• For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here.
    (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation)

Search 69,459 Camino Questions

Ultreya song lyrics in English

Alhimself

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
September 2018 - planning
Before I started my Camino I found this thread:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/words-to-ultreya-song.3375/

And this link on youtube:

Ultreya is an old Latin greeting from the Codex Calixtinus. It means "Go beyond"! Or "Onwards!" essentially. Et suseia is "Upwards" "Heavenwards"

On the route I've been singing it to myself in French because it's a great walking song. Then a couple of days ago I was in a church in Hornillos, and the (brilliant) priest at mass had a laminated English translation and got us to sing it. The translation was literal and neither rymed or scanned.

Today on the long walk from Carrión de los Condes to Calzadilla de la Cueza I started to improvise a version in English. I hope that these lyrics - translated with a healthy balance between literal and artistic licence - bring joy to future pilgrims:

Ultreya song - translated from the French of Jean-Claude Benazet

Every day we take the path
Every day we go so far
Day by Day Saint Iago tells us
In the voice of Compostela:

“Ultreya, Ultreya
Et suseia
God walks with us”

Way of earth and way of faith
Ancient European path
Milky way of Charlemagne
It's the way of we who wander

Ultreya, Ultreya
Et suseia
God walks with us

And away at the continent’s end
James awaits with open hand
Since forever smiling there
To the sunset at Finisterre

Ultreya, Ultreya
Et suseia
God walks with us

Every step makes us brothers and sisters
Patron James with love assists us
Way of faith and a way of light
It's the ancient pilgrim rite

Ultreya, Ultreya
Et suseia
God walks with us

Mister Saint James hear our call
From Pyrenees to Compostel’
Guide us from the altar we love
To the heavenly skies above.

Ultreya, Ultreya
Et suseia
God walks with us

Translation by Al Barclay

(Alternative "God stays with us" somehow i preferred walk despite the assonance. It feels more personal.)
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Thanks . Will try to sing it to myseIf as I finish the Camino Verde. I need the help
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Thanks for the translation. And the recording brings back a very special memory of one of priests at Sahagun's Santa Cruz monastery singing this for us after the pilgrim blessing. Very moving.
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Before I started my Camino I found this thread:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/words-to-ultreya-song.3375/

And this link on youtube:

Ultreya is an old Latin greeting from the Codex Calixtinus. It means "Go beyond"! Or "Onwards!" essentially. Et suseia is "Upwards" "Heavenwards"

On the route I've been singing it to myself in French because it's a great walking song. Then a couple of days ago I was in a church in Hornillos, and the (brilliant) priest at mass had a laminated English translation and got us to sing it. The translation was literal and neither rymed or scanned.

Today on the long walk from Carrión de los Condes to Calzadilla de la Cueza I started to improvise a version in English. I hope that these lyrics - translated with a healthy balance between literal and artistic licence - bring joy to future pilgrims:

Ultreya song - translated from the French of Jean-Claude Benazet

Every day we take the path
Every day we go so far
Day by Day Saint Iago tells us
In the voice of Compostela:

“Ultreya, Ultreya
Et suseia
God walks with us”

Way of earth and way of faith
Ancient European path
Milky way of Charlemagne
It's the way of we who wander

Ultreya, Ultreya
Et suseia
God walks with us

And away at the continent’s end
James awaits with open hand
Since forever smiling there
To the sunset at Finisterre

Ultreya, Ultreya
Et suseia
God walks with us

Every step makes us brothers and sisters
Patron James with love assists us
Way of faith and a way of light
It's the ancient pilgrim rite

Ultreya, Ultreya
Et suseia
God walks with us

Mister Saint James hear our call
From Pyrenees to Compostel’
Guide us from the altar we love
To the heavenly skies above.

Ultreya, Ultreya
Et suseia
God walks with us

Translation by Al Barclay

(Alternative "God stays with us" somehow i preferred walk despite the assonance. It feels more personal.)

So grateful for your post!!
I love this song and sing in my horrible French what words I DO know and hum the rest as I walk. In walking the CP in September, I did not hear it but once (not nearly as many French pilgrims) and sang along as they passed me by, bringing giant smiles to their faces!
Now I can learn it in English and I'm sure will be seen (and heard!) all over Spain with my walking song.
Thanks again, and ULTREIA!!
elle
 
Glad to have brought something. I have been knocking back the kilometres with that at my side. :)
 
Join our full-service guided tour and let us convert you into a Pampered Pilgrim!
Finished the Camino verde. Happy as a clam!! Blisters and all. Even after five, count em, five sock changes!! Grrr. So a day in Sobrado. Knitting in my lap. Cafe con leche at hand. Such a tragic life .
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-

Most read last week in this forum

Could I ask what may be naive question. This will be my 1st Camino and I will be mostly staying in alberques. Could you please explain the bathroom/shower etiquette to me? I have no idea what...
Do i need both these apps? I want to spend as little time my device as possible so if one app will do fine that’s my preference.
I was planning to document my journey through my blog (or Vlog, as I would probably take lots of videos). I was thinking of using my iPhone, and I ordered a foldable keyboard to facilitate typing...
I did the Norte in 2017. This set off a wild ride of changes in life - shifting many things. I am now at a new plateau and it feels like the right time to do Camino #2, this time the...
Hi to all, I'm looking for a really, really good place (an artist) to get a Tattoo in Santiago, it could be before Santiago but I presume in Santiago I will be ready to have my first one. The...
My daughter and I will be on the Portuguese on June and July starting in Lisbon. We will arrive in Porto about the 27th of June. We want to stay for three nights. Can we stay in an albergue for...

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Similar threads

Forum Rules

Forum Rules

Camino Updates on YouTube

Camino Conversations

Most downloaded Resources

This site is run by Ivar at

in Santiago de Compostela.
This site participates in the Amazon Affiliate program, designed to provide a means for Ivar to earn fees by linking to Amazon
Official Camino Passport (Credential) | 2024 Camino Guides
Back
Top