La Polenta Taragnarock [English translation]

From the heart of Bormio, 1 the Kuèrc Square, welcome to another episode of "Valtellinea".2 Today we're going to talk about the typical products of this wonderful land: in Valtellina you can find the sciatt, the bresaola, the pizzoccheri...the polenta. The polenta taragna, everybody want to eat it, taste it, savour it, everybody want to sing about it! Polenta Taragnarock! 3

*

Nourishing, high density

A platter of smoking-hot awesomeness

Forged by Thor's ladle

Quartering in your heart's arteries

From the mouth of Trepalle's volcano 4

It floods on you with its buttery shawl

Its lapilli of cholesterol

Are bombing the South Tyrol 5

In a blitzkrieg of coarse corn flour 6

Isolating, low-transmittance

It protects you from AIDS and pregnancy

It boils inside giant's kettles 7

Valkyrie of the antioxidant dishes

I'll brandish the magic cauldron

I'll knead the golden starch 8

With Formai de Mut! 9

The Polenta Taragnarock

The Polenta Taragnarock

Pride of Valhaltellina's 10 cauldrons

The Polenta Taragnarock

Trasmuted by Sondrio's alchemy 11

It seduces ribosome and mitochondrion

Which absorbs its Orobic 12 glucose

In an anaerobic process

An overdose could cause pellagra 13

But its consumption has the same effect of Viagra

Transforming you into a Superman 14

Between your legs you'll have a dragon of Como 15

Overflowing with melted scimudin 16

The Polenta Taragnarock

The Polenta Taragnarock

Pride of Valhaltellina's cauldrons

The Polenta Taragnarock

There are so many things you can do in this world

Pillaging, plastering, feasting 17

But if you let yourself overcome by ravenous impetus

"Mr. President? Mr. President!" 18

Your stomach will sing "Ginnungagap!" 19

In order to prevent a gastro-intestinal lockdown

From the western lake of Mid-Garda 20

There's a straw-yellow tonic potion

Cedrata Tassoni, 21 Odin's elixir!

I'll put some provola on it

Gorgonzola is perfect with it 22

Fuck, it's so good! 23

The Polenta Taragnarock

The Polenta Taragnarock

Pride of Valhaltellina's cauldrons

The Polenta Taragnarock

1. Bormio is a city in Northern Italy, in the Valtellina valley.2. this spoken introduction is a parody of a popular Italian TV show called "Linea Verde" (lit. "Green Line"), which shows in each episode a different part of Italy, with its natural wonders and gastronomic traditions. The name "Valtellinea" is a pun on “Valtellina” plus the name of the aforementioned show. The host here is Giorgio Mastrota, an Italian anchorman famous for his TV sales, who's already been the target of a homonymous song by Nanowar.3. "Polenta taragna" is the name of a typical product of Valtellina, made of boiled cornmeal and melted cheese. The word "taragna" is mixed with "Ragnarök", the "twilight of the gods" according to Norse mythology. Looking on Google for an English translation of the word "polenta", I found out that a company is actually selling a pre-made polenta branded as "Polenta Taragnarok": https://www.madeinvaltellina.it/farine/401-polenta-taragnarock.html4. Trepalle is a mountain village in Valtellina. There isn't a volcano there, but it's the highest inhabitated town in Italy.5. another area of Northern Italy.6. the "mais bramato" is a type of corn flour, coarsely ground, used for the polenta taragna.7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant%27s_kettle The Italian word, "marmitta dei giganti", also has the same literal translation.8. the music of these two verses is a reference to the 1980 song "Su di noi", by Italian singer Pupo.9. a kind of cheese typical of an area close to Valtellina.10. a portmanteau of "Valtellina" and "Valhalla".11. Sondrio is a city of Lombardy, in Northern Italy. Sondrio's Province includes most of the Valtellina.12. the Orobic Alps is the section of Alps close to Sondrio, and to the cities of Como and Bergamo (to which the adjective "orobico" typically refers in Italian).13. a disease caused by the lack of certain vitamins. It was endemic of Valtellina, where poor villagers, in the past, could only afford meals with very few vitamins, such as - indeed - the polenta.14. "superuomo" is a term from Nietzschean philosophy (it translates the German "Übermensch" - nothing to do with the DC superhero).15. pun on "lago di Como" (Como lake), near Valtellina.16. another type of cheese produced in Valtellina - when melted, it presents itself as a hot, white liquid, hence the sexual innuendo.17. this two lines are a parody of an old commercial (which can still be seen sometimes on air, especially on summer) of the "Cedrata Tassoni", a citron drink. The jingle says "there are so many things you can do in the world: build, create...but find one minute for me".18. the singer suddenly stops and Mastrota makes him come back to himself. This is a reference to a famous moment in Italian television: Giulio Andreotti, one of the most powerful and criticised politician of the Italian Republic, was interviewed by Italian journalist Paola Perego in a carefree evening show, years after his retirement from the political scene. After being asked what was his opinion about children's future in Italy, and what he hoped for them, Andreotti replied nothing and kept looking in another direction. The host thought he was thinking, or just spacing out, and waited for a moment, then repeated the question. Then, starting to realise, she called him twice ("mr. President? Mr. President!" - as Andreotti had served three times as President of the Council of Ministers of Italy) and finally commercials started being broadcasted. Andreotti came back to his senses shortly after, off-air, remembering nothing of what happened. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnBuaJDNagU 19. the great primordial abyss according to Norse mythology. In this case, it's just an onomatopoeia for stomach noises after eating a lot of polenta.20. pun on "Garda lake" (an Italian lake - see above - west of Valtellina) and Midgard, the ancient Norse name of Earth.21. see note 17.22. provola and gorgonzola are two types of cheese produced in Northern Italy. The music is again a reference to "Su di noi" (see note 8).23. the original sentence is in the typycal dialect of Valtellina.

• Artist:Nanowar of Steel
• Album:Italian Folk Metal (2021)