Ailein Duinn

So far we have no new particularly interesting finds, but some guys from Ruginia have contacted us - perhaps they have something interesting regarding our mission. In the meantime, I will do a short analysis of one Kiyatland song from a historical and cultural point of view.

It's called Ailein Duinn (“Dark-haired Alan”) and is nothing more than a lament for the untimely death of a beloved. It was composed in 1788 by a girl named Anna Campbell for her fiancé, Alan Moresdan, who died at sea in a shipwreck - ironically, while on his way to his own wedding. Annag wrote this lament, and then lost all will to live, and a few months later her body was found on the shore - not far from the place where the waves carried Alan’s body.

The song itself is very sad, you can find its translation, but I want to draw your attention to the last two lines:

Dh'òlainn deoch ge b' oil le càch e
De dh'fhuil do chuim 's tu 'n dèidh do bhathadh

“I would drink, despite others,
Blood from your chest (=heart) after you drowned.”

There is a very, very interesting image here, and I will try to explain it to the best of my understanding. The Betas once had a custom of drinking the blood of defeated enemies (or dead relatives) in order to adopt their valor. But the point here is that Annag was neither Alan’s blood relative, nor even his wife - they could not get married. That is why she sings: “despite others” - without fear of public censure, she is ready to perform an ancient ritual with Alan as someone who was very close to her.

And finally, a very beautiful rendition of this song.