Translation of the song lyrics Raganu Nakts - Tautumeitas

Raganu Nakts (original)

Tiesa, tiesa, ne meliņi, līgo, līgo
Vecu ļaužu valodiņa, līgo, līgo
Vecu ļaužu valodiņa, līgo
Jāņu naktī meitas gāja, līgo, līgo
Raganās (i), vilkacēs (i), līgo, līgo
Raganās (i), vilkacēs (i), līgo
Jāņi, jāņi šovakar (i), līgo, līgo
Kam tie Jāņi piederēja, līgo, līgo
Kam tie Jāņi piederēja, līgo
Raganām (i), vilkacēm (i), līgo, līgo
Tām tie Jāņi piederēja, līgo, līgo
Tām tie Jāņi piederēja, līgo
Skrien, ragana, šķērsu gaisu, līgo, līgo
Ne manājā sētiņājā, līgo, līgo
Ne manājā sētiņājā, līgo
Mana sēta dzelžiem kalta, līgo, līgo
Adatām (i) jumti jumti, līgo, līgo
Adatām (i) jumti jumti, līgo
Adatām (i) jumti jumti, līgo, līgo
Izkaptēm (i) spāres celtas, līgo, līgo
Izkaptēm (i) spāres celtas, līgo
Adatāmi nosadurti, līgo, līgo
Izkaptēmi nosagriezti, līgo, līgo
Izkaptēmi nosagriezti, līgo
Sviesta piena upe teka, līgo, līgo
Manā govu laidarājā, līgo, līgo
Manā govu laidarājā, līgo
Tur nolauza skauģis kaklu, līgo, līgo
Tur deviņas raganiņas, līgo, līgo
Tur deviņas raganiņas, līgo
Tur noslīka laumes meitas, līgo, līgo
Bez saulītes vakarājā, līgo, līgo
Bez saulītes vakarājā, līgo

Raganu Nakts (translation)

True, true — not the silver lies, midsummer’s hush
Tongue of the old ones, moss-laden and grave
Tongue of the elders, hoarse as autumn reeds
On Solstice night, the maidens passed—moon-steeped, ablaze
To witches’ forms, to shapes of wolves, the night unfurls
To witch and wolf, the shadows slip and merge
Jāņi! Jāņi tonight—midsummer’s chalice brims
To whom belong these Jāņi feasts, this gilded dusk?
To whom did these midsummer rites belong?
To hags and to the werewolf kin, the night bows down
To them those Jāņi rites were yielded, bright as flame
To them those Jāņi feasts were given, wild and proud
Run, witch, sweep the air as a scythe through dawn’s haze
But not above my threshold, not in my fenced dusk
Not within my paling’s quiet ring
My yard was forged with iron’s midnight breath
Its roofs are sewn with needles—thorned, defiant
Its roofs are sewn with needles’ cruel resolve
Its roofs—needles bristling like a hedgehog’s crown
Rafters are raised by scythes, moon-gleaming, cold
By scythes the beams were born, sharp against the sky
Stabbed through with needles—each splinter braced
By scythes were the crossbeams slashed, unbowed
By scythes the rafters were sundered, steel-sung
A river of buttermilk ran slow and pale
Across the twilight of my cattle stall
Within the quiet of my cattle fold
There envy snapped its neck like a brittle stick
There nine witches wove their tangled hair
There nine witches laughed through the dusk
There drowned the fairy maidens, willow-thin
All after sunset, when the sun had fled
All after sunset, shorn of the sun’s embrace