3 ms·
I would translate the the beginning of the first poem in Kalevala as like this. My mind wants, my brain thinks, to go singing, to go saying, to spout the fam
by nabla9 4y ago
I would translate the the beginning of the first poem in Kalevala as like this.
My mind wants, my brain thinks,
to go singing, to go saying,
to spout the family hymn, to sing song of my species.
Words are melting in my mouth, speech is falling out,
emerging in my tongue, busting up against my teeth.
(I think the Kalevala Melody and singing could make a good rap)
- giva 4y agoAmorphis wrote some songs/albums allegedly based on the Kalevala
- soundnote 4y agoYes, one of their songs is literally called "The First Poem" (or the First Rune, maybe, which is an oft used and awful translation, IMO. In modern Finnish, "rune" very firmly means ᛋᛏᚢᚠᚠ᛬ᛚᛁᚲᛖ᛬ᚦᛁᛋ)
- Sharlin 4y agoThis is of course (understandably) missing the alliterative phrasing that’s present on almost every line and is a major ingredient of the Kalevala poetic form. MIeleni MInun tekevi AIvoni AJattelevi LÄhteäni LAulamahan SA’ani SAnelemahan and so on.
- vintermann 4y agoI use to joke that all the Finnish I know I learned from reading product labels. Here in Scandinavia, for a lot of convenience store products they don't bother making different boxes for each country, so there's a "Nyhet! Nyhed! Uusi!" breakfast cereal from Nestlé containing "Havre/Havre/Kaura" etc. And of course "Ei saa peittää" (do not cover!) and "Ei lapsille alle 3 vuoden" (not for children under 3 years). But these words are familiar, and they're not from product labels! Turns out I heard them in a Rajaton song ("Nouse Lauluni"). I should have guessed it was from Kalevala!
- Sharlin 4y agoHee, yeah, Rajaton samples a lot from Kalevala, its "sister work" Kanteletar [1], and from Finnish folk poetry in general. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanteletar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanteletar