Svend I Rosengaard [English translation]

Where have you been for so long,

Svend in Rosengaard?

- I have been in a narrow place,1

our dear mother,

who shall expect me late or never.2

Why is your sword so bloody?

- I have killed my brother.

Why have you killed your brother?

- Because he sleeps with my wife.

Where will you turn to?

- I will run through the country.

What will you do with your wife?

- She will have to spin for her daily bread.

When will you return home?

- When we see the sea burning.

When will we see the sea burning?

- When we see the feathers sinking.

When will we see the feather sinking?

- When we see the stones floating.

When will we see the stones floating,

the feathers sinking and the sea burning,

Svend in Rosengaard?

- When we see the end of the world.

1. The word 'enge' is an old Danish word that meant narrow or narrowness as in a state of mind (figuratively, a place), for instance as in a state of despair.2. lit. 'in waiting'