Mandolorian History

Mandalorians

"Here's why you can't exterminate us, aruetii. We're not huddled in one place—we span the galaxy. We need no lords or leaders—so you can't destroy our command. We can live without technology—so we can fight with our bare hands. We have no species or bloodline—so we can rebuild our ranks with others who want to join us. We're more than just a people or an army, aruetii. We're a culture. We're an idea. And you can't kill ideas—but we can certainly kill you."
―Mandalore the Destroyer

The Mandalorians—known in Mando'a as the Mando'ade, or "Children of Mandalore"—were a nomadic group of clan-based people consisting of members from multiple species and multiple genders, all bound by a common culture.

In their early years, Mandalorian culture revolved around battle, with war being a source of honor and pride in their community. The leader of the Mandalorians was known as the Mand'alor, translating to "Sole Ruler" and was rendered as "Mandalore" in Basic. Throughout their history, the Mandalorians were frequently allied with the Sith, perhaps most notably the Sith Lord Exar Kun, and held a certain distrust and general dislike for the Jedi Order. However, they would not hesitate to cooperate with the Jedi if a partnership between the two groups was mutually beneficial. In later years, the Mandalorians moved away from their obsessively war-like and conqueror ways and instead, most became bounty hunters and mercenaries, selling their skills to various individuals and factions in the galaxy

History

Early history

"Mandalorians believe confrontation is required for growth, on the personal as well as the cultural level. War is the Mandalorian way of life."
―Jedi Master Gnost-Dural

The Mandalorians began as the Near-Human Taung species from the planet Coruscant. Intense fighting with the thirteen Human nations of Coruscant known as the Battalions of Zhell began millennia before the Republic, and when a powerful volcano nearly wiped out the humans and darkened the skies over Coruscant, the Taung came to call themselves the Dha Werda Verda—the "Warriors of the Shadow". Despite the volcano's devastating effect, the Taung were eventually driven off Coruscant and took refuge on the world of Roon. Led by the warlord known as Mandalore the First, they would conquer another planet in the Outer Rim in 7000 BBY, which they named Mandalore after their leader. The Taung took on the name Mandalorians and were seen by many as the most skilled fighters in the galaxy, thriving in battle. These Mandalorian Crusaders were known for their use of cutting-edge weaponry and held to a strict code of honor, and wore armor known simply as "Crusader Armor" that differed from one soldier to the next.

For thousands of years, Mandalore's new inhabitants would not stray far from the Mandalore sector, instead venturing on a series of further conquests to capture the worlds of Ordo, Gargon, and Shogun. When the Mandalorians came to the nearby Mandallia, though, the Mandallian Giant natives not only repelled the invaders' assault, but many came to join the Mandalorian culture, having impressed the Mandalorians with their strength and prowess. But nearly three thousand years after Mandalore's conquest, at a point prior to 4000 BBY, the Mandalorians began to expand their ongoing crusade outward and engaged the Nevoota species in a conflict that would lead to the extermination of the Nevoota and the deification of war in the Mandalorian culture, personified as the destroyer god, Kad Ha'rangir. Shorty before 4000 BBY, the Mandalorians were led by a new Mand'alor, Mandalore the Indomitable, and in their continuing campaign of expansion, the Mand'alor led a raid on the planet Iskadrell. There, the Mandalorians freed the slaves of the Iskalloni, taking many of them into their culture, including a young Antos Wyrick. Another victim of the Mandalorian crusade was the planet Basilisk. As the Mandalorians invaded, the Galactic Republic sent a relief force, under the command of Jedi Master Sidrona Diath, to the aid of the Basiliskans. Even with Republic support, the Basiliskans found their lines being overrun by the more numerous Mandalorians, and upon realizing that the they were going to lose the battle, the Basiliskans decided to poison their own planet so that the conquerors would not be able to use the world. Basilisk fell, but because the planet's surface was virtually destroyed, the Mandalorians decided to abandon the world and move on, though not before pillaging a sizable number of Basilisk war droids for future use. The Mandalorians also captured a large number of the reptilian Basiliskans, and through centuries of warfare they degenerated into little more than war mounts and beasts of burden, becoming known as "Lagartoz War Dragons".

The Great Sith War

"My warriors need another crusade. The Empress Teta system is in chaos, overstretched by their many conquests. The witch Aleema and her Jedi devotee Ulic Qel-Droma will fall under the fist of Mandalore!"
―Mandalore the Indomitable

Seeking further challenges, the Mandalorian Crusaders moved toward the Deep Core. Setting their sights on the Empress Teta system, the Mandalorians conquered the rocky world of Kuar, and utilized the ruined underground cities as a staging ground for their attack on Empress Teta. When the Mandalorians destroyed a carbonite smelting station, it caught the attention of the fallen Jedi Knight-turned-Sith Lord Ulic Qel-Droma, who'd usurped control of the Krath forces in command of Empress Teta. Challenged to a duel by the Mand'alor, Qel-Droma traveled to Kuar where he faced off against Mandalore the Indomitable on the plains of Harkul. Despite the use of his Basilisk war droid, the Mand'alor was defeated, and in the duel's aftermath, swore fealty to Qel-Droma and his own Sith Master, Exar Kun. Thus was forged the first Mandalorian-Sith alliance, but while Mand'alor had accepted his defeat at the hands of Qel-Droma, several of his supporters had not, including the Zeltron Antos Wyrick; Mand'alor's defeat at the former Jedi's hands would drive Wyrick to try and unlock the mysteries of the Jedi's power and the secrets of the Force.

Now allied with the Sith and Krath forces, the Mandalorian Crusaders joined in an attack on the Republic shipyards in orbit around Foerost. Mandalore the Indomitable led his warriors through the corridors of Foerost's command station, destroying all opposition before him. With the combined coordination of the space forces and the Mandalorians, Qel-Droma was able to quickly and decisively capture the Foerost shipyards, as well as the three hundred Republic starships that had been docked there. With their newly-acquired flotilla and the Republic fleet chasing false leads to the jump station at Kemplex IX, Qel-Droma and the Mandalorians invaded Coruscant. Basilisk war droids rained down on the planet from space, and the Mandalorian Crusaders poured into Galactic City. Qel-Droma was betrayed by the Krath witch Aleema Keto, who ordered a retreat of their forces and abandoning Qel-Droma to the Jedi; claiming the Sith Lord had died, Keto was able to sway Mandalore the Indomitable to pledge his loyalty to her. Upon finding out the truth of Keto's betrayal, the Mand'alor feigned loyalty and sent his Crusaders with her latest attack force while he personally boarded his shuttle and journeyed to Yavin 4 to seek the aid of Exar Kun. Arriving at the jungle moon, Mandalore explained to Kun what Aleema had done, and asked the Dark Lord of the Sith to lend him aid in rescuing Ulic from execution. Though Kun had warned Ulic that attacking Coruscant would end badly, he agreed to help Mandalore in rescuing his apprentice. Storming the Senate Building with Kun, Mand'alor rescued Qel-Droma and warned him of Keto's treachery.

After Keto had been dealt with by Qel-Droma, Mandalore the Indomitable had been tasked with capturing the Iziz Royal Palace on Onderon for the Sith. Ordering his fleet carriers to hold position in orbit over the planet, the Mandalorian Crusaders swarmed down atop their war droid mounts toward the city of Iziz. A vicious aerial battle ensued as the Crusaders and their Basilisks clashed against the Onderonian Beast Riders and their flying Drexls. During the fight, the Beast Riders managed to get a call out to the Republic, explaining that the Mandalorians were attacking and requesting immediate assistance. It wasn't long before a Republic fleet, led by Fleet Captain Orley Vanicus, arrived to combat the Crusader attack. Realizing that the fight was over when he witnessed the destruction of his orbiting fleet carriers, Mand'alor wagered that there was still a chance to lead his Crusaders to safety; ordering his warriors to retreat from Onderon and make their way to the moon of Dxun—the atmosphere of which was currently touching Onderon's—Mand'alor planned to lose their pursuers in the moon's dense jungle. During their retreat, Mand'alor's personal Basilisk war droid was hit by enemy fire and he crashed on the surface of Dxun, separated from the other Crusaders. Pulling himself from his war droid's wreckage, the Mand'alor soon found himself surrounded by a number of dangerous beasts native to Dxun's jungles. Though he fought the creatures, Mandalore the Indomitable was eventually overcome and slain by the beasts. While combing the jungles for their downed leader, a Mandalorian Crusader came upon the Mand'alor's mask and, in accordance with Mandalorian tradition, claimed the mask as his own to become the new Mand'alor.

The Mandalorian Wars

"The Sith came to us with an offer—to fight a worthy enemy in a battle that would be remembered forever."
―Canderous Ordo

During the next twenty years, peace prevailed and the galaxy began to slowly recover from the damage inflicted during the war, entering an era of rebuilding and renewal known as the Restoration Period. On the Mandalorian side, the new Mand'alor—going by the title of "Mandalore the Ultimate"—undertook the task of rebuilding the Mandalorian clans that had been greatly diminished in the war. With many of the original Mandalorian species, the Taung, now dead, Mandalore the Ultimate aggressively expanded his recruiting efforts, welcoming members of all alien descent into the Mandalorian culture. To this end, the Mandalorians established bases such as Unity, constructed under the planetary crust of Caillte. While primarily built to serve as a forward supply post, under Feruun Lern it also became a recruitment center where numerous individuals were invited to learn the Mandalorian ways and become new Mandalorian warriors. As a result, the Mandalorian ranks swelled with an influx of warriors from countless worlds. In an effort to help cohesion and uphold order among the motley ranks, a new generation of more uniform armor was implemented at the suggestion of the Mand'alor's closest advisor, Cassus Fett, thus forming a powerful new generation of warriors known as the Neo-Crusaders. However, as many Mandalorians rebuilt, ten years after the end of the Great Sith War, dozens of Mandalorians were unjustly arrested and executed after a psychotic bounty hunter named Jigger Wraith preyed upon innocents using rare Mandalorian weaponry. At the same time, Antos Wyrick continued his research into the Jedi and the Force, constructing the New Generation Academy on Osadia where he attempted to form a sect of Force-using Mandalorians called the Mandalorian Knights. In a deal with the Crucible slave-trading organization, the ruthless Zeltron traded his own daughter for more test subjects. But the Crucible would return while Wyrick was away, raiding the school and capturing its students. His experiments ruined, Wyrick rejoined the Mandalorians under the pseudonym of "Doctor Demagol".

