Rolandskvadet in Old Frankish | The Skaldic Bard

This is my translation and performance of the famous Norwegian ballad Rolandskvadet (The Song of Roland) into the Frankish language; that is, a conservative form of Old East Franconian, which is one of several dialects that make up Old High German.

Roland was a Frankish military leader during the rule of Charlemagne, which is why a Frankish translation seemed like a reasonable idea. I have used attested words and constructions where possible in my translation, but have had to “Frankicise” other OHG dialects in places where Old East Franconian is not attested. I translated Ronsarvollen (Roncevaux) as Hruodtal, literally “Glory Valley”, as it doesn’t appear that the authentic name is attested in any old Germanic sources, and I felt the meaning/phonetic quality of Hruodtal fits the song pretty seamlessly.

Rolandskvadet is a popular Norwegian ballad based on the mediaeval French epic poem La Chanson de Roland. The ballad details the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778AD. I highly recommend checking out the original if you’re not familiar with it. I picked out some of my favourite stanzas and tried to keep the wording as similar to the original Norwegian as possible while roughly preserving the rhyme scheme, but it’s not a word-for-word translation.

I hope you enjoy the song. Please let me know what you think in a comment. Feel free to suggest a song you’d like me to make in the future too. I will be back to making original songs soon, I’m just working on a big collaboration at the moment which I think you guys will like. That said, the channel might be a bit quieter going forward, as I’ll be starting a new job soon.

Many thanks for your support as always! If you’d like to help me out, please like the video and subscribe. If you’d like to, you can also donate at https://buymeacoffee.com/theskaldicbard.

Lyrics:
Sehs minero chnehto heime sindun,
bihuotente dhaz gold.
Dhie andarun sehs in heidinim landun
irkiosant isarn kalt.

Sie ritant uz urankon guot chisatalote hrosa.
Tuo dhaz horn Oliuant singan in Hruodtale.

Huobun sie serihsegal uf,
in himila uuardh chihaban.
Sie farant in dhaz heidina land,
zuuem uuehhun uf mere sie uuarun.

Sie ritant uz urankon guot chisatalote hrosa.
Tuo dhaz horn Oliuant singan in Hruodtale.


Sie uuigun dhar in Hruodtale,
muode dhie man uuurdhun.
Dhanne ni liuhta sunna
bidhiu bluotuuolchan flugun.

Sie ritant uz urankon guot chisatalote hrosa.
Tuo dhaz horn Oliuant singan in Hruodtale.

Sie uuigun dhar in Hruodtale
zuuem odar dhrim tagun.
Heidine fialun fora Hruodlande
soso uueizi fora seigisnun.

Sie ritant uz urankon guot chisatalote hrosa.
Tuo dhaz horn Oliuant singan in Hruodtale.

Bluotchitrenchit Hruodland
in dhaz horn luto bleuu.
Dhanne erdha bibeda
fona chlance, dher steina hieuu.

Sie ritant uz urankon guot chisatalote hrosa.
Tuo dhaz horn Oliuant singan in Hruodtale.

Charl dher mihhilo uuidharquham
sie satun dhar bluotrote.
Ir bar dharot mihhilan scaahch,
ioh heidine man uuarun tote.

Sie ritant uz urankon guot chisatalote hrosa.
Tuo dhaz horn Oliuant singan in Hruodtale.


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