Að Vori [English translation]

When Þórunn Auðna1 was born

Iceland 2 was gloomy.3

Everywhere was misery which crept,

darkened the sky, the waters and the dirt.

Darkness in spring on Melrakkaslétta 4

A girl-child was born in distress and poverty.

Rightly she was born poor and gaunt.

The first steps were all unhappy.

Thanks to whomever sent Þórunn,

Sincere thanks. 5

I don't know where she burnt her childhood,

the child with the meaning.

When Þórunn Auðna was born

a warm wind blew over valleys and fields.

She barely feared any danger,

protected under a magical rune.

Thanks to whomever sent Þórunn,

Sincere thanks.

I don't know where she burnt her childhood,

the child with the meaning.

First she became motherless, then fatherless.

The mountains and the plants nursed

the blonde girl with the beautiful hair,

her blood-line 6 was bound in a tome of fate.

I don't know where she spent her youth

or where her journey began.

Nor what it was that aided her,

that gave her the bow and the sword.

When Þórunn Auðna was born

hope blew over Iceland's coast.

The spark arose in the north,

that helping hand was useful.

When Þórunn Auðna was born

danger roamed the lands.

Valiantly she wore battleclothes, 7

vættir8 strengthened ropes.

Our saviour, still a child,

was born on Melrakkaslétta

on the spring in which Þórunn was chosen by Baldur 9,

rightfully the protector of Iceland.

1. Female name, roughly pronounced THOR-uhdn UHY-tha. The UHY is pronounced like german "EU".2. Ísafold is an old name for Iceland3. "Það er þungt yfir einhverjum/eitthverju" is a phrase that means something like "being in a bad mood", "depressed" or "gloomy". In this instance it's describing the weather, but it could also be used to describe people's attitude4. Melrakkaslétta is a peninsula in the north of Iceland. The name means "Fox Plateau"5. "Eining" means "Unitary", "Þakkir af einingu" would be "Unitary thanks" which makes little sense to me.. Though I can't help but feel like they're trying to go for "sincerely"6. literally "blood bands" or "bands of blood"7. I.e. armour8. Supernatural beings9. God of Light and Purity in Norse mythology