Glîr Vedui Bilvon (Bilbo's Last Song)
translated into Sindarin by Katarzyna "Elring" Staniewska

 

Elring has translated this beautiful J.R.R. Tolkien's poem, published in 1974 and having music composed by Donald Swann, using original metre. I would like to remind that the poem was also beautifully illustrated by Pauline Baynes. Elring's translation was first published on Elendili Forum. The translation is dedicated to Galadhorn.

 

 

Glîr Vedui Bilvon

Methen arad, vi hen hith,
dan i lend and caeda no nin.
Navaer, mellyn! Laston i gaun,
dartha i gair ne gondren ram.
Gwing nâ glan a falvath mith,
athan Annûn tôg men nîn.
Gwing nâ singren, i hûl lain,
laston i orthad e-Gaear.

Navaer! Cirrevail herthennin,
i 'waew o thrûn, engwidh girir.
Morchaint end caedar no nin
din ui-pennol gwilith si.
Dan tyll gaedar athan Anor,
i chenithon, ir pan agor;
dórath ned Annûn Annui,
ias dû dínen, a lostad sîdh.

I nGîl Ereb aphadol,
ennas, thar i aphalan lond,
i gírbann vain hirithon
a felais e-nGilaearon.
A cair nîn! Revio n'Annûn,
na berth, n'eryd ui-gailu!
Navaer, Ennor, na-vedui,
or dulf nîn i nGîl cenin.

Original poem by J.R.R. Tolkien:

 

Day is ended, dim my eyes,
but journey long before me lies.
Farewell, friends! I hear the call.
The ship's beside the stony wall.
Foam is white and waves are grey;
beyond the sunset leads my way.
Foam is salt, the wind is free;
I hear the rising of the Sea.

Farewell, friends! The sails are set,
the wind is east, the moorings fret.
Shadows long before me lie,
beneath the ever-bending sky,
but islands lie behind the Sun
that I shall raise ere all is done;
lands there are to west of West,
where night is quiet and sleep is rest.

Guided by the Lonely Star,
beyond the utmost harbour-bar,
I'll find the havens fair and free,
and beaches of the Starlit Sea.
Ship, my ship! I seek the West,
and fields and mountains ever blest.
Farewell to Middle-earth at last.
I see the Star above your mast!

 

Glossary of the reconstructed words:

*Bilvon 'Bilbo'. No one can translate the name Bilbo into Sindarin for the name is meaningless as we can read in Appendix F in The Lord of the Rings. I have only changed the phonological shape of this word it to be fitted into the rules of Sindarin, and I have added the masculine suffix -on.
*singren 'salt (adj.)'. The word comes from Goldrogrin (cf Parma Eldalamberon XI, p. 67 where its form is singrin).
*cirrevail 'sails', lit. 'ship-wings'.
engwidh 'chains; *moorings'. My marine terminology knowledge is rather poor but according to a book entitled The Sailor' s World moorings are 'permanent anchors and chains laid in shalow water with a smaller vertical chain made fast to the heavy ground chain...'.
ir pan agor 'when all is done'.
Annûn Annui 'Western West; *West of west'. This phrase was deviced by Galadhorn in his translations.
aphalan = an + palan 'very far; *furthest'.
*tulf - 'mast', reconstructed after Quenya tyulma < TYUL.
 

main page