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A community for the dragon language of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Guide to Translating Songs

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paarthurnax
Administrator
March 29, 2014

Translating songs into Dovahzul is something that’s commonly asked about, so I figured I’d put together a guide. It’s certainly a daunting task. There’s no magical secret to make it easy. Hopefully, though, some of the tips and suggestions here will help you on any song you wish to translate.

So often it’s tempting to do a literal translation word by word. This will most likely give you lyrics that don’t rhyme and don’t fit the rhythm. The silver lining to this is that it makes us consider different ways of phrasing the lyrics, which is ultimately a good thing because we want to write the lyrics in a way that will make sense in our target language (in our case, the ancient language of the dragons).

Below we’ll use “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen as an example.

Here’s an excerpt from the song’s opening stanzas:

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation,
And it looks like I’m the queen.

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I tried

Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well, now they know

Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door

I don’t care
What they’re going to say
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway

Before we go into the dragon language, let’s take a look at the song’s translation in a real-world language. How about German?

Der Schnee glänzt weiß auf dem Bergen heut Nacht,
keine Spuren sind zu sehen. 
Ein einsames Königreich, 
und ich bin die Königin.

Der Wind, er heult so wie der Sturm ganz tief in mir. 
Mich zu kontrollieren, ich hab' es versucht. 

Lass sie nicht rein! Lass sie nicht sehen 
Wie du bist. Nein! Das darf niemals geschehen. 
Du darfst nichts fühlen, zeig ihnen nicht
Dein wahres ich!

Ich lass los, lass jetzt los. 
Die Kraft sie ist grenzenlos. 
Ich lass los, lass jetzt los. 
Und ich schlag die Türen zu.

Es ist Zeit, nun bin ich bereit! 
Und ein Sturm zieht auf. 
Die Kälte, sie ist nun ein Teil von mir.

Here’s a literal translation I’ve made of these lyrics:

The snow shines white on the mountains tonight
Not a trace to be seen.
A lonely kingdom
And I am the queen.

The wind, it howls like the storm completely deep inside me. 
To control myself, I have tried.

Don’t let them in! Don’t let them see
How you are. No! This must never happen. 
You must not feel, don’t show them
Your true self!

I’m letting go, letting go now
This power, it is boundless.
I’m letting go, letting go now
And I’m blowing the door shut.

It is time, now I’m ready!
And a storm is coming.
The cold, it is now a part of me.

I’m far from fluent in German, so apologies for any mistakes! Hopefully the idea gets across all the same. Compare these lyrics to the original – you’ll notice there are some places where they’re fairly close, and others where they’re quite different! When translating, you'll need to find new ways to phrase the lyrics in order to keep rhyme and rhythm.

by paarthurnax
March 29, 2014

Translating songs into Dovahzul is something that’s commonly asked about, so I figured I’d put together a guide. It’s certainly a daunting task. There’s no magical secret to make it easy. Hopefully, though, some of the tips and suggestions here will help you on any song you wish to translate.

So often it’s tempting to do a literal translation word by word. This will most likely give you lyrics that don’t rhyme and don’t fit the rhythm. The silver lining to this is that it makes us consider different ways of phrasing the lyrics, which is ultimately a good thing because we want to write the lyrics in a way that will make sense in our target language (in our case, the ancient language of the dragons).

Below we’ll use “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen as an example.

Here’s an excerpt from the song’s opening stanzas:

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation,
And it looks like I’m the queen.

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I tried

Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well, now they know

Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door

I don’t care
What they’re going to say
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway

Before we go into the dragon language, let’s take a look at the song’s translation in a real-world language. How about German?

Der Schnee glänzt weiß auf dem Bergen heut Nacht,
keine Spuren sind zu sehen. 
Ein einsames Königreich, 
und ich bin die Königin.

Der Wind, er heult so wie der Sturm ganz tief in mir. 
Mich zu kontrollieren, ich hab' es versucht. 

Lass sie nicht rein! Lass sie nicht sehen 
Wie du bist. Nein! Das darf niemals geschehen. 
Du darfst nichts fühlen, zeig ihnen nicht
Dein wahres ich!

Ich lass los, lass jetzt los. 
Die Kraft sie ist grenzenlos. 
Ich lass los, lass jetzt los. 
Und ich schlag die Türen zu.

Es ist Zeit, nun bin ich bereit! 
Und ein Sturm zieht auf. 
Die Kälte, sie ist nun ein Teil von mir.

Here’s a literal translation I’ve made of these lyrics:

The snow shines white on the mountains tonight
Not a trace to be seen.
A lonely kingdom
And I am the queen.

