Nyneave al'Meara

Nynaeve al'Meara is a song from the Season 2 soundtrack of The Wheel of Time television series.

Lyrics

Verse 1

Old Tongue

totah Manetheren der

waji weladthi tar valon

ninte ghoba dvo ahendrelle

dvodrelle duadh ninte khadye

Official English

A long way from Emond's Field

The White Tower now your home

An ocean fed by two rivers

Surging in the confines of your bones

Literal Translation

far from Manetheren

now (your) family (in) Tar Valon

your soul (is of) two rivers

two rivers water (in) your bones

Notes

The word order in the first line is interesting: "far Manetheren from"; clearly intended to mean "far from Manetheren", but shows a tendency to put nouns before adjectives or other modifying words.

The word khadye is used here as a metonym for Nynaeve's deep self. Khadi is bones, literal skeletal bones, and the -ye suffix marks it as having metaphorical meaning. See -ye for further details.

Verse 2

Old Tongue

devorye rieht

riehtne mazera sa'trewele

aleikya saidar

mat'saidar daghain'cov

Official English

Summon all of your wisdom

Through the pride woven into your braid

And grapple with the One Power

Tame it so you won't be afraid

Literal Translation

summon wisdom

wisdom through pride in (your) braid

weave saidar

tame saidar (so you will not be) owned (by) fear

Notes

Rieht is wisdom (the concept of wiseness). Riehtne is an unknown modified version which seems to mean something like "with wisdom" or "through wisdom", though this is speculative. There are no similar -ne ending words with comparable meanings. A tenuous hypothesis is that the -ne ending could bear some connection to nesodhin, but that is speculative.

Aleikya is clearly related to aleika, the base word for weaving. Here it is translated in the official English as "grapple with", but this is loose. Instead, it seems more likely that this is a form of the word which is specific to creating weaves of the One Power. Aleika is a more general form; aleikya is something like a -ye suffix version, except it is a -ya ending. This is not to suggest a broader -ya suffix pattern, but to hint at ways to internalize why aleikya may take this form.

Verse 3

Old Tongue

seren'shai

pochivat

ninte saidendrelle

tsunga ellis sheikar

Official English

Stubborn one

Your journey has begun

Your river runs

Like a Raging Sun

Literal Translation

stubborn woman

start

your power flows (like)

(a) raging bright sun

Notes

Saidendrelle is an interesting word; it shows the continued relationship between water and the One Power in the Wheel of Time universe. It refers to Nynaeve's power using the word for river.

Tsunga is not used elsewhere; it seems to mean "raging", and bears some slight resemblance to tsorovan (storm) which reinforces that interpretation.

Verse 4

Old Tongue

ashandore balfrait

grean al dival

shukan vaanok

ni'walden merwon

kerenya keewal

Official English

Courageous wisdom

Channeler of the light

Intuitive healer

Your power screams

A Wilder Queen

Literal Translation

brave Wisdom

channeler for the Light

intuitive healer

your power boils

wilder queen

Notes

Ashandore is the Old Tongue word used for the Two Rivers title of Wisdom. This is distinct from rieht, which translates to wisdom in the sense of having wisdom. Asha means "guard" and ndore means "of or from the mountains" (e.g. Manetheren); thus ashandore is "mountain guardian", a fitting title for a Manetheren leader and healer.

Shukan is a clear relative of shuk (health). Vaanok thus must be "intuitive".

Ni'walden is a shortening of ninte/ninto commonly seen in the songs. It shortens in Andor to nin, e.g. "nin'balt"; here to ni, likely a result of the following syllable (ni'walden is easier to say than nin'walden).

Walden itself is spoken in Season 3 Episode 4, "The Road to the Spear", by Mierin when asked what the Aes Sedai found in the Sharom; she replies "walden", which is translated onscreen as "power". In that scene, the actress pronounces walden as "valden", whereas in this song it is pronounced with a w sound. It is interesting that there are several mixed instances of both w and v sounds used in Old Tongue for the letter w; this suggests perhaps an intention to represent different Old Tongue accents or regional speech variations in the show.

Verse 5

Old Tongue

ashandore jaendar

ashandore ma'zaffid

ma'tumasenya ashandore

ashama'sein der mirhage

Official English

Wisdom, track their movements

Wisdom, find them whole

Wisdom, give them safety

Lest the hardships take their toll

Literal Translation

Wisdom, find (them)

Wisdom, (find them) whole

(bring them to) safety Wisdom

guard them from pain

Notes

Here, the ma prefix of importance is used. This is explicitly mentioned in the books, with Verin Sedai discussing its use in the context of ma'vron. Here, it is acting as a kind of imperative indicator: "Wisdom, find them, find them whole, Wisdom bring them to safety and guard them from pain".