In the decades since their defeat in the Great Sith War, many Mandalorians had become convinced that their once-prophesied "Great Last Battle" was soon to be at hand. Emboldened by an element of the "True Sith" in hiding, Mandalore the Ultimate launched a campaign into the Outer Rim, on the edge of Republic space. Conquering several independent planets outside of the Republic's interests, the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders were able to amass a clan territory larger than that ruled by the Hutts in the short span of a decade. During this period of aggressive expansion, the Neo-Crusaders conquered the planet Cathar in an operation headed by Cassus Fett. Though already defeated, Fett herded what remained of the Cathar species after the battle, out into the sea and—although he was opposed by the outcry of a single Mandalorian female—gave the order to kill them all, and the Mandalorian traitor with them, as retribution for the Cathar's actions against the Mandalorians in the past. In the end, the Mandalorians had wiped out over ninety percent of the species. As the Republic refused to get involved in the Mandalorians' conquests, wary of being dragged into another war so soon after the last, the Mandalorians plundered resources from conquered worlds and stockpiled them in order to fuel the growing campaign. With each victory in this ongoing series of proxy wars and border skirmishes, the Mandalorian clans grew more powerful, conscripting conquered species into their ranks as they probed the Republic's military strength and resolve. Just as it appeared as though the Neo-Crusaders' appetite for conquest had been satisfied, with the Mandalorians having failed to conquer a populated system in over a year by 3964 BBY, the Mandalorians struck out in force against the Republic. Striking swiftly from their outpost on Dxun, Onderon quickly fell to the Mandalorians, and it wasn't long before the likes of Vanquo and Taris soon joined it. The victory on Suurja gained several Jedi prisoners that were taken to a research station on Flashpoint to be experimented on by Demagol. The Jedi would be freed, although Demagol managed to escape in the guise of the renegade Mandalorian known as Rohlan Dyre, leaving Dyre behind for capture in his stead.

On the planet Serroco, the Republic military made the mistake of placing its defensive fortifications within the cities of the native Stereb, believing that the Mandalorians would not attack their bases housed amidst a civilian population. Unfortunately, the Mandalorians soon dissuades them of this notion; disgusted by what he deemed a "defense without honor", Mandalore the Ultimate ordered a full-scale bombardment with nuclear weapons, destroying twenty-seven population centers. Neither Duro or Eres III would fare much better in the face of the continuing Mandalorian onslaught. Lord Arkoh Adasca of Arkania and the head of Adascorp, offered to sell a devastating bioweapon to the Mandalorians in the form of the enormous exogorths, under the agreement that the Mandalorians would spare Arkania from their crusade and adopt Adascorp as their main weapon supplier. Before the Mand'alor could arrange the deal, the exogorths were drawn out to Wild Space by Gorman Vandrayk, where neither the Mandalorians nor the Republic would be able to use them. Setting their sights on Alderaan as the target of their next conquest, the Mandalorians amassed their forces on the recently conquered planet of Jebble. At the same time, Demagol's former assistant, Pulsipher, had come into possession of the ancient Sith amulet known as the Muur Talisman. With it, Pulsipher unknowingly unleashed the Rakghoul plague across their base, transforming Neo-Crusaders into the beastly Rakghouls. In order to prevent the spread of the plague to other worlds, Cassus Fett ordered the base on Jebble to be destroyed, ordering a nuclear bombardment not unlike that which occurred on Serroco.

The Mandalorians seemed on the verge of victory, with the Republic outmatched and overwhelmed by the sheer ferocity of the Mandalorian tactics. Finally, when the Jedi Revanchists unveiled the true events of the Cathar genocide in a tragic vision, hundreds of Jedi followed the Knights Revan and Malak into the war against the Mandalorians, no longer able to stand back and watch without action. Revan proved to be an extremely capable commander in the field, masterminding a string of military victories, and rose swiftly through the ranks of the Republic Military; with his new-found authority to spearhead the Republic war effort, Revan spurred the all-but-defeated Republic Navy to push the Mandalorians back. In relatively short order, the Mandalorians were forced off of Taris, driven from Dxun—even Cassus Fett's victory at Jaga's Cluster could do little to halt the Republic's growing momentum. The year 3960 BBY would usher in the ultimate battle of the Mandalorian Wars, as Revan forced a confrontation with the Mandalorians in orbit over Malachor V. Drawing upon the dark side energies of Malachor, Revan faced off against Mandalore the Ultimate in single combat, slaying the Mand'alor. The experimental superweapon known as the Mass Shadow Generator was activated by one of Revan's Jedi Generals, destroying the Mandalorian fleet, but at the cost of a significant amount of the Republic fleet as well. With their fleet in ruins and their leader dead, the Mandalorians transmitted their unconditional surrender.

The Dark Wars

"Times have changed now. The Mandalore clans have been scattered across the Outer Rim, the Republic is in decline and the Sith Empire raises to take its place. The clans act as if they aren't a threat, but the galaxy still fears us. Ha! People think we war out of spite, or bloodlust. They don't understand, and fear that."
―Canderous Ordo

Following their defeat at the end of the Mandalorian Wars, Revan stripped the Mandalorians of their armor and destroyed their stockpiles of weaponry, along with the war droids they'd ridden into battle upon. He also took the mask of Mand'alor, the relic that had been passed from one Mand'alor to the next and without it, a new leader could not be declared. With no Mand'alor, the Mandalorian clans fragmented and scattered throughout the Outer Rim. Beaten and embittered, many of the scattered Mandalorians took up professions as bounty hunters and mercenaries in order to make a living. Known informally as Mandalorian Mercs, these Mandalorians sold their skills to the highest bidder with morality a distant second-thought to credits. Some, like Gorse Bendak, became gladiators on worlds such as Taris, and Geonosis. Worse still, others became pirates and bandits, troubling settlers on worlds such as Dantooine.

But far too soon after the last, the galaxy found itself entangled in another war, one featuring Revan's return to the galactic scene as a newly-turned Sith Lord, with his apprentice, Darth Malak, at his side. The rechristened "Darth Revan" turned the galaxy on itself in his attempt to claim the power of the Rakatan artifact known as the Star Forge. Revan would be captured by the Jedi, however, and his memories of his days as a Sith erased. It was during the travels of this redeemed Revan, that he met the Mandalorian warrior by the name of Canderous Ordo. Ordo was a former Mandalorian Crusader who had survived the Great Sith War, joined the Neo-Crusader ranks as a battle tactician, and went on to become a mercenary following the end of the Mandalorian Wars. Tired of his mercenary life on Taris, Ordo traveled with Revan on his mission to stop Darth Malak and his Sith Empire, seeking greater battle worthy of his skill. During their travels, Ordo came upon Sherruk and his group, Mandalorian warriors who had descended into a lowly bandit, harassing settlers on Dantooine; Sherruk and his companions would fall to Revan's blade, though not without putting up a substantial fight. They would also come upon Mandalorian poachers on Kashyyyk, preying on Wookiees in the region known as the Shadowlands, and a small Mandalorian contingent on Lehon. Revan would go on to succeed in stopping Darth Malak, destroying the Star Forge and ending the war in the process. But afterward, Revan would disappear from the galaxy, seeking out the "True Sith" that he believed lurked in the Unknown Regions. Before he did, though, Revan—his memories of who he was and had been, returned—gave the mask of Mand'alor that he had claimed upon defeating Mandalore the Ultimate, to Ordo, with instructions to reunite the scattered Mandalorian clans. Revan also informed Ordo that it had been the Sith behind Mandalore the Ultimate's decision to go to war with the Republic.

With the Mand'alor's mask now back in Mandalorian hands, Canderous Ordo became the new Mand'alor, taking the name "Mandalore the Preserver". During his quest to reunite the clans, Ordo came upon what may have been one of the last remaining Taung in the galaxy. This Taung, already dying when Ordo found him, claimed that Mandalore the Ultimate had usurped the title of Mand'alor with Sith assistance, and that he was the true heir of Mandalore the Indomitable. Before succumbing to death, this Taung warrior consigned his armor and clan to Ordo, asking that he carry on their traditions; Ordo wore the armor as his own and incorporated the mask of Mand'alor into the Taung's helmet. As Mand'alor, Ordo summoned the Mandalorians to the old Neo-Crusader outpost on Dxun, intent on rebuilding their forces there under the banner of Clan Ordo. However, not all would heed the Mand'alor's call: Esok, the leader of a Mandalorian clan living on Dantooine at the time, tried to overthrow Ordo with the intention of becoming Mand'alor himself, though he would fail to defeat Ordo and die at the Mand'alor's hand. Following the battle, the remainder of Esok's clan agreed to follow Ordo, joining the likes of such warriors as Kelborn, Bralor, and Xarga on Onderon's jungle moon. Ordo and his Mandalorians would host a former Jedi General of Revan's, known at this point as the Jedi Exile, when her ship was forced to land on Dxun after being attacked over Onderon. Ordo agreed to provide the Exile with transport to Onderon, and later allied with her in her battle against the Sith Triumvirate, in order to combat the threat they posed to his efforts to reunite the Mandalorians. The Mandalorians would enter the Onderon Civil War during the Second Battle of Onderon, siding with Queen Talia's forces and defeating the rogue general, Vaklu and his troops. They also took control of Freedon Nadd's tomb from the Sith presence sent by Darth Nihilus to back Vaklu's coup. The Mandalorians and Mand'alor Ordo would come to the Republic's aid again during the Battle of Telos IV, engaging the Sith fleet alongside Admiral Carth Onasi. The Mandalorians boarded Darth Nihilus' flagship, the Ravager, and Ordo fought the Sith Lord at the Jedi Exile's side. Once Nihilus was dead, the Mandalorians detonated proton charges they'd planted, destroying the ship.

The Great Galactic War

"Mandalore's call was simple: to confront the galaxy's greatest challenge and fight the legendary Knights of the Jedi Order."
―Gnost-Dural

Despite Canderous Ordo's attempts to unite the scattered clans during his time as Mand'alor, the Mandalorians would remain fragmented for nearly three centuries. That would change in the year 3661 BBY, after the Sith Empire made an unforeseen return to the galaxy. In their war against the Republic, the Sith turned to the Mandalorians for aid, attempting to recruit the galaxy's most infamous mercenaries and bounty hunters to their cause. However, when most refused these offers, the Sith Empire decided upon a different course of action: on Geonosis, a successful young Mandalorian gladiator was chosen by Imperial Intelligence agents as a potential pawn. Working the crowds with whispers of "Mandalore" that grew into thunderous cheers, and drugging his opponents into submission, the Empire ensured that their chosen warrior would win every bout until the title of Mand'alor was thrust upon him. When the new Mand'alor called, many of the Mandalorians living in diaspora rallied to him as their culture's tenets dictated, following him in his fight against the knights of the Jedi Order. But even as the Mandalorians gathered to serve their new leader, their leader still served the Sith Empire and it was under their orders that he led a Mandalorian blockade of the Hydian Way. The Hydian Way was a major supply lane for the Republic, and blockaded, the Republic lost its ability to provide military support to its forces in the Outer Rim and to bring in raw goods to the Core Worlds. The Jedi answered the Mandalorians' challenge, striking back at the blockade, but the Mandalorian cruisers overwhelmingly crushed the Jedi forces and would continue to choke the Republic until a large undertaking of smugglers led by Hylo Visz managed to finally break the blockade and deliver goods to Coruscant.

