Den døde Mand

Danish to English Translation:

The Dead Man:

Music and lyrics: Traditional
Arrangement: Frederiksen

I rode out one eventide
I bound my horse for the night
So know that the word is true
Bound my horse for the night

I lay my head upon a mound
So readily I would sleep
So know that the word is true
Upon a mound
So readily would I sleep

The first sleep that I got there
The dead man to me came
So know…

You must travel to Hedeby
There live my kinsmen
So know…

My father and my mother
My sister and youngest brother
So know

There lives Kirstine, my winsome wife
And she betrayed my young life
So know…

Kirstine and her maidens five
They strangled me in my silken bed
So know…

They bound me in a bundle of hay
And led me out to the wild mound
So know…

That swain that I thought was best
He rides now my good steed
So know…

He eats with my silverbound knife
He sleeps with my young wife
So know…

He sits over my broad table
And derides my children with unmannered words
So know…

He rides in the forest with my hounds
He bites the wild animals in glades
So know…

For every animal he bites in my enclosure
We wakes me up out of my grave
So know…

And if you’re a man of my kin
Shall you lead my case in court
So know…

You shall ride to Kirstine’s house
So pained a heart shall they both have
So know…

That dream was both long and bad
I woke up on the wild heath
So know…

I awoke from that dream abruptly
Dug up the dead man that very night
So know…

I lay the dead man upon my horse
And away we rode as best we could
So know…

I took the corpse to Kirstine’s house
And lay the dead man upon the table
So know…

“If you, Kirstine, guilty of this deed
Then you shall be burnt on the stake”
So know…

Kirstine turned as black as earth
The swain’s heart was sorely pained
So know…

Kirstine was bound in iron
Before May-day she lay burnt on the stake
So know that the word is true
Bound in iron
May-day she lay burnt on the stake