The wind, it howls like the storm completely deep inside me. 
To control myself, I have tried.

Don’t let them in! Don’t let them see
How you are. No! This must never happen. 
You must not feel, don’t show them
Your true self!

I’m letting go, letting go now
This power, it is boundless.
I’m letting go, letting go now
And I’m blowing the door shut.

It is time, now I’m ready!
And a storm is coming.
The cold, it is now a part of me.

I’m far from fluent in German, so apologies for any mistakes! Hopefully the idea gets across all the same. Compare these lyrics to the original – you’ll notice there are some places where they’re fairly close, and others where they’re quite different! When translating, you'll need to find new ways to phrase the lyrics in order to keep rhyme and rhythm.


paarthurnax
Administrator
March 29, 2014

Now to the topic at hand – translating into Dovahzul. We’ll go one stanza at a time with the English lyrics, Dovahzul translation, and then the literal translation of the Dovahzul. I gave myself the extra challenge of using canon words only. This makes things all the more interesting as there’s no canon word for “let” or “go”. Let’s see how my translation turned out!

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation,
And it looks like I’m the queen.

Od viin kinzon nau strunmah vulon
Nii malhaan, vohaalvut
Aan junaar pah naal nimaar
Kolos zu’u aal kos jud

The snow shines sharply on the the mountain tonight
It is still, untouched
A kingdom all by itself
In which I might be queen.

We get some nice internal rhyming with kinzon and vulon as well as junaar and nimaar, and kolos and kos. Finding a rhyme for jud was a challenge, so that shaped the second line to use vohaalvut. Other options were gut (far) and horvut (lure).

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I tried

Fin ven dreh rein med daar rahgol strun kosill
Nis dein nii ko, unt voth pah sil

The wind does roar like this raging storm within.
Can’t keep it in, I tried with all my soul.

The lack of a word for “inside” led me to look for a synonym in kosill (inner, within). Unt (try) doesn’t rhyme with kosill, so I changed the phrasing to use sil (soul) while keeping unt and eliminating the English idiom “heaven knows”.

Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well, now they know

Nust fent ni ko kolos zii los
Kos fin kul mon zu’u alun lost wah kos
Dwiin ahrk diin, nust nis mindok
Nust mindok

They shall not (come) in where my spirit is.
Be the good daughter you ever have to be.
Steel and freeze, they cannot know.
They know.

This was one of the more difficult stanzas, without words for “let”, “conceal”, or “feel”. Ultimately the first line relies a lot on metaphor and context to get across “Don’t let them see who you are”. We can get a nice literal translation of the second line. “Steel and freeze” is used to mean “steel yourself against the world”, “freeze” meaning along the lines of turning a cold shoulder.

And now, to the chorus:

Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door

Wah fin lok, wah fin lok
Zu’u staadnau orin kiin
Wah fin lok, wah fin lok
Luft nol nust ahrk meyz wah viing

To the sky, to the sky!
I am unbound, fully born.
To the sky, to the sky!
Face from them and come to wing!

“To the sky” and “come to wing” are used here as expressions of freedom. It also lets us keep the rhyme of “Now they know/Let it go” in “Nust mindok/Wah fin lok”.

I don’t care
What they’re going to say
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway

Zu’u hah ni
Fos los nau hahdrim
Aal fin strun rahgol
Krah neh lost faaz nunon lost alun brii

I don’t mind
What is on their minds
May the storm rage
The cold never was pain, it only was ever beauty.

The last line was definitely a challenge without words for “bother” or “me”. I decided to use brii as the rhyme for hahdrim (and ni), and structured the rest of the line around it.

Of course this is only half of the song, but I hope it serves as an example for how to approach translating. If you’d like to try, comment below with possible lyrics for the second half.

TL;DR Be willing to let go of a literal translation. Pick a pair of rhyming words and see what lines you can build around them.

by paarthurnax
March 29, 2014

Now to the topic at hand – translating into Dovahzul. We’ll go one stanza at a time with the English lyrics, Dovahzul translation, and then the literal translation of the Dovahzul. I gave myself the extra challenge of using canon words only. This makes things all the more interesting as there’s no canon word for “let” or “go”. Let’s see how my translation turned out!

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation,
And it looks like I’m the queen.

Od viin kinzon nau strunmah vulon
Nii malhaan, vohaalvut
Aan junaar pah naal nimaar
Kolos zu’u aal kos jud

The snow shines sharply on the the mountain tonight
It is still, untouched
A kingdom all by itself
In which I might be queen.