With the blockade broken, the new Mand'alor—later known pejoratively as "Mandalore the Lesser"—sought to restore his support among the clans by calling for a galaxy-spanning competition for glory known as the Great Hunt. The champion of the Hunt, a Mandalorian warrior by the name of Artus, challenge the Mand'alor to a duel where he shot and killed the Imperial puppet. Taking his place as Mand'alor, Artus adopted the title of "Mandalore the Vindicated". In the process of consolidating his new power, Mand'alor quelled an uprising by a group of Mandalorians led by Jicoln Cadera, who believed that the Mandalorians should follow in the footsteps of Mandalore the Preserver, supporting the Republic rather than the Sith Empire. Under Mandalore the Vindicated, the Mandalorians would continue to be the well-paid, but cautious allies of the Sith.

Mandalore

"Mandalore is the name we give to our leader. Becoming Mandalore is the greatest honor any Mandalorian could aspire to."
―Canderous Ordo, "Mandalore the Preserver"

Mandalore was the Basic transliteration of the title used by the supreme leader of the Mandalorian people and culture. In its truest, native rendering as Mand'alor, the title meant "sole ruler" in the Mandalorian language of Mando'a. Originating with Mandalore the First, the mythic leader of the Taung warriors who went on to become the first Mandalorians, Mand'alor became the title passed down for use by the subsequent leaders of the people for generations after. Functioning as a combination of both king and warrior general, the Mand'alor was the closest to a head of state the wide-spread Mandalorian clans possessed, and in addition to holding the secondary title of Al'Ori'Ramikade—"Commander of Supercommandos"—Mand'alor was the de facto ruler of the Mandalorians' conquered home planet, the eponymous Outer Rim world of Mandalore. Outsiders to the Mandalorian culture often respectfully addressed the Mandalorian leader as "Lord Mandalore". The importance of the Mand'alor was reflected in the six tenets that outlined Mandalorian culture, the Resol'nare, one of which dictated that a Mandalorian rally to the [/i]Mand'alor[/i] when called upon.

Description

"Mandalores aren't administrators. Mandalorians can run their own communities—anywhere. They just need...general leadership when it's called for."
―Boba Fett

The title of Mandalore was the Galactic Basic Standard transliteration of the Mando'a word Mand'alor, which meant "sole ruler" in the Mandalorian language. The position of Mand'alor was a combination of king, warlord, and general in function, often carrying with it the additional title of Al'Ori'Ramikade, "Commander of Supercommandos." A non-hereditary role, only a Mandalorian deemed worthy could claim the title of Mand'alor, exemplifying the Mandalorian meritocracy ideal. When the previous Mandalore fell or stepped down, a Mandalorian with both vision and strength could make a claim for the title, but if the other clans did not accept the individual as the new Mand'alor and recognize their authority, their duty was to remove the unsuitable claimant and institute a more favorable leader. The significance of the Mand'alor's role in Mandalorian society was so great that one of the Resol'nare—the six basic tenets that defined Mandalorian culture—detailed the importance of loyalty toward the Mand'alor, and rallying to the Mandalorian leader when called upon.

In addition to being the leader of the Mandalorian people, the Mand'alor was the de facto leader of the planet Mandalore, the Mandalorian homeworld with which the title shared its Basic-translated name. Both the planet and its leader had been granted such similar titles due to the fact that Mandalore the planet, and Mandalore the leader were supposed to be synonymous in the eyes of the Mandalorians, with the Mand'alor acting in the best interests of the planet and its people. Mandalorians referred to their leader either by title or by name, when on an informal basis. Non-Mandalorians, however, often addressed the Mand'alor by the additionally formal title of "Lord Mandalore" when wishing to be respectful. During times of war, the Mand'alor was expected to serve as a strong leader on the battlefield. During times of peace, it was the Mandalore's duty to liaise with the various clan chieftains who comprised a loose government, over which only the Mand'alor held greater authority in traditional Mandalorian society, in order to make decisions concerning the planet Mandalore, Mandalorian space, and Mandalorians living throughout the galaxy.

History

"When our leader falls in battle, the most worthy takes his place."
―Mandalore the Preserver

When the Taung race was driven from Coruscant by the Human Battalions of Zhell in the years prior to the foundation of the Galactic Republic, they fled to the planet Roon. In 7000 BBY, under the leadership of the legendary Mandalore the First, the Taung traveled to a new world in the Outer Rim. Slaughtering the native mythosaur inhabitants, the Taung named the world Manda'yaim, or "home of Mandalore" in honor of their leader, in addition to recasting themselves as the Mandalorians or Mando'ade—"sons and daughters of Mandalore." It was the example of Mandalore the First that led to the title of Mandalore and its Mando'a equivalent of Mand'alor, to traditionally be used to signify the leader of the Mandalorian clans.

Shortly before 4000 BBY, and some time after the reign of Mandalore the Conqueror, Mandalore the Indomitable had become the new Mand'alor. By this time, the position of Mand'alor was symbolized by the war mask of Mandalore, passed down to a successor when the previous leader perished. With an army of Mandalorian Crusaders, Mandalore led his warriors on a campaign to conquer new worlds that put him into conflict with the newly anointed Sith Lord, Ulic Qel-Droma. Mandalore was defeated in single combat on Kuar by the former Jedi, and thus pledged his service and the service of his warriors to the Sith. The Mandalorians engaged the Republic on behalf of the Brotherhood of the Sith, culminating in the battle at Onderon, where Mandalore fell, and a new warrior claimed his mask and the title of Mand'alor. Indomitable's successor, Mandalore the Ultimate, reorganized the Mandalorian warriors according to the Neo-Crusader movement, and led the Mandalorians into the Mandalorian Wars with the Republic, during which he conquered vast expanses of the galaxy. But Mandalore the Ultimate met his match in the rogue Jedi Knight Revan, who slew the Mand'alor on Malachor V and defeated the Neo-Crusader army. Following his victory, Revan claimed the mask of Mandalore for himself, and denied the Mandalorians the right of succession, allowing for the unified clans to fragment and scatter without direction.

Though yet another Taung attempted to claim the title of Mand'alor, it wasn't until Revan gifted the mask to his trusted one time companion, the Mandalorian warrior named Canderous Ordo, that the tradition of the Mandalore was allowed to truly continue. Ordo took the sobriquet of "Mandalore the Preserver," and at the insistence of Revan, began to gather the scattered Mandalorian clans, establishing a headquarters on Onderon's moon, Dxun. Banding together under the banner of Clan Ordo, Mandalore the Preserver's assembled warriors aided Meetra Surik in battling against the forces of the Sith Triumvirate during the Dark Wars. However, in spite of Ordo's attempts to reunite the clans, the Mandalorians remained predominantly fragmented for several centuries. That all changed when a young Mandalorian gladiator rose to fame on the planet Geonosis: defeating all of his opponents with the help of Imperial Intelligence agents in the employ of the reconstituted Sith Empire, the gladiator used his notoriety to claim the title of Mand'alor. As the leader who became known as Mandalore the Lesser, the new Mand'alor rallied the widespread Mandalorian forces, but did so in accordance with the orders of his Sith masters. He blockaded the Hydian Way trade route, but was defeated by a contingent of smugglers. In an effort to regain support, Mandalore the Lesser initiated the galaxy-wide competition for glory known as the Great Hunt, only to be challenged by the victor, and killed. The Great Hunt's champion, Artus Lok, took the title of Mand'alor for himself, consolidating his power and defeating a Mandalorian pro-Republic schism led by Jicoln Cadera. Under the title "Mandalore the Vindicated," Artus ensured the Mandalorians remained allies of the Sith, albeit cautious and highly paid ones.

Resol'nare

"I adhere to the Resol'nare. The core of what it means to be Mandalorian. A sacred law giving us direction and purpose. Education and armor, self-defense, our tribe, our language, our leader—all help us survive. We must educate our children as Mandalorians, obey the commands of Mandalore, speak Mando'a and defend our clans."
―Akaavi Spar

The Resol'nare, or Six Actions when translated from Mando'a into Galactic Basic Standard, were the central tenets of Mandalorian life. They consisted of wearing armor, speaking the language, defending yourself and your family, raising your children as Mandalorians, contributing to the clan's welfare, and when called upon by the Mand'alor, rallying to his cause
Anyone who wished to be considered Mandalorian had to abide by these guidelines and live these actions daily. Mandalorians whom did not follow the Resol'nare were considered to be dar'manda—someone who was ignorant of their Mandalorian heritage. The status of dar'manda was widely feared within Mandalorian society due to the belief it meant they were soulless and had no place in the Manda, the Mandalorian afterlife.

During the Mandalorian Wars, any and all non-Mandalorians were considered dar'manda and soulless from birth, until they joined the Mandalorians and lived by the Resol'nare. Groups of captured individuals would often be forcibly inducted into Mandalorian culture, and made to swear by the Resol'nare with or without their consent.

Young Mandalorian children were taught a rhyme to help them learn the tenets of the Resol'nare.

Resol'nare rhyme

"Education and armor, self-defense, our tribe, our language, our leader—all help us survive."
―Akaavi Spar

Mandalorian children were taught a rhyme when they were young, in order to help them learn and remember the Resol'nare, the six tenets of Mandalorian culture. In accordance with the [/i]Resol'nare[/i], the rhyme outlined the importance of learning the Mandalorian language of Mando'a, wearing Mandalorian armor, being able to defend one's family and self, being loyal to the Mand'alor, and raising one's children with those values.

The female Mandalorian Zabrak, Akaavi Spar, recited the Resol'nare rhyme for the captain of a smuggler ship she served on during the Cold War, while discussing the culture she came from and the six tenets that laid at its core.

The rhyme

Mando'a

Ba'jur bal beskar'gam,
Ara'nov, aliit,
Mando'a bal Mand'alor—
An vencuyan mhi.

Galactic Basic Standard

Education and armor,
Self-defense, our tribe,
Our language and our leader—
All help us survive.

