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Hedebys → English translation→ English

Original lyrics

Hedebys

I den første drøm jeg fik

Den døde mand han til mig gik

Han sagde du skal fare til Hedeby

Der bor alle mine frænder ni

Min fader og min moder

min søster og yngste broder

Der bor Kristine min væne viv

Hun forrådte mig mit unge liv

Kristine med hendes møer fem

De kvalte mig i silkeseng

De bandt mig til et knippe hø

Og førte mig over vilden høj

-så vide da ganger der ord af

Den samme svend jeg troede bedst

Han rider nu min gode hest

-så vide da ganger der ord af

Han sladrer over bredden bord

Og spotter mine børn med grimme ord

Han spotter dem med deres far er død

Og giver dem så liden brød

Han går med min sølver kniv

Og sover hver nat med min væne viv

Så er du mand ud af min æt

Så skal du føre min sag i rette

-så vide da ganger der ord af

af min æt så skal du føre min sag i rette

Jeg vågnede af den drøm så brat

Gravede op den døde mand samme nat

Jeg satte ham op på min hest

Så red vi som vi kunne bedst

Da vi kom til Kristines gård

Jeg satte den døde mand ved bord

Den svend han fik så ondt et mod

At blodet sprang fra hjerterod

Er du Kristine ved dette værk kendt

Så skal du blive på bålet brændt

-så vide da ganger der ord af

dette værk kendt så skal du blive

på bålet brændt

Hendes unge liv i jern blev spændt

Inden maj dag lå hun på bålet brændt

-så vide da ganger der ord af

jern blev spændt inden maj dag lå hun

på bålet brændt

Translation

Hedebys

In the first dream I got,

the dead man, he came to me.1

He said, you should fare to Hedeby.2

There live all my friends.

My father and my mother,

my sister and my youngest brother.

There lives Kristine, my beautiful wife.3

She took from me my young life.4

Kristine and her five maidens,

they suffocated me in a silken bed.

They tied me to a bundle of hay,

and led me over a hillock somewhere.5

- So it is said.6

The same man I thought best,

he now rides my good horse.

- So it is said.

He tells lies acrosss wide tables,7

and he derides my children with hideous words.

He derides them with their father's death,8

and then gives them almost no bread.

He walks about with my silver knife,

and sleeps every night with my beautiful wife.

So, if you are a man of my family,

then you shall lead my case to justice.9

- So it is said.

Of my family, then you shall lead my case to justice.

I woke from that dream so abruptly,

and dug up the dead man the same night.

I placed him on my horse,

and then we rode the best we could.

When we came to Kristine's farm,

I placed the dead man at the table.

That man, he got so bad a mood,10

that the blood spurted from his heart.

If you, Kristine, is guilty of this pain,11

then you shall be burned at the stake.

- So it is said.

If guilty, then you shall be

burned at the stake.

Her young body was fastened to iron,

and before May Day12 she was at the stake.

- So it is said.

Fastened to iron before May Day she was

on the stake having been burned.

1. lit. 'walked to me'
2. An important settlement of the Viking Age, 8th-11th c. For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedeby
3. In spite of the theme of the song, he calls his wife lovely. The word 'væn' is an old Danish adjective meaning 'lovely', 'beautiful', 'nice', 'pretty', 'fair'.
4. lit. 'betrayed me my young life'
5. The word 'vilden' (from 'vild') here most likely carries its archaic meaning, 'desorientated' or 'random' (here 'somewhere'), and not its modern meaning 'wild'.
6. lit. 'so known thereof goes there word of'
7. Probably refers to the wide tables of guesthouses and inns. Basically, he is spreading false rumours.
8. lit. 'with their father is dead'
9. lit. 'into right'
10. i.e. the man thought best from paragraph 7.
11. lit. 'by this pain known'
12. A traditional spring holiday of Northern Europe. For for information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day