Drinking and Celebrating, The Klingon Way, Part 2

Let's have a look at those traditional drinking songs.


The song itself has the following lyrics:-

'ej HumtaH 'ej DechtaH 'Iw

'ej Doq SoDtaH ghoSpa' SIqIral bIQtIq

'e' pa' jaj law' mo' jaj puS

jaj qeylIS molar mIgh HoHchu'qu'

This translates to:-

And the blood was ankle deep.

And the River Skral ran crimson red.

On the day above all days.

When Kahless slew evil Molor dead.

I know, it loses something in translation.

Here you will find the Doctor and Seven of Nine singing the same song:-

The most famous of all Klingon songs is, of course, the Klingon anthem, usually sung by a Klingon crew as they set out on a mission.

Qoy qeylIs puqloD.

Qoy puqbe'pu'.

yoHbogh matlhbogh je SuvwI'

Say'moHchu' may' 'Iw.

maSuv manong 'ej maHoHchu'.

nI'be' yInmaj 'ach wovqu'.

batlh maHeghbej 'ej yo' qIjDaq vavpu'ma' DImuv.

pa' reH maSuvtaHqu'.

mamevQo'. maSuvtaH. ma'ov.

This is generally sung as a gentle round, in the manner of Frere Jacques, of course ...

Hear! Sons of Kahless.

Hear! Daughters too.

The blood of battle washes clean

The Warrior brave and true.

We fight, we love, and then we kill.

Our lives burn short and bright,

Then we die with honor and join our fathers in the Black Fleet where

We battle forever, battling on through the Eternal fight.

Here. Listen to this.

The literal translation from tlhIngan Hol reads:-

Hear! sons of Kahless.

Hear! daughters.

The battle blood perfectly cleans

the warrior who is brave and loyal.

We fight, we're passionate, and we kill perfectly.

Our lives are not long, but they're very bright.

We certainly die honorably, and we join our fathers in the Black Fleet.

There we always really continue fighting.

We won't stop. We continue fighting. We compete.

Next time, you will learn the fine art of Klingon toasting.