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
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
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
ninte saidendrelle
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
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".