Het Wilde Heer [English translation]

The storm is raging stronger

While days are getting shorter

Between life and death

The boundaries shall fade

Yuletide1 is arriving again

And the skies are starting to swirl

In the cold winter’s month

Horsemen are wandering along the clouds

Wodan’s2 army is traveling by night

When death and life have been brought together

Furiously the Wild Army3 is raging

Forefathers, revered by us

Twelve nights of storm through the skies

The Wild Army with lots of noise

Wodan’s army is traveling by night

When death and life have been brought together

Furiously the Wild Army is raging

Forefathers, revered by us

In the end the sun will die

And darkness shall fall (over the land)

The army of death shall return once again

From the high frozen grounds4

The wheel will be burned5

And will bring light in dark times

In the longest night

Death shall ride

In the end the sun will die

And darkness shall fall (over the land)

The army of death shall return once again

From the high frozen grounds

Listen and behold

The Wild Army

In the winter’s cold

Long lasts the night

The Wild Army

Is going hunting in the skies

Heroes of yore

Will descend on Midgard fiercely

When darkness falls

And the horn resounds6

The twelfth night live is ogling

When the Army is moving homewards

The sun returns from the south

Back to the north

1. Yuletide = a pre-Christian Germanic pagan festival that was observed around the time when Christmas is celebrated now ("Troll the ancient Yuletide carol" in the Christmas carol "Deck the Halls" also refers to this festival.)2. Wodan = Odin3. The Dutch word "Heer" literary means "Lord" in modern usage, but an alternative (now archaic) meaning for the word is "army".4. The Dutch word "hal" (plural: hallen) most often means "hall" in modern usage, but an alternative uncommon meaning that is used in this context is "frozen ground".5. During the pre-Christian age, it was a common tradition among German and Dutch pagans to burn a wheel during the Yuletide's festival in order to scare away ghosts, which is what this song is describing.6. "Weerschalken" is a non-existent composition of the Dutch words "weerklinken" and "schalken" (which both mean "to resound"), rather than an official Dutch word. It's possible the word did exist in the past, though.