Subject: It came together!
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Posted on: 2019-11-12 15:04:07 UTC

Here's the original for reference:

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes, a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

And in Dragon, with translation alongside:

Ni yuvon los pah fin faraan, (Not golden is all the wealth)
Ni sizaan los pah wo rovaan; (Not lost are all who wander)
Kruziik reyth neh fen vokiin, (Venerable tree never will unbecome)
Zok tum silsos dreh ni diin. (Most inner lifeblood does not freeze)

Nol krah heim, yol fent alok, (From cold forge, fire shall arise)
Nol vulom, kun fent alok; (From darkness, light shall arise)
Vokrii fent kos fin krent tuz, (Restored shall be the broken blade)
Vodu'ulaan fent meyz jun ruz. (Uncrowned shall become king then.)

I think the most dubious choice I made was vokiin, which can be used in the sense I'm using it, but more literally means "unborn." It's a bit of a stretch, but it let me keep the reference to freezing, which is a concept we actually have multiple words for, so it's worth it. I'm pleased I was able to keep the tree symbolism in some form, too. As we know, Tolkien liked trees. {= )

I also coined the compound vodu'ulaan from base word du'ul, "crown," adding the negative prefix vo- and past participle suffix -aan. Again, worth it to keep as close as possible to the original meaning of the poem. I found it really annoying that krent, "broken," is one of the few irregular past participles we have; rhyming with -aan words would have been so much easier. {= P I'm still not thrilled with the meter of the last two lines, but I dunno how much more I can poke it.

Now, the way I see it, this is an Elder Scrolls crossover, and the poem is a prophecy inscribed by an ancient dragon who had a glimpse of the future. ^_^

~Neshomeh

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