Mat Cauthon
Mat Cauthon is a song from the Season 2 soundtrack of The Wheel of Time television series.
The final verse of this song exists in an alternate version, heard in the Season 2 finale ("What Was Meant To Be") during the end credits. The alternate version is presented alongside the original for comparison, as the differences between the two are significant for translation.
Lyrics
Verse 1
Old Tongue
Official English
Lazy rogue
Practical and shrewd
Brazen to a fault
Rarely think things through
Literal Translation
lazy rogue
but practical, (and) shrewd
wholly brazen
reacting without thought
Notes
Bai'hlem appears to be a contraction of baid hlem, or "self taker". From the positioning, and from abaltad appearing related to balt, we infer that bai'hlem is "lazy" and abaltad is "rogue" (generally adjectives follow the nouns they modify in Old Tongue).
Soukamo contains the stem of souvra (mind) and tail of kakamo (fast), i.e. "fast of mind", or else, shrewd.
Shivilat is also used in Andor, where it is translated as "aggressive", which helps triangulate the other word used in Andor, jugitsa, to mean deadly.
Verse 2
Old Tongue
Official English
The darkness in your heart
Cuts like a knife
Unable to go home
Or reclaim that life
Literal Translation
darkness in your heart
cuts like (a) knife
(you) go (yet) cannot come
(to) rejoin (your) family
Notes
Deta has no known similar word; it might be some kind of cousin of inde/de, meaning "cannot" or "unable" apparently. The phrase "cannot come go" seems to encode the idea of someone always on the move, but not homewards.
Heatsunye is a compound of heatsu (join) and nye (again), or "rejoin".
Verse 3
Old Tongue
abaltad bai'hlem
kakamo gomaen
Official English
Lazy rogue
Immature and rash
Try to fill that hole
Try to fill it fast
Literal Translation
lazy rogue
young heart runs
try to fill (that) sorrow
try fast
Notes
Taafle is similar to taatin, which means "filled"; combined with word order this strongly suggests taafle is the verb "fill". Fadanye is fada (sad) plus the -ye suffix (with an adjoining n), which the official English translates as "void", but could also translate as sorrow or depression.
Verse 4
Old Tongue
Official English
Trickster from the Two Rivers
Gambling Lord of Luck
Embrace the Pattern, ta'veren
Lest darkness run amok
Literal Translation
trickster from manetheren
gambler lord of luck
(if you) reject (the) pattern, ta'veren
(then) the shadow may run amok
Notes
The last two lines are translated differently than one might expect because of the presence of an alternate version of this song played at the end of the Season 2 finale, "What Was Meant To Be", during the end credits. The alternate version is:
risnor der manetheren / dovienya'shan raidvinor / kadanti'de tamarakad / shaidar mozhlit'de sorbatel
" trickster from manetheren / gambler lord of luck / accept the pattern / and the shadow may not run amok"
Given that this version plays in the episode after Mat has apparently accepted his role in the Pattern and denied The Shadow, we speculate that kadanti actually means "reject" rather than "accept", since that would better explain the reversal of the final two lines: kadanti'de, mozhlit'de, each taking on a negating -de suffix.