We get some nice internal rhyming with kinzon and vulon as well as junaar and nimaar, and kolos and kos. Finding a rhyme for jud was a challenge, so that shaped the second line to use vohaalvut. Other options were gut (far) and horvut (lure).

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I tried

Fin ven dreh rein med daar rahgol strun kosill
Nis dein nii ko, unt voth pah sil

The wind does roar like this raging storm within.
Can’t keep it in, I tried with all my soul.

The lack of a word for “inside” led me to look for a synonym in kosill (inner, within). Unt (try) doesn’t rhyme with kosill, so I changed the phrasing to use sil (soul) while keeping unt and eliminating the English idiom “heaven knows”.

Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well, now they know

Nust fent ni ko kolos zii los
Kos fin kul mon zu’u alun lost wah kos
Dwiin ahrk diin, nust nis mindok
Nust mindok

They shall not (come) in where my spirit is.
Be the good daughter you ever have to be.
Steel and freeze, they cannot know.
They know.

This was one of the more difficult stanzas, without words for “let”, “conceal”, or “feel”. Ultimately the first line relies a lot on metaphor and context to get across “Don’t let them see who you are”. We can get a nice literal translation of the second line. “Steel and freeze” is used to mean “steel yourself against the world”, “freeze” meaning along the lines of turning a cold shoulder.

And now, to the chorus:

Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door

Wah fin lok, wah fin lok
Zu’u staadnau orin kiin
Wah fin lok, wah fin lok
Luft nol nust ahrk meyz wah viing

To the sky, to the sky!
I am unbound, fully born.
To the sky, to the sky!
Face from them and come to wing!

“To the sky” and “come to wing” are used here as expressions of freedom. It also lets us keep the rhyme of “Now they know/Let it go” in “Nust mindok/Wah fin lok”.

I don’t care
What they’re going to say
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway

Zu’u hah ni
Fos los nau hahdrim
Aal fin strun rahgol
Krah neh lost faaz nunon lost alun brii

I don’t mind
What is on their minds
May the storm rage
The cold never was pain, it only was ever beauty.

The last line was definitely a challenge without words for “bother” or “me”. I decided to use brii as the rhyme for hahdrim (and ni), and structured the rest of the line around it.

Of course this is only half of the song, but I hope it serves as an example for how to approach translating. If you’d like to try, comment below with possible lyrics for the second half.

TL;DR Be willing to let go of a literal translation. Pick a pair of rhyming words and see what lines you can build around them.


Loniizrath
July 25, 2014

Full song, canon only, with English translation:

 

Od viin kinzon nau strunmah vulon,

Nii malhaan, vohaalvut.

Aan junaar pah naal nimaar,

Kolos zu’u aal kos jud.

 

Fin ven dreh rein med daar rahgol strun kosill,

Nis dein nii ko, unt voth pah sil.

 

Nust fent ni ko kolos zii los,

Kos fin kul mon zu’u alun lost wah kos,

Dwiin ahrk diin, nust nis mindok,

Nust mindok.

 

Wah fin lok!

Wah fin lok !

Zu’u staadnau orin kiin!

Wah fin lok!

Wah fin lok !

Luft nol nust ahrk meyz wah viing!

 

Zu’u hah ni,

Fos los nau hahdrim,

Aal fin strun rahgol,

Krah neh lost faaz nunon lost alun brii!

 

Nii los lot tol daar strunmah,

Fus pah wah kos ful pus,

Ahrk faas tol drey horvutah zey,

Nis alun wahl zey aus.

 

Zu'u laan mindok suleyk bolaav,

Daar kosil lah zu'u fent koraav.

Kul ahrk vokul, nust los sizaan,

Nust oblaan!

 

Wah fin lok!

Wah fin lok!

Zu'u lost kiin nol zul do gramme.

Wah fin lok!

Wah fin lok!

Zu'u lost bex dii miinne!

Het Zu'u los, ahrk het Zu'u kriist!

Aal fin strun rahgol…

 

Dii od alok ahrk mah nol fin lok wah fin su.

Dii sil fundein med aan kest do iiz zeim fin strun voth fus.

Ahrk dii hah wahl nii lot hahnu voth fo ahrk iiz.

Zu'u nis daal wah tol laas, Zu'u los stin nol tol tiid.

 

Wah fin lok!

Wah fin lok!

Zu'u fen alok med kren do vu!

Wah fin lok!

Wah fin lok!

Pah fin krah dwiin lost funt!

Het Zu'u kriist, Zu'u los onikiv!

Aal fin strun rahgol!

Krah neh lost faaz nunon lost alun brii.

