Lyrics - Lithuanian
(Lithuanian folk song)
Kalėdų rytų rožė inžydo,
lylio kalėda kalėda
Sekminių rytu dyvai pasidarė,
lylio kalėda kalėda
Dyvai pasidarė: ažerai užšalo,
lylio kalėda kalėda
Jaunas bernelis ladelį kirto,
lylio kalėda kalėda
Ladelį kirto, žirgelį girdė,
lylio kalėda kalėda
Žirgelį girdė, mergeli virgdė,
lylio kalėda kalėda
Atlakė elnias Devyniaragis,
lylio kalėda kalėda
Ant pirmo rago ugnelė degė,
lylio kalėda kalėda
An` antro rago kavoliai kalė,
lylio kalėda kalėda
English Translation – Christmas Eve rose
Christmas Eve Rose
lylio kalėda kalėda*
On Pentecost a miracle happened
lylio…
A miracle happened: the lakes froze
lylio…
Young boy cut through the ice
lylio…
Cut through the ice to give the horse a drink
lylio…
To give the horse a drink, made a maiden cry
lylio…
A deer with nine antlers came
lylio…
On the first antler a fire burned,
lylio…
And second antler smiths were forging
lylio…
*Kalėda doesn’t have any particular meaning, except that it derives from word “Kalėdos” which means Christmas or Christmas gifts. Same with “lylio.” (source)
Another source (see comments below) says Kaléda is the Winter Solstice.
See also
- Country: Lithuania
- Subjects: Christmas / deer
- Form: call & response
- Meter: 3
- Scale: pentachord
- Tones: l,t,drm
YouTube
- PDF of song with chords
- MIDI file
- Listen to the melody
2 thoughts on “Kalėdų rytų rožė inžydo”
Kalėda is the Winter Solstice. The name was “borrowed’ by Christians for Christmas, so its origins go back much further. Kalėda also means the newly-reborn sun.
Jūratė Rzeznik
Seniūnė, Romuva North America
Lithuanian Ethnic Faith
Thank you for the information!