tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Feb 06 10:37:58 2002
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Re: bom mu'mey [Warrior's Anthem]
'ISqu' wrote:
>bomvam vISov 'ach DIvI' Hol mu'mey vIghajbe'.
>tlhIngan Hol mu'mey neH vIghaj.
>jIHvaD DIvI' Hol mu'mey ngeHlaH'a' vay'?
WARRIOR'S ANTHEM
Hilary Bader's original lyrics (c1997):
Hear! Sons of Kahless.
Hear! Daughters too.
The blood of battle washes clean
The Warrior brave and true.
We fight, we love, and then we kill.
Our lives burn short and bright,
Then we die with honor and join our fathers in the Black Fleet where
we battle forever, battling on through the Eternal fight.
Okrand's translation:
Qoy qeylIs puqloD.
Qoy puqbe'pu'.
yoHbogh matlhbogh je SuvwI'
Say'moHchu' may' 'Iw.
maSuv manong 'ej maHoHchu'.
nI'be' yInmaj 'ach wovqu'.
batlh maHeghbej 'ej yo' qIjDaq vavpu'ma' DImuv.
pa' reH maSuvtaHqu'.
mamevQo'. maSuvtaH. ma'ov.
Okrand's literal back-translation:
Hear! sons of Kahless.
Hear! daughters.
The battle blood perfectly cleans the warrior who is brave and loyal.
We fight, we're passionate, and we kill perfectly.
Our lives are not long, but they're very bright.
We certainly die, and we join our fathers in the Black Fleet.
There we always really continue fighting.
We won't stop. We continue fighting. We compete.
This song first appeared in the "Star Trek: Klingon!" CD-ROM and was later
sung twice (with subtitles) in the DS9 episode "Soldiers of the
Empire." KCD executive producer Keith Halper explains how the song was
written:
"The way that was that Hilary [Bader] wrote something in English, then she
faxed it out to Mark Okrand. Then Okrand translated it to Klingon and put
his literal translation below the Klingon verses. The literal translation
is always skewed a bit, so if you send him `Row, row, row your boat,'
you'll get back `Propel, propel, propel your craft.'" (KCD novelization,
p.212)
Oddly enough, the Anthem does not appear in Klingon for the Galactic
Traveler, though Okrand does discuss the features of a {van bom} "anthem,
hymn":
"A {van bom}, literally salute song or tribute song, is something like a
hymn or anthem (indeed, hymn and anthem are common translations of {van
bom) in that it is sung at occasions where it is appropriate to express
one's feelings of loyalty and dedication to someone or something. Most
typically, a {van bom} praises the Klingon Empire itself, often invoking
its founder, Kahless." (KGT p.77)
The Anthem is also featured in the four-book Day of Honor series. I found
this version of the "never-before-published lyrics" in English and Klingon
at Simon & Schuster's Day of Honor webpage back in September or October of
1997:
http://www.simonsays.com/titles/honor
Another copy, plus a literal translation by Okrand, is at:
http://www.simonsays.com/titles/0671009958/excerpt2.html
To hear a "RealAudio" recording (labeled "wo' bom") of the Anthem from
"Soldiers of the Empire," visit:
www2.rpa.net/~cheesbro
The sheet music can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/2249/anthem.html
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons