La Berceuse d’Ahtohallan (Français) [All is Found]

(Originally posted 3 Dec 2019. Slight edits made.)

This version feels more like a real lullaby. It still contains some elements of the foreshadowing of the English version (and kudos to the localisation team for that), but much less of the spirit-y undertones at the end that sets up Queen Iduna’s return from the grave in Ahtohallan. (“Come my darling, homeward bound / When all is lost then all is found” – did Queen Iduna know her spirit would live on or something?) The ending of the song in this French version just says “a mother daydreams”, which is…vague? And certainly not spirit-y. You can compare it to the English version which I talk about in a separate post.

As an aside, the rhyme scheme of the French version is almost totally similar to that of the English one. the French version has AABB CCDD EFEF AAHH. I know that the A, D, and E are all /e/ (“ey”), but I don’t think there was a conscious choice to make them all the same. The English version has AABB CCBB DEDE AABB, overall a tighter rhyming scheme.

Disclaimer: I do not study or speak French. My exposure to French comes from listening to Frozen I songs and scattered experiences in the past. This translation may be imprecise.

​La Berceuse d’Ahtohallan (The Lullaby of Ahtohallan)

Written by: Robert Lopez, Kristen Anderson-Lopez
Composed by: Christophe Beck
Performed by: Prisca Demarez

​Quand le vent frais vient danser / La rivière chante pour ne pas oublier
When the fresh wind comes to dance / The river sings so that (it/she) does not forget

Ferme les yeux si tu veux voir / Ton reflet dans son grand miroir
Close thine eyes, if thou wouldst see / Thy reflection in its great mirror

Dans l’air du soir, tendre et doux / L’eau claire murmure un chemin pour nous
In the evening air, tender and sweet / The clear water murmurs a path for us

Si tu plonges dans le passé / Prends garde de ne pas t’y noyer
If thou plungest into the past / Beware thou not to drown there

Elle chante pour qui sait écouter / Cette chanson, magie des flots
She sings for whom knows to listen / This song, the magic of the waves

Il faut nos peurs apprivoiser / Pour trouver le secret de l’eau
We must tame our fears / To find the secret of the water

Quand le vent frais vient danser / Une maman rêve tout éveillée
When the fresh wind comes to dance / A mother daydreams

Dors, mon enfant, n’aie plus peur / ​Le passé reste au fond des cœurs
Sleep, my child, have no more fear / The past resides at the bottom of our hearts