Hi Everyone!
I know it's been a really long time since Awakening has come out, but after listening to the Fire Emblem Premium arrange of ID Purpose and taking a look at a Redditor's attempted translation of the Premium Arrange, I decided to take another listen to the original (pseudo-)Latin lyrics again. I just wanted to share what I now hear and my thoughts on the song.
Lyrics that I heard:
Se vi a vi a, vivi asa.
Non visi a,
vis a signis fortis, soli sat.
Te, memor, va, indica, illia
qua it o via.
...
O vires tangunt vas(em)! I! Descat e meto!
Va! Mi volans vas! I! O, mi descet vi et, o, mi, a!
Fire Emblem!
A pur os met o!
A, furti abeas sic ut
tu, parato sit.
(O vires tangunt vas(em)! I! Descat e meto!
Va! Mi volans vas! I! O, mi descet vi et, o, mi, a!)
...
Vi o sat...
I took a look at an earlier post on this topic. However, after studying Latin for 5 years and reading many authors, I began to consider that there were possibly elisions within these lyrics. An elision is basically when two words become one due to a vowel dropping out. An example would be: "Ave emptor" becomes "Avemptor" due to the "e" of "Ave" being elided with the "e" of emptor. This also occurs if the there's an "h" at the front of the second word, or if the ending of the first word ends in a vowel followed by an m. So, keeping this in mind, I thought that some syllables have to be supplied due to them being dropped when being sung:
Se vi a vi a, vivi asa.
Non visi a,
vis a signis fortis, soli sat.
Te, memor, va, indica, illia
qua it o via.
...
O vires tangunt vam! I! Descat(e) e meto!
Va! Mi volans vas! I! O, mi descet vi(am) et, o, mi, a!
Fire Emblem!
A pur(um) os met(e) o!
A, furti abeas sic ut
tu, parato sit.
(O vires tangunt vam! I! Descat(e) e meto!
Va! Mi volans vas! I! O, mi descet vi(am) et, o, mi, a!)
...
Vi o sat...
If these these elisions are correct, then I believe that the song can be translated roughly as follows:
By their strength, strength, I lived at home.
And I saw, alas
from the signs that the strength of a single man is not enough.
You, o unforgetting one, show
where the road goes.
...
O the powers are reaching the vessel! Come! Begin to scatter from me (myself)!
Alas! The vessel is flying to me! Come! He shall abandon the road for me and me alone!
Fire Emblem!
Cast off the fair face of the deceptive one!
May he thus go away so that
you might be safe!
(O the powers are reaching the vessel! Come! Begin to scatter from me (myself)!
Alas! The vessel is flying to me! Come! He shall abandon the road for me and me alone!)
...
With enough force...
I realize that elisions, if they are present, are inconsistent. The main exceptions are interjections, such as "a", "o", or "va", but even they sometimes get elided.
After reading an attempted translation of the Premium Arrange, I thought that perhaps the original lyrics also followed the dynamic between Grima and the Shepherds. The first verse might be Robin reflecting how he's found a place among the Shepherds to belong despite having no recollection of his past. The second verse is Grima calling towards his vessel to come and join forces to bring ruin. The last verse is the Shepherds calling for Robin to resist and come back to them. I'm not really sure what to make of the last line.
What do you guys think?
Reddit Translation of the Premium Arrange:
Original Topic Post:
