Sæterreise [English translation]

The fields are turning green, the snow are melting

The mountains become bare and the trees are budding

The wild Primrose1 grows in the valley

The cows can eat their fill

All thing alive begins to move

The bear emerges from his den

Outside the barn happy

Cows and calves and sheep and lambs run around

Come cattle, follow on

Come Golden-spotted, come Spelin!2

Cows, calves! You are leading on

Wanting to get up to the Sæter-pasture.

Without fear we shall live

The shepherd-boy keeps the bear at bay

And those who do not fear him

Fears the horn of the Budeie3

Juicy grass you shall feed on

Drink from clear water springs

Each day shall be a feast

The food(the grass) shall reach up to your knees

Now you shall be rewarded for the frost and cold

And the hunger and starvation of winter

No Huldr only cattle

Like yourself shall (sorry don`t know)

We have done all that should be done

Cured cheese and churned butter

Now all that remains is to put the Kløv4 on the horse

And put a lock on the Sæter door

Here is no more sustenance

Neither for heathen or Christian

We are happy to return to the village

And the cows are even happier

Goodbye you pasture which made

The softest field of flowers for me

When I, tired from the days work,

Ran and threw myself down (in the grass)

Goodby small sæter, my dear cabin

That witnessed so much of my work

Wonder If you also sensed something

When that boy lay next to me.

Goodbye fields on which the cattle grazed

Where I shepherded so often

Goodbye forest that often would echo

With my horn and tunes and songs

Goodbye huldr who lived there

Move you now into the sæter.

In winter it is bad to be outdoors

Exposed to the cold weather and the wind

Come now everything that is on the Sæter

Come along down to the village

All of the earth is now reddening in the colors of autumn

Every last straw belongs to the cattle

Hurry up, the folks are waiting back home

They want bufærslefsa5

Here there is nothing more to do

People and cattle, let us go.

1. Murinykjl = maria nøkleblom = Wild Primrose /cowlip2. These are common phrases used when gathering and herding animals up to pasture in the mountain. They would normally contain names of cows and cattle mixed with sounds without any specific meaning.3. A woman responsible for the livestock – milking, cleaning, hearding and gathering and protecting the cows/sheep/ calves etc. Often a special horn with a loud sound was used to scare of animals threatening the livestock (wolves, bears etc)4. Kløyva = a Kløv is a special kind of harness used on animals such as oxen, donkeys and horses so as to be able to use them to carry heavy loads. I´m not 100% sure if Øykjon means horse, mule or donkey.5. Lefse= Traditional Norwegian food. A thin pancake often buttered, with cheese or sugar, folded into a square.

• Artist:Folque
• Album:Vardøger