Mandalorian religion

"We're very spiritual people, we Mando'ade. Communing with the manda."
―Mereel Skirata

The Mandalorian religion was the accumulated spiritual and mythological beliefs of the Mandalorian warrior culture. Like the Mandalorians themselves, their religion saw numerous changes throughout the course of history, with several concepts evolving or falling out of popular practice over time. The ancient Mandalorians and the culture's Taung founders were intensely devout in their beliefs, forming a deeply religious society. Creation myths such as the Akaanati'kar'oya—the "War of Life and Death"—were viewed literally, and ritual combat was waged in worship of Kad Ha'rangir the destroyer god, who the Mandalorians believed represented change and was opposed by Arasuum, the stagnant sloth-god. This obsession with battle reached its pinnacle when the Mandalorians came to deify war itself, and believed that to wage war was to be divine.

However, this zealotry did not last. Over time, the Mandalorians grew disillusioned with their former fanaticism and war-worshiping ways. Mandalorian beliefs became more secular and pragmatic: their ancient myths of warring gods and stories of the fallen rulers of Mandalore portrayed as the night stars were viewed as philosophical parables, and modern Mandalorians sought to derive allegorical insight from these tales rather than fact. The belief in a literal afterlife waned in favor of a belief in the manda, a collective oversoul described as the very essence of being Mandalorian. A Mandalorian ignorant of their heritage and culture was considered to be dar'manda—soulless—and would have no place in the manda after death; to be dar'manda was considered a terrible fate by Mandalorians, and a great importance was placed upon knowing and living their culture as defined by the Resol'nare, the culture's six tenets.

Beliefs

"I hear the Mandalorians have been wanderers, too, and that they were conquerors like us, and their god was war itself. And now—now they are not, and their worship of war itself has vanished because one of their leaders wanted things to be more civilized."
―Nom Anor

The ancient founders of the Mandalorian culture, the Taung, formed a religious warrior society governed by elaborate laws that evolved into the Canons of Honor. They believed in the creation story of Akaanati'kar'oya—the "War of Life and Death"—and attributed the stars shining in the night sky to the fallen rulers of the planet Mandalore. These early Mandalorians believed in a pantheon of deities including Hod Ha'ran, a trickster god viewed as an agent of the fickle nature of fortune. The one they truly worshiped, however, was the destroyer god Kad Ha'rangir, who represented the opportunity for change and growth that destruction provided, in opposition to the sloth-god Arasuum, who stood against Kad Ha'rangir as an avatar of stagnation. The Mandalorians engaged in ritual combat in Kad Ha'rangir's name to win favor with their god, defying the temptations of idle consumption offered by Arasuum. This struggle between idleness and change was also reflected in the ancient Mandalorian belief in the afterlife: existing as a plane of spiritual energy in constant conflict between stagnation and growth, every Mandalorian who perished was believed to join the army of the afterlife, defending their families that dwelled in the eternal, peaceful homestead. Mandalorians believed that this home beyond death was the only place they could truly reach a non-transitory existence.

One of the first notable changes to the Mandalorian religion came circa 5000 BBY. Legend claimed that the reigning leader of the Mandalorians, Mandalore the Indomitable, journeyed to the planet Shogun, and there he received a vision that inspired a revelation. Returning to the clans, Mandalore the Indomitable led his people to cease their worship of gods such as Kad Ha'rangir, Arasuum, and Hod Ha'ran, instead elevated war itself to the heart of their religion. War was revered, and to wage war was to be divine. It was from that point that the Mandalorians became infamous as Crusaders, a reflection of their view that the making of war was a holy crusade. Mandalore the Indomitable was not the last of the Mandalorian leaders to receive a vision on Shogun. Following his ascent to the role after Indomitable's death, Mandalore the Ultimate was shown a new vision on Shogun, one that led him to allow members of other species who proved themselves in combat and upheld the tenets of the Resol'nare, to be treated as equal members of the Mandalorian clans. Under his rule, the Mandalorians were certain of the approach of the mythic Ani'la Akaan, the "Great Last Battle," and found it at Malachor V, where the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders engaged the Jedi-led forces of the Galactic Republic, only to be defeated.

As time passed, the Mandalorians became disillusioned with the religious fanaticism of their ancestors and their war-worshiping ways. Their belief system moved further away from the supernatural, and a greater importance was placed on secular pragmatism. Where creation myths such as the Akaanati'kar'oya had once been regarded literally, later generations viewed these stories instead as allegory, seeking to glean philosophical insight from them rather than truth. The ancient gods were largely forgotten in contemporary times; common wisdom suggested divine masters were to be tolerated only if they were able to pull their own weight in the culture. The concept of a literal afterlife waned, in favor of a belief in the manda. The manda was described as an oversoul, a collective consciousness, and the very essence of being Mandalorian. To join with the manda after death, a Mandalorian was required to be knowledgeable of their culture, and practice its tenets in their daily lives. For a Mandalorian to be ignorant of their heritage was to be dar'manda—without a soul—and to be without a place in the collective afterlife. The concept of being dar'manda was feared in the Mandalorian culture, and was considered a terrible fate.

Manda

"Mando'ade usually bury in mass graves anyway. We all become part of the manda. We don't need a headstone."
"Manda."
"Collective consciousness. Oversoul. We don't do heaven."
―Mirta Gev and Boba Fett

The manda was a spiritual concept in the Mandalorian religion. Differing from the ancient Mandalorians' belief in a literal afterlife, the manda was best described as an oversoul, a collective state of being for all Mandalorian souls upon death. To be part of it, a Mandalorian was required to not only understand their culture as defined by the Resol'nare, but truly live out its ideals in their lives. Mandalorians who did not live by the Resol'nare were considered to be dar'manda—soulless, someone who was ignorant of their heritage and had no place in the afterlife. The state of being dar'manda was regarded as a fate worse than death in the Mandalorian community.

The Mandalorian belief in the collective afterlife of the manda was of notable influence to their burial practices. Though the Mandalorians typically preferred cremation, when burying the fallen in large numbers, Mandalorians would dig large, mass graves in which to lay their dead to rest. Though many species considered the prospect of unmarked mass graves horrid, Mandalorians believed that the body was merely a tool for doing deeds and passing on knowledge, and once the soul had gone to the manda, what happened to the body was ultimately irrelevant. Burying their people together in mass graves mirrored the collective consciousness every Mandalorian was believed to share in the manda after death.

Mando'a http://starwars.myrpg.org/coruscant_translator.php

"In five millennia, the Mandalorians fought with and against a thousand armies on a thousand worlds. They learned to speak as many languages and absorbed weapons technology and tactics from every war. And yet, despite the overwhelming influence of alien cultures, and the absence of a true homeworld and even species, their own language not only survived but changed little, their way of life and their philosophy remained untouched, and their ideals and sense of family, of identity, of nation, were only strengthened." ―Mandalorians: Identity and Language, published by the Galactic Institute of Anthropology

Mando'a, sometimes referred to simply as Mandalorian, was the primary language spoken by the Mandalorian culture. Elements of Mando'a were taken from the language of the ancient Taungs of Coruscant, from which the culture stemmed.

Overview

"We don't have a word for hero. Being prepared to die for your family and friends, or what you hold dear, is a basic requirement for a Mando, so it's not worth a separate word. It's only cowards we had to find a special name for."
―Baltan Carid

The origins of Mando'a were believed to have lain with the language of the Taung, an ancient race of Humanoid simians that originated on Coruscant in the time before the Galactic Republic's formation. The Taung were driven from Coruscant by the Human Battalions of Zhell after a lengthy war, and under the leadership of Mandalore the First, conquered a new planet they named Mandalore in their leader's honor, becoming the first Mandalorians—or Mando'ade, "Children of Mandalore" in Mando'a. Despite this direct lineage, and the fact that the Taung spoke an archaic dialect that evolved into the later Mando'a, unique elements contained in contemporary Mando'a were unlike any found in other galactic languages. Mando'a had no grammatical cases, only two forms for a verb to take, a tense prefix system, and simplistic rules for forming adjectives from nouns and verb stems. Spelling and punctuation forms were optional, decided upon by the preference of the individual speaker—"jagyc" and "jagla", for instance, were both correct ways of saying "masculine".

To understand and be able to speak Mando'a was one of the Resol'nare, the central six tenets that an individual had to follow in their daily life should they wish to be a Mandalorian. This respect for the language, along with Mando'a's natural flexibility, meant that words drawn from other languages were a rarity, and Mando'a changed very little throughout the centuries in spite of the many languages the Mandalorians learned to speak and the vast influence from alien cultures. If a new word for a thing or concept was needed, Mandalorians would typically draw upon the existing Mando'a vocabulary to form an appropriate term. Mando'a was an agglutinative language, meaning that many words were formed by combining two or more others, without changing their form, to create a new word with a new meaning. An example of this was the term dar'jetii, which is a combination of the Mando'a words dar, meaning "no longer", and jetii, the Mandalorian word for Jedi. Literally translated, dar'jetii meant "no longer a Jedi", but was mostly used contextually to mean "Sith." However, hut'tuun—the Mandalorian word for "coward"—found its roots in the common Mandalorian dislike for Hutts, specifically their tendency to hire others to handle their martial needs in their stead.

Concordian, the language spoken on both the planet Concord Dawn and Mandalore's moon, Concordia, was a dialect of Mando'a. As such, though they differed in certain aspects, the two languages were mutually intelligible, meaning that they were similar enough that an individual speaking one could easily converse with someone speaking the other. The dialect spoken by the Human child Sasha ot Sulem in 3956 BBY, following the girl's kidnapping and her time living among the Mandalorians on Dantooine, was believed by the Jedi Knight Revan to be a jumbled off-shoot of Mando'a.

Grammar

"How do I tell Darman in Mandalorian that I love him?"
"Try...ni kar'tayli gar darasuum. It's the same word as 'to know,' 'to hold in the heart,' kar'taylir. But you add darasuum, forever, and it becomes something rather different."
―Etain Tur-Mukan and Bardan Jusik

Mando'a was a primarily spoken language, rather than a written one, and was thus an expressive language that was often thought of as easy to learn, a trait highly desirable in a culture that regularly adopted adults from numerous races and species. The language's grammar was relatively uncomplicated, but there were elements that necessitated adjustments for a speaker of Basic, including Mando'a's expression of tense, and its gender-neutrality. Because Mandalorians believed in living their history, along with the idea that a tomorrow was not always a certainty, past and future tense were colloquially done away with. Instead, the prefixes ru for "past", and ven for "future", were used in place of the more widely-used tense forms. There was also no passive verb form in Mando'a; a verb was either active or simply absent from the statement.

