Category: England

Translation for Mistress Rosalind

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

 

The Spinner of Fate (Clotho)

Photo courtesy of Kaaren Valravn

At some point in the murky past (that is, 2019), Kaaren, Adelaide, and I made a joke about how we’re the three Fates. I am, of course, the spinner Clotho, Adelaide the measurer Lachesis, and Kaaren the inflexible/cutter Atropos. When we discovered that we all had bought (or wanted to buy) the same grey linen, we decided to make Fates-themed garb in our preferred styles (we also managed to be chronological as well!). For a deadline, we set Twelfth Night 2020.

Because I was doing early period English, I felt a little guilty that my garb wouldn’t be as complicated and require as much hard work as Adelaide and Kaaren’s. So I decided to make everything I wore.

Everything.

I already had shoes, anyway.

Linen tunic with silk tablet-woven trim
Woolen belt being inkle-woven

The first layer was where I used the grey linen. Although a standard tunic, I played with the gores on this for fit. Instead of having hip-height gores, I put in long trapezoidal ones that stretched from the edge of the sleeve to the hem. The sleeves are also my first fitted sleeves that would require a closure. I tablet-wove trim for the neck and cuffs out of silk in two different widths with slightly different patterns. Both used the same threading, but I cut out warp threads for the cuffs and turned the cards fewer times.  As there is some archaeological evidence for belts on this layer, I wove a three-inch-wide belt out of wool that was wide enough to wrap twice around. I wrapped this under my bust almost as a supportive layer, and it was quite comfortable (and kept me standing up very straight!). On top of this layer I put a black silk peplos–no progress photos for this, as it’s just a big ole silk tube. (Do I need to say everything was handsewn and flatfelled? It’s me–assume it was unless I say otherwise).

Circlet, annular brooch on peplos, and wrist clasp on tablet weaving.

As I took a silversmithing class in June 2019, I decided to make all the fittings I could for this garb. Two hours of work in the silversmithing studio, and I had two nearly-matching annular brooches, two wrist clasps, and a circlet! For the annular brooches, I tried different orders of operation for each; on one I soldered the pin shut first, on the other I soldered the brooch ring shut first. The latter technique seemed to work better for me. While annular brooches in period seem to be cast instead of forged, I haven’t learned to cast metals yet, so this worked for my current skill-set. The wrist-clasps were inspired by a historical find that didn’t have an attachment, but I made the hook a little shorter than I should have.

I realized a few days before the event that I hadn’t made a belt pouch. A quick Google led me to a couple different patterns, which seemed to follow most rectangular pouches but inserted a ring around the mouth and included a strap. I used the last remaining inches of the trim for the strap; the lining was leftover linen and the outside was leftover silk. I even made the ring from some junk wire! It was more than big enough to carry everything I needed, and fit my spindle in it quite well.

However, the peace I am most pproud of was my rune-belt. Four yards tablet-woven out silk, this took me over 22 hours from start to finish. It wraps twice around my body and hangs nearly to my hem. It was my first complicated pattern and my first double-faced weaving, and I came up for the runes’ patterns myself (you can see how I refined the letters in each repeat). The runes literally say “ic spinne þone þræd wyrde,” which is Old English for “I spin the thread of fate.”

The Rune-Belt

So, on Twelfth Night, I was able to say that I made everything I wore except the rings on my right hand.

Photo courtesy of Ava Deinhardt

Oh, and we won the Garb Runway Competition.

See Kaaren’s garb here and Adelaide’s garb here.

Poetry Translation for Master Eldred Ælfwald Þegn’s Scroll

In early 2019, Master Eldred Ælfwald requested that Lady Kaaren Valravn create his court baron scroll (scroll information here). In turn, she asked Lord Ishmael Reed to write an original poem and me to translate the poem into Old English. Ishmael wrote the poem in the style of the 14th-century alliterative revival, which I then translated into Old English alliterative verse.

Read more

Knits for Rapunzel

In Spring/Summer 2019 my friend Adelaide decided it was finally time to tackle a project she’d been wanting to do: a genderbent, period-accurate outfit based on Disney’s Rapunzel. As a knitter, I immediately volunteered to knit her a flat cap and garters. I was not particularly good at taking photos of my work before passing it off to Adelaide, but luckily our friend Kaaren Valravn took an excellent photo of Adelaide in the garb this fall where the garters and hat are perfectly visible.

You can read all about Adelaide’s hard work here.

A Collection of Shiny Things

In the summer of 2019, I went on a small jewellery/beading jag.

Left, top to bottom: necklace that doubles as circlet made of amber on beader’s wire; amber drop earrings; glass bead swag with removable beads (cord is beader’s wire with silver beads); amber and copper bead swag on beader’s wire for Old English garb (with brooches). These are all for wearing with my Old English garb.

Right, left to right: Pearl-and-amber paternoster on silk with silk tassel; green-stone-and-amber paternoster on cotton with cotton tassel; green stone prayer beads on cotton with cotton tassel. The first two paternosters are to wear with my 14th-century garb, while the prayer beads are for my Ottoman garb.

Period Shoes!

In summer of 2019, I made my first pair of shoes with Michel Almond de Champagne’s shoe kit. They were remarkably easy, and will fill a nice gap in my wardrobe, as they will work roughly for most time periods.

The leather and rubber soles came in the kit, which I handsewed with silk thread. The shoes fit very well both with and without socks, but the soles are incredibly thin, even with a pair of insoles. Because of this, I only plan to wear these when I know I will mostly be standing on dirt or grass.