 

 

The snow shines sharply on the the mountain tonight,

It is still, untouched.

A kingdom all by itself,

In which I might be queen.

                          

The wind does roar like this raging storm within,

Can’t keep it in, I tried with all my soul.

 

They shall not (come) in where my spirit is,

Be the good daughter you ever have to be.

Steel and freeze, they cannot know.

They know.

 

To the sky, to the sky!

I am unbound, fully born!

To the sky, to the sky!

Face from them and come to wing!

 

I don’t mind,

What is on their minds,

May the storm rage.

The cold never was pain, it only was ever beauty.

 

It is great that this mountain,

Forces all to be so small,

And the fear that did trap me,

Cannot ever make me suffer.

 

I want to know the power granted (to me),

The inner magic I shall see.

Good and evil, they are lost,

They end!

 

To the sky!

To the sky!

I was born from the voice of clouds!

To the sky!

To the sky!

I’ve opened my eyes!

Here I am, and here I stand!

May the storm rage…

 

My snow rises and falls from the sky to the air.

My soul unfurls like a tempest of ice through the storm with force.

And my mind builds its greatest dream with frost and ice.

I can’t return to my old life, I am free from that time.

 

To the sky!

To the sky!

I will arise like the break of dawn!

To the sky!

To the sky!

All the cold steel has failed!

Here I stand, I am enlightened!

May the storm rage!

The cold was never pain, it was only ever beauty.

 

 

Let me know what you think. I hope it was worth two days without sleep.

by Loniizrath
July 25, 2014

Full song, canon only, with English translation:

 

Od viin kinzon nau strunmah vulon,

Nii malhaan, vohaalvut.

Aan junaar pah naal nimaar,

Kolos zu’u aal kos jud.

 

Fin ven dreh rein med daar rahgol strun kosill,

Nis dein nii ko, unt voth pah sil.

 

Nust fent ni ko kolos zii los,

Kos fin kul mon zu’u alun lost wah kos,

Dwiin ahrk diin, nust nis mindok,

Nust mindok.

 

Wah fin lok!

Wah fin lok !

Zu’u staadnau orin kiin!

Wah fin lok!

Wah fin lok !

Luft nol nust ahrk meyz wah viing!

 

Zu’u hah ni,

Fos los nau hahdrim,

Aal fin strun rahgol,

Krah neh lost faaz nunon lost alun brii!

 

Nii los lot tol daar strunmah,

Fus pah wah kos ful pus,

Ahrk faas tol drey horvutah zey,

Nis alun wahl zey aus.

 

Zu'u laan mindok suleyk bolaav,

Daar kosil lah zu'u fent koraav.

Kul ahrk vokul, nust los sizaan,

Nust oblaan!

 

Wah fin lok!

Wah fin lok!

Zu'u lost kiin nol zul do gramme.

Wah fin lok!

Wah fin lok!

Zu'u lost bex dii miinne!

Het Zu'u los, ahrk het Zu'u kriist!

Aal fin strun rahgol…

 

Dii od alok ahrk mah nol fin lok wah fin su.

Dii sil fundein med aan kest do iiz zeim fin strun voth fus.

Ahrk dii hah wahl nii lot hahnu voth fo ahrk iiz.

Zu'u nis daal wah tol laas, Zu'u los stin nol tol tiid.

 

Wah fin lok!

Wah fin lok!

Zu'u fen alok med kren do vu!

Wah fin lok!

Wah fin lok!

Pah fin krah dwiin lost funt!

Het Zu'u kriist, Zu'u los onikiv!

Aal fin strun rahgol!

Krah neh lost faaz nunon lost alun brii.

 

 

The snow shines sharply on the the mountain tonight,

It is still, untouched.

A kingdom all by itself,

In which I might be queen.

                          

The wind does roar like this raging storm within,

Can’t keep it in, I tried with all my soul.

 

They shall not (come) in where my spirit is,

Be the good daughter you ever have to be.

Steel and freeze, they cannot know.

They know.

 

To the sky, to the sky!

I am unbound, fully born!

To the sky, to the sky!

Face from them and come to wing!

 

I don’t mind,

What is on their minds,

May the storm rage.

The cold never was pain, it only was ever beauty.

 

It is great that this mountain,

Forces all to be so small,

And the fear that did trap me,

Cannot ever make me suffer.

 

I want to know the power granted (to me),

The inner magic I shall see.

Good and evil, they are lost,

They end!

 

To the sky!

To the sky!

I was born from the voice of clouds!

To the sky!

To the sky!

I’ve opened my eyes!

Here I am, and here I stand!

