Sunlight by Hozier - in Mando'a
If you remember this post where I translated I See Fire into Sindarin, you probably won't be all that surprised by this. I've fallen head-first into the Star Wars fandom (admittedly second-hand, but still), and of course, being me, I went straight for the conlangs. Mando'a might not be the most fleshed out language of the GFFA, but it is the one with the most Culture, at least in the fandom, so it's the one I gravitated to. And honestly, I really like how... brisk it is? It drops unnecessary pronouns and verbs, barely bothers with tense at all, and contracts everything. It's so much fun to play with.
Sunlight isn't the first song I started translating into it (that would be Born For This from the Spiderverse movie), but it is the first one I've finished, because matching Mando'a to English scansion is hell. It struck me as a very Codywan song, which is why I picked it to translate (yes, I do imagine Obi-wan composing/singing it in honour of Cody pretty much every time I listen to it).
I did have to make up a couple of words because the dictionary I use didn't have even a near-equivalent to the concept I was looking for, and those will be marked with a * and I'll add the 'etymology' of them at the end. (If anyone knows any other Mando'dictionaries, throwing me a link will win you my undying gratitude.) I also had to get creative with my interpreations of the meaning of certain lines, since, just to pick the most obvious example, Mandalorians probably don't have the myth of Icarus like we do.
Any feedback, advice, or just general linguistics flailing is always welcome. Now, without further ado, here it is:
Tran'nau* (Sunlight)
Ni ru'nevor nau (I shunned the light)
Ru'medinui naak be ca'tra (I shared in the peace of night)
Ni nu'mirdi ba'slanar (I wouldn't think to leave)
Par tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (For sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
Tion'ad karta nu'redal (Whose heart doesn't dance)
Dar'shekemi tra be ca'tra (Wouldn't abandon the stars of night)
Sha solyc hettyc haa'it (At first burning vision)
Be tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (Of sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
Ni r'echoyla ba'gar, tran'nau (I was lost to you, sunlight)
Ru'miy sa kisen* ba'gar, tran'nau (Flew like a moth to you, sunlight)
Ner tran'nau (My sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau (Your love is sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (Your love is sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
Gehat'ik arasuum (The tale remains the same)
Ru'rejor bal ven'rejor (Told before and told again)
Runi ru'got* lo ciryc pitat (The soul that's born in the cold rain)
Kar'mir tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (Knows sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
Mar'e lis dinuir gai (At last I can give a name)
Ba tracin haaranovyc (To a hidden flame)
Sa kar'tayli darasuum (As love/knowing forever)
Ner tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (My sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
An tengaana ba'ni, tran'nau (All that's displayed to me, sunlight)
Ratiin kar'mir ba'ni, tran'nau (Is always known to me, sunlight)
Ner tran'nau (My sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau (Your love is sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (Your love is sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau (Your love is sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (Your love is sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
Tran'nau (Sunlight)
An ner alii'gai* lo gar gaan solus (All that I am is in your hands)
Ke'juri ni ulyc, ner tran'nau (Carry me carefully, my sunlight)
An ner alii'gai* lo gar gaan solus (All that I am is in your hands)
Ke'juri ni ulyc, ner tran'nau (Carry me carefully, my sunlight)
Antuur* mhi cuy tome (Everyday we exist together)
Kar'mir gar ner shereshoy (Know that you're my reason for living)
Ner oya bal kyr slati* gar (My life and death belong to you)
Ner tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (My sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
Narbatir* sen'tra (Wearing a jetpack)
Kyr'nayl'gam* briikasyc (I'm death-trap clad happily)
Galar carud ni trattokor (Spilling smoke I fall)
Chur tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (Under sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau (Your love is sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (Your love is sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau (Your love is sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (Your love is sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau (Your love is sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (Your love is sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau (Your love is sunlight)
Gar kar'tayli tran'nau, tran'nau, tran'nau (Your love is sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)
Tran'nau (Sunlight)
Tran'nau (Sunlight)
Tran'nau (Sunlight)
Tran'nau (Sunlight)
Tran'nau (Sunlight)
[*tran'nau = tra (star field)/tranyc (sunny) + nau (light)]
[*kisen (moth) = kih (small) + senaar (bird)]
[*ru'got (born) = ru- (past prefix) + goten (birth)]
[*alii'gai (identity) = aliit (clan)/aliik (sigil/symbol) + gai (name). This is technically already a word that means 'colours', but I took that to mean specifcally the colours one wears on their armour, the 'face' they show the world, i.e. their identity.]
[*antuur (everyday) = anay (every) + tuur (day)]
[*slatir (to belong to) = slanar (to go) + ti (with). I took the inspiration for this from the etymology of the word 'belong' in English.]
[*narbatir (to wear/to put on) = narir (to put) + bat (on)]
[*kyr'nayl'gam (death-trap-skinned) = kyr (end/death) + gaanaylir (to trap) + 'gam (skin). Since beskar'gam is literally 'metal-skin' and the word for skin literally translates to 'soft-skin', I figured it could also be poetically used to mean 'clad in']
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