Carols

[David]

I have now translated all of Once In Royal David’s City
 
Once In Royal David’s City                             Ġēara In Cyneliċre Dāuides Ċeastre
 
Once in royal David’s city                               Ġēara in cyneliċre Dāuides ċeastre
Stood a lowly cattle shed,                              Niðerliċ scipen stōd,
Where a mother laid her Baby                         Þǣr leġde mōdor Lȳtling
In a manger for His bed:                                In binne for His bedde:
Mary was that mother mild,                            Maria wæs sēo mōdor milde,
Jesus Christ her little Child.                            Iesus Crist hiere lȳtle Ċild.
 
He came down from to earth from heaven,     Hē niðerstāg tō earðe fram heofenone,
Who is God and Lord of all,                             Ðe is God and Drihten ealles,
And his shelter was a stable,                          And his hlēowþ wæs  horsern,
And his cradle was a stall;                              And his cradol wæs  bōsiġ;
With the poor, and mean, and lowly,              Mid þǣm eatmingas, and þearfan, and esnas,
Lived on earth our Saviour holy.                     Ūre hāliġ Hǣlend būde on eorþe.
 
And through all His wondrous childhood        And ġeond eallne His wrǣtliċne cīldhād
He would honour and obey                             Hē wolde ārian and hīersumian
Love and watch the lowly maiden,                  Lufian and wacian þā niðerliċe mægð,
In whose gentle arms he lay:                          In þǣre līðum earmum hē læġ:
Christian children all must be                          Eallu Crīstenu child sculon bēon
Mild, obedient, good as He.                            Milde, ġehīersum and gōd swā Hē.
 
For He is our childhood’s pattern;                  For Hē is ūre cildhādes bīsen:
Day by day, like us He grew;                          Dæġ æfter dæġ, swā ūs Hē awēox;
He was little, weak and helpless,                    Hē wæs lȳtel, unmihtiġ and fultumlēas,
Tears and smiles like us He knew;                  Swā wē, hē drēag smearcian and grēotan;
And He feeleth for our sadness,                     And hē fēleð ūre sāriġnesse,
And He shareth in our gladness.                    And hē dǣlnimeþ in ūre glædnesse.
 
And our eyes at last shall see Him,                 And ūre eaġan æ niehtstan sīehþ Hine,
Through His own redeeming love;                  Ðurh His agenre ālīesendre lufe;
For that child so dear and gentle                    For þæt ċild swā lēof and līðe
Is our Lord in heaven above,                          Is ūre Dryhten in heofonum ofer,
And he leads his children on                           And he læt forþ his ċild
To the place where he is gone.                       Tō þǣre stōwe  þe hē ēode.
 

[Bowerthane]

_____________________
Þǣr leġde mōdor Lȳtling
_____________________

Shouldn’t this be: Þǣr leġde mōdor hiere Lȳtling?

Also, since the clause is dependent, can’t you say: Hwǽre leġde mōdor hiere Lȳtling and maybe should?  Or have I misunderstood something?


________________________
Maria wæs sēo mōdor milde,
________________________


Shouldn’t this be: Maria wæs þā mōdor milde, since this is in the accusative?


____________________________
Eallu Crīstenu child sculon bēon
Milde, ġehīersum and gōd swā Hē.
____________________________


   Excellent idea.  I went straight to the surliest bunch of chavs I could find and told them so.  Had to be rescued by the police.

[David]

 
Beowerthane, I agree that it is better to put “hiere” into “þǣr leġde mōdor Lȳtling” although it can be omitted.
I do not know the word “hwǣre”. If you mean “hwǣr” I only use that in questions. If you mean “ġehwǣre” that is the feminine singular genitive/dative of hwā/hwæt. Also I am reluctant to use such a word that I believe was coined in the 11^th century on the lines of þǣre. I hear that 11^th century scribes “corrected” earlier texts by replacing hwǣm/hwæs with ġehwǣre. This includes line 25 of Beowulf.
 
I disagree with “wæs” taking the accusative. I thought that it always took the nominative. Aren’t statements such as “it was me” a modern phenomenon. I thought that the old version was “it was I”.

[Bowerthane]

________________________________________________________
And he leads his children on                           And he læt forþ his ċild
________________________________________________________


Aah... yes, accusative plural of ċild is... ċild isn’t it?  And not ċildru, right?

Ignore me...

***


Possibly more useful niggle: back on page four in the 28 April version of God Lǽte Þe Ġé Wuniaþ Ġesǽliġe Burhmenn you’ve got Betleheme on line 5 of the second verse but Bethleheme on line 1 one of the last verse, both in the dative.

[David]

I use ċild for both the nominative and accusative plural. I believe the –ru ending was a very late West Saxon innovation. It was used in the accusative as well as the nominative.
 
The Betleheme was just a slip. I usually use þ or ð rather than th but I have not seen those forms in Bethlehem.

[David]

 [size=78%]This is the first half of Away in a Manger.[/size]
 
Away in a Manger                                           Ġeond in binne
 
Away in a manger,                                          Ġeond in binne,
No crib for a bed,                                            Nā cribb for bedde,
The little Lord Jesus                                        Se lȳtel Iesus Drihten
Laid down his sweet head.                              Ofleġde his līðe heafod.
 
The stars in the bright sky                              Þā steorran in beorhtum rodore
Looked down where he lay,                            Lōcodon niþer þǣr læġd hē,
The little Lord Jesus                                       Se lȳtla Iesus Dryhten
Asleep in the hay.                                           Swodraþ in þǣm hieġe.
 
The cattle are lowing,                                     Þā oxan hlōwaþ,
The baby awakes,                                          Se lȳtling aweċþ,
But little Lord Jesus                                       Ac lytel Iesus Dryhten
No crying he makes.                                      Nā wōp hē ne dēþ.
 

 Look down from the sky                                Lōcaþ niþer of rodore
 
 

[Bowerthane]

Two more typos in Once in Royal David's City: ‘cīldhād’ for ‘ċildhád’ in verse three, line one and ‘child’ for ‘ċild’ in verse three, line five.

Also, do I guess from Swā wē, hē drēag smearcian and grēotan; that you, too have hunted high and low for a simple noun for ‘smile’ in Old English and not found one?

Dickered if I could, and it’s very frustrating.

[David]

Bowerthane,


Thanks for the corrections, I think that you are the only person checking the carols.


You were right about smile

[David]

 I have now finished translating Away in a Manger.
 
Away in a Manger                                           Ġeond in binne
 
Away in a manger,                                           Ġeond in binne,
No crib for a bed,                                            Nā cribb for bedde,
The little Lord Jesus                                        Se lȳtel Iesus Drihten
Laid down his sweet head.                              Ofleġde his līðe heafod.
 
The stars in the bright sky                              Þā steorran in beorhtum rodore
Looked down where he lay,                            Lōcodon niþer þǣr læġd hē,
The little Lord Jesus                                       Se lȳtla Iesus Dryhten
Asleep in the hay.                                           Swodraþ in þǣm hieġe.
 
The cattle are lowing,                                      Þā oxan hlōwaþ,
The baby awakes,                                           Se lȳtling aweċþ,
But little Lord Jesus                                        Ac lytel Iesus Dryhten
No crying he makes.                                       Nā wōp hē ne dēþ.
 
 I love Thee, Lord Jesus,                                 Iċ þē lufie, Iesus Dryhten
Look down from the sky                                 Lōcaþ niþer of rodore
 And stay by my side                                      And bītt be mīne sīde
‘til morning is nigh.                                        Oð morgen is neah.
 
Be near me, Lord Jesus,                                Bēo neah mē, Iesus Dryhten,
I ask Thee to stay                                          Iċ þē bidde wunian
Close by me forever,                                      Ġetenge mē ā on ēċnesse,
And love me, I pray.                                      And mē lufast, iċ ġebidde.
 
Bless all the dear children                             Bletsa eall þā lēofan ċild
In thy tender care,                                        In þīnum  hnescum  fæðme,
And take us to heaven,                                 And læde ūs tō heofone,
To live with Thee there.                                 Þǣr libban mid þē.
 

[David]

I have translated the first two verses of Joy to the World.
 
Joy to the World                                                    Wynn tō þǣre Worulde
 
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!                       Wynn tō þǣre worulde, se Drihten is cumen!
Let earth receive her king;                                     Eorðe āfō hiere cyning;
Let every heart prepare him room,                        Eall heorte him ġearwie rȳmet
And heav’n and nature sing,                                 And heofon singþ and middangeard,
And heav’n and nature sing,                                 And heofon singþ and middangeard,
And heav’n, and heaven, and nature sing.            And heofon, and heofon singþ and middangeard.
 
Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns!                     Wynn tō þǣre eorðe, se Hǣlend rīcsaþ!
Let men their songs employ;                                 Menn nēoten hiera sanga;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains       Þenden  æcras and flōdas, stānas and felda
Repeat the sounding joy,                                      Eftġiaþ þā swēġliċan wynne,   
Repeat the sounding joy,                                      Eftġiaþ þā swēġliċan wynne,                               
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.                         Eftgiaþ, eftġiap  þā swēġliċan wynne.                             
 

[Linden]

I think that what you are doing is great.  A couple of suggestions - by all means ignore them if I am interfering.

Perhaps 'dream' would suit the sense better than 'wyn'? 'Wyn' can be quite corporeal whereas 'dream' not only means 'joy' but also carries lots of musical implications.

 Also it might be an occasion to use 'ge' rather than 'and' as the conjunction; 'and' repeated so many times seems to me to get a bit more noticeable every time it reappears whereas 'ge' sort of blends in leaving the nouns more prominent?

[David]

Thanks for joining in Linden.
 
 
I take your point about the musical implications of “drēam” so that is probably better than “wynn”. Then I have always used “and” for and. I can see that it is getting repetitive here – almost as bad as the Anglo-Saxons tironian nota. I’ll change the odd “and” to a “ġe”.

[David]

I have now finished translating Joy to the World.
 