On the subject of verbs, infinitive verbs ended in -ir, -ar, -ur, -or, or -er. To produce the stem, removing the "r" at the end was all that was required. Ni vorer was incorrect, but Ni vore—meaning "I accept" and using the inflected form—was correct. Oftentimes, an apostrophe—known in Mando'a as a beten, or "sigh"—was used to separate the terminal vowel, indicating the slight glottal pause of some Mandalorian accents. Other uses for the beten were as an indication of a breath, for pronunciation, or a sign of a dropped letter or letters in a contraction. For instance, the sentence "I carry a saber" could be translated in Mando'a as the formal ni juri kad, or the pronunciation-marked ni jur'i kad, since the emphasis was placed on the second syllable in the word juri, and even the more commonly contracted ni jur'kad. Dropping a terminal vowel when conjugating was quite common, especially in Mandalorian poetry and song. Occasionally, certain verbs would be left out all together, and instead implied via word order. While this tendency to forgo certain words could be confusing to Basic speakers, and make the language appear abrupt, the militaristic Mandalorians had largely assumed the concise speech common in military orders. Whereas the literal translation for "It's good" would be bic cuyi jate, a Mandalorian was much more likely to just say jate, or "good", instead.

Due to Mando'a's nature as a gender-neutral language, gender was implied by context. Buir meant both "mother" and "father", just as "son" and "daughter" were both represented by the word ad. When it was necessary to specify gender, the adjectives of jagyc or dalyc—male and female, respectively—would be added. This grammatical system was a rarity for a language spoken by beings who reproduced sexually.

To form a question, the interrogative prefix tion was placed at the beginning of a sentence. While "Gar verorad'ni" meant "You are hiring me", the addition of the tion prefix placed before gar would turn the previous statement into the question, "Are you hiring me?" Another example of a meaningful prefix was ke, which was drawn from the Mando'a word for "order", or ke'gyce, and was placed at the start of a sentence to indicate a command. In order to create the negative form in Mando'a, the prefix n', nu, nu', or ne was added before either the sentence or the individual word. "Ne'briikase" meant "unhappy", while "Nu'ni juri kad" meant "I don't carry a saber". When forming a plural, -e was added to the end of words ending in consonants, while -se was added to the end of words ending in a vowel. As with most languages, there were exceptions to the rule, such as in the case of get becoming gett'se. Originally, the indication of a plural was done with an -a suffix rather than an -e, a practice that went away over time.

Adjectives and adverbs were formed by adding the suffixes -la or -yc to the end of pre-existing nouns. "Di'kut", meaning "idiot" in Mando'a, could easily become "di'kutla", meaning "idiotic". Comparatives and superlatives were formed in much the same way. When creating a comparative, the suffix -shy'a was added to the end of the standard adjective. For a superlative, the -ne suffix was added. An example would be the word "dral", meaning "bright", becoming "dralshy'a", or "brighter", and the word "jate", meaning "good", becoming "jatne", or "best". No distinction between adverbs and adjectives was made in Mando'a, and although a non-Mando'a speaker might make out a Mandalorian to be uneducated should he say in Basic, "The boys done good", it was much more likely that they were simply unfamiliar with Basic's past tense and adverbial forms. Mando'a also made less use of articles such as "the" and "an" than Basic, generally adding them only for emphasis.

Mando'a had a similar pronunciation to Basic, with a few notable exceptions. The letters "f", "x", or "z" were not present in Mando'a, although the written form of the Mandalorian alphabet included the letters for greater ease in transliterating foreign words. In the absence of the letter "f", Mando'a substituted the similar-sounding "vh" combination, and the Mandalorian "s" could be pronounced in the same way as a common "z". Over time, the pronunciation of "d" lost favor to the more modern "t", though certain Mandalorian communities still preferred to pronounce the letter "j" as a "y" sound, instead of the more commonly heard hard "j" found in words like "joy". When speaking, the first "h" present in a word was typically aspirated—aside from its archaic form used in traditional songs and poems—and always pronounced when found in the middle of a word. Mando'a possessed no silent letters, though the opposite was often true of Mandalorian songs: terminal consonants could become extra syllables in order to better maintain rhythm and meter. For example, tor could easily become to-rah, and tang could just as easily become tan-gah.

Vocabulary

"The Mandalorian language has more terms of insult than any of the more widely spoken galactic tongues. But whereas most species choose insults that are based on parentage or appearance, the majority of Mandalorian pejoratives are concerned with cowardice, stupidity, laziness, dull conversation, or a lack of hygiene. It reveals the preoccupations of a nomadic warrior culture where bloodline matters less than personal qualities, faces are largely masked, and a clean, efficient camp is crucial to survival."
―Mandalorians: Identity and Language, published by the Galactic Institute of Anthropology


Verbs
• a'den - rage
• aranar - defend
• atiniir - to endure, to stick with, to tough it out
• baatir - to care, to worry about
• betenor - to sigh
• broker - to beat
• cuyir - to be, to exist
• dinuir - to give
• duraanir - scorn, hold in contempt
• duumir - to allow
• ganar - to have, possess
• hettir - burn
• hibirar - learn
• hukaatir - to cover
• jehaatir - lie, untruth
• jorhaa'ir - speak, talk
• jorso'ran - shall bear (archaic imperative form)
• jurir - bear arms, to carry something
• jurkadir - attack, threaten, mess with;
• kar'taylir - to know, hold in the heart
• k'uur - Hush!
• liser - to be able to, can
• motir - stand
• narir - to act, do, or put
• naritir - insert, place, or put
• nau'ur - light up, illuminate
• nau'ur kad - to forge; Literally: light up a saber
• nynir - to hit, to strike
• oya - Literally: Let's hunt! Colloquially adapted as a positive and triumphant cheer with potential meanings including "Stay alive!", "Go you!", and simply "Cheers!"
• parjir - to win, to be victorious
• shabiir - screw up
• shereshoy - a lust for life
• shukur - to break
• susulur - to hear, to listen
• takisir - to insult
• Tal'galar - to spill blood, to bleed
• trattok'o - to fall, to fail, or collapse
• udesiir - to relax, to rest, to be peaceful
• usen'ye - rudest way to tell someone to go away; utilizes the same root as osik
• verborir - to buy, to hire, to contract
• vorer - to accept

Adjectives and adverbs
• adenn - merciless
• aruetyc - foreign, or even traitorous, but generally "not Mandalorian"
• atin - stubborn or persistent
• briikase - happy
• bantov - nevertheless
• dar - no longer
• darasuum - eternal or eternally, forever
• di'kutla - foolish, idiotic
• dral - bright
• dralshy'a - stronger, brighter
• ge'tal - red
• hettyc - burning
• hut'uunla - cowardly
• iviin'yc - fast, quickly
• jate - good
• jatne - best
• kandosii - indomitable, ruthless; used colloquially as noble or classy as well; awesome
• mesh'la - beautiful
• mirdala - clever
• naast - destroyer
• ne'tra - black
• nuhunla or nuh'la - funny
• ori - big, extreme, very
• racin - pale
• shabla - screwed up
• shuk'la - crushed or broken
• solus - one, alone, individual, vulnerable
• sol'yc - first
• talyc - bloody or bloodstained; can also be used to refer to meat cooked rare
• teroch - pitiless
• tome - together
• troch - certainly (archaic)
• ures - without, lacking

Nouns
• aaray - pain
• aay'han - bittersweet moment of mourning and joy; "remembering and celebration"
• abesh - east
• abiik - air
• adade - personnel
• adate - people, persons
• adiik - child aged 3 to 13
• ad'ika - kid, lad, boy, sweetie, darling, son, daughter, child
• ad - sons, daughters, child
• ade - children
• agol - living tissue, meat, muscle; flesh of an animal or human; "flesh and blood"
• aka - mission
• akaan - war
• akaan'ade - army
• akaata - battalion
• akalenedat - hard contact
• alii'gai - flag, colors
• aliik - sigil, or symbol on armor
• aliit - family, clan, tribe
• alor - leader, chief, "officer", constable, boss
• alor'ad - captain
• aloriya - capital; Literally: "Head City"
• alor'uus - corporal
• al'verde - commander
• anade - everyone or everybody
• aran - guard
• araniik - cordon
• ara'nov - defense
• arasuum - stagnation
• arpat - seed
• aru'e - enemy
• aruetii - outsider or traitor; colloquially a "non-Mandalorian"
• ash'ad - someone else
• baar - body
• baarpir - sweat
• baar'ur - medic
• ba'buir - grandparent
• ba'jur - education, training
• balac - opportunity
• bas neral - coarse grain used for animal fodder and brewing, generally thought unfit to eat
• ba'vodu - aunt or uncle
• behot - a citrus-flavored herb, antiseptic, and mild stimulant
• beroya - bounty hunter
• bes'bavar - cavalry
• besbe - a slang term for kit
• besbe'trayce - weapons
• bes'bev - Mandalorian flute capable of being used in combat
• be'senaar - missile
• beskad - slightly curved saber of Mandalorian iron
• beskar - Mandalorian iron
• beskar'ad - droid; Literally: "child of iron"
• beskar'gam - armor; Literally: "iron skin"
• bes'laar - music
• be'sol - priority
• besom - ill-mannered lout, unhygienic person, someone with no manners
• Bes'uliik - Basilisk war droid; Literally: "iron beast"
• beten - sigh
• bev - needle, spike
• beviin - lance
• bevik - stick
• bic - it
• bines - stack
• birgaan - backpack
• birikad - baby carrying harness
• buir - parent
• burc'ya - friend
• buy'ce - helmet; Colloquially: pint, bucket
• ca - night
• cabur - protector or guardian
• chakaar - thief, petty criminal, scumbag; Literally: "grave robber"; general term of abuse
• Coruscanta - Coruscant
• Cuy'val Dar - "those who no longer exist"
• cyar'ika - darling, beloved, sweetheart
• cyar'tomade - fans or supporters
• dar'buir - no longer a parent
• dar'jetii - Literally: no longer a Jedi; colloquial for Sith or Dark Jedi
• dar'manda - a state of being "not Mandalorian"; not an outsider, but one who has lost his heritage, and so his identity and soul
• dar'yaim - a hell, a place you want to forget
• dha - dark
• di'kut - fool, idiot, useless individual; context-dependent: can mean jerk, moron, etc.
• droten - people
• entye - debt
• gal - ale or alcohol
• gayi'kaab - radio
• gett - nut
• gihaal - fish-meal
• gra'tua - revenge, vengeance
• hut'uun - coward
• haran - hell; Literally: destruction, cosmic annihilation
• ibi'tuur - today
• jai'galaar - shriek-hawk
• Jetii - Jedi
• Jetii'kad - Lightsaber; Literally: "Sword of (the) Jedi"
• Jetiise - plural form of "Jedi", can also be used for "Republic"
• kad - saber
• kal - knife
• kama - belt-spat
• Kaminii - Kaminoan
• kando - importance, weight
• ka'ra - stars
• ka'rta - heart or soul
• ke'gyce - command, order
• kom'rk - gauntlet
• kot - strength
• kote - glory, might
• kov'nyn - headbutt, Keldabe kiss
• kyr'am - death
• Kyr'tsad - Death Watch; Literally: "Death Society"
• Mand'alor - "sole ruler", leader of the Mandalorians
• Manda'yaim - the planet Mandalore
• Mando'ad - Mandalorian; Literally: "Son/Daughter of Mandalore"
• mar'eyce - discovery
• mirshe - brain
• mir'shupur - brain injury
• ne'ta - black
• ne'tra gal - black ale
• Niktose - Nikto
• norac - back
• orar - thunder
• or'dinii - moron or fool
• ori'ramikad - Supercommando
• ori'vod - big brother/sister, special friend
• osik - dung (Impolite)
• parjai - victory
• prudii - shadow
• rang - ash
• riduur - partner, spouse, husband/wife
• runi - soul; only used poetically
• shabuir - extreme insult - "jerk", but much stronger.
• shebs - backside, rear, butt
• shereshoy - a lust for life
• shig - a hot, tea-like beverage
• shuk'orok - crushgaunt
• tal - blood
• tihaar - an alcoholic drink; a strong, clear spirit made from fruit
• tor - justice
• tra - starfield, space
• tracinya - flame
• tracyn - fire
• troan - face
• tsad - alliance, group, organization
• tuur - day
• uj'alayi - a very dense, very sweet cake made from crushed nuts, dried fruit and spices, and then soaked in a sticky scented syrup called uj'jayl. Simplified as uj cake.
• uj'ayl - a sticky scented syrup
• vencuyot - future
• ver'alor - lieutenant
• verd - soldier or warrior
• vhett - farmer
• vod - brother, sister, comrade
• Vongese - Yuuzhan Vong
• werda - shadows (archaic)

