This week we have a very famous Icelandic love poem from the 19th century, written by Rósa Guðmundsdóttir (1795–1855), also known as Rósa of Vatnsendi, and cherished for its heartfelt simplicity. The legend is that at a young age she fell in love with one Páll Melsted, but he was already engaged to another woman and moved to Copenhagen. On his return to Iceland Rósa took service wth Páll and his wife, and eventually he was spokesman at Rósa’s first marriage.

In 1960 the poem was set to music by Jón Ásgeirsson, using the tune of a traditional lullaby, and as such has been covered by many artists, notably Ragnheiður Gröndal; performances can be found on YouTube. It was also used in the soundtrack of Zack Snyder’s film ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’.

The simple folksong quality of the poem may remind readers of Robert Burns, especially of his poem ‘Ae Fond Kiss’, which features the same sentiment as Rosa’s: ‘Had we never lov’d sae kindly/Had we never lov’d sae blindly/Never met – or never parted –/We had ne’er been broken-hearted’.

The slightly free translation that follows is my own. Some months back I speculated on to what degree the ability to read Old Norse might help with understanding modern Icelandic. The answer seems to be that it helps quite a bit, but of course there is a vocabulary problem. There are just so many things that the Vikings didn’t have: no cars, buses, phones, computers, television, soap operas, not even pizza, and with a fine independence of spirit Icelanders like to create their own terms for these things rather than use loanwords. (Actually, in a rare concession to foreign influences, the Icelandic for pizza is ‘pizza’).

Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu

Augað mitt og augað þitt,
ó, þá fögru steina,
mitt er þitt og þitt er mitt,
þú veizt, hvað eg meina.

Langt er síðan sá eg hann,
sannlega fríður var hann,
allt, sem prýða mátti einn mann,
mest af lýðum bar hann.

Þig eg trega manna mest
mædd af tára flóði,
ó, að við hefðum aldrei sést,
elsku vinurinn góði.

Engan leit eg eins og þann
álma hreyti bjarta.
Einn guð veit eg elskaði hann
af öllum reit míns hjarta.

Þó að kali heitur hver,
hylji dali og jökul ber,
steinar tali og allt, hvað er,
aldrei skal eg gleyma þér.

Rósa Guðmundsdóttir 

Rósa of Vatnsendi’s Verses

My two eyes and your two eyes,
Fair stones to be seen,
Mine is yours and yours is mine,
You know what I mean.

 Long now since I saw him last
With so much beauty blessed,
All that might adorn a man
He most of all possessed.

More than any you I miss,
My tears flow without end.
O that we had never met,
My dear beloved friend!

Never saw I one like that.
With soul that shone so bright.
God alone knows how I loved,
He was my heart’s delight.

Though all that’s hot grow cold at last,
Ice cover hill and dale,
Though stones should speak and all things end,
My love shall never fail.