The Oath (anthem)

The Oath

National anthem of Entropan
Lyrics	Alf Bremseth, 1813
Music	Anny Sander, 1813
Adopted	1814
Audio sample
Entropanian Naval Band instrumental version file help

The Oath (Šebukel: A Eska, Leinten: Az Eskü, Rockr: Ed, Uryha: Sániin) is the national anthem of Entropan. The song was written by Alf Bremseth and composed by Anny Sander in 1813, at the beginning of the Liberal Wars, and it was adopted by the National Assembly in 1814. The anthem's evocative melody and lyrics have led to its widespread use as a song of revolution, and its incorporation into many pieces of classical and popular music.

History

Following the 1807 coup of the Heavenly Kingdom of Entropan by the Liberal Restoration Council (LRT), the newly established government was not stable. Frequent ideological disagreement within the ruling Liberal Party often led to violence, with many high-ranking leaders within the party being executed, either by mob, or by Decrees passed by the LRT. While elections were intended to be held by 1810, they had to be postponed, due to an 1810 coup which replaced the incumbent government with one led by Dominik Vass. Vass saw it necessary that order be established in the country, and so began to centrally control the previously decentralised amanuenssaiguin, centralising other powers previously given to the city-states, and beginning to establish a definitive identity for the country, after the old powers had been in order to, according to the Order, Law, and Central Action Act 1812, create a "constructive, revolutionary patriotism", before elections could be resumed by 1814.

Part of this included the national mobilisation of citizens towards a "revolutionary front", waging revolutionary wars against other countries in the former Entropan with the ultimate goal of establishing a unified state under liberal rule. In 1813, while in the preparatory stage of launching a war against the Ésker Kingdom, Dominik Vass visited radical leader and personal friend Alf Bremseth to help to formalise the national identity that he had been trying to create. Bremseth suggested the composition of a national anthem for the oncoming wars, to which Vass asked whether Bremseth himself could write the lyrics for it. Around a day later, Bremseth went to the National Assembly building and gave Vass a finished version of the national anthem, entitled A Liberális Köztársaság Esküje (The Oath of the Liberal Republic).

Vass then talked with composer Anny Sander to create music to the anthem, now simply entitled Az Eskü ("The Oath"), for a military band to play the following day. A Bill, entitled Recognition of the National Characteristics of the Entropanian State, would later be put through the National Assembly, with an overwhelming vote in favour, making it Entropan's first national anthem.

Lyrics

Leinten version

The original version of the anthem was in Leinten. While it is not uncommon for this version to be sung in modern times in the region of Leinta, it is no longer the official anthem, with that status being taken by the Šebukeli translation.

Original text

Jackian translation

A mi fogadalmunk, hogy fegyvert ragadunk Hogy megvédjük mindannyiunk jogait A szabadság kegyelmét Mely minden sarkot megérint Az önkényuralom suttogását Elhallgat! A népnek tett ígéretünk És magunknak, hogy hűek maradunk A fegyvereinket soha nem tesszük le. Csak a Szabadságra esküszünk Nincs más vezetőnk, csak az övé A Szabadságnak esküszünk! Ha sötét felhők jönnek És fenyegetik mindannyiunk szabadságát Nem bújunk meg A pozíciónkból Mert a halál talán a legjobb Ha közel hoz minket valahová A győzelemhez A népnek tett ígéretünk És magunknak, hogy hűek maradunk A fegyvereinket soha nem tesszük le Csak a Szabadságnak esküszünk Nincs más vezetőnk, csak az övé A Szabadságnak esküszünk! Ha a fenyegetés idegen tőlünk Háborúba megyünk és harcolunk Ha a fenyegetés belföldön keletkezik Fegyvert ragadunk, ugyanúgy És harcolunk A népnek tett ígéretünk És magunknak, hogy hűek maradunk A fegyvereinket soha nem tesszük le. Csak a Szabadságra esküszünk Nincs más vezetőnk, csak az övé A Szabadságnak esküszünk! Háborúban éberek vagyunk Békében építkeznünk kell Együtt kell működnünk, hogy biztosítsuk A köztársaság hosszú életét Nekünk kell... A népnek tett ígéretünk És magunknak, hogy hűek maradunk A fegyvereinket soha nem tesszük le. Csak a Szabadságra esküszünk Nincs más vezetőnk, csak az övé A Szabadságnak esküszünk!