Phrases
• Aliit ori'shya tal'din - "Family is more than blood."
• Ba'slan shev'la. - "Strategic disappearance."
• Cin vhetin - a fresh start or clean slate; Literally: "white field"
• Copaani gaan? - "Need a hand?"
• Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod? - "Are you looking for a smack in the face, mate?"
• Cui ogir’olar - "it’s irrelevant"
• Gar serim - "Yes, you’re right." or "That's it."
• Gar taldin ni jaonyc; gar sa buir, ori'wadaas'la. - "Nobody cares who your father was, only the father you'll be."
• Gedet'ye - "Please"
• Haar'chak - "Damn it!"
• Haat, Ijaa, Haa'it - "Truth, Honor, Vision"—said when sealing a pact
• Haatyc or'arue jate'shya ori'sol aru'ike nuhaatyc - "Better one big enemy that you can see than many small ones you can't."
• Haili cetare! - Literally: "Fill your boots"; used colloquially to mean "eat your fill"
• Haryc b'aalyc - "tired and emotional", euphemism for "drunk"
• Hukaat'kama - "Watch my back"
• Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur. - "Today is a good day for someone else to die."
• Jatnese be te jatnese - "The best of the best"
• K'atini! - "Suck it up!"
• Kandosii! - "Nice one!" or "Well done!"
• Kaysh guur' skraan - "He loves his food."—said of someone who has a healthy appetite
• Kaysh mirsh solus - "He's an idiot"; Literally: "His brain cell's lonely."
• Ke barjurir gar'ade, jagyc'ade kot'la a dalyc'ade kotla'shya. - "Train your sons to be strong but your daughters to be stronger."
• Ke nu'jurkadir sha Mando'ade! - "Don't mess with Mandalorians!"
• Ke'pare! - "Wait!"
• K'oyacyi! - "Cheers!" Can also mean "Hang in there" or "Come back safely."; Literally a command: "Stay alive!"
• K'uur - "Hush!"
• Mando'ad draar digu - "A Mandalorian never forgets"
• Mandokarla - "You've got the right stuff."
• Mar'e - "At last!"; an expression of relief
• Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde - "We are one when together. we are one when parted. We will share all. We will raise warriors."—Mandalorian marriage vows
• Mir'osik - "Dung for brains"
• Mirsh'kyramud - a boring person; Literally: "brain killer"
• Mishuk gotal'u meshuroke, pako kyore. - "Pressure makes gems, ease makes decay."
• Munit tome'tayl, skotah iisa - "Long memory, short fuse"
• Nar dralshy'a - "Put your back into it!" or "Try harder!"
• Ne shab'rud'ni... - "Don't mess with me..."; extremely strong warning likely to be followed by violence
• Ner vod - "my brother/sister"; colloquially also "my friend"
• Ni dinu ner gaan naakyc, jorcu ni nu copaani kyr'amur ner vod - Honor my offer of truce, for I would not willingly shed my brother's blood.
• Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad - "I know your name as my child"; Mandalorian adoption vow
• Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum - "I love you."
• Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum - "I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal"—Daily remembrance of those passed on, followed by the names of those being remembered
• Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la - "Not gone, merely marching far away"—; Mandalorian phrase for the departed
• Ori'buyce, kih'kovid. - "All helmet, no head."—Mandalorian insult for someone with an overdeveloped sense of authority.
• Ori'haat - "It's the truth, I swear—no bull."
• Ori'jate - "Very good"
• Resol'nare - The six tenets of Mandalorian culture
• Ret'lini - "Just in case"
• Ret'urcye mhi - Goodbye; Literally: "Maybe we'll meet again"
• Su cuy'gar! - "Hello!"; Literally: "So you're still alive."
• Su cuy'gar! Ni slanar Hoth o'r Star Tours me'sen. - "Hello! I am going to Hoth in the great Star Tours ship."
• Su'cuy! - Hi!
• Tion'ad hukaat'kama? - "Who's watching your back?"
• Udesii - "Calm down" or "take it easy"
• Usenye - "Go away!" (Obscene)
• Verd ori'shya beskar'gam. - "A warrior is more than his armor"
• Vor entye - "thank you"; Literally: "I accept a debt"
• Vor'e - "thanks"

Other words
• a, a', or al - but
• an - all
• ashi - other
• ast - itself
• bah - to
• bal - and
• be - of
• cuun - our
• elek - yes
• 'lek - yeah
• gar - you, your
• haar - the; used rarely
• ibic - this
• juaan - beside, next to
• kaysh - him/her, his/hers, he/she
• lo - into
• meg - which, what, that, who
• meh - if
• mhi - we
• nayc - no
• ner - my
• ni - I
• par - for
• ra - or
• ru - past-tense prefix
• sa - as, like
• te - the
• teh - from
• ti - with
• tion'ad - who?
• vaii - where
• val - they, theirs
• ven - future-tense prefix

Numbers
• solus - one
• t'ad - two
• ehn - three
• cuir - four
• rayshe'a - five
• resol - six
• e'tad - seven
• sh'ehn - eight
• she'cu - nine
• ta'raysh - ten
• olan - hundred
• ta'raysholan - thousand

Colors
• sal - color
• ge'tal - red
• kebiin- blue
• shi'yayc - yellow
• vorpan- green
• ve'vut - gold
• saviin - violet
• daryc - brown
• ne'tra - black
• cin - white
• genet - gray

Dha Werda Verda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzxwPQ4sYwo

"When the dawn came the Zhell awakened and saw the Taungs upon the high place and were afraid, for the morning light caught the glint of helms and weapons and created phantom warriors, made of dazzle and distance. But the cleverest of them were not deceived, and saw how few we were. And so they assembled without haste, merry in mockery, and prepared to march. And in the high place we awaited death."
―Translated excerpt from the ninth chapter of the Dha Werda Verda epic

Dha Werda Verda was the name of both an epic poem, and a Mandalorian war chant, as well as the Taung people that lay at the heart of each. When translated from the language of Mando'a, Dha Werda Verda meant "Warriors of the Shadow," a name the Taung took for themselves during their legendary war with the Battalions of Zhell. On the ancient planet of Coruscant, then known merely as Notron, the Taung and the Zhell's conflict was interrupted by the eruption of a great volcano, that blanketed the skies in ash and blotted out the sun. The forces of the Zhell were devastated, and the Taung—seeing the eruption as divine providence—named their warriors for the massive shadow of the ash cloud that gave them an advantage over their Zhell enemies. Though the Zhell did recover and managed to drive the Taung from ancient Notron, the war and the eruption were recounted by the Taung in a poetic epic known only as the Dha Werda Verda, an epic the rest of the galaxy's scholars would later study from Taung relics left behind on the planet Roon during their journey to a new home.

Under the reign of their leader, Mandalore the First, the Taung settled a new world they deemed Mandalore in the great chieftain's honor, and again remade themselves as the Mandalorians or Mando'ade—sons and daughters of Mandalore. The Mandalorian Taung went on to conquer a number of other worlds, and over time, the Taung began to accept beings of various other races into their culture. All the while, their near constant crusades depleted the Mandalorians' Taung population, and by the time of Mandalore the Ultimate's reign, the culture's Taung progenitors had become vastly eclipsed by the many other races that now called themselves Mandalorian. Into this atmosphere came a new iteration of the Dha Werda Verda, a great war chant also known as the "Rage of the Shadow Warriors." This new chant was birthed by the Taung's understanding that they were in decline, and that the multi-species Mandalorian culture would long outlast them, a plea of sorts that their contributions and place in history not be forgotten. The new chant was accompanied by a ritual dance, wherein performers would drum the rhythm of the Dha Werda Verda on the armored chest and back of those beside them, and was passed down through countless generations of Mandalorians, even being taught to the clone soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic by their Mandalorian instructors as a way to honor their heritage as clones of Mandalore Jango Fett.

History

"The outlines of what happened some 200,000 years ago are known to every schoolchild: The 13 nations that made up the Battalions of Zhell spent centuries clashing with the forces of the Taungs. During one of their skirmishes, a volcanic eruption destroyed the city of Zhell, shattering the Battalions’ power. The assembled Taungs watched in awe as ash blotted out the sun and rained down upon them. Taking their opponents’ destruction as a sign of divine favor, the Taungs christened themselves Dha Werda Verda, the Shadow Warriors, and celebrated their victory in the epic poem of the same name."
―Eschul Shaywa, contributor for Imperial Center Today

On the ancient Core World of Coruscant, in a time when it was known only as Notron, the rival societies of the Taung and the early Human Zhell rose to prominence and came into conflict with one another. The two peoples warred for centuries, in a struggle that came to a head following the death of the Taung leader Doom of Ulmarah. Rallying behind Rexutu the Unconquerable, the warriors of the Taung gathered at their fortress to battle the Battalions of Zhell at dawn; the Taung were fewer in number than the more populous Zhell, and expected the battle to end in their defeat. Before combat could begin, however, a large volcano erupted, devastating the forces of the Zhell as well as their capital city. The Taung, a highly religious society, saw the destruction of their foe as divine favor, and as an enormous cloud of volcanic ash blotted out the sun, the Taung proclaimed themselves the Dha Werda Verda—the "Warriors of the Shadow." Though the Zhell were able to recover from the volcano's devastation and eventually succeeded in defeating the Taung, driving them from ancient Notron, the Taung still celebrated and recorded their legendary victory in a poetic epic they entitled the Dha Werda Verda.

