Before Gideon ap Stephen was Laurelled at Ymir 2020, Mistress Rosalind asked me to translate the poem she had written to release Gideon from his apprenticeship into Old English. I happily did so — I love translations and find it a great challenge! Below is the text that I sent her; I also sent her a (very rough) recording for pronunciation. While I usually don’t use ċ (/ch/) or ġ (/j/) in my translations as they are entirely a modern conceit for transcription, I included them here to help indicate the pronunciation differences from c (/k/) and g (/g/) for performance.

Original	Translation
Gideon ap Stephen     great of heart	Gideon ap Stephen     great in breostsefan
A word-warrior     for the Knowne World	Cyneword-ċempa     for þære cuþre worulde
Famed for ferocity     in defense of humble folk	Rof for reþnesse     in randġebeorh eadmede-folces
Awesome of hair     a voice ocean-deep	Seldlic in feaxe     stefn ġeofon-sidu
In prose and poetry     you have shown your prowess	þurh wordcræft ond woþcræft     þin ġewald þu ġeseþe
Our path together     of time and travel	Ure gomenwaþu to-gædere     on geongum ond byrum
Late night counsel     creation and craft	Nihtlangum leoþurunum     listum ond sceaftum
We, your mentors     you, a man of our houses	Wit, þin rædboran,     þu, reord-berend unċer inhireda
Now ends your oath     of fealty to us	Nu endaþ þin aþ     to us of heldan
We take back the belt     once gladly bestowed	Wit oþfeorraþ þone fetel     fore fuslice ġelacodon
But our heart-bond     can never be broken	Ac ure breostsefa-bend     ne abirsteþ næfre

 

Translation	Translator’s Notes Regarding Particular Choices
Gideon ap Stephen     great in breostsefan	Breostsefa  = mind or heart, literally “the mind in the breast”
Cyneword-cempa     for þære cuþre worulde	Cyneword-cempa = champion of fitting words
Rof for reþnesse     in randgebeorh eadmede-folces	Randgebeorh = protection such as that afforded by a shield
Seldlic in feaxe     stefn geofon-sidu	Seldlic = rare, strange, wondrous, extraordinary, having unusual good qualities Sid = wide, broad, spacious, and is specifically usually applied to the ocean, world, and universe
þurh wordcræft ond woþcræft     þin gewald þu geseþe	Syntax of second half-line is “your prowess you show” wordcræft = the art of speaking and writing woþcræft = the art of poetry or song gewald = power, mastery (I chose it for the latter meaning)
Ure gomenwaþu to-gædere     on geongum ond byrum	Syntax of second half-line is “of travels and times”; I chose to make plural because there was presumably more than one Byre has many meanings, but I particularly like the translation of “an event, a favourable time, an opportunity”
Nihtlangum leoþurunum     listum ond sceaftum	Syntax of second half-line is “craft and creation” nihtlang = night-long leoþurun = counsel conveyed in verse (I thought this meaning was appropriate!) list = art, skill, cunning, craft, artifice
Wit, þin rædboran,     þu, reord-berend uncer inhireda	Wit = dual for Mistress Rosalind and Master Dunstan reord-berend = fig. person/man, lit. voice-bearer/one gifted with speech in-hired = family, household, house (I liked the triple meaning)
Nu endaþ þin aþ     to us of heldan
Wit oþfeorraþ þone fetel     fore fuslice gelacodon
Ac ure breostsefa-bend     ne abirsteþ næfre	Repeating breostsefa from the beginning