Please translate from Finnish to English: Värttinä - Äijö :)

I have another song:

Äijö (Värttin&#228

Kylän äijä, vanha väkkärä
Kylän äijä, vähä-älynen
Kylän äijä, kumma käppänä
Kylän äijä vääräsäärinen
Kylän äijä, kylmäl mäellä
Kylän äijällä, kyy ol kyljel
Rääkyi männikössä yöllä yksinänsä
Rääkyi männikössä kekäleet käessä
Kämmenet käryssä kengät kankahalla
Yöllä yksinänsä, äijä väsyksissä
Kylmällä mäellä kyy ol kytkyessä
Ylähällä yksi alemmalla kaksi
Purrut kämmenestä kyy ol käppänätä
Syyhyn synnyttänyt, syytäny sylkeä
Äijä yksinänsä yöllä väännätteli
Kynnysportahalla kyytä kyttäeli
Päätä pölkyllensä, pahan pirulaisen
Kieron kastiaisen kurkun kirvehelle

Äijä paranteli pirun puremaista
Viinalla valeli, pirrulla pesevi
tervaksella teki, lämmöt löylytteli
Loitsusi loruja, manasi majoilla
Kummasteltiin kyllin äijän pitäjässä
Äijän vääntelöitä, miehen mittelöitä
Köyryselkäkyijjen kummia kujeita
Äijän ähkimistä yöllä yksinänsä
Kylän äijä, vanha väkkärä
Vähemmästäki äijä väsyvi
Väkevämmätki, heti hyytyvi
Kylän äijä väsyneenä

The thing is, their website gives a translation, but it doesn't seem to fit the text! There is no element of poetic repetition to it - it seems to be a text in prose.

"There was a cranky old coot lived in the village, bowlegged
and weak in the head. One night he was out in the pines;
crowing and screeching, carrying firebrands that scorched
his palms; alone in the night, exhausted.
Now on that chilly hillside he kept snakes, one at the top
and two lower down. And then he was bitten in the palm,
a stinging wound, a load of venom.
Alone in the night he trudged along, lurking by the porch
waiting for the snake to appear, wanting to put that wily
devil's head on the block, to take an axe to its slithery neck.
The old man was weary, he'd already had more than many
a stronger man could have taken.
To heal the snakebite he washed it with liquor, poured proof spirit
over it, took some resinous wood and made the sauna steaming hot,
went round the garden reading charms and incantations.
And there was much speculation about his doings: all that trudging
and stumbling, the crookback snakes and their strange antics,
that cranky old coot wheezing and crowing alone in the night."

But this tells me nothing about what "Kylän äijä" means or any of the other repeating elements! If anyone can help me in this, I'll be very grateful!

I know, this English translation is at Värttinä's homepage

"Old coot" is "vanha äijä"

I won't even try to act, like I could translate this, I simply ain't good enough. But this English translation, that you have, explains quite good, what this song is about.

I try at least 6 first lines:

Kylän äijä, vanha väkkärä
Coot of the village, old "väkkärä" (didn't find correct word in English)
Kylän äijä, vähä-älynen
Coot of the village, weak in the head
Kylän äijä, kumma käppänä
Coot of the village, weird old man
Kylän äijä vääräsäärinen
Coot of the village, bowlegged
Kylän äijä, kylmäl mäellä
Coot of the village, on the cold hill
Kylän äijällä, kyy ol kyljel
Coot of the village, had snake at his side

Sorry, I know, this post is not much help for you, as i am no Finnish, but I thought, that when I try to put here those 6 first lines, then it is more than nothing

Thanks, lillipop! The official translation told me just fine what the song was about, but I wanted to know specifically what each sentence said.

I tried to put other sentences in order too, but i failed. I understand, what it says, and i can translate those words in my own language, but I fail to translate in word-by-word English. It takes a Finnish person, with good English skills...
But I'm glad, that you found even this bit helpful

Is "Äijö" very far from standard Finnish?

It is not, how average Finnish person speaks, it is "old words".

We have the same here in Estonia, we have old folk songs that are built something like this, they come from certain regions (like Setuland) and have somewhat similar "accent".

