Icelandic hymn for Now (800 years old)

Subject: Icelandic hymn for Now (800 years old)
From: rich-joy
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 11:13 PM

Heyr himna smiður | Hear, Heavenly Creator (An Icelandic Hymn)

Icelandic poem composed in 1208, set to music, c.1973

English translation :

Listen, smith of the heavens, what the poet asks.
May softly come unto me your mercy.
So I call on thee, for you have created me.
I am thy servant, you are my Lord.

God, I call on thee to heal me.
Remember me, mild one, Most we need thee.
Drive out, O king of suns, generous and great,
every human sorrow from the city of the heart.

Watch over me, mild one, Most we need thee,
truly every moment in the world of men.
send us, son of the virgin, good causes,
all aid is from thee, in my heart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob-70Hh4VVQ


Just beautiful.

Subject: RE: Icelandic hymn for Now (800 years old)
From: Helen
Date: 07 Apr 20 - 02:41 AM

Beautiful! It reminds me of Hildegard von Bingen's music.

Subject: RE: Icelandic hymn for Now (800 years old)
From: rich-joy
Date: 10 Apr 20 - 12:42 AM

refresh!

Subject: RE: Icelandic hymn for Now (800 years old)
From: leeneia
Date: 10 Apr 20 - 11:24 AM

(What happened to my post?)

At first glance I thought the title very foreign, but now I see the similarities to English.

Heyr - hear
himna - hymn
smiður - smith

The letter that looks like a D is a form of th.

Thanks for posting. I'm interested in Iceland, and I've been there three times.

Subject: RE: Icelandic hymn for Now (800 years old)
From: leeneia
Date: 10 Apr 20 - 12:14 PM

Well, rich-joy, I hope you won't be offended when I say that the translation above is not polished. When I read "may softly come unto me thy mercy", I can hear my German teacher give the tsk tsk she would give when an indifferent student translated German word-for-word into awkward English.

Another thing: if you are going to call Jesus Thou in the first verse, then you should use Thou and Thee all the time, not waffle between Thou and You.

I liked the medieval way of calling the Creator a smith, so I changed a few words to keep the smith image going.   
I am thinking of writing a new melody for it so I don't have to worry about a possible 1973 copyright. I will probably make a few more changes to make the rhythm better.

Subject: RE: Icelandic hymn for Now (800 years old)
From: leeneia
Date: 10 Apr 20 - 12:17 PM

Listen, smith of the heavens,
hear the poet's prayer.
May your mercy come gently unto me.
I call on thee, for thou hast wrought me.
I am thy servant; thou art my Lord.

God, I call on thee to mend us.
Remember us, mild one; much we need thee.
Hammer away, O king of suns, powerful and good,
every human sorrow that dwells within the heart.

Watch over me, mild one, much I need thee
truly every moment in this mortal realm.
Son of the Virgin, send us worthy aims,
for I know in my heart all virtue comes from thee.

Subject: RE: Icelandic hymn for Now (800 years old)
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Apr 20 - 06:21 PM

I am not offended Leeneia; the translation came from the YT page that I linked to :)

Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: Icelandic hymn for Now (800 years old)
From: GUEST,Pete from seven stars link
Date: 13 Apr 20 - 03:12 PM

Lovely price of music