Далеко [Daleko] [English translation]

Precious pearls in three long strings enlaced me

Round the neck, round the neck 1

You said: ‘You’ll be only mine or nobody’s’

-‘No way, no way!’

You were Deer and Lion from a tribe of the proud2

Who live over there, at the line of sky blue

Where nights are wings-paired and winds shaggy-haired 3

And among men the most valiant is you

My own palm let go off dust and ashes

-they got lost in stone deep-

Of the words that to you they’d been telling

About me, about me

That my shoulders warm out, my speeches are proud

My sharp pointed candles4 burning high in the dark

My piety is guarded where it lightens and thunders 5

However you try hard – you’ll never reach out

I will let afloat a wreath with a candle 6

In a light easy way

To meander with streams-polynyas 7 on your tail

Far away, far away

Polynyas of blue sky it will lighten 8

High up there, high up there

In the land to where I have let you wander

Far away, far away

Where nights are wings-paired and horses long-haired

Where shields, swords and armour like the Song of Songs clang

Under sails cruise the vessels, under peacock tail feathers 9

Come witches who are prettier and sweeter than me

Their shoulders warm out, 10 their boldness speaks out

See the candles melting slow in the dark high up there

Where steeds are wings-paired and winds shaggy-haired

And all this is far, far away, far away

1. In pagan Russia a string of pearls was used as praying beads or a proposal gift from a man. 2. In pagan pictorial art the lion symbol stood for a king or a tribe chief, the image of a deer referred to Suomi Land 3. That’s a hint on Stribog, (Stri meaning Senior), the god of the wind who was depicted as an old shaggy-haired man. The tribes who worshipped Stribog were seafaring. All in all it gives a picture of the man as king of a Varagian people, i.e. Vikings who inhabited the Baltic Sea area 4. stars 5. The girl says she serves Perun/Veles, the patron of thunder lightning and the Ruler over all the other gods 6. Russian pagan fortune-telling. If a candle got blown off it spoke of misfortunes or death. If the girl used fortune-telling she wasn’t just a one-god priestess, she was one of the Magi who might be men as well as women in pagan Russia. They were called “volhvy” – from the name Veles, but in fact, volhvy didn’t serve one god like priests. They were intermediates between gods and people. They could also witchcraft, heal, tell fortune etc. Pagan people treated them like gods themselves7. a Russian loanword meaning a patch of water free from ice in winter 8. it’s a contextual metaphor meaning a patch of blue sky free from clouds 9. a peacock is a feminine image in old Russian folklore. A symbol of a laid-back imposing beauty 10. Pagan Magi were believed to be ESP people who could give out energy and heal with it, so the verb here sounds a bit unusual