Old Norse & Viking Chants - Þat mælti mín móðir (English translation)

Old Norse & Viking Chants – Þat mælti mín móðir

English translation

Old Norse

Original lyrics

Þat mælti mín móðir

Þat mælti mín móðir,

at mér skyldi kaupa

fley ok fagrar árar,

fara á brott með víkingum,

standa upp í stafni,

stýra dýrum knerri,

halda svá til hafnar

hǫggva mann ok annan,

hǫggva mann ok annan.

Þél höggr stórt fyr stáli

stafnkvígs á veg jafnan

út með éla meitli

andærr jötunn vandar,

en svalbúinn selju

sverfr eirar vanr þeiri

Gestils ölpt með gustum

gandr of stál fyr brandi.

Submitted by

SaintMark on 2017-04-24

Contributors:

Icey,

Sciera

Subtitles created by

somethingswell on Sun, 05/01/2025 - 21:28

Subtitles edited by

Submitter's comments:

this song appeard in the 4th season of the tv production 'vikings' that centers around the life of ragnar lodbrok and his settlement in kattegat. It is sung by Harald Fairhair, who is known in the series as Harald Finehair, the future king of all norway and his good friend Halfdan the Black.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SUpsLxUrKQ
The lyrics here consist of 2 poems of Egils Saga, found there in chapter 40 and 57.

Play video with subtitles

User	Time ago
nipersson	9 months 6 days

English

Translation#1#2

My Mother Told Me

My mother told me,

I would buy myself

a vessel with strong oars,

sail afar with the Vikings,

stand upon the prow,

steer the noble ship,

set course out to sea,

strike one man and another,

strike one man and another.

The enemy of the tree1,

viciously files an even path

before the ship

with a chisel of hail,

but the cold-clad [enemy] of the willow

swipes mercilessly

Gestill's2 swan3 with wind-gusts

over the ship’s gilded prow.

1. The wind. The most literal translation of this would be ‘giant of the tall/standing structure’; the giants are an opposing force to the gods in Norse mythology, and in some instances are portrayed directly as evil. This is a kenning, or a type of metaphor common to old Norse and Anglo-Saxon poetry.
2. Gestill is a Norse king of the sea
3. kenning for ship

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User	Time ago
nipersson	1 year 9 months
Kassandra Doria Wolf	3 years 5 months

I don't care if you post my translations elsewhere, I just ask that you give credit, either by linking to this translation or simply crediting me by name: @somethingswell on lyricstranslate.

Submitted by

somethingswell on 2022-02-05

Author's comments:

The line order in the second verse is changed, because the genitive case in the original is pulling a lot weight there and it just doesn't make sense in English if translated exactly how it's written.