Cernunnos [English translation]

At the edge of the world,

The sun reaches out to the stars

Peacefully settling at first light to our village:

Morning is upon us.

A notion whispers of the coming days,

Blazing all around the forest, 1

Were some gorgeous stags that we tracked down

Not too far from the cottages

We notice their presence

Magnificent beasts they were!2

Like all the ones we've hunted up to this day.

By the call of the hunt, we sought for glory and riches3

We were armed even before the sun had risen

Riding through the early fog

We left as hunters of the village

In that moment, we were infinite4

We set out to rule5the forest

To further6our hunting skills7in the twilight of morning

Between the rustling8of leaves

We hurried, passing from tree to tree

Silently, our gaze fixed on their9tracks

Strange writings of a foreign language etched on leaves and sand

We followed it -- still unable to understand it

The forest was one single shadow

In which both cause and effect10were held in a way

Together, we saw the trail

There at the end was the glorious prize we had dreamed of

It11kept its pace vigorously

Leaving its hoof-like marks further and further before us

This was the time to act and do something12

This hunt should liken to no other

Like those we had ventured through up to this day

As I see it, there is no other such beast

Who trods thru these woods

The heart of the forest softly whispers to us its vibrant tracks

Which led us to unravel the mystery behind it

A puzzle more magnificent than itself

Some of us fled from this mystery

Others gave up out of exhaustion

Every hour saw the dwindling

Of our13numbers

Leaves turn into brilliant hues14

As they fluttered toward the ground15

It's almost as if they16were snickering at us

The day shortly draws to a close17--

Slowly darkened by the Shadow of Hunger18

There were now two of us remaining

And one of them was me

Out there in the clearing,

In the land of Light and Shadows19

Amid strange tracks20

We finally stood face to face with them

Such magnificent beasts21

With hooves so elusive

Its sight crossed with ours

Its splendid antlers never fail to impress

Catching the last light of day,22

We froze in silent awe

Here we were to vanquish them

How would we have succeeded?

We stand here face to face23with the Divine

The air saturates with glistening wonder

The glory of the hunt24forgotten

There falls the bow of the last companion

And he runs from both stag and forest -- back home to the village

Now I alone still remain

Protecting myself

As I gaze straight toward the silvery eye of the beasts25

How awkward it was what I beheld

How strange it was to realize

A hunter I have become

And now the hunted

In the end26I stood alone

For it was my very own tracks I followed

Throughout the entire day27

It should've been called a mystery

And not about letting them go

How would another be able to stand here in my place28?!

I stand here face to face in complete mockery

With just a spear in hand

The stag vanished

I remain alone

From my countenance,29antlers30 begin to sprout forth

Here I am31at the end of the day

Not as a hunter seeking prey

But just me

I am my only prize

A jewel which no one can see

Or know.

I return back home to the village as one of many

Whom the Gods supposedly had not favored

I was, however, on a great hunt

It was not a spear I had to hurl with,

But rather the greatest gift ever bestowed to me from the Gods!32

1. I re-arranged a few lines here to make it more clear in English2. it's singular in the original.3. lit. victory and trophies4. lit. many5. alt. capture6. lit. seek, hunt7. lit. good hunting8. lit. whispering9. the stags10. lit. question and answer11. alt. prey12. lit. to be and to become13. lit. fellow comrades14. lit. whispered brighter15. lit. with each that leaves the forest16. lit. the trees (of the forest); as if the leaves falling sounded like laughter17. lit. approaches the evening18. lit. long since obscured by the Shadow of Hunger/Starvation19. lit. Shadows of the Evening Sun20. lit. mixed in the strange tracks21. lit. those magnificent stags22. lit. days23. lit. eye to eye24. lit. hunt and glory25. lit. stags26. lit. end of the hunt27. lit. from morning til the evening28. lit. stead29. lit. temples (physiological sense)30. alt. horns31. lit. I stand here32. referring to the antlers/horns