Dha Werda Verda

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 Taungs took for themselves during their legendary war with the Battalions of Zhell. On the ancient planet of Coruscant, then known merely as Notron, the Taungs' and the Zhells' 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 Taungs—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 later recovered and eventually managed to drive the Taungs from ancient Notron in the end, the war and the eruption were recounted by the Taungs 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 Taungs 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 Taungs went on to conquer a number of other worlds, and over time, the Taungs 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 Taungs' 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.

Text and facts from the “Dha Werda Verda” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.