Efferendil Poem Decoded

Original	Decode
Come with me, love! There is light in the West Where Two Trees illumine the land they have blessed! Come with me, love! The Gods will share Their beauty and wisdom, so let us go there!	I think this is just the intro that start the dweomer
I see the stars a bright woven web, The fountains flowing, the tangled trees. Such beauty beholding, why must I wander? Why must I grieve? This land I love, so why must I leave?	Stars = Astral Tree = Ygdrassil = Astral So the first step of the song is through the Astral, which makes sense because it connects to everything. Stop here and we are on the Astral
Come with me, love! The Western sky Is brighter far than stars on high! The grass is green, the flowers fair In lands the Gods comfort and care!	Another ‘intro’ Stanza that leaves behind the Astral to travel via…? ‘Brighter far’ could be Radiance - so it probably borders Radiance or other bright-shining plane? Possibly a pattern where one verse sets up a plane shift and the next identifies the target Plane Grass is Green and Flowers Fair - so a 'paradise' plane - could be Arcadia, Elysium or Dothion (Twin Paradises) The ‘setup’ verse may indicate the route/method of travel
But their light is locked in a little land: Their wisdom withdrawn and their homeland hidden Beyond the bounds of the world we know. Why have these Gods no comfort and care For the land I love that I must go there?	Gods with no comfort and care sounds like one of the Hells. ‘I must go there’ so an unpleasant place Don’t stop on this verse
Trust me, my love, and let us depart Together is home and comfort of heart! The Hunter's horse will lead us together Past plains and mountain, forest and heather!	‘Let us depart’ – so another verse that sets you in transit again.. Travel via Happy Hunting Grounds?
Yes, shadows are swift! And terrors have tracked us Lurking and laughing with evil eyes. We wavered not, nor hid in holes Nor faltered in fear nor let liars lure us! So why should I heed That terrible rider on his terrible steed?	Deeper into the Hells/Abyss! Liars could indicate Tarterus Don’t stop here!
I beg you my bride: my family, my friends Pack, prepare like buzzing bees. Hel gathers, Ragnarock near, They laugh, they sing: I stand, a bird with broken wing.	‘Pack, prepare…’ = another bpt move… ‘bird with broken wing’ seems important!? Normally indicates one left behind when others have fled to warmer climates Tenuous but could refer to ‘Ice’, a place that healthy birds have all fled – fits with the Ice Giants of Ragnarok. Refers to a Norse event (Ragnarok) in a Greek-focused poem?
Stay here my love! There is life in the East - Children, laughter, song and feast. Stay with me, love! I could not bear To live here alone, if you were not there!	‘Children, laughter, song and feast’ = one of the outer planes or Heavens? Possibly Norse (see reference to Hel and Ragnarok in the ‘set-up’ verse). Song and feast sounds like Valhalla but not sure about children. Could be somewhere on Gladsheim? This could be a ‘safe place’ to stop.
When dreams have died past loss to live Is hard, for hunger hews the heart. When love's a lock and beauty binds, The heart's a fragile thing: A captive that sorrows and seldom can sing.	‘where love’s a lock and beauty binds’ – I am thinking Greek (Athena / Persephone) Dreams have died = loss of hope = Hades
Never, my love! I cannot savour A captive's love, or grudging favour. Go if you must, then I must go too, Torn from this land because I love you.	‘a captive’s love…’ = Persephone’s garden I think Don’t stop here
My bride, beware - I know your nature: You seek out safety, haven, and home. To wander wild is care not comfort, In lands foreign and strange: Where your heart must delight in disturbance and change.	‘wander/wild’ and ‘A place of disturbance and change’ – is there a chaotic plane? – Could be Limbo or otherwise could be Astral again.
My love, I release the nets of my heart: Our home is together, do not stand apart! I can learn to live in alien lands And hold my safety in open hands.	This sounds a little like the original Planar home of the Sea Elves (‘release the nets’), which the last party discovered by accident. ‘I can learn to live in alien lands’ – suggests that this plane is ‘survivable’. A possible place to stop and seek help
Forget such words, let us sing together! Of beauty in star, and tree, and heather! If you love this land, this land's my heart, More precious than gems cut by cunning art!	Setting up the final step into ‘paradise’ using Astral travel again (‘star and tree’) and possibly stepping via ‘Earth’
I'll stay, my darling, and never roam; Love's my adventure, your eyes my home. There's wonder enough in your smiling glance To shatter the world and make mountains dance.	We know that they ended up in the Efferendil. A ‘shattered’ world is very similar to what you encounter in the Astral, with random pockets of land scattered amongst nothingness. I think the point here is that they are using the Astral to travel and then the natural Astral gate to re-renter the Prime in Walroin’s House in the Efferendil. Puts us back to ‘square one’ in Walorin’s House