Some texts I’ve translated over the years. For the most part, these translations are quite literal; they strive for fidelity rather than aesthetic strength. The idea is that, with some basic grammatical knowledge, it should be possible to follow along with the work in the original language and understand it. Most of these translations are complete, but in a few places in the text where I’ve been uncertain of the meaning I have enclosed the uncertain portions in square brackets.
Russian prince Igor Svyatoslavich undertakes a disastrous invasion of the lands of the Cuman Khans Gzak and Konchak in the year 1202.
A series of epic poems telling of the 14th-century destruction of the Serbian Tsardom by the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Kosovo Field (1389).
A poem of Croatian origin presaging the coming destruction of the Serbian Tsardom.
Ottoman Sultan Murat demands the submission of Serbian Tsar Lazar.
Tsar Lazar curses anyone who doesn’t come to Kosovo to fight against the Ottomans.
Tsar Lazar and his court eat their last supper before the battle, and accusations of imminent treachery abound.
Serbian knights Kosančić Ivan and Miloš Obilić spy on the Turkish army’s camp and realize they are hopelessly outnumbered.
The Ottoman and Serbian armies finally meet on Kosovo field in 1389. The Serbs are routed and destroyed by the treachery of Vuk Branković. Both Tsar Lazar and Sultan Murat are killed.
Serbian knight Musić Stefan prepares for battle, goes to Kosovo field to fight, and perishes.
Milica, wife of Tsar Lazar, sees her husband off to battle and afterward receives tidings of the disaster at Kosovo field.
Vladeta the voivod brings Milica tidings of the battle and of Vuk Branković’s betrayal.
Three Serbian knights fight in the battle on Kosovo field.
A mother hears of her sons’ deaths in the battle and then dies herself.
A maiden wanders the battlefield in the aftermath of the rout, giving aid to the wounded and dying.
Lazar’s head escapes from his body after his death in the battle.
Lazar’s head is discovered and miraculously goes of its own accord to rejoin his body to be buried at the church he founded.
Three brothers, Serbian princes, set about building the castle of Skadar (Shkodër), but their work is undone every night by a vila (a Slavic nature spirit). The only way to appease the vila is for one of them to wall up his wife inside the castle wall as a human sacrifice.
King Vukašin convinces the mighty warlord Momčilo’s wife to betray him, then regrets what he has done and proves doubly treacherous. In the end Prince Marko is born.
When the Ottoman Empire invades Serbia in 1389, a band of renegade Turks under Vlah-Alija raze Strahinić Ban’s castle, trample his mother, and kidnap his wife. He must infiltrate the Turkish camp in disguise to take her back.
The lesser-known Croatian version of the same poem, featuring a completely different ending.
The Bugarštica version of Banović Strahinja: shorter, less fanciful, and crueler than the famous version, again with a totally different ending.
Jurišić Janko, a Serbian outlaw (hajduk), manages to escape from imprisonment in a Turkish dungeon.
A call for the people to rise up against fascist occupation.
Another call to arise against the fascists.
A Partisan guerrilla force forms to fight the Nazis.
A sister betrays her brother, a resistance fighter, to the Germans.
A Partisan sings of how the fascists killed his family and burned down his house, leaving him to fight to the death in the woods of Petrova Mountain.
A mother looks for the grave of her son, who died as a resistance fighter in Kordun.
A medieval poem about the futility of life and inevitability of death.
Another poem on the same subject, and one of the oldest known songs in English.
A very old revolutionary song from 1861. »If you must die in prisons and damp mines, — your work will always resound in generations of the living.«
’Ĕlōhîm creates the world. Three different translations of the text are given: one very literal, one more readable, and one versified as poetry. I have attempted to interpret according to the grammatical and linguistic features of the Hebrew text, not any doctrinal or theological ones. The result is a translation not aimed at any modern religious use, but rather attempting to reflect the original text as an ancient religious/literary work. Especially given my incomplete knowledge of Hebrew, the whole thing should not be taken too seriously but more as an experiment. Only the first chapter is done so far.
An Ancient Egyptian hymn including the most complete telling of the story of Osiris from any known Egyptian text. Osiris’s attributes are listed off and given praise, then his overthrow and murder by Set are hinted at and his son Horus’s eventual revenge is described.
A story from Ancient Egypt, a tale within a tale within a tale. In the main plotline, a sailor is shipwrecked on a mysterious island, the only survivor of a freak storm at sea. There he encounters unexpected abundance and a terrifying snake god with a story of his own.
An Ancient Egyptian wisdom text giving rules for conduct.