Song:Moghedien

Moghedien is a song from the Season 3 soundtrack of The Wheel of Time television series.

Lyrics

Verse 1

Old Tongue

upendari, upendari, upendari,

ghar upendari

Official English

Webs, webs, webs,

venom and webs

Literal Translation

Same as official English.

Notes

Ghar is also used for "acid", so this usage here indicates a more general word for a noxious or dangerous substance.

Verse 2

Old Tongue

sa’vrangneiri

buggel jaebun

daienne basho dival

navronnde

Official English

How sadistic to

play with your prey

Dancing in the light

unawares

Literal Translation

Most sadistic

(to) play (with your) prey

(as they are) dancing under light

unwatching

Notes

Dancing in the light is rendered with basho "under", rather than sa "in". This is part of a pattern of more literal spatial references in Old Tongue; sa is typically reserved for "within" in the sense of inside of the borders or boundaries of something. But "under light" is more literal, positioning the light as above (as it likely would be) and the prey underneath.

Navronnde is a new word, clearly influenced by vronne, av'ron, vron, etc. It seems most likely it is a modified form of vronne, "to watch". So, one assumes we would also have vronnde "to not watch", and then na- seems to operate here as a rare participle-izing prefix.

Verse 3

Old Tongue

asa vronne der zamon

jaebun gulos, gulos,

dred tasu dhjin

gadhati

mengat

vakat

Official English

As you watch from the dark

They’re unsuspecting

Twisting in awful ways

Your threads

Are binding

As they –

Literal Translation

You watch from darkness

prey unsuspecting, unsuspecting

(you) make (them) twist awfully

(your) threads

(are) binding

(as they are) moving

Notes

Asa vronne der zamon, if translated most literally, is "from darkness watch you", with "from darkness" as the subject and "you" as the object. This is not dissimilar from

belo nin'balt jalou doko?
" where goes your heart's desire"

or

kazath nin'zavilat vakar gavane
" what moves your will says?"

from Andor, where OVS structure puts what is nominally the subject in the object position, but with a relatively coherent resulting literal translation. These structures are similar to subject-verb inversion in English, and more generally these all fall within the concept of linguistic inversion. "Where goes your heart's desire" has effectively the same meaning as "where does your heart desire to go?" Here, we have "from darkness watches you", which is a strange but relatively interpretable English sentence that would be understood to mean "you watch from darkness". So, we see the mechanics of OVS being used in more complex ways in these songs.

The last part, gadhati mengat vakat, is interestingly translation as "your threads are binding as they -". This may be to match the English to the beat of the Old Tongue lyrics, but it also suggests an implied meaning. Threads here likely means threads in the web, which bind the prey as the prey moves, struggling to free itself. In English, combined with the sudden crescendo of the song as it transitions to the chorus, suggests the tense moment where prey has suddenly been caught in a binding web.

Chorus

Old Tongue

jakai

moghedien

upendari ghar

shar hou’dabori

Official English

Forsaken

Dark spider

Webs and Venom

Master of Dreams

Literal Translation

Forsaken

Moghedien (a specific kind of spider, so this is a proper noun)

webs (and) venom

(of the) blood (of) dreams

Notes

Jakai is clearly related to jakeesh, the verb form of forsake.

Shar hou'dabori literally is "blood (of) dreams", but seems to here be used more in the manner of "shar Manetheren" (e.g. "tai shar Manetheren") which means "blood of Manetheren", as in bloodline. So here the implication might be closer to saying "of the (royal or ruling) bloodline of dreams", as a colorful metaphor for the forsaken with the most mastery of Tel'aran'rhiod.

Verse 4

Old Tongue

sa’tel’aran’rhiod

atha’inde tumasen

gouz mahdubor

shadar jarb

Official English

In the world of dreams

No one is safe

From your hunters gaze

Piercing shadows

Literal Translation

In Tel'Aran'Rhiod

no one (is) safe

(from your) hunter's gaze

shadow pierce

Notes

Atha'inde is a rather simple and wonderful word for "no one", as it most literally would mean "no person". One would imagine a counterpart atha'aes might be used for "everyone". A note on pronunciation: it is hard to discern in the song vocals, but the "i" sound that typically sounds like the second i in "wiki" is heavily elided, resulting in a sound more like "atha'ande" where "an" sounds similar to the "un" in "hunt". This could be just variance in how the vocalists performed the line, or else intentional contraction of the syllables.

We see a common poetic pattern of omitting connectives like "from your" in the song lyrics. Gouz is likely connected to gougl (to look), and mahdubor to mahdi (seeker).

Overall, we might better translate the whole last passage, gouz mahdubor shadar jarb, as "shadow-piercing hunter's gaze".

Verse 5

Old Tongue

beghim da’concion

aleika hei, hei

dred tasu dhjin

gadhati

mengat

vakat

Official English

Assassin of the chosen

You’re always weaving

Twisting in awful ways

Your threads

Are binding

As they –

Literal Translation

Assassin (of) The Chosen

weaving always, always

(you) make (them) twist awfully

(your) threads

(are) binding

(as they are) moving

Notes

Da'Concion translates roughly as "chosen ones", indicating clearly a likely Old Tongue term for what the Forsaken call themselves, "The Chosen". It is effectively then a proper noun here.

Interestingly, the official lyrics only include one hei and one "always", but the word is repeated in the actual song.