Someone on the internet asked if anyone could translate this song.  The short answer is no.  The long answer is almost.  I've had a difficult time even with my Swedish contacts in making sense of the line "Jag går på gäle å harver."  Also, while I chose "Is he crying still," there's are a couple of other meanings of "lever han än," including "is he still fussy," "is he still making noise," and "is he still alive?"

I'll fix the formatting later.

Vallåt (Pasture) by Kaunan

(Old norse, from this inscription: http://skaldic.abdn.ac.uk/db.php?id=15070&if=runic&table=mss)

Ríst ek bótrúnar,

Ríst ek bjargrúnar,

Einfalt við alfum,

Tvífalt við trollum,

Þrífalt við þursum.

(Swedish)

Tulleri, Lull

Lever han än?

Långt, långt bort i skogen

Jo, men gör han

Jo men gör han

Den lille ligger i vaggan sin

Ta av dig skon, och mjölka kon

och ge den lille go dricka.

Jag har förfall, jag får inte gå vall

Jag går på gäle å harver.

Nå, vinden blåser och björka gå

Och lille sover så snällt ändå.

Ja vädret blåser, björka gå

Får inte vyssja den lille.

Lu, la, lever han än?

Ja, ja, gör han så.

Lu, la, lever han än?

Ja, ja, gör han så.

(English)

I grave help-runes,

I grave birth-runes,

Once against the elves,

Twice against the trolls,

Thrice against the thurses.

Tull-eri-lull

Is he still crying

Far, far away in the forest?

Yes, but does he?

Yes, but does he?

The baby lies in his cradle.

Take off your boot and milk the cow,

And give the baby a good drink.

I can’t.  I can’t go herding.

(Line presently difficult to translate) I’ll go with gills on the river.

Well, the wind blows and the birch bends,

and the baby still sweetly sleeps.

Yes, the weather blows - the birch bends,

It won’t lull the baby.

Lu, la, is he crying still?

Yes, Yes, he is.

Lu, la, is he crying still?

Yes, Yes, he is.