After the funeral

Ved Rondane (1861)
Lyrics: Aasmund Olavsson Vinje
Music: Edvard Grieg

No ser eg atter slike fjell og dalar
som deim eg i min fyrste ungdom såg.
Den same vind den heite panna svalar.
Og gullet ligg på snjo som før det låg.
Det er eit barnemål som til meg talar
og gjer meg tankefull, men endå fjåg.
Med ungdomsminne er den tala blanda.
Det strøymer på meg så eg knapt kan anda.

Ja, livet strøymer på meg, som det strøymde
når under snjo eg såg det grøne strå.
Eg drøymer no, som før eg alltid drøymde
når slike fjell eg såg i lufti blå.
Eg gløymer dagsens strid, som før eg gløymde
når eg mot kveld av sol eit glimt fekk sjå.
Eg finner vel eit hus som vil meg hysa
når soli heim til natti vil meg lysa.

By Rondane
Now I see once again such mountains and valleys
as those I saw in my first youth.
The same wind cools the hot brow.
And the gold* lies on the snow as it used to lie.
It is a childhood tongue that speaks to me
And makes me thoughtful, yet glad.
With memories of youth that speech is mingled.
It rushes upon me so I can barely breathe.

Yes, life rushes upon me, as it did of old
when under snow I saw the green grass grow.
I dream now, as before I would always dream
when such mountains I would see in the blue air.
I forget the toil of the day, as before I would forget
when I towards evening would see a glimpse of sun.
I suppose I shall find some house to give me shelter
when the sun would guide me home towards night.

My translation.
* sunlight :-)

This song was performed during the funeral on Friday. (Not by the singer you can hear above, though. :-) That is Sveinung Hølmebakk.) It is a famous poem, set to music by our great composer Edvard Grieg, about the mountain region Rondane, which my grandmother loved above all other places, and where our cabin is. She wanted this song to be sung as the first part of the ceremony. I wasn't familiar with the singer, but I thought he was very good. He sang several other songs as well. I think we were all very happy with his performance. The vicar was another matter, but there you go. The ceremony as a whole was ... it wasn't perfect, but it was nice. A lot of people came. At the dinner we had afterwards there were 42 of us. It was mostly very nice and partly psycho weird. The latter I can't go into, but sheesh, families. Everyone's got something, right? One thing that was absolutely perfect were the decorations in the church. They were just right and so beautiful. My secret cousin did them, she's the best floral decorator in the northern East Valley (she'll be embarrassed when she reads this! ;-) but it's true, her main competitor said so to my mother :-o) and she did them perfectly. Our grandmother would have loved them. :-) Thank you, Mette!! :-) I hope this picture isn't too creepy ... I really want to share the beautiful flowers.

It was so nice to see so many family members, both on Friday and yesterday. And friends of my grandmother's too. Overall, although the occasion was sad, it was good. We made several visits yesterday and today - obviously, many of my grandmother's friends are old and not too healthy, so not everyone could make it to church. My mother especially was happy to be able to stop by and visit with people she has known too for many years. Even though we have hardly been struck by tragedy, it's good to see family and friends at a time like this.

My grandmother's four grandchildren. :-)