The poetic Dha Werda Verda

"No matter what school, junior academy or crèche you belonged to, if you’re Coruscanti you either memorized the strange syllables of these 10 verses for recitation or had a schoolmate who did."
―Eschul Shaywa

Authored by the Taung, the Dha Werda Verda was a epic poem that told the tale of their victory over the Zhell in the shadow a volcanic ash cloud that devastated the early Humans. The Dha Werda Verda was written in the ancient language of Notron Cant, a dialect of notable linguistic subtleties. In total, the Dha Werda Verda encompassed more than seven hundred verses, and was divided into eleven chapters. The ninth chapter, comprised of ten verses, was known as "The Maker Comes to Unmake.

"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!"

Following their exile from ancient Notron, the Taung traveled through the galaxy, eventually settling on the planet Roon in the Outer Rim. Though they later moved on to a new world, on Roon the Taung left behind a number of relics including great axes, swords, and a copy of the Dha Werda Verda poem encoded in Notron Cant on a crystalline roonstone, precious gems that could store vast amounts of data. Millennia later, in the year 15 BBY, the roonstone encoded with the Dha Werda Verda was discovered by the explorer Mungo Baobab, who delivered the relic to the Baobab Archives on the planet Manda for study. The copy of the Dha Werda Verda on Manda was the best preserved record of the epic poem, though not the only one: over the millennia that followed the Taung ash-shrouded victory, historians and scholars studied partial records of the Dha Werda Verda from archaeological finds, despite the fact that the subtleties of the language of Notron Cant continued to defy complete translation.

Over time, the most galactically well known portion of the Dha Werda Verda became "The Maker Comes to Unmake," the ten verses from the epic's ninth chapter. By the Galactic Empire's rise to power, Coruscanti school children were being taught the Notron Cant verses of "The Maker Comes to Unmake" as part of their education, and artists, inspired by the tale of the ancient Taung, created various works based on the Dha Werda Verda. Mesh Burzon of the University of Byblos considered the Human veneration of the Dha Werda Verda an odd social phenomenon, as it chronicles the near destruction of the Human Zhell by the Taung. Hu Jibwe, a military history scholar at the Salmagodro Grand Academy, believed that the Taung and Zhell forces were significantly more technologically advanced than the Dha Werda Verda poetically portrays, but nonetheless found the imagery of the poem stirring. Eventually, the Baobab Archives succeeded in translating the ninth chapter of the Dha Werda Verda from Notron Cant to Galactic Basic Standard.

"And so upon his pyre burned the Doom of Ulmarah, and the warrior bands stood as ragged as bandits, in zigzag lines of mourning. With the dawn the flat-faced Zhell would come, cackling and howling, oozing mirth and tricks, and find the shade of the Doom departed and the Taungs unprotected.

And so with the dawn would our woe be revealed. Our once-bright armaments would become stacked grave goods, trophies for Zhell children. Our flesh would become smoke given to uncaring gods, and the sky would forget our names.
With death upon him Rexutu the Unconquerable prepared to be stripped of all by his enemy, but vowed that his honor would be the last to be torn away. And so the Unconquerable gathered his kinsmen and his oath girdlings alike. They polished their fearsome helms, that they might flash even in the weak sun of Notron. They rewrapped the hilts of their weapons and pounded straight the shafts, that they might slake their thirst in Zhell ichor a final time.

Assembled they ascended, in taut Taung lines, to the high place where the Reaver had staked his standard before it was cast down into the mire. They gazed out over the gathering places and walking ways of Great Zhell where they scaled peak and cradled valley, the line of lights ordering the night. They unfurled the Taung banner, reversed, a reckless thing snapping in the dark, awaiting Zhell eyes. And they performed ceremonies of leave-taking, for now they had died to the world and must be remade among the stars.

When the dawn came the Zhell awakened and saw the Taungs upon the high place and were afraid, for the morning light caught the glint of helms and weapons and created phantom warriors, made of dazzle and distance. But the cleverest of them were not deceived, and saw how few we were. And so they assembled without haste, merry in mockery, and prepared to march. And in the high place we awaited death.

But then came a shaking of the ground, and the sun's wan light was eclipsed by a bright and terrible fire that exploded from the rock. The patterns of Great Zhell shivered and broke. And after this came darkness, as the very air turned to black ash. The Zhell fell on their faces in terror, and from the high place we ran in haste to meet them, and we were cloaked in shadow.
The Maker had come to unmake, and the Taungs would be His instruments."

The Dha Werda Verda reinvented

"It's my belief that 'Rage of the Shadow Warriors' dates from the reign of Mandalore the Ultimate, when the Taungs knew they were being eclipsed. I've always thought it a poignant work—a plea that the Taungs not be forgotten by the newborn culture they knew would outlive them."
―Hu Jibwe, military history scholar

After departing Roon, the Taung found a new world to call home. Naming the planet Mandalore in honor of their leader, Mandalore the First, the Taungs, in turn, rechristened themselves the Mandalorians or Mando'ade in their tongue—"sons and daughters of Mandalore." As the Taung changed, so too did their culture and language: instead of Notron Cant, the Taung had begun to speak an archaic precursor to the Mandalorian language of Mando'a, and over time, began to accept beings of various other races into their clans as equals under the Resol'nare, the six basic tenets of the Mandalorian culture. However, the Mandalorian Taung had become zealous conquerors, engaging in holy crusades against other peoples such as the Fenelar and Basiliskans in service first to their god Kad Ha'rangir, then to the very divinity of war itself. Even as the Mandalorians swelled in number, the Taung were in decline, depleted by their many wars.

By the reign of Mandalore the Ultimate, the Taung had come to realize that they were being eclipsed by the influx of non-Taung Mandalorians into the culture they had birthed. It was this atmosphere that led to the creation of a new iteration of the Dha Werda Verda, one born of the Taung's desire to be remembered by the Mandalorian generations that would long outlast them. Also known as the "Rage of the Shadow Warriors," the new Dha Werda Verda was a ritual battle chant, sung in the Mandalorian language of Mando'a instead of Notron Cant, with all new lyrical content, none of which was shared with the original Dha Werda Verda poem. It recalled the volcanic ash that had granted the Taung their legendary victory over the Zhell, and spoke to the Mandalorians' Taung heritage, as well as the Taungs' place as the founders of Mandalore and its culture.

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 tsad droten 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

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.

The new "Rage of the Shadow Warriors" iteration of the Dha Werda Verda was often accompanied by a ritual dance. While singing the lyrics, performers of the Dha Werda Verda would first drum the layered rhythms of the music on their own bodies with their fists, before turning to beat the complex tempo on the body of the individual next to them, specifically striking the chest and back. The Dha Werda Verda dance required stamina, timing, and trust in the individuals that surrounded a performer; the rhythmic strikes were imbued with notable force, and to turn too quickly or too late was to risk sustaining an injuring blow, especially to the head or face. "Rage of the Shadow Warriors" was typically done while wearing armor, which softened blows and shielded the performer's body, but was also done in plain clothes on occasion. It was believed that engaging in the Dha Werda Verda and performing the complex rhythms with a group of comrades helped to sharpen the mind and taught cooperative coordination. A number of soldiers—both Mandalorians and outsiders alike—found the Dha Werda Verda an exciting exercise, and felt that they drew strength and courage from the act of performing the ritual dance; to outsiders, it was a fearsome display of discipline and reflex that served to warn an enemy of the power of the force that opposed them.

The Dha Werda Verda's "Rage of the Shadow Warriors" incarnation proved popular to the Mandalorian people and culture: Mandalorian warriors chanted the Dha Werda Verda in honor of the Taung who came before, and the ritual dance was performed by Mandalorians for thousands of years after Mandalore the Ultimate's reign came to an end. In a manifesto authored by the Death Watch founder Tor Vizsla, entitled Ba'jurne Kyr'tsad Mando'ad, Vizsla wrote on the cultural importance of the Dha Werda Verda to the Mandalorian warrior clans, and discussed the idea that every time the "Rage of the Shadow Warriors" was chanted, the Mandalorians were honoring their culture's Taung progenitors. The military history scholar Hu Jibwe studied the Mandalorian Dha Werda Verda, determining that the "Rage of the Shadow Warriors" originated more recently than the original poem written in Notron Cant, cross-referencing the Mandalorian war chant with the Dha Werda Verda-encoded roonstone housed in the Baobab Archives on Manda. When writing her piece for Imperial Center Today entitled "A LONG TIME AGO...," Eschul Shaywa heavily researched both incarnations of the Dha Werda Verda, speaking with several ancient history scholars and even attending a performance of the ritual dance. Shaywa found the Mandalorian battle chant mesmerizing.


The Mandalorian Cuy'val Dar passed the tradition of the Dha Werda Verda to the Grand Army's clone soldiers

"I've seen a few squads do it. It came via Skirata, I hear."
"Yes. He taught all the commandos to live up to their Mandalorian heritage. You know—customs, language, ideals. It's very weird. It's like they have a compulsion to do it."
"Yes, we do. It's very stirring."
"I'm sorry. That was rude of me."
"No problem, General. It certainly wasn't part of our trooper training on Kamino. It gets passed on from man to man now."
―Clone Commander Gett and Jedi General Etain Tur-Mukan, watching clone troopers and commandos perform the Dha Werda Verda

In 32 BBY, Mandalore Jango Fett was recruited to be the genetic template for an army of clone soldiers that would serve the Galactic Republic. In order to train the Grand Army of the Republic's special forces, Fett recruited a group of one hundred training sergeants known as the Cuy'val Dar, seventy-five of whom were of Mandalorian origin. These Mandalorian instructors brought a number of Mandalorian traditions to the Grand Army, with the veteran Mandalorian soldier Kal Skirata introducing the Dha Werda Verda dance to the clone commandos that trained under him, including the Null-class Advanced Recon Commandos.
However, like a number of other Mandalorian songs the clones learned in training, such as Gra'tua Cuun, Ka'rta Tor, and Vode An—which became the Grand Army's marching anthem—the "Rage of the Shadow Warrior" lyrics learned by the Grand Army's clone soldiers had been altered to remove its connection to Mandalorian culture. In the Dha Werda Verda tought to the clones, references to Mandalore were replaced with Coruscant, now the capital world of the Galactic Republic, and references to the Mandalorians were replaced with Jedi, who would be serving as generals in command of the army.

Mando'a

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

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

Basic

The ash of the Taung beats strong within the Jedi's heart.
We are the rage of The Warriors of the Shadow,
The first noble sons of Coruscant.
Let all those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.
Our vengeance burns brighter still.

