vyssan lull
Swedish
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]vyss (“"lull," as an interjection”) or vyssa (“to lull”) + lull (“"lull," as an interjection”). Compare Danish visselulle (“to lull, to hushaby”).
Interjection
[edit]vyssan lull
- Used to lull (a child) to sleep.
- 1936, Evert Taube (lyrics and music), “Byssan lull [variation, possibly inspired by byssan (“the galley”)]”[1]:
- Byssan lull, koka kittelen [kitteln] full, där kommer tre vandringsmän på vägen. Byssan lull, koka kittelen [kitteln] full, där kommer tre vandringsmän på vägen. Den ene är så halt, den andre är så blind, den tredje har så trasiga kläder.
- Byssan lull, cook ["boil," but also used for cooking through boiling] the cauldron full, [over] there comes three wanderers on the road. Byssan lull, cook the cauldron full, [over] there comes three wanderers on the road. One is so halt [limping, lame], the other is so blind [sic – "so blind" sounds the same in Swedish], the third has such tattered clothes [Ene/andre is usually used of two people, like in English, but occasionally of more people].
Usage notes
[edit]- Now mostly only appears in lullabies.
- The variation "byssan lull" appears in a well-known lullaby.