Paganistan: Notes from the Secret Commonwealth
In Which One Midwest Man-in-Black Confers, Converses & Otherwise Hob-Nobs with his Fellow Hob-Men (& -Women) Concerning the Sundry Ways of the Famed but Ill-Starred Tribe of Witches.
Fir Rune
Given its iconic centrality to the American celebration, it's always struck me as odd that the Yule tree has inspired so few carols. Off-handedly, I can think of only one, and that one is, shall we say... problematic.
William Sansome once remarked of O Tannenbaum that it's apparently impossible to make an English translation of this German children's song “that doesn't sound simple-minded.”
Listening to Alf Houkom's Rune of Hospitality the other day, it occurred to me that maybe we've been working in the wrong genre.
What follows is not a translation, but rather, let us say, a fantasia on O Tannenbaum. Nor do the words fit the tune, alas. For singing, I think I'll stick with the original German—for now, anyway. Somehow I just can't bring myself to sing a song that begins "O solstice tree...."
Maybe some things are just best left alone.
Fir Rune
Fir-tree, leaf-true
summer-green, winter-green
leaf-strong
Fir-tree, joy of men
winter-joy of women
Fir-tree, rune-master
rune of daring
rune of strength
rune of steadfastness
rune of hope
Fir-tree, leaf-true
summer-green, winter-green
leaf-strong
Fir-tree
Comments
-
Please login first in order for you to submit comments