This is the second song in the Christmastime Carol series, the first being ‘Cel Boier Bogatu’.
This song is very popular across Romania but is from the Bucovina region in the northwest of the country.
The song’s refrain ‘Leru–I Ler’ immediately arises the question of what ‘ler’ means, as it is not part of the standard Romanian vocabulary. Often taken for granted as just a word associated with that carol, it seems to have a few possible origins. Even the very popular Romanian-language dictionary Dex (equivalent of Merriam-Webster) simply states (with English translation below):
Ler: interjecţie care apare ca refren, în colinde, cărora le dă un anumit efect eufonic/sonor
Ler: interjection that appears as a refrain in carols/songs, ascribing a particular euphonic effect to the songs.
It is first found in a written text from the 18th Century as ‘Ler Împărat’ (împărat being emperor), a reference to Marcus Aurelius the Roman Emperor. A variant of this claims that it refers to the Roman Emperor Galerius Maximiamus, who was of Daco-Getic descent (where the Dacians and Getes are the ancestors of the Romanians). The Emperor Galeriu the Young also gave on the 30th of April 311 CE the first Edict of Tolerance of Christianity at Nicomedia, also at which Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire.
Others claim that ‘ler’ could be a borrowed word of Celtic origin, in which it was the name of one of the gods of the sea (Lair/Llyr).
The song itself is quite simple, with a constant background of two quarter notes and a half note, with the words following the same melody for each stanza.
To see the sheet music for this song, click here.
Thank you !
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