r/Norway 4d ago

Arts & culture A metalhead seeking help...

I have been a huge fan of black metal just about all of my life. I descend from Norwegians and have been particularly fascinated by Windir, Ulver, Emperor, Mayhem and the works of the guys behind Borknagar. Their first album contains my favorite early black metal track, 'Dauden', which to this day lacks a transcription and translation. They have never shared as much for artistic purposes, which I have respected while nonetheless checking every once and while to see if one has popped up online. After 15 years I feel like it's never gonna happen. Can anyone here maybe tell me what one of my favorite songs is all about?

0 Upvotes

21 comments sorted by

29

u/notnorway123 4d ago

Hi there,
The track is written and sung in "sognamål", the local dialect.
In short, Dauden means death, or in this case, death personified. And the perspective of the song, is that death will come for us all, and that he is waiting for that day to come.

A very quick, and quite literal translation based on the lyrics in Spotify.

The Sogne fjord is dark and still

Between wild mountains

Suddenly the fjord lights up

Thunder sounds suddenly from the sky

A weak light that becomes clearer towards the shore

The light shows the way

On burial day, that is the boat we will sail

Then is the burial

When the death bells chime, we know what’s coming

Death has arrived, who has he come for?

 The hour of destiny has come, death has come calling

Life will now end, now is the time for sorrow

The owl cries on the roof

Then you know there is no return

The omens gave warning that someone will be called

I know who, but I can only wait

This is the day we all fear

No one can escape this day

We come from dust, and we will return to dust

The body is dead, but the soul is free

The day has arrived, it is my judgement day

My life has ended, I have shriveled away

I fought until death, but the battle was too hard

My time has come, I will fall today

When the death bells chime, we know what’s coming

Death has arrived, he has come for me

4

u/LordMoriar 4d ago

I can vouch for this translation

1

u/chupAkabRRa 4d ago

I know that «death» or «døden» is hankjønn. But personified death - is it male or female in Norway? Have never thought about it. I’m from Slavic country and death is a female in our cultures.

4

u/Arrowena 4d ago

Our death is often a man, but Pestilence (Pesta the personification of th black death) was a woman.

0

u/Turevaryar 4d ago

Wait, Spotify has lyrics?!? Where?!? I've used Spotify for years and never seen that! =D :(

2

u/notnorway123 4d ago

Press the micophone if you're using desktop, on mobile, press at the bottom of your screen on the song title being played, and you can expand to see the lyrics. Not all songs have them though,

1

u/Turevaryar 4d ago

Thank you very much! (^__^)

2

u/notnorway123 4d ago

No worries 

3

u/Redditlan 4d ago

I have no idea, but the title means ‘the death’.

5

u/DaddyDongwater 4d ago

This thread is a mess. You mean Dauden by Borknagar, and people translated Dauden by Windir. And which band does Henriette play bass for?

0

u/RidetheSchlange 4d ago

" I descend from Norwegians and have been particularly fascinated by Windir, Ulver, Emperor, Mayhem and the works of the guys behind Borknagar."

Oh god, not one of these again. Which site did you send your genetic sample to?

11

u/xc70-adventurer 4d ago edited 4d ago

At least this guy says he descended from Norwegians, not that he's part Norwegian or something. :D

Last week, I saw a video from a Billie Eilish concert where she claimed to be Irish, just like her audience. I Googled her. Both her parents were born in the US. It's so cringe to hear Americans make those claims.

3

u/Medium-Bake-4782 4d ago

I agree with you, I find it rather annoying too! 

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u/Dear_Acanthaceae2513 4d ago

Double standards ey?

Even 3rd generasion immegrants in Norway are proud of theire foreign heritage, as they should.
Why is it problematic when Americans do it?

3

u/xc70-adventurer 4d ago

There's a difference between being proud of Norwegian (or any other) heritage and claiming to be part Norwegian when both your parents aren't from Norway and you've never set foot in the country.

I don't see the double standard.

-1

u/Dear_Acanthaceae2513 4d ago edited 4d ago

He just said he decended from Norwegians. Just the same way someone from Somalia was born in norway, never set a foot in Somalia, and still theire proud of a country they never been too.

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u/xc70-adventurer 4d ago

Yes, that's why I'm not criticising OP.

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u/Antitdeveloper 4d ago

bad bunny

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u/xnophlake 4d ago

I also have no idea... Their bass player, Henriette, is a friend of mine, and have seen them live a couple of times, but I'm not really that much into BM, and don't have any of their albums, so not much help there - sorry

0

u/Draugar90 4d ago

Maybe you can ask her for the lyrics :3

1

u/xnophlake 4d ago

could try and ask her, next time I see her, if I can remember... but I suspect they might want to keep the mystery