In example:
"Äijä paranteli pirun puremaista
Viinalla valeli, pirrulla pesevi
tervaksella teki, lämmöt löylytteli"
is translated like this:
To heal the snakebite he washed it with liquor, poured proof spirit
over it, took some resinous wood and made the sauna steaming hot,
But it is a long translation, like you see...

The "word in word" would be this:
"Coot healed the biting of devil,
poured over with vodka, washed with "pirtu" ("pirtu" is very high % alcohol)
made it with resin wood, steamed the warmths"

Here you see, that my "word to word" is not understandable...

Like you see, the Finnish words are easy, and short; but they can't be translated word by word to English

Ok, this article maybe tells better, what is it all about, because i am doing here a terrible job at this : http://www.ritmoartists.com/Varttina/varttina.htm

There is better explained, from where this all comes, and why it is hard to translate Värttinä.

lollipop, I am learning so much here - thank you for the explanations!

Lollipop, you rock!

Another song:

Värttinä - Linnunmieli

Lenteleisin kuin koivunlehti
Liiteleisin kuin lintu pieni
Vaan en oo lintu lentäjäksi
Koivunlehtenä liehuvaksi

Suuri korpi kotinani, kotinani, korpi kotinani
Päällä katto katajainen, katajainen, katto katajainen
Rannat kierrän kujat kuljen,
kujat kuljen, rannat kujat kuljen
Ahon laidat alittelen,
alittelen, laidat alittelen

Lenteleisin kuin koivunlehti
Liiteleisin kuin lintu pieni
Taivaan alla ilmojen yllä
Meren sinisellä sylillä

Nousisin linnun liitimille
Lentäisin lahelle laajalle
Vaan en oo lintu lentäjäksi
Koivunlehtenä liehuvaksi

Niin on pitkät miun pihani,
miun pihani, pitkät miun pihani
Kuin on pitkät pilven reunat,
pilven reunat, pitkät pilven reunat
Niin on kylmät kynnykseni,
kynnykseni, kylmät kynnykseni
Kuin on kylmät kosken kuohut,
kosken kuohut, kylmät kosken kuohut

It's so chirpy and trilly and happy. Amazing.

Värttinä - Linnunmieli

Lenteleisin kuin koivunlehti
I would like to fly like birch leaf
Liiteleisin kuin lintu pieni
I would like to fly like a small bird
Vaan en oo lintu lentäjäksi
But I am not a bird that flies
Koivunlehtenä liehuvaksi
But I am not fluttering birch leaf

Suuri korpi kotinani, kotinani, korpi kotinani
Big swamp is my home, my home, swamp is my home
Päällä katto katajainen, katajainen, katto katajainen
The roof is made from juniper, roof from juniper
Rannat kierrän kujat kuljen,
I walk the beaches, and go the alleys
kujat kuljen, rannat kujat kuljen
go the alleys, walk the alleys and beaches
Ahon laidat alittelen,
I pass underneath the glades
alittelen, laidat alittelen
i pass underneath, i pass underneath the glades

Lenteleisin kuin koivunlehti
I would like to fly like birch leaf
Liiteleisin kuin lintu pieni
I would like to fly like a small bird
Taivaan alla ilmojen yllä
under the skies above the sights
Meren sinisellä sylillä
in the blue arms of the see

Nousisin linnun liitimille
I would rise where birds fly
Lentäisin lahelle laajalle
I would fly to a large bay
Vaan en oo lintu lentäjäksi
But I am not a bird that flies
Koivunlehtenä liehuvaksi
But I am not fluttering birch leaf

Niin on pitkät miun pihani,
My yards are so long
miun pihani, pitkät miun pihani
my yards, so long are my yards
Kuin on pitkät pilven reunat,
The edges of clouds are long
pilven reunat, pitkät pilven reunat
the edges of clouds, long are the edges of clouds
Niin on kylmät kynnykseni,
So cold are my sills
kynnykseni, kylmät kynnykseni
my sills, cold sills (at least i think, it is "sills", that they are talking about here)
Kuin on kylmät kosken kuohut,
So cold are outbursts of waterfalls
kosken kuohut, kylmät kosken kuohut
outbursts of waterfalls, cold outbursts of waterfalls

I truly tried, but it is one clumsy translation, i must say...
All improvememnts from other members warmly welcomed!

lollipop, you're a gem! Thank you so much!

