The Seafarer §72-80a

Edited by Tarrin Wills

Drag the words in the Old Norse text onto the corresponding words in the translation (this won’t work if a translation has not been entered into the database).

Forþon bið eorla gehwam æftercweþendra lof lifgendra lastworda betst, þæt he gewyrce, ær he on weg scyle, fremum on foldan wið feonda niþ, deorum dædum deofle togeanes, þæt hine ælda bearn æfter hergen, ond his lof siþþan lifge mid englum awa to ealdre, ecan lifes blæd, dream mid dugeþum.

Therefore, for every man, praise from the living, speaking out afterwards, is the best of epitaphs: that, before he has to [be] on [his] way, he may accomplish on earth gains against the malice of fiends, brave deeds in the devil’s despite, so that afterwards the sons of men may extol him, and his praise then may endure among the angels always for ever, the splendour of eternal life, pleasure among the celestial hosts.

68-71 The Seafarer Start again 80b-85

Teaching text: translation

Here you can test your Old Norse translation skills by connecting words in the Old Norse text with a translation (if a translation has been entered into the database).

Drag with your finger or mouse the words in Old Norse onto the corresponding words in the English translation. If you are correct, the word will stay and the Old Norse word will be highlighted. If you don’t match the words correctly, the Old Norse word will return to its old position.

Note that translations are subjective and there is never a full word-to-word correspondence between the text and translation. If you notice any mistakes in the site, email the database editor. Where a word in the Old Norse cannot been translated directly ‘[...]’ will appear in the translation and corresponds to the untranslated word. Some Old Norse words will have been translated with more than one English word — these appear together in the same box.

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The Seafarer §72-80a

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Teaching text: translation