Rökkurró - Svanur

[Portugapt 342]

 

Lyrics:

Íslenska

Hún sat ein við vatnið
Og söng til hans
Ljúfsára söngva
Uns hann birtist

Svanur svanur segðu mér
Hvert siglir þú er sólin fer?
Svanur svanur segðu mér
Hvert siglir þú er sólin fer?

Hvar sem hann skildi sín
En aldrei fékk hún svör
Lífið hinum megin
Ef þekkti betri heim

Svanur svanur gefðu mér
Frelsið til að fylgja þér
Og svanur svanur gefðu mér
Frelsið til að fylgja þér

 

http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/R%C3%B6kkurr%C3%B3:Svanur

 

English

Alone she¹sat by the lake²,

and sang to him³

bittersweet songs,

until he appeared.

 

Swan, swan, please tell me:

where to do you sail when the Sun goes?

Swan, swan, please tell me:

where to do you sail when the Sun goes?

 

Wherever he left all that belonged to him⁴;

she never got a response.

Life would have another side.⁵,

if she/he⁶knew a better world.

 

Swan, swan, please give me

the liberty to accompany you.

And swan, swan, please give me

the liberty to accompany you.

 

• 1“She” refers to a certain woman that often sits by the lake and sings songs to a swan.
• 2.vatn (definite form → vatnið) = (literally/alternatively) water
• 3.“Him”, “he” and all other male pronouns in this translation refer to the swan, and not to the lake.
• 4.literally: “Wherever he (the swan) left his”
• 5.literally/alternatively: “Life on the other side.”
• 6.This pronoun can refer to both the swan and the woman.

http://lyricstranslate.com/en/svanur-swan.html