some meaning is always lost with difficult lyrics such as these.

I will add another English translation of this song, with a more word-for-word approach. I hope this helps you.

sciscitatiosciscitatio    Fri, 05/04/2024 - 11:51

Hi Icey. Referring to my response to Fatix:
I added a new translation of the song with a word-for-word approach in order to help those who need to translate the song using the already translated version, as in the English version. Some meaning is always lost when translating, so I figured this would help.

Unintentionally, my version is now English #1, even though somethingswells version was already good enough for the most part.
Are you able to make my version #2 instead? Did not intend to hijack the #1 spot...

IceyIcey
   Fri, 05/04/2024 - 12:10

Hi! It's very kind of you to have this kind of consideration ^^ However, the order of translations is automatic, and can't be manually changed by anyone: newer translations are always place before older ones (this came to be after years of having older translations always coming first, which discouraged a lot of people from making new ones, as well as having translations by long inactive users following an old format of the lyrics always at the forefront).
The only way for an older translation to take first position is for them to receive a high (4-5 stars) rating.

sciscitatiosciscitatio    Fri, 05/04/2024 - 12:19

Let's make sure to 5 star it then ;)

IceyIcey
   Fri, 05/04/2024 - 12:58

As I said, it's very kind of you to want to bring her translation back in first position, but giving 5 stars just as a sort of "apology" for having "hijacked" the position is not a good reason to motivate such a rating. If the meaning is just to move her translation up, I already gave her 5 stars, so another rating is not needed. So, as a moderator, I'd ask you to remove your rating, unless you honestly believe this translation deserves 5 stars, in which case it can remain. But please, don't give high ratings as a form of apology, we don't want that

IceyIcey
   Fri, 05/04/2024 - 12:14
5

Well, fixed. I do have one question though: why did you choose to translate "nål" as "nail" instead of "needle"?

sciscitatiosciscitatio    Fri, 05/04/2024 - 12:23

The correct word would be, as you say, needle. Nail would mean "negl" as in the nail of your finger, or "spiker"/"nagle" as in I hammered a nail in.

somethingswellsomethingswell
   Sat, 06/04/2024 - 00:51

Not sure why I did that, just brain fart I guess. I fixed it.

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