Our pledge, to take up arms To defend the rights of all The grace of Liberty That shall touch every corner The whisper of the autocrats Shall be silenced! Our pledge to the people And ourselves, remaining true Our arms, we will never lay them down We pledge ourselves only to Liberty No leader but hers We pledge ourselves truly to Liberty! When dark clouds arise And threaten freedom of all We do not cower From our positions As death may be for the best If it brings us anywhere close To victory Our pledge to the people And ourselves, remaining true Our arms, we will never lay them down We pledge ourselves only to Liberty No leader but hers We pledge ourselves only to Liberty! When the threat is foreign to us We go to war and fight When the threat is domestically grown We take up arms, just the same And fight Our pledge to the people And ourselves, remaining true Our arms, we will never lay them down We pledge ourselves only to Liberty No leader but hers We pledge ourselves only to Liberty! In war, we are vigilant In peace, we must build We must cooperate to ensure The longevity of the Republic We must… Our pledge to the people And ourselves, remaining true Our arms, we will never lay them down We pledge ourselves only to Liberty No leader but hers We pledge ourselves only to Liberty!

Šebukeli translation

In 1900, Vászoly Boldizsár translated the anthem into Šebukel, and this translation gradually came into use in the following decades. It bore several differences from the original version; a new line in the fourth verse (Mi šovetade sørgaňa mi trivana: "we must cooperate to ensure we thrive"), new wording for the second verse ("We do not retreat from our positions" rather than "We do not cower from our positions"), and the use of the relative pronoun aka -- introducing a relative clause that does not exist in the chorus, a grammatical choice Boldizsár justified in footnotes as "an indication that Liberty is not a person to be worshipped, but a concept, to be more revered than any leader".

Šebukeli text

Jackian translation

Mi fogadalmunk, taňa fegyverek Dollaňa jogek av alt, nem unntek A nadegave av fridduhta Ha erintade minden čiehka A savkal av eneherskere Taushade! Mi fogadalmunk, hoz a folkek I miselvek, forblana sann Mi nem bidjana fegyverek Mi pantana bare hoz Fridduhta Nem leder fal aka Mi pantana bare hoz Fridduhta! Nar seavdna balvek stigana I atitana a frihet av alt Mi nem retrana Va mi stillingek Go halal kan leana bestek Vizača mi barhol lukke hoz Lukke hoz gyozelem Mi fogadalmunk, hoz a folkek I miselvek, forblana sann Mi nem bidjana fegyverek Mi pantana bare hoz Fridduhta Nem leder fal aka Mi pantana bare hoz Fridduhta! Nar a trussel er kulfa hoz mi Mi johtana hoz habor i ridalana Nar a trussel er voksta innenriks Bare a semmani, mi tana fegyverek Mi ridalana Mi fogadalmunk, hoz a folkek I miselvek, forblana sann Mi nem bidjana fegyverek Mi pantana bare hoz Fridduhta Nem leder fal aka Mi pantana bare hoz Fridduhta! Ba habor, mi er darkil Ba beke, mi epitenade Mi šovetade sørgaňa A levetid av a Republik Mi šovetade sørgaňa mi trivana Mide, mide… Mi fogadalmunk, hoz a folkek I miselvek, forblana sann Mi nem bidjana fegyverek Mi pantana bare hoz Fridduhta Nem leder fal aka Mi pantana bare hoz Fridduhta!