May the storm rage…

 

My snow rises and falls from the sky to the air.

My soul unfurls like a tempest of ice through the storm with force.

And my mind builds its greatest dream with frost and ice.

I can’t return to my old life, I am free from that time.

 

To the sky!

To the sky!

I will arise like the break of dawn!

To the sky!

To the sky!

All the cold steel has failed!

Here I stand, I am enlightened!

May the storm rage!

The cold was never pain, it was only ever beauty.

 

 

Let me know what you think. I hope it was worth two days without sleep.


Foduiiz
July 25, 2014
Toxikyle

Full song, canon only, with English translation:

Let me know what you think. I hope it was worth two days without sleep.

Could you format it so it's in a block quote? That way the it doesn't take up half the page because there are no line breaks.

by Foduiiz
July 25, 2014
Toxikyle

Full song, canon only, with English translation:

Let me know what you think. I hope it was worth two days without sleep.

Could you format it so it's in a block quote? That way the it doesn't take up half the page because there are no line breaks.


Loniizrath
July 25, 2014
Foduiiz
Toxikyle

Full song, canon only, with English translation:

Let me know what you think. I hope it was worth two days without sleep.

Could you format it so it's in a block quote? That way the it doesn't take up half the page because there are no line breaks.

Okay, done.

by Loniizrath
July 25, 2014
Foduiiz
Toxikyle

Full song, canon only, with English translation:

Let me know what you think. I hope it was worth two days without sleep.

Could you format it so it's in a block quote? That way the it doesn't take up half the page because there are no line breaks.

Okay, done.


paarthurnax
Administrator
July 25, 2014

Nice job, Toxikyle! I translated the rest of the song too but somehow forgot to post it here. Feel free to compare.

by paarthurnax
July 25, 2014

Nice job, Toxikyle! I translated the rest of the song too but somehow forgot to post it here. Feel free to compare.


Loniizrath
July 25, 2014

Any areas you think I could have done better? I listened to the French version of the song first to determine what needed to stay more or less the same, and what could be easily modified.

by Loniizrath
July 25, 2014

Any areas you think I could have done better? I listened to the French version of the song first to determine what needed to stay more or less the same, and what could be easily modified.


paarthurnax
Administrator
July 25, 2014

You did great! I think you did the bridge right before the last chorus much better than I did. My only remark would be these two lines:

I want to know all (of) my magic,

Give blessing and unleash my wrath,

I'm not sure "wrath" fits the character of the song, but that's a pretty minor nitpick.

by paarthurnax
July 25, 2014

You did great! I think you did the bridge right before the last chorus much better than I did. My only remark would be these two lines:

I want to know all (of) my magic,

Give blessing and unleash my wrath,

I'm not sure "wrath" fits the character of the song, but that's a pretty minor nitpick.


Loniizrath
July 25, 2014
paarthurnax

You did great! I think you did the bridge right before the last chorus much better than I did. My only remark would be these two lines:

I want to know all (of) my magic,

Give blessing and unleash my wrath,

I'm not sure "wrath" fits the character of the song, but that's a pretty minor nitpick.

I thought the same thing, but how many other fitting words rhyme with "lah?"

by Loniizrath
July 25, 2014
paarthurnax

You did great! I think you did the bridge right before the last chorus much better than I did. My only remark would be these two lines:

I want to know all (of) my magic,

Give blessing and unleash my wrath,

I'm not sure "wrath" fits the character of the song, but that's a pretty minor nitpick.

I thought the same thing, but how many other fitting words rhyme with "lah?"


Loniizrath
July 25, 2014

Plus, Elsa made this:

You can't look at that and tell me she doesn't feel a tad malevolent sometimes.

by Loniizrath
July 25, 2014

Plus, Elsa made this:

You can't look at that and tell me she doesn't feel a tad malevolent sometimes.


Foduiiz
July 25, 2014
Toxikyle

Okay, done.

That doesn't seem to have helped. Regardless, good job with that!

by Foduiiz
July 25, 2014
Toxikyle

Okay, done.

That doesn't seem to have helped. Regardless, good job with that!


Loniizrath
July 26, 2014

I fixed the two problem lines. Thanks paarth!

by Loniizrath
July 26, 2014

I fixed the two problem lines. Thanks paarth!


VolburGrohiik
January 15, 2015

Spectacular work, everyone!

GREAT SONGS!

by VolburGrohiik
January 15, 2015

Spectacular work, everyone!

GREAT SONGS!


BoDuSil
January 16, 2015

Wow.

by BoDuSil
January 16, 2015

Wow.

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