Be Thou My Vision
"Be Thou My Vision" (Old Irish: Rop tú mo baile or Rob tú mo bhoile) is a traditional Christian hymn of Irish origin. The words are based on a Middle Irish poem that has traditionally been attributed to Dallán Forgaill.The best-known English version, with some minor variations, was translated in 1905 by Mary Elizabeth Byrne, then made into verse by Eleanor Hull and published in 1912. Since 1919 it has been commonly sung to an Irish folk tune, noted as "Slane" in church hymnals, and is one of the most popular hymns in the United Kingdom.

Text
The original Old Irish text, "Rop tú mo Baile", is often attributed to Saint Dallán Forgaill in the 6th century. However, scholars believe it was written later than that. Some date it to the 8th century; others putting it as late as the 10th or 11th century. A 14th-century manuscript attributed to Adhamh Ó Cianáin contains a handwritten copy of the poem in Middle Irish, and is held at the National Library of Ireland. A second manuscript is at the Royal Irish Academy, dating from about the 10th or 11th century.
The text of "Rop tú mo Baile"/"Be Thou My Vision" reflects aspects of life in Early Christian Ireland (c.400-800 AD). The prayer belongs to a type known as a lorica, a prayer for protection. The symbolic use of a battle-shield and a sword to invoke the power and protection of God draws on Saint Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (Ephesians 6:16–17), which refers to "the shield of faith" and "the sword of the Spirit". Such military symbolism was common in the poetry and hymnnology of Christian monasteries of the period due to the prevalence of clan warfare across Ireland. The poem makes reference to God as "King of the Seven Heavens" and the "High King of Heaven". This depiction of the Lord God of heaven and earth as a chieftain or High King (Irish: Ard Rí) is a traditional representation in Irish literature; medieval Irish poetry typically used heroic imagery to cast God as a clan protector.In 1905, "Rop tú mo Baile" was translated from Old Irish into English by Mary Elizabeth Byrne in Ériu, the journal of the School of Irish Learning. The English text was first versified in 1912 by Eleanor Hull, president of the Irish Literary Society, and this is now the most common text used.

Musical accompaniment
The hymn is sung to the melody noted as “Slane” in hymnals, an Irish folk tune in 34 time, first published as "With My Love on the Road" in Patrick Joyce's Old Irish Folk Music and Songs in 1909. The tune is a more elemental distillation of earlier forms, such as "The Hielan's o' Scotland' and "By the Banks of the Bann," also compiled in Joyce (1909). The words of "Be Thou My Vision" were first combined with this tune in 1919 (harmonised by  Leopold L Dix, 1861-1935), and in a new version harmonised by David Evans in 1927. A further version was harmonised by Erik Routley for the English Hymnal.In some modern renditions the rhythm of "Slane" is adapted to 44.It was common practice  to attribute hymn tune names to the place where they were collected by folk song collectors, such as Vaughan Williams who co-edited The English Hymnal, published in 1906. Slane is a village in Ireland.
Three more 20th century hymns have been set to the same tune. The first was "Lord of All Hopefulness" written by Jan Struther around 1931. The second was "Lord of Creation, to Thee be All Praise" written by J. C. Winslow and first published in 1961. The third was a popular wedding hymn, "God, In the Planning and Purpose of Life", written by John L. Bell and Graham Maule and first appearing in publication in 1989.Gå inte förbi ("Don't Walk Past") is a duet-single set to the tune, recorded by Swedish singer Peter Jöback and Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø and written by Ulf Schagerman. Jöback sings the lyrics in Swedish while Sissel sings in Norwegian. It was released as a single in 2003 and at an extended reissue of Jöback's Christmas album Jag kommer hem igen till jul. It was a hit in Norway and Sweden in the Christmas time of 2003 and a music video directed by Mikadelica was made in Denmark. Norwegian newspaper VG gave it 4 out of 6.

Lyrics
The original texts of the now-called "Be Thou My Vision" are in Old Irish similar still in style to Modern Irish. The hymn has been translated into Modern Irish many times. The most popular is that by Aodh Ó Dúgain of Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal. Two verses of his translation were recorded by his granddaughter Moya Brennan – the first time any part of his text has been publicly recorded. Since then, those two verses have been recorded by many artists, including Roma Downey and Aoife and Iona. These verses are very close translations to the first two of the Old Irish text above.
With Old Irish being the ancestor language of Modern Scottish Gaelic, the song was translated by Céitidh Mhoireasdan and published by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.Two variants of Eleanor Hull's 1912 English translation exist; one version, commonly used in Irish and Scottish hymnals (including the Hymnbooks of the Church of Scotland), fits the metre 10.10.10.10, while a paraphrased version that is used in English books (such as the New English Hymnal) is suitable to an anacrucial metre 10.11.11.11.

Other languages
Bahasa Indonesia - "Kaulah, ya Tuhan, Surya Hidupku", "Dikau, Tuhan, Jadilah Impianku"
Chinese - "成為我異象"
Dutch - "Wees Mijn Verlangen"
Esperanto - "Donu vizion de Vi, Di-Sinjor'"
Finnish - "Silmäni aukaise, Jumalani"
French - "Qu'en toi je vive, Seigneur bien aimé"
German - "Steh mir vor Augen"
Greek - "Γίνε όραμα μου Θεέ της καρδίας"
Hungarian - "Légy te menedékem"
Italian - "Sii la mia Visione"
Japanese - "きみはわれのまぼろし", "こころみの世にあれど"
Korean - "내 맘의 주여 소망 되소서"
Nepali - "होऊ मेरो दर्शन"
Norwegian - "Deg å få skode"
Polish - "On moim Panem"
Portuguese - "Dono do Meu Coração"
Spanish - "Oh Dios, Sé Mi Visión", "Oh Dios de mi alma, Sé Mi Visión"
Swedish – "Närmare mig (Herre, du min klippa)"
Thai - "โอ้เจ้าแห่งดวงจิต"
Ukrainian - "Будь мені, Боже, метою життя"
Welsh - "Bydd yn Welediad fy nghalon a'm byw"
Romanian - "Fii a mea lumină"
Czech - "Buď mojí nadějí"

Modern renditions
Jars of Clay - on WOW Worship: Yellow
Rebecca St. James - on Pray
Selah (band) - on Greatest Hymns
Moya Brennan – on Whisper to the Wild Water
Ginny Owens - on Without Condition
Pedro the Lion – on The Only Reason I Feel Secure
Rend Collective - on Homemade Worship by Handmade People
Van Morrison – on Hymns to the Silence
Citizens (band) – on Join the Triumph
Keith and Kristyn Getty - on Confessio - Irish American Roots

See also
Saint Patrick's Breastplate
Lord of All Hopefulness, a hymn sung to the same tune

Notes
References
External links

Rop tú mo baile (Original Irish Version)
Rop tú mo baile - pronunciation - soundfile by Dennis King
CPDL.org Article
Free scores of "Be Thou My Vision" in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
Lyrics, History and MIDI at CyberHymnal
Utah Baroque Ensemble Version with Lyrics at Your-Church.com
Be Thou My Vision Archived 2016-08-12 at the Wayback Machine tune information and sheet music on TradTune.com
The Irish Blessing 2020 (a recording of the Hull 1912 translation, by over 300 churches in Ireland during the Covid19 pandemic)