1. |
||||
|
Pohjan Neien Kuolo
Jälkeen aamu-usmien
järvi hopeoituu,
päivätönnä päilyen
koreaksi koituu.
Sadekuurot kulkevat
kaukaa siellä täällä,
käy kuin aallon unelmat
virit vetten päällä.
Kuvastelee koivu, kuus,
rannan viita viilee,
kummallinen hiljaisuus
syvyydessä piilee.
Se musta lintu lens puusta puuhun,
lens Imatran rannoilta Ruijan suuhun.
Näin saapui murhe matkallaan
myös Tieran mökkihin matalaan.
Hän istui saunansa kynnyksellä
ja kannel polvilla helisi hellä.
Kun kukkui kuusessa lintu kumma:
Jo Pohjan neien vei Tuoni tumma.
Niin värähti oudosti vanhan mieli,
niin kajahti kummasti kannelkieli.
"On suurten sulhojen aika poissa,
on laulu kuollut ja murhe koissa.
On aika laata laulamasta.
Jo katosi kauneus Kalevalasta.
Hän paistoi päivänä talvi-öissä,
hän kuulti kullassa, kirjovöissä.
Hän tuoksui tuomena tanhualla
ja urhot leikki sen lehvän alla.
Hän kukki kumpuna Suomen suossa,
hän lauloi koskena laakson vuossa.
Nyt syys on maassa ja sydämissä
ja kansa kaipion kyynelissä.
On suurten sulhojen aika poissa,
on laulu kuollut ja murhe koissa.”
Murtuvin äänin laulaen
naulahan hän ripusti kanteleen.
Kuusi huokas, humisi tuomi:
Nyt Pohjan neitoo surevi Suomi.
The Death of the Lady of the North
After the morning fog
the lake turns silver,
glittering without the Sun
it becomes beautiful.
Showers of rain travel
from far away, here and there,
like the dreams of the waves
ripples play above the water.
The birch and the spruce mirrors,
the chill thicket at the shore,
an odd silence
hides in the depths.
The dark bird flew from tree to tree,
it flew from the shores of Imatra to the mouth of Ruija.
Thus arrived sorrow
also to the low cabin of Tiera.
He sat at the doorstep of his sauna
and the tender kantele chimed on his knees.
An odd bird cuckooed in the spruce:
The dark Tuoni has already taken the lady of the North.
So trembled the mind of the old man,
so oddly chimed the string of the kantele.
"The time of the great lovers is gone,
the song is dead; it's time of sorrow.
It's time to stop singing.
Beauty has disappeared from Kalevala.
She shone as the Sun in the winter nights,
she glittered in gold and in embroidered belts.
She was the smell of the bird cherry trees in the stockyard
and heroes played under its branches.
She was the flowering mound in the swamp of Finland,
her singing was the rapid streams in the valleys.
Now autumn has fallen on the ground and in the hearts
and the nation is in the tears of longing.
The time of the great lovers is gone,
the song is dead; it's time of sorrow.”
With a crumbling voice he sang
and hung the kantele on the wall.
The spruce sighed, the bird cherry tree hummed:
Now Finland mourns the lady of the North.
Lyrics from poems "Pilvinen päivä" (1915) and "Pohjan neien kuolo" (1897)
by Eino Leino, translated and slightly altered by Zannibal
|
||||
2. |
Ojgo Sem (A Sad Melody)
07:37
|
|||
|
Ojgo Sem
(A Sad Melody)
Wordeć kotšo šorõkšo
wüta opsaden lomõžeš,
maskadeć kotšo uškalže
kapka döran lomõžeš,
wordeć kotšo imńõže
ozažõm ońd'źalõn šińd'źaleš,
awatteć kotšo ćomaže
uremõšte kudalõšt šińd'źaleš.
Marij deć kotšo orjenže
čarlaš ońd'źen šorteš
This is a folk song from Mari El, depicting a scene in which a thief
or a bear has visited a homestead. However, the thief/bear was
not interested in the sheep, the cow or the horse. Instead, a weeping
bride is watching as his husband walking away. The thief/bear is
a metaphor for the government who has recruited the husband
to fight in yet another useless war. Colonization and men being
used as cannon-fodder is something all Finno-Ugric nations have
plenty of experience with.
