I'm trying to learn Lament for Theodred, a song in Old English, because Old English is delicious and because Tolkien. And to help remember lyrics in a language I don't speak, I try to at least get the gist of the grammatical structure. I wrote down that process. If anyone is interested, here are my reflections on this little ditty ;)
Lyric:
Bealocwealm hafað fréone frecan forth onsended giedd sculon singan gléomenn sorgiende on Meduselde thæt he má no wære his dryhtne dyrest and mága deorost.
(Insert geeking around oldenglishtranslator, which happens to be one of my fave websites, here. Lyric pages provide translation, but yI internalise it better if I do it myself...)
My attempt at retranslation:
A cruel death has sent the free warrior onwards. Sorrowful minstrels shall sing of him On Meduseld where he is no more, His king's most precious and dearest son.
Line by line:
Bealocwealm hafað fréone frecan forth onsended
Direct meaning: Death has free hero forth sent
Notes: Bealocwealm is violent death. Fréone means free man. Frecan means warrior or hero. The rest is pretty straightforward. Sentence structure: Subject has object verbed.
giedd sculon singan gléomenn sorgiende
Direct meaning: Song shall sing minstrels sorrowful
Notes: Giedd means song or lament. Gléomenn as in glede-menn - men who bring entertainment. The rest is straightforward. Sentence structure: Object shall verb subject adjective.
on Meduselde thæt he má no wære
Direct meaning: On Meduseld that he more not be
Notes: None, this one is fairly obvious. Sentene structure: I can't even describe this to myself, I'm not a linguist.
his dryhtne dyrest and mága deorost.
Direct meaning: His king most precious and kin dearest
Notes: Dyrest as in most precious, dearost as in dearest. Mága means son or descendant. The rest is practically Modern! Sentence structure: Subject's object(adjective?) and adjective object.
