Lol. What a can of worms.
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"Dawn brands my shoulder, burning bright"?
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I like this version.
Quote:
Well now it does.**Google says "Only the faithful stand fearlessly on the edge", which suggests an alternate rhyme of "knife" (as in The Quest Stands On The Edge Of A). "Unfearing / Loyalty faces down the knife", or "Loyalty / Bids us face fearless to the knife"?
What is Beren saying with this line? Is he comforting Finrod who's about to sacrifice himself, or rejecting "just one may be" and saying they should both die, or saying he should die instead?
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TBH the line is a liiiitle bit weird/ambiguous even in Russian. It has a slight leaning towards "only the faithful are GIVEN THE ABILITY to stand on the edge [of the abyss]", as in faithfulness (to friends? To love? To one's oaths?) is the key to ultimate salvation. It does sound like a phrase of comfort for both of them, but it has that weird leaning of vindictiveness towards those who were NOT faithful. Or maybe now I am overanalyzing it. I read it as a thought of comfort / last hope / acknowledgement of faithfulness for either or both of them. Regarding the previous line - definitely not the Two Lamps. I was very confused by that line but at the time you interpreted it quite easily as the flames of their lives or summink. If the "lamps" (or lanterns, rather) throw you off, I am not opposed to something like "Of our two lives, just one may be". Go literal. Or is Finrod talking about a choice he made - stay with his people, or go with Beren, thus choosing to keep alight just one lantern? Meh. Do you have a preferred meaning?
As for the English of Beren's line... "Unfearing" has the benefit of rhyming with "But Beren". Facing down the knife though conjures an image of a gang fight. I wonder if it can be twisted to mean walking along the edge of a blade or something. But unfortunately I can't figure out how to stuff the meaning of "loyal people may cross an abyss along the blade of a knife" into the right number of syllables.
If I use the general concept (and I like using some synonyn of fidelity as a noun), I still return to things like "Unfearing / loyalty guides us through all strife". I will have to think more on this one.
EDIT: Had a thought about the meaning of the "only faithful" line. Perhaps Beren is saying that if (and only if) they remain faithful, they yet stand a chance at making some kind of difference. That actually fits well with Finrod's response.