One very unique aspect of the Mari culture is the fact that their
shamanic-animist pagan beliefs have survived to this day and a
significant part of the Mari population follow the pagan religion
instead of Christian Orthodoxy. Every village in Mari El has a holy
grove, which called küsoto in the Mari language.
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
Kalmalauvat Šelkäh
(Corpse-Boards on Your Back)
Mieš lähtöy pöpön ajoh-
kalmalauvat šelkäh;
mieš lähtöy kašen ajoh-
kalmalauvat šelkäh.
Naińi tulou vatšan kera-
kalmalauvat šelkäh.
A Karelian proverb/poem about the dangers of life.
In this proverb they're telling a man going for a bear
hunt to wear a "corpse-board" on his back. Another man
is going farming using the "slash-and-burn" technique
and again he's reminded to wear a "corpse-board" on his
back. This proverb also adds a line about a woman becoming
pregnant and telling her, too, to wear corpse-board on her back.
A corpse-board refers to a plank of wood on top of which a
corpse would lay during funeral rituals.
Karelians are people from east-Finland and west-Russia.
The owner of Karelia has changed several times in history,
the latest big change being in 1946 when most of Karelia
was taken by Russia. Finland did, however, evacuate some
420 000 people from Karelia. Due to the extreme similarities
in language (the text above is almost entirely intelligible to any
Finn) and being spread all around the country the language
has almost entirely disappeared. On Russian side of Karelia,
only around 5.5% (around 26 000 people) of the population
are Karelians.
The name "Karelia" comes from the Karelian and Finnish word
"Karjala". The "-la" ending usually refers to a place while "karja"
means "livestock". However, an earlier use of "karja" has been referring
to a group of people, usually warriors. Therefore the name could mean
something like "the place where the warriors live".
Lyrics trad., recorded from Maura Marttinen by I. Marttinen in 1911
Source: The Great Bear, Lauri Honko, 1993.
|
||||
4. |
||||
|
Mi-Ke No Kuwom
(When We Are Dead)
Mi-ke no kuwom, duńńe kil'oz,
mi vywe bad'-pu džužawos.
So bad'-pu d'ywad kikijed śil'oz,
köt džožo murtjos bördozy
A short Udmurt poem/song about death. The text
says that once we are dead the world will remain
but a tree will grow over us and on top of the tree
there's a cuckoo (a symbol for grief but also
a "soul-bird" in Udmurt traditions) calling. At the end
of the text it mentions heavy hearts cry out their sorrows.
Udmurts are people from the Udmurtia republic in Russia.
The name Udmurt means "Meadow People". They have a pretty
eventful history with the Volga Bulgars, the Golden Horde
and every iteration of Russia but despite all of this, the Udmurt
population is still almost 400 000.
The symbol in the flag (and the cover of this album) represents
a Sun/(morning-)star/full moon. In Udmurtia it represents the Moon.
Lyrics trad., recorded from an anonymous person by Y. Wichmann in 1891-92
Source: The Great Bear, Lauri Honko, 1993.
|
||||
5. |
||||
|
Syysmetsässä
Oi loistoa syksyn metsän! Oi kirkasta voimaa sen!
Ylt’ympäri ruskeat rungot läpi havujen vihreyden,
märät, kiiltävät lehdet mullassa ja kostea sammalmaa,
– en mitään maailmassa voi siten rakastaa.
Joka ainoan lehden kauneus koskee sydämeen,
joka mättään väriin silmäni jää kuin uuteen syvyyteen.
Tätä tuoksua syksyn mullan! Ei ole sen vahvempaa.
Läpi kaiken se tunkeutuu ja kaiken puhdistaa.
Kaatunut koivu tuolla, sylissä kanervain
nyt makaa oksain autuain.
Mikä raju ja mahtava riemu! Maan multaa väkevää
ja taivaan tuulta juoda ja hengittää.
Oi miks' en näin saa kuolla! En tahtoisi elämää.
Se on synkkä ja vieras valta, se tahraa ja himmentää.
Mihin paeta voisin? Se on kantava minutkin pois,
kuin sinuun, kostea metsä, en koskaan vaipunut ois –
Pidä minusta kiinni! Älä päästä luotasi mua!