The gauntlet of Coruscant strikes without mercy.
We are the rage of The Warriors of the Shadow,
The first noble sons of Coruscant.
Let all those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.
Our vengeance burns brighter still.

In 22 BBY, the Grand Army was deployed against the droid army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems following the outbreak of the Clone Wars on Geonosis. After the battle on Geonosis came to a close, numerous clone commandos that had been involved in the fight were taken to the Fleet Support station on Ord Mantell. There, at the barracks, commando RC-1309 sang a chorus of the "Rage of the Shadow Warriors" as a means to comfort himself over the loss of the rest of his squad. He was joined shortly after by his peer, RC-8015, who lamented the demise of his own squad in the battle. Jedi Knight Bardan Jusik's time around the Grand Army's clone commandos led him develop an interest in the Dha Werda Verda, finding the ritual dance an inspiring sight that gave him courage just by watching it, and he learned to perform it with the men under his command.

Although the Dha Werda Verda had only been taught to the clone commandos in the charge of the Mandalorian Cuy'val Dar sergeants on their homeworld of Kamino, as the war progressed, bits of Mandalorian culture including the Dha Werda Verda began to filter through the larger army, spread man to man. Near the end of the first year of the war, after a rescue of the commando squads Delta and Omega brought them aboard RAS Fearless alongside the 41st Elite Legion's Sarlacc Battalions—themselves fresh from an extraction from Dinlo—the commandos taught their clone trooper comrades how to perform the Dha Werda Verda. As Jedi General Etain Tur-Mukan watched with Clone Commander Gett, the commandos of both Omega and Delta Squads led a performance of the Dha Werda Verda from the front of an assembly of close to fifty soldiers of the 41st Elite. Commander Gett recorded a portion of the rare performance, before joining in the ritual dance with General Tur-Mukan's permission. Tur-Mukan found the obvious word replacements in the lyrics and their effect of stripping the chant of its Mandalorian heritage a distasteful decision that further distanced the clones from what she saw as their inherited culture.

Not long after, while taking part in a terrorist takedown on Coruscant alongside the commandos of Delta and Omega Squads, the Null-class ARC troopers Ordo and Mereel, and Jedi Generals Etain Tur-Mukan and Bardan Jusik, the former Cuy'val Dar sergeant Kal Skirata wished he could engage in a round of the Dha Werda Verda to mentally bolster himself for combat. However, the low profile necessitated by the mission kept him from indulging. After the anti-terrorist operation came to a successful conclusion, all parties involved—clone, Jedi, and the Mandalorian Skirata—were invited to the CSF Social Club by the officers of the Coruscant Security Force. While in attendance, the commando by the name of Fi got a performance of the Dha Werda Verda going for the benefit of the assembled police officers: the commandos and ARC troopers took part in the chant and dance while wearing their armor, though Skirata did so with wearing only his civilian clothing. During the performance, the Alpha-class ARC trooper Maze used the blows of the Dha Werda Verda as an excuse punch his Null ARC contemporary, Captain Ordo, in return for a previous strike Ordo had inflicted upon Maze; when the Dha Werda Verda came to an end, both soldiers shook hands, leaving their grievances settled and in the past. The elderly Skirata, having gone without armor during the ritual, emerged from the Dha Werda Verda performance sore and beginning to bruise, but exhilarated.

Kote Darasuum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnlPeEVBR6w

"Kote Darasuum," meaning "Glory Eternal," was an ancient Mandalorian war chant sung in Mando'a. During his training of the clone troopers of the Republic, Jango Fett revised a number of chants, including "Kote Darasuum", replacing traditional Mandalorian keywords with more appropriate Republic ones, although this short chant required no modifications.

Lyrics

Mando'a

Kote, darasuum kote.
Te racin ka’ra juaan kote.

Basic

Glory, eternal glory.
The stars pale beside our might.

Ka'rta Tor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqur1Ax6Dps

"Ka'rta Tor," meaning "One Heart of Justice," was an ancient Mandalorian war chant sung in Mando'a. During his training of the clone troopers of the Republic, Jango Fett revised a number of chants, including "Gra'tua Cuun," replacing traditional Mandalorian keywords with more appropriate Republic ones. In this instance, it is presumable that he replaced "the Mandalorians'" with "The Jedi's." The chant was sung by the clone troopers with the accompaniment of drums and horns.

Lyrics

Mando'a

Kandosii sa kyr'am ast,
Troan teroch jetiise a'den,
Duraan vi at ara'nov.
Vode an, ka'rta tor.
Kote.

Basic

As ruthless as Death itself,
The pitiless face of The Jedi's wrath,
Let us look down on all who are before us.
Brothers all, one heart of justice.
Glory.

(Can also be translated as "The pitiless face of the Republic's wrath")

Gra'tua Cuun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6gKLk-5QPw

"Gra'tua Cuun" (Our Vengeance) was an ancient Mandalorian war chant sung in Mando'a. During his training of the clone troopers of the Galactic Republic, Jango Fett revised a number of chants, including "Gra'tua Cuun", for use by the clone warriors. The chant was sung by the clone troopers with the accompaniment of drums and horns. It goes as follows.

Lyrics

Mando'a

Motir ca'tra nau tracinya.
Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a. Taung!
Motir ca'tra nau tracinya.
Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a.
Aruetyc runi'la solus cet o'r prudii an.
Motir ca’tra nau tracinya.
Gra’tua cuun hett su dralshy’a.
Aruetyc runi'la solus cet o’r.
Motir ca’tra nau tracinya.
Gra’tua cuun hett su dralshy’a.
Aruetyc runi'la trattok’o.
Sa kyr'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an!
Motir ca'tra nau tracinya. Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a. Taung!
Bal kote, darasuum kote,
Jorso’ran kando a tome.
Sa kyr'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an.

Basic

Those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.
Our vengeance burns brighter still. Taung!
Those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.
Our vengeance burns brighter still.
Every last traitorous soul shall kneel in our shadow.
Those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.
Our vengeance burns brighter still.
Every last traitorous soul shall kneel.
Those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.
Our vengeance burns brighter still.
Every last traitorous soul shall fall.
Forged like the saber in the fires of death, Brothers All!
Those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.
Our vengeance burns brighter still. Taung!
And glory, eternal glory, We shall bear its weight together.
Forged like the saber in the fires of death, Brothers All.

Vode An https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6beR2vaZx_E

Vode An, meaning "Brothers All", was an ancient Mandalorian war chant sung in Mando'a. During his training of the clone troopers of the Galactic Republic, Jango Fett revised a number of chants, including Vode An, replacing traditional Mandalorian keywords with more appropriate Republic ones. In this instance, it is presumable that he replaced "Mandalore" with "Coruscant". The chant was sung by the clone troopers with the accompaniment of drums and horns.

Lyrics

Mando'a

Kote!
Kandosii sa ka'rta, Vode an.
Coruscanta a'den mhi, Vode an.
Bal kote, darasuum kote,
Jorso'ran kando a tome.
Sa kyr'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an.
Kandosii sa ka'rta, Vode an.
Coruscanta a'den mhi, Vode an.
Bal...
Motir ca'tra nau tracinya.
Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a.
Aruetyc talyc runi'la solus cet o'r.
Motir ca'tra nau tracinya.
Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a.
Aruetyc talyc runi'la trattok'o.
Sa kyr'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an!

Basic

Glory!
One indomitable heart, Brothers all.
We, the wrath of Coruscant, Brothers all.
And glory, eternal glory,
We shall bear its weight together.
Forged like the saber in the fires of death, Brothers all.
One indomitable heart, Brothers all.
We, the wrath of Coruscant, Brothers all.
And...
Those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.
Our vengeance burns brighter still.
Every last traitorous soul shall kneel.
Those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.
Our vengeance burns brighter still.
Every last traitorous soul shall fall.
Forged like the saber in the fires of death, Brothers all!

Buy'ce gal, buy'ce tal

Buy'ce gal, buy'ce tal was a Mandalorian drinking song. By the years 21 BBY, Buy'ce gal, buy've tal had gained significant popularity among numerous Mandalorian soldiers. The song was cynical in nature, and was an expression of the common Mandalorian mercenary's wry pragmatism as they accepted that life could be fleeting and victories irrelevant.
Traditionally sung in the Mandalorian dialect of Mando'a, Buy'ce gal, buy'ce tal was a song that contained strong language. When it was performed in the more widely spoken language of Galactic Basic Standard, Buy'ce gal, buy'ce tal was often given an approximate translation rather than a direct one, with the lyrics edited to be less explicit.

Mando'a

Buy'ce gal, buy'ce tal
Vebor'ad ures aliit
Mhi draar baat'i meg'parjii'se
Kote lo'shebs'ul narit

Approximate Basic

A pint of ale, a pint of blood
Buys men without a name.
We never care who wins the war
So you can keep your fame

Naasad'guur mhi – Mhi n'ulu

"It was absolutely beautiful. Is it a love song? It sounds so lonely and longing."
"It roughly translates as, 'Nobody likes us but we don't care, because we're Mandos, and we're the best.' Sorry to spoil the illusion."
―Jaina Solo and Goran Beviin

A Mandalorian drinking chant that was believed to have originated from a ban on Geris VI that prohibited Mandalorian mercenaries in the employ of the planetary government, from drinking in the local tapcafs.

In the year 41 ABY, a group of Mandalorian revelers sang this song during a celebration at Levet's farm on Mandalore, the Mandalorians' cultural homeworld in the Outer Rim. Jedi Knight Jaina Solo, who was on Mandalore and staying at the nearby Beviin-Vasur farm at the time, heard the singing from down the dirt road and believed it to be a love song, attributing a much deeper meaning to its mournful tone due to her lack of knowledge of the Mando'a language. However, after speaking with her host, Goran Beviin, the true nature of the song was explained to Solo, though she preferred her own interpretation to the much simpler truth.

Chant

Mando'a

Naasad'guur mhi,
Naasad'guur mhi,
Naasad'guur mhi,
Mhi n'ulu.
Mhi Mando'ade,
Kandosii'ade,
Teh Manda'yaim,
Mando'ade.

Basic

No one likes us,
No one likes us,
No one likes us,
We don't care.
We are Mandos,
The elite boys,
Mando boys,
From Mandalore.

Funeral Chant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrI21TOT884

While there is no name to this chant, it slowly grew into a hymn sung during the funerals of fallen Mando'ade to commemorate the glory of those who fell in battle. Note: This is not canon, just a song I found on Youtube

Lyrics

Mando'a

Motir ca'tra nau tracinya.
Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a. Cuun hett su.

Basic

Those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.
Our vengeance burns brighter still. Burns brighter still.