Joy to the World                                                    Drēam  tō þǣre Worulde
 
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!                      Drēam tō þǣre worulde, se Drihten is cumen!
Let earth receive her king;                                    Eorðe āfō hiere cyning;
Let every heart prepare him room,                        Eall heorte him ġearwie rȳmet
And heav’n and nature sing,                                 Ġe heofon singþ and middangeard,
And heav’n and nature sing,                                 Ġe heofon singþ and middangeard,
And heav’n, and heaven, and nature sing.            Ġe heofon, ġe heofon singþ and middangeard.
 
Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns!                    Drēam tō þǣre eorðe, se Hǣlend rīcsaþ!
Let men their songs employ;                                Menn nēoten hiera sanga;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains       Þenden  æcras and flōdas, stānas and felda
Repeat the sounding joy,                                      Eftġiaþ þone swēġliċan drēam,   
Repeat the sounding joy,                                      Eftġiaþ þone swēġliċan drēam,                           
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.                         Eftgiaþ, eftġiap  þone swēġliċan drēam.                         
 
No more let sins and sorrows grow,                      Nā mā synna weaxen and murcunga,
Nor thorns infest the ground;                               Nā þornas ymbhīpaþ þā folde:
He comes to make His blessings flow                    Hē cymþ tō dōnne His bletsung flōwan
Far as the curse is found,                                      Feorr swā sēo awiergung is funden,
Far as the curse is found,                                      Feorr swā sēo awiergung is funden,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.                          Feorr swā, feorr swā, sēo awiergung is funden.
 
He rules the world with truth and grace,               Hē rīcsaþ middanġeard mid sōðe and lisse,
And makes the nations prove                               And dōþ þā þēoda cȳðan
The glories of His righteousness,                          Þā tīras his rihtwīsesse,
And wonders of his love,                                      And wundra his lufe,
And wonders of his love,                                      And wundra his lufe,
And wonders, wonders, of his love.                     And wundra, wundra, his lufe.
 

[David]

This is the first two of the five verses of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
 
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel                        Lā Cym, Lā Cym, Emmanuel
 
O come, O come, Emmanuel,                        Lā cym, Lā cym, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,                            And ālīesaþ hæftne Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here                    Þe gnornaþ in annum wræc hēr
Until the Son of God appear.                         Oððæt se Goding ætīewe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel                          Blissiaþ! Blissiaþ! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Isreal.                        Cymþ tō þē, Lā Israel.
 
O come, Thou rod of Jesse, free                   Lā cym, Þū  stæf Iesses, ġefrēa
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;                  Þīn swǣsan men fram Satanes rīċetere;
From depths of hell thy people save,            Nere þīnne þēodscipe fram dēop helle,
And give them victory o’er the grave.           And ġief þǣm sigor ofer þǣre bygene.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel                         Blissiaþ! Blissiaþ! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Isreal.                       Cymþ tō þē, Lā Israel.
 

[David]

I have finished translating O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
 
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel                       Lā Cym, Lā Cym, Emmanuel
 
O come, O come, Emmanuel,                         Lā cym, Lā cym, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,                             And ālīesaþ hæftne Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here                      Þe gnornaþ in annum wræc hēr
Until the Son of God appear.                           Oððæt se Goding ætīewe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel                            Blissiaþ! Blissiaþ! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Isreal.                          Cymþ tō þē, Lā Israel.
 
O come, Thou rod of Jesse, free                      Lā cym, Þū  stæf Iesses, ġefrēa
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;                     Þīn swǣsan men fram Satanes rīċetere;
From depths of hell thy people save,               Nere þīnne þēodscipe fram dēop helle,
And give them victory o’er the grave.              And ġief þǣm sigor ofer þǣre bygene.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel                             Blissiaþ! Blissiaþ! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Isreal.                           Cymþ tō þē, Lā Israel.
 
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer   Lā cym, Þū  Dæġ-Wiell, cym and amyrge
Our spirits by Thine advent here;                    Ūra sāwla þurh þīne cyme hider;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night               Ūtdrif  þā mircan wolcnu nihte
And death’s dark shadows put to flight!          And deorca dēaðscūa flīeme! 
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel                            Blissiaþ! Blissiaþ! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Isreal.                           Cymþ tō þē, Lā Israel.
 
O come, Thou Key of David, come,                Lā cym, Þū Ċǣġ Dauides, cym,
And open wide our heavenly home;                And opena wide ūrne heofonlic hām;
Make safe the way that leads on high,            Befæste þone weġ þe lǣtt hēah,
And close the path to misery.                         And beclȳse þone pæð tō wēan.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel                            Blissiaþ! Blissiaþ! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Isreal.                          Cymþ tō þē, Lā Israel.
 
O come, Thou Lord of Might,                         Lā cym, Þū Drihten Mihte,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height                Þe tō Þīnum ġeðēodum on Hēahsinai
In ancient times didst give the law                 In ealddagum ġēafe ǣ
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.                    In wolcne, and mæġenðrymme, and eġe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel                           Blissiaþ! Blissiaþ! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Isreal.                          Cymþ tō þē, Lā Israel.