Dha Werda Verda

"Sarge? Sarge! Want to show 'em the Dha Werda?"

- Fi

Dha Werda Verda ("Warriors of the Shadow" in ancient Mando'a) was an ancient poem that told of the final battle between the Taungs and the Zhell on Coruscant. During this battle, a volcano erupted and almost destroyed the Zhell army. Ash covered the skies of Coruscant for two years.

Early history
The text for the poem was discovered written in some archaic form of Basic, encoded in one of the Roonstones, a series of treasured gems found by explorer Mungo Baobab. The crystal containing the poem eventually was placed under safekeeping in the Baobab Archives on Manda, where the text was translated.

Ancient Basic
"Booten wooten lanlock vootem / Al a sinkee dunken pooten / Achta werda verda roll / Poonka dunkee loten cho.

Leeber soong whar tung tach picta / Manner manner migta richta / Schelecht varn toom-soing pa ho-grunten / Gersh ve dala funken mimpa / Droit! / To Gropen wettkampf Zunken!

Betteltung seeck da mindy cooten / Parta blax dha scunken drassen.

Manner manner, mitteltouse manner / Dha Dhazz jedoch / Land zu land offt letza / Unun nung.

Manner manner / Durchsprung Nocha / Immer hauk gewordenspa / Zeeetoof en poof / Olaffka begonnenspah / Var var goopinski / von moglodite / Kortzva.

Verto verto taplasko ta verto.

Vom zoomenfest / Va va voomenfest / Kopocka locka hatta statan / Schel Tha noobin rest du common / Morbskurtz!

Kaffee kaffee zum doom kaffee! / Ausbroll mobist manner mockah! / Ssstrung tartung tha stroong tartung! / Wo-cha nickschat hobbentrose.

Jungclaus dha spricken / Impoot ga kunginchock!

Kungach / Noplenkacht / Kungar Kungar / Ale Da Kungare!"

Legacy and reinvention
Another version of Dha Werda Verda was incorporated into the Mandalorian chant sung in Mando'a and known as Rage of the Shadow Warriors. Mando soldiers would perform this dance before entering into battle, as they believed to draw strength and courage from it.

During his training of the clone troopers of the Galactic Republic, Jango Fett revised a number of chants, including Rage of the Shadow Warriors, replacing traditional Mandalorian keywords with more appropriate Republic ones. In this instance, it is presumable that he replaced "the Mandalorians'" with "The Republic's" and "Mandalore" with "Coruscant." Although originally only taught to the clones in the charge of Kal Skirata on Kamino, the Dha Werda Verda was later passed on from clone to clone in the GAR during the Clone Wars.

The Dha Werda Verda (using the Mando'a lyrics as the Rage of the Shadow Warriors) was taught by Kal Skirata, as a legacy of Mandalorian heritage to the clone troopers that he trained. This version of the Dha Werda Verda was passed on as a ritual battle chant that incorporated dance. In this form it was a fearsome display of discipline and reflex that served to warn an enemy of the power of the force that opposed them. Participants first hammered the rhythm upon their own armor and then turned to beat the complex tempo on the plates of the man next to them. Such blows would not be held in check and, if timed imprecisely, had the potential to cause injury. It was usually performed in armor, but without the helmet.

Mando'a
''Taung sa rang broka Mando'ade ka'rta.  Dha Werda Verda a'den tratu,  Manda'yaim kandosii adu.  Duum motir ca'tra nau tracinya.  Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a. ''

''Kom'rk Manda'yaim troch nyn ures adenn.  Dha Werda Verda a'den tratu,  Manda'yaim kandosii adu.  Duum motir ca'tra nau tracinya.  Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a.''

Basic translation
The ash of the Taung beats strong within the Mandalorians' heart.

We are the rage of The Warriors of the Shadow,

The first noble sons of Mandalore.

Let all those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.

Our vengeance burns brighter still.

The gauntlet of Mandalore strikes without mercy.

We are the rage of The Warriors of the Shadow,

The first noble sons of Mandalore.

Let all those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.

Our vengeance burns brighter still.

Behind the scenes
Ben Burtt wrote the lyrics to "Dha Werda Verda" specifically for the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack.

"Ben Burtt's transcript of the text to Dha Werda Verda helped to shape its form. The epic poem's violent and sometimes romantic images fit perfectly with the musical structure of this piece. I utilized the text in sections, applying the portion most applicable to the scene being scored. However, my translations were quite vague, so sometimes the meaning might have gotten a bit skewed."

- Joel McNeely

No translation of the lyrics has been given; however the phrase "Dha Werda Verda" was borrowed by Karen Traviss and incorporated it in her Mando'a vocabulary, therefore retroactively consisting it Mando'a.

In the Star Wars: Republic Commando video game one of the sound tracks has a recorded audio of "Dha Werda Verda". This track is composed by Jesse Harlin and titled "Rage of the Shadow Warriors". The lyrics, however, are in Mando'a instead of ancient Basic and the song was not identified as "Dha Werda Verda' as of time of the game's release.

In Republic Commando: Triple Zero by Karen Traviss the "Dha Werda Verda", is first seen performed in ritual dance by clone troopers on board of RAS Fearless after Delta Squad and Omega Squad were extracted from a TIOPS mission, and later inside the CSF Social Club after a black ops mission on Coruscant. The lyrics provided in the novel for "Dha Werda Verda" matched those of the "Rage of the Shadow Warriors" from the Star Wars: Republic Commando soundtrack.

This performance is also analogous to a traditional Māori Haka. Temuera Morrison, the actor who played Jango Fett in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, who in turn was the genetic template for the clones, is of Māori heritage.