Ohh, I still have somewhat heavy heart about this translation, but if a Finnish member comes online, and sees this, then i hope, that she/he will do some corrections.

You're welcome!

Originally Posted by lollipop

Värttinä - Linnunmieli

I'm an amateur translator who found out about Värttinä sometime in the past. Their lyrics are difficult to translate, because for every one part of regular Finnish, it has at least one part of poetic nonsense mixed with just as much obscure dialect madness. I can offer some improvements to the lyrics, but they may be worse than what was posted already.

There's supposed to be official translations on the Värttinä homepage, but I couldn't find them. Therefore a manual translation to this song:

Lenteleisin kuin koivunlehti
I would like to fly like birch leaf

-> I would fly around like a leaf of birch

"Lenteleisin" is a very good mangle-up for the word, adding a sort of "flying around" and "floating around without care" feeling to the word itself. If someone really wanted to try and add that artificially to English, maybe the word would sound something like "fly'e" ... I dunno, really. The reason I changed birch leaf to leaf of birch is because it sounds better with the next line:

Liiteleisin kuin lintu pieni
I would like to fly like a small bird

-> I would glide around like a bird of tiny

Again "liitäisin" is transformed to "liiteleisin," which is a word you can only find in Finnish poetry. It translates to gliding (around, carefree) more than flying. Also of note is that the last two words are backwards, meaning literally "a bird (of) small (size)" with the parts in parentheses omitted. Switching small to tiny is a matter of taste, but I think tiny fits better.

Vaan en oo lintu lentäjäksi
But I am not a bird that flies

I'm hard pressed to find any improvement to that. It still doesn't quite reach what the original line means, but I'm stumped on how to express it in a different way. The idea is that the main character in Linnunmieli is some random person who "has the mind of a bird" or spiritually feels like one. It isn't supposed to mean (from what I understood) that the singer is actually referring to him/herself as a bird.

-> But I am not a flying bird

That line comes with a pinch of salt, though.

Koivunlehtenä liehuvaksi
But I am not fluttering birch leaf

-> A leaf of birch to flap around

It's the continuation to the previous line. The person who feels spiritually like a bird is not actually a flying bird (a bird that flies), nor a birch leaf that flutters in the air. Flap/flutter distinction is another tough call, but I find that "liehua" is something that you use as the verb in a sentence like "Flags flapped in the strong wind." A birch leaf doesn't quite flap like a flag does, though, so it could be that flutter is better - Fluttering is definitely more leaf-like behavior than flapping. The "leaf of birch" form is here again just to keep up a sort of consistent poetic expression...

Suuri korpi kotinani, kotinani, korpi kotinani
Big swamp is my home, my home, swamp is my home

It's not a swamp, that one has a very special meaning in Finnish literacy (check Väinö Linna out). "Korpi" also is a loaded word. It has the direct translation of "woodland(s)" which doesn't quite reach the dark, endless forests where the old Finnish people built their homes, and where they defended their country while starving in the winter. I can't suggest any non-cheesy line for this one, because most of the lines I thought up seemed as credible as Blair Witch Project.

-> A big forest as my home, as my home, the forest as my home.

Changing "is my home" to "as my home" is trying to avoid the problem of "is my home" being a translation of "on kotini" like in regular Finnish. Värttinä uses again a difficult, more loaded and poetic word instead of the simple one. It's difficult enough to find a reasonable translation, so I didn't even try to match it with the rhythm of the song anymore.

Päällä katto katajainen, katajainen, katto katajainen
The roof is made from juniper, roof from juniper

Yeah.

Rannat kierrän kujat kuljen,
I walk the beaches, and go the alleys

-> I round the beaches go the alleys

Using "walk" here doesn't work in the context of the story, I think. Round as a verb I picked because of the circular moving method that "kiertää" could mean.

kujat kuljen, rannat kujat kuljen
go the alleys, walk the alleys and beaches

-> Go the alleys, go the beaches alleys

That's a pretty literal translation. It's not correct Finnish grammar either...

