Boudika of Iceni (Old English)

Boudīka of Iceni
By Rachel Chase

Lang agone bihaldan! Bryttisc gleam
Long ago behold! Ancient Britain splendor

Geclipian feohtan folc freodom
cried loudly to fight folk freedom

Romanisce gewinnan, Gefa of seo Godas
Romans to win adversary in deadly feud the Gods

Gemengan folc Breten-lond Boudīka valda
to mingle folk Britain Land Boudicca to wield

Wlite wif wyrd strengþu
beautiful woman destiny strengthened

þæt cwenes taluan, triewe mæden
(that)queen tale faithful maiden

Full of Ellen seo Bellatrix Bryttas lædanas
Full of Zeal that female warrior Natives of Ancient Britain

Cepan huse hopian hydan hord
To hold home to wish to hide treasure

Hobban lond us Iceni folc mægester
Belongs land us Iceni folk masters

Wē sceal nǣfre gieldan wē sceal nǣfre losian
We shall never to pay for we shall never be lost/perish

Eagea geseah slahtr geteran
Eyes saw slaughter torn

Dead waet bodigas of blodas and flæscas
Dead wet bodies of blood and flesh

Dreorig wigan gemacod great geomrianþ wrecan
Blood fight made great lamenting avenge/drive out

Deað grette gemurnan seo maeden cwen
with death greeted mourned the maiden queen

Bryttisc gesincan read ea ænlic igland
Ancient Brittain sank red river lone island

Boudika cwen Onslǣpte hīe nǣfre a to fore wæcnanþ
Boudicca queen fell asleep she never ever in life awaken


English Translation:

Behold! Long ago gleaming ancient Britain
Called to the fight people for freedom
To win the battle against Rome, foe of the gods
Among the people of Britain, Boudicca (ruled)--old norse
Beautiful woman whom destiny strengthened
Tale of a queen, loyal maiden
Courageous warrior who led the native Brits
To keep their homes in the hopes to hide their hord
“This land belongs to us, masters of the Iceni people
We will not yield, we will not lose”
But eyes saw slaughter consume
Whole bodies wet with bloody flesh
The bloody battle forced great lamenting
Greeted with death, the young queen mourned
And ancient Britain sank in the red river as a solitary island
Then, the queen Boudica fell asleep and she never again awoke

*"Bellatrix" and "Slahtr" are borrowed from Latin and Old Norse words
**In the original document, the Old English is typed in an Old English font but for some reason it did not translate onto the blog. Also, though the hemi-stitches are there, it would not let me tab to separate them and did not seem to respond to the space bar either. They are, even though there are not spaces between them.