April 1, 2008

FFXI Opening Movie / Memoria de la Ŝtona

Anyone who has ever played FFXI has seen the opening movie, so this video is nothing new. Still I present it here for completeness' sake, and also to go a bit into the various versions of the song known as "Memoria de la Ŝtona". The version of the song in the opening movie was written in the constructed language of Esperanto. The original lyrics are as follows:
Fluas nun sango senkulpa Sur Vana’diel, vasta ter’ Tremas la tuta mond’ Pro l’ plago en desper’ Preventas ĝin Nenia sort’ Haltigas ĝin Nenia fort’ Sed tra la nokto tempesta Brilas jen stelo de glor’! Kontrau brutala kri’ Fontas jen kant-sonor’! Stelo brilanta, kanto sonanta: Revo kaj preĝo por ni! Vana'diel! Vana'diel! Mano kaj man’ kunpremitaj Trans la eterno sen lim’ Ne dismetiĝos plu Ne disligiĝos plu!
Here is the English translation of the above:
Now flows innocent blood On Vana'diel, a vast land The entire world trembles In despair from the scourge Prevented By no fate Stopped By no strength But through the stormy night Behold: a star of glory shines! Against a brutal outcry Behold: a hymn springs forth! A shining star, a ringing song: Dream and pray for us! Vana'diel! Vana'diel! Hand and hand together Across the limitless eternity We will no longer be put asunder We will no longer be bound!
The song known as "Memoria de la Ŝtono" plays a central role in the Chains of Promathia storyline as well, but the lyrics presented therein are entirely different. Known to some as the "Lay of the Immortals", the full import of the song is revealed as the story progresses We get our first glimpse of the song in Chapter 2 (verses 1 and 2), Chapter 4 (verse 3), Chapter 5 (verse 4), and Chapter 6 (verse 5 – although this is never entirely revealed).
It all began with a stone, or so the legend says In ages past, a sentient jewel, enormous and beautiful, banished the darkness. Its many-colored light filled the world with life and brought forth mighty gods. Bathed in that light, the world entered an age of bliss until, after a time, the gods fell into slumber. That world was called Vana'diel. Our world, Vana'diel. However, this age will not last. The great bane will devour the fair land of Vana'diel. The ancient seal will be broken, awakening nightmares of ages past. A tragic age of darkness will reign. And yet, the gods will not wake from their slumber… That world was called Vana'diel. Innocent blood spills forth onto the plains of Vana'diel. The world shudders as she is thrust into chaos and despair. Neither power nor destiny can bring an end to what has already begun. However, through the storm of the night, a star of glory shines bright. Through the howling of the beasts, the song rings clear. Shining star, echoing song You are our dreams and prayers That star is you, and the song is yours. And someday, that hope will become our dreams… our prayers… Shine forth, star of hope! Let your song ring out across all of Vana'diel! And what was split asunder will once more become whole, Complete and inseparable for all eternity. And so the legend ends… …began..…crystal….
CoP is not the first time adventurers hear lines similar to this. Our first encounter was in the nation rank mission 5-1 (in Fei'Yin). Zeid starts out remembering the first line, but Lion completes the "old song" which she says is called "The Warriors of the Crystal"
The great bane will devour the fair land of Vana'diel The ancient seal will be broken, awakening nightmares of ages past. The blood of innocents will soak the earth, and the world will fall into fear and despair. But as one bright star shines through the clouds at night… And as one song rings clear above the roar of beasts… We hold to one hope in these darkest of times. That they will come, with the wisdom of ages and the strength of thousands, to deliver us from our plight. We await the awakening of the Warriors of the Crystal.
The mention in the Shadow Lord / rank missions is a precursor to the story that is told in the Rise of the Zilart missions. While the first three lines start out the same and is repeated throughout the missions, we do not find out the rest until after completing them all. The ZM ending is as follows:
It all began with a stone, or so the legend says In ages past, a sentient jewel, enormous and beautiful, banished the darkness. Its many-colored light filled the world with life and brought forth mighty gods. Bathed in that light, the world entered an age of bliss until, after a time, the gods fell into slumber. However, this age will not last. The great bane will devour the fair land of Vana'diel The ancient seal will be broken, awakening nightmares of ages past. The blood of innocents will soak the earth, and the world will fall into fear and despair. But as one bright star shines through the clouds at night… And as one song rings clear above the roar of beasts… We hold to one hope in these darkest of times. That star is you, and the song is yours. And someday, that hope will become our dreams… our prayers… Sine forth, star of hope! Let your song ring out across all of Vana'diel! And what was split asunder will once more become whole, Complete and inseparable for all eternity.
Finally, while not exactly a recitation of the song, the ending of CoP does give us one final version of this legend, brought to light after all the secrets of Promathia's origin are revealed:
In ages past, a sentient jewel, enormous and beautiful, banished the darkness. Its many-colored light filled the world with life and brought forth mighty gods. However, the arrival of death implacable brought an end to the God of Twilight. Aglow with the essence of love eternal, the Dawn Goddess sought to restore the lost divinity. Upon the fallen deity, Altana bestowed the light of the true crystal. In the bodies of mortals uncounted was the Twilight God reborn. Paradise was no longer. Thus was born the world of Vana'diel.
There are plenty of different theories as to why these lyrics are so various, but the one most plausible to me is that SE wanted it to mimic what happens in real life. Like any folk song, different versions of Memoria de la Ŝtono were passed down from generation to generation, and race to race; accordingly, while the themes remain the same, the song changed in the same way that the numerous residents of Vana'diel have adapted and evolved over time.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad this site exists. Thank you!

Just one correction: These Esperanto lyrics should have letters with diacritics. "Disligigos" is a different word from "disligiĝos" (in fact, I thought it was "disligigos" in this song for a while, until I heard it again...) If they don't show up on the blog site, use ^ or x to indicate them (as in "Memoria de la S^tona").

This is what it should look like:

Fluas nun sango senkulpa
Sur Vana’diel, vasta ter’
Tremas la tuta mond’
Pro l’ plago en desper’

Preventas ĝin
Nenia sort’
Haltigas ĝin
Nenia fort’

Sed tra la nokto tempesta
Brilas jen stelo de glor’!
Kontrau brutala kri’
Fontas jen kant-sonor’!

Stelo brilanta, kanto sonanta:
Revo kaj preĝo por ni!

Vana'diel! Vana'diel!

Mano kaj man’ kunpremitaj
Trans la eterno sen lim’
Ne dismetiĝos plu
Ne disligiĝos plu!


"Memoria de la Ŝtona" needs a diacritic or other indicator too.

lawtechguy said...

Thanks for the comment and sorry for the delayed response. I'll see if I can update the lyrics to include the diacritics.