Alone am I on the mountain,
O royal Sun! prosper my path
And then I shall have nothing to fear.
Were I guarded by six thousand,
Though they might defend my skin,
When the hour of death is fixed,
Were I guarded by six thousand,
In no fortress could I be safe.
Even in a church the wicked are slain,
Even in an isle amidst a lake;
But God’s elect are safe
Even in the front of battle.
No man can kill me before my day,
Even had we closed in combat;
And no man can save my life
When the hour of death has come.
My life! As God pleases let it be;
Nought can be taken from it,
Nought can be added to it,
The lot which God has given
Ere man dies must be lived out.
He who seeks more, were he a prince,
Shall not a mite obtain.
A guard!
A guard may guide him on his way;
But can they guard
Against the touch of death?…

Forget thy poverty awhile;
Let us think of the world’s hospitality.
The Son of May will prosper thee
And every guest shall have his share.
Many a time
What is spent returns to the bounteous hand.
And that which is kept back,
None the less has passed away.
O living God!
Alas for him who evil works!
That which he thinks not of, comes to him,
That which he hopes, vanishes out of his hand.
There is no Sreod (magic) that can tell our fate,
No bird upon the branch
Nor trunk of gnarled oak…

Better is He in Whom we trust,
The King Who has made us all,
Who will not leave me tonight without refuge.
I adore not the voice of birds,
Nor chance, nor the love of a son or a wife.
My Druid is Christ, the Son of God,
The Son of Mary, the Great Abbot,
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit…

Vladimir Moss

Alone am I in the mountain, O royal Sun of prosperous path, nothing is to be feared by me, nor if I were attended by sixty hundred.
If I were attended by sixty hundred of forces, though they would defend the skin (body), when once the fixed period of my death arrives, there is no fortress, which will resist it.
Though even in a church the reprobates are slain, though in an island in the middle of a lake, the fortunate of this life are protected, while in the very front of a battle.
No one can slay me, though he should find me in danger, neither can I be protected the day my life comes to its destined period.
My life! Let it be as is pleasing to my God, nothing of it shall be wanting, addition to it will not be [made].
The healthy person becomes sick, the sickly person becomes sound, the unhappy person gets into order, the happy person gets into disorder.
Whatever God has destined for one as he goes not from this world until he meets it, though a prince should seek more, the size of a mite he shall not obtain.
A guard one may bring with him on his path, but what protection, what—has guarded him from death?
An herb is cut for the kine after their coming from the mountain; what induces the owner of the kine not to cut an herb for himself?
No son of a man knows for whom he makes a gathering, whether it is a gathering for himself or a gathering for another person.

Leave out penury for a time, attend to hospitality, it is better for thee, the son of Mary will prosper thee; each guest comes to his share.
It is often the thing which is spent returns, and the thing which is not spent, although it is not spent, it vanishes.
O living God, alas for him who does evil for any thing; the thing which one sees not come to him, and the thing which he sees vanishes from his hand.
It is not with the sreod our destiny is, nor with the bird on the top of the twig, nor with the trunk of a knotty tree, nor with a sordan hand in hand.

Better is he in whom we trust, the Father, the One, and the Son.
The distribution for each evening in the house of God, it is what my King has made; He is the King who made our bodies, who will not let me go tonight without aught.
I adore not the voice of birds, nor the sreod, nor a destiny on the earthly world, nor a son, nor chance, nor woman. My Druid is Christ, the Son of God.
Christ, the son of Mary, the great abbot, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. My estates are with the King of kings, my order is at Cenannus and Moen.

Alexandra Bergholm