In the Middle of the Fields lyrics and meaning

Vidury laukų grūšełė augo, kalėda.

Tojon grūšełėn žvakełė dega, kalėda.

O ir nukrito viena kibirkštėłė, kalėda.

Vai ir pasdarė dideli dyvai, kalėda.

Dideli dyvai, plačios marełės, kalėda.

Tosna marełės laivelis plaukia, kalėda.

Tami laivelin bernelis sėdi, kalėda.

Stėlalas dirba, gulbelas šaudo, kalėda.

In the Middle of the Fields: song interpretation

This song with the refrain "kalėda" can be understood as a Christmas or Advent song with wondrous imagery. At the beginning a little pear tree grows in the middle of the fields, and in it a candle burns. The burning candle in the pear tree can be interpreted as an extraordinary, miraculous image.

Then one spark falls, and great wonders appear: broad waters or seas. These images can be understood as the miraculous unfolding of a world from a small spark.

At the end a boat sails on the waters, and in it sits a young man who handles the rudder and shoots swans. These images can be interpreted as a Christmas-song picture of wonder and youth. That is one possible reading, but the festive, miraculous character of the song is clear.

A second interpretation is also possible. The images may be read as a reflection of an older mythic layer: the pear tree standing in the middle of the fields and burning with a candle recalls the world or cosmic tree, while the broad seas arising from one spark suggest creation from a small beginning. In such Advent and Christmas songs, scholars see archaic images of world structure overlaid by the Christian-era "kalėda" refrain. The boat with the young man shooting swans would then sound not only like a winter-holiday image, but like a sign of a young man's maturity and the beginning of a new cycle. This remains a hypothesis, but it explains the song's cosmic, miraculous scale.

In the Middle of the Fields: symbols and phrases

Pear tree with a burning candle
A pear tree in the middle of the fields with a candle burning in it marks an extraordinary, miraculous image.
Falling spark
The spark that falls from the candle marks the beginning of the wonder.
Broad waters
The wide waters that arise from the spark mark the miraculous unfolding of a world.
Boat with a young man shooting swans
The young man in the boat, handling the rudder and shooting swans, marks a Christmas-song image of youth.

In the Middle of the Fields: song history

"In the Middle of the Fields" belongs to calendar ritual songs, the Christmas and Advent group with the repeated refrain "kalėda." The song is formed from wondrous images that resemble a dream world: a little pear tree grows in the middle of the fields, a candle burns in it, and one falling spark causes "great wonders," broad waters.

The exact recording place and time are not given on this page, so the song is presented through genre traits. A large world unfolding from a small spark, the boat sailing on the waters, and the young man sitting in it, handling the stelelis or rudder and shooting swans, are typical calendar-song images of wonder and youth. The refrain "kalėda" clearly links the song with the winter holiday cycle. Dialect forms such as "grūšelė" and "stelelis" show living spoken-language transmission.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • N. Laurinkienė, Mito atšvaitai lietuvių kalendorinėse dainose, Vilnius 1990
  • Lietuvių liaudies dainų katalogas, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

In the Middle of the Fields: sources