Jamie and I have been getting dull and decided we wantend to start
a translation project while we still had some momentum. Here's our
first passs at chapter one of Hrafnkels saga freysgoða. We're
intersted in all corrections and comments. Some of our notes and
questions at the bottom:
CHAPTER 1
Þat var á dögum Haralds konungs ins hárfagra,
This was in the days of King Harald the Fairhaired,
Hálfdanar sonar ins svarta,
son of Halfdane the black,
Guðrøðar sonar veiðikonungs,
son of Guðrod, the hunting-king,
Hálfdanar sonar ins milda ok ins matarilla,
son of Halfdane the merciful and the food-stingy,
Eysteins sonar freys,
son of Eystein of Freyr
Oláfs sonar trételgju Svíakonungs,
son of Olaf treecutter, king of the Swedes,
at sá maðr kom skipi sínu til Íslands í Breiðdal, er Hallfreðr hét.
that this man came by his own ship to Iceland to Breiðdal,
who was called Hallfreð
Þat er fyrir neðan Fljótsdalsherað.
which is below the district Fljótsdal
Þar var á skipi kona hans ok sonr, er Hrafnkell hét.
There on ship was his wife and son, who was called Hrafnkel.
Hann var fimmtán vetra gamall, mannvænn ok gørviligr.
He was fifteen winters old, promising and enterprising.
Hallfreðr setti bú saman.
Hallfreð put together a farm.
Um vetrinn andaðisk útlend ambátt, er Arnþrúðr hét,
during winter a foreign handmaid died, who was called Arnþruð,
ok því heitir þat síðan á Arnþrúðarstöðum.
and so since then they called it Arnþrudstad.
En um várit foerði Hallfreðr bú sitt norðr yfir heiði ok gerði bú þar,
and in the spring Hallfreð brought his farm north over a heath
and built a farm there,
sem heitir í Geitdal.
where he called it Geitdal. (goat-dale)
Ok eina nótt dreymði hann, at maðr kom at honum ok mælti:
And one night he dreamed, that a man came to him and said:
'Þar liggr þú, Hallfreðr, ok heldr óvarliga.
'There you lie, Hallfreð, and rather incautiously,
Foer þú á brott bú þitt ok vestr yfir Lagarfljót.
Bring away (by road) your farm and west over Lagarfljot.
Þar er heill þín öll.'
There is luck for all thine.'
Eptir þat vaknar hann ok foerir bú sitt út yfir Rangá í Tungu,
After that he woke and brought his farm out over Ranga in Tungu,
þar sem síðan heitir á Hallfreðarstöðum,
where he afterwards called it Hallfreðstad.
ok bjó þar til elli.
and lived there to an old age.
En honum varð þar eptir geit ok hafr.
but he left behind him a nanny- and a billy-goat.
Ok inn sama dag, sem Hallfreðr var í brott,
and the same day, when Hallfreð was on the road,
hljóp skriða á húsin,
a landslide fell down on the house,
ok týndusk þar þessir gripir,
and there perished these animals,
ok því heitir þat síðan í Geitdal.
and so he named that afterwards Goat-dale.
A couple questions:
'Þat var...': is this just an existential construction, like English
'There was' ? I keep wanting to translate it literally 'This was in the
days...', but it sounds false.
'honum varð þar eptir': Gordon glosses this as 'he left behind', but I
can't quite make sense of this phrase; 'it happened to him where after'?
varð is from varða, 'to happen, to become'?