Ahon laidat alittelen,
I pass underneath the glades

First I wanted to use the verb "duck" instead of "pass underneath" because it's more comfortable to pronounce, but the bird (in his/her imagination) is really flying under the glade edges, not ducking like a rock on downward course. That's why I suggest:

-> I skirt the glade's edges,

Trying to match with the Finnish lyrics.

alittelen, laidat alittelen
i pass underneath, i pass underneath the glades

-> Skirt under, I skirt the edges

Lenteleisin kuin koivunlehti
I would like to fly like birch leaf
Liiteleisin kuin lintu pieni
I would like to fly like a small bird

See above.

Taivaan alla ilmojen yllä
under the skies above the sights

-> Beneath the sky above the air

Meren sinisellä sylillä
in the blue arms of the see

-> In the blue embrace of the sea

Arms/embrace, anyone can pick their choice. Arms fits the lyrical flow better, but I get weird mental images from it.

Nousisin linnun liitimille
I would rise where birds fly

Ouch. It's not easy to find a translation. I'd fix it slightly:

-> I would rise where birds go flying

Lentäisin lahelle laajalle
I would fly to a large bay

-> I would fly to a bay of large

Just to keep up with the earlier stuff I proposed. To a large bay = laajalle lahdelle, and switching it to lahelle laajalle (lahelle is dialect) could be turned like that in English.

Vaan en oo lintu lentäjäksi
But I am not a bird that flies
Koivunlehtenä liehuvaksi
But I am not fluttering birch leaf

See above.

Niin on pitkät miun pihani,
My yards are so long

Love this translation. It's not totally accurate, though.

The original line is a cute one too. I don't think there's a good translation for this available.

I think you have to omit the first two words from the translated line. They're a sort of mood-setting pair of words, which just give additional feeling to it. I can't quite describe it in words. Anyway, I can't offer any improvement to the translation, which is pretty much the literal meaning.

miun pihani, pitkät miun pihani
my yards, so long are my yards

Yep. More very difficult calls with these lines.

Kuin on pitkät pilven reunat,
The edges of clouds are long

-> As the cloud edges are so long

Here I think you have to be consistent (kuin!). The yards were "so long" so the cloud edges have to be that long too.

Truncated "edges of clouds" to "cloud edges" so it more or less could fit in the song. It's not a happy translation.

pilven reunat, pitkät pilven reunat
the edges of clouds, long are the edges of clouds

-> The cloud's edges, so long are the cloud edges

Same as previous.

Niin on kylmät kynnykseni,
So cold are my sills

Sounds good. Except that "so" is not quite what it means, but we'll have to go with that.

kynnykseni, kylmät kynnykseni
my sills, cold sills (at least i think, it is "sills", that they are talking about here)

-> My sills, my cold sills

Yes, that, or doorsill or doorstep. Kynnys is a very common Finnish word, used in regular language in that form, so you could use "doorstep."

Added "my" there because kynnykseni <- that form is "my ..."

Kuin on kylmät kosken kuohut,
So cold are outbursts of waterfalls

Koski is a rapid. Kuohu is the sound of the turbulence that forms whitewater.

-> As are cold the froths of rapids

kosken kuohut, kylmät kosken kuohut
outbursts of waterfalls, cold outbursts of waterfalls

-> Rapids' froths, so cold are froths of rapids

This translation is just as mouthful, but I think it's more accurate.

So to sum up, the translation goes like this... With the lyrics in the order presented in the earlier post.

I would fly around like a leaf of birch
I would glide around like a bird of tiny
But I am not a flying bird
A leaf of birch to flap around

A big forest as my home, as my home, the forest as my home.
The roof is made from juniper, roof from juniper
I round the beaches go the alleys
Go the alleys, go the beaches alleys

I skirt the glade's edges,
Skirt under, I skirt the edges
I would fly around like a leaf of birch
I would glide around like a bird of tiny

Beneath the sky above the air
In the blue embrace of the sea
I would rise where birds go flying
I would fly to a bay of large
But I am not a flying bird
A leaf of birch to flap around

My yards are so long
My yards, so long are my yards
As the cloud edges are so long
The cloud's edges, so long are the cloud edges
So cold are my sills
My sills, my cold sills
As are cold the froths of rapids
Rapids' froths, so cold are froths of rapids

pau, thank you so much for the insight into the intricacies of the song!