Vain sinussa sieluni kasvaa voi, vain sinulle antautua.
En koskaan ketään muuta tahdo rakastaa,
senjälkeen, kun sinua suutelin, syksyn ruskea maa.
In the Autumn Forest
Oh, the brightness of the autumn forest! Oh, its shining power!
The brown tree trunks through the greenness of the pines,
the wet, shining leaves on the soil and the damp mossy ground,
- there's nothing in this world I can love as much.
The beauty of every single leaf makes my heart ache,
my eye is caught in the color of every tussock like in some new kind of depth.
The smell of the autumn soil! There's nothing more powerful than it.
It penetrates through and cleans everything.
A fallen birch tree over there, on the lap of a heather,
lies down with its blissful branches.
What a fierce and glorious joy! To drink and breathe in
the powerful soil of the earth and the winds of the sky.
Oh, why can't I die like this? I don't want life.
It's a dark and foreign power, it stains and dims your light.
How can I escape? It will carry me, too, away,
as if I never sunk into you, wet forest -
Hold on to me! Don't let me go!
Only in you my soul can grow, only to you it can surrender to.
I never want to love anyone else
after I kissed you, brown autumn ground.
Lyrics from the poem "Syysmetsässä" by Saima Harmaja, 1932,
slightly altered by Zannibal
|
||||
6. |
||||
|
Kus Pääva Iedõ Magub
(Where the Sun Sleeps at Nights)
Mina tiedub, bet äb kiit
kus pääva iedõ magub:
tiva mier sidamõs
sangdõ kuuzõ tutkamõs.
The title of the song is from an old Livonian herdsman's poem/song
about sunset. The narrator of the poem says they know where the Sun
sleeps but won't tell it. The answer is hinted to be somewhere deep in
the sea or at the top of a tall spruce tree.
Livonian language is critically endangered as the last known native speaker
died in 2013. However, a couple Livonian language revival activists had
a child in 2020 who is reported to be a native speaker. In any case,
the total amount of Livonian speakers of any skill level in the entire world
is well under 500.
Livonian is the only pitch-accent language in the Finno-Ugric family.
In pitch-accent languages one syllable in the word is marked with a
change in pitch. Other languages using pitch-accent include Norwegian,
Swedish, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Ancient Greek etc. Note: not to be
mistaken with tonal languages such as Chinese or Vietnamese.
Lyrics trad., recorded from Lot Lindenberg by O. Loorits in 1934
Source: The Great Bear, Lauri Honko, 1993.
|
||||
If you like Sammale, you may also like:
supported by 94 fans who also own “Finno-Ugric”
Atmospheric Black Metal from the heart of Siberia. Grima is a band that paints one hell of a picture with their music. Intense shrieking vocals echo behind such awesome instrumentals. Leaves you feeling the bitter cold winds of a desolate snowscape.
go to album
Uinuos Syömein Sota
by Havukruunu
supported by 83 fans who also own “Finno-Ugric”
A Pagan black metal masterpiece. Folk and black metal elements fuse into one extremely catchy and awe inspiring album. This band does not disappoint from all the high praise sent it's way.
go to album
In the Land of Ghosts
by Olde Throne
supported by 77 fans who also own “Finno-Ugric”
I've recently spent a lot of time looking for new black metal that would be moving without sacrificing to cheesy tropes. Olde Throne is by far my best find. The sound is perfect, raw and brutal, epic and gripping. This album is filled with memorable moments of glory (that powerful transition to the riff at the beginning of Cliffs of Culzean, the guitars in Greyfriars Kirkyard...). In the Land of Ghosts definitely possesses the eternal beauty of classics. A must have for all BM fans, trust me!
go to album
Árias Sanguíneas
by Sanguinária
featured on Bandcamp Radio Nov 11, 2022
go to album
Beyond The Palest Star
by VORGA
featured on Bandcamp Radio Mar 29, 2024
go to album
featured on Bandcamp Radio Mar 29, 2024
go to album
Martaiden mailta
by Marrasmieli
supported by 76 fans who also own “Finno-Ugric”
This record hits that sweet spot of atmospheric, melodic black metal with flourishes of folk instrumentation that I just can't get enough of.
go to album