Our pledge, to take up arms To defend the rights of all The grace of Liberty That shall touch every corner The whisper of the autocrats Shall be silenced! Our pledge to the people And ourselves, remaining true Our arms, we will never lay them down We pledge ourselves only to Liberty No leader but theirs We pledge ourselves only to Liberty! When dark clouds arise And threaten freedom of all We do not retreat From our positions As deaths may be best If they brings us anywhere close To victory Our pledge to the people And ourselves, remaining true Our arms, we will never lay them down We pledge ourselves only to Liberty No leader but theirs We pledge ourselves only to Liberty! When the threat is foreign to us We go to war and fight When the threat is domestically grown We take up arms, just the same We fight Our pledge to the people And ourselves, remaining true Our arms, we will never lay them down We pledge ourselves only to Liberty No leader but theirs We pledge ourselves only to Liberty! In war, we are vigilant In peace, we must build We must cooperate to ensure The longevity of the Republic We must cooperate to ensure we thrive We must, we must… Our pledge to the people And ourselves, remaining true Our arms, we will never lay them down We pledge ourselves only to Liberty No leader but theirs We pledge ourselves only to Liberty!

Cultural impact

Adaptations in other musical works

The anthem references "Liberty" as a deified figure, most commonly depicted as an owl.

• Árrajuoksa Dávgon quotes the melody in the third verse of his song "Ouverture i H-moll" (1862)
• Siw Madsen quotes the tune in Nattens Renselse (1879), as it suddenly dominates the score, representing the Liberal Republic of Entropan's massacre of the Mogyoróskan Parliament
• The anthem has been sampled to reference Entropan in countless film scores
• True Tones heavily sampled the tune throughout their album Renaissance (1992), with a version of its melody appearing on every song, except for the first song; The Prism
• The melody of "The Oath" was used and reinterpreted by Karin Aarrestad in the track "Perhaps it would be better" in the official soundtrack to the video game Supersymmetry (2022), played during the final sequence of the game

Cultural depiction of Liberty

Main article: Winter-crescent owl

The anthem is widely regarded as the genesis of the winter-crescent owl cultural depiction of Entropan. The references of the song to a defined and deified figure of "Liberty", whom all should swear complete loyalty to rather than to their own community or nation led to the formation of the popular depiction of the "winter-crescent owl", representing the figure of Liberty. Since, the winter-crescent owl has become a national icon, representing opposition to aristocracy and the shredding of old traditions in favour of rational thinking.

Critique

In 1817, Mogyoróskan syndicalist philosopher Viktor Szőke, who fled to the Liberal Republic in 1816 to avoid repression, wrote disapprovingly of The Oath, calling it a "horrible song", saying it to be "as difficult to sing as it would be to recite of the Bihcien its contents within the hour". While being sympathetic to the ideals expressed by the Liberal revolutionaries, he "[couldn't] understand why any people would want something so dull, grey, and violent to define their triumphs". For these comments, a warrant was put out by the National Assembly for his execution, but with this order being countermanded by then-Prime Minister Dominik Vass.

In Entropanian historian Géza Budai's 1936 book Encyclopedia of National Anthems, in which Budai provided a comment on each national anthem, he spoke of The Oath:

...it's pompous, brassy, ceremonious -- like every other national anthem -- but the identity that it forms is not the identity of the nation, under its arbitrary flag and its arbitrary coat of arms, with its arbitrary ceremonies and arbitrary customs -- but of moral identity. The object of worship is not the nation-state, or the brotherhood between the citizens within the nation-state's borders -- it is the concept of Liberty itself. It shows solidarity not based upon nationality, or culture, but based on this one, fundamental, unshakeable idea, of Liberty. That's what makes it such a thrilling, invigorating piece. It recognises what it should be -- not pomp and pageantry, but an oath.

In 2003, there was a campaign to change the words of the song, modifying the direct references to war and insurrection to "adapt to the times", as the Second Republic of Entropan had not been directly involved in any wars. Over 50 prominent Entropanian politicians signed a petition to replace the anthem with a "revised" version, keeping the references to a revered Liberty, but removing the calls to arms contained within the song. The petition resulted in waves of protests against the politicians who signed it, and was ultimately unsuccessful.