1. Articles in Norse & German
2. Law Texts
3. Valkyrjur
4. Syntax Thanks
1) Articles in Norse and German
Runadis skrifaði:
> a wild guess: it might be that the language in this way
distinguishes different functions of 'the king' in the text.
Without the definite article it might relate primarily to his office
as king, as a general title with general functions. With the
definite article it might be making a special point of him as a
person whom is also king... Or the other way around?
Another interesting thought. I wonder how we could test that.
Other guesses: does anyone get the impression that the article is
more common with a collective noun like 'hirð', than with an
individual like 'konungr'? I was reading a passage of modern (well,
20th century) Icelandic yesterday that seemed to have a similar
pattern with 'prestr' = "the priest", but 'söfnuðurinn' "the
congregation". Or is there any difference in the usage with animate
or inanimate nouns?
Imre skrifaði:
> It sounds quite like the German example that I wrote. What is still
interesting about the German article usage is that they often use a
definite article in everyday speech (`der' or `die' according to the
gender) before the name of a person, e.g. ...But this is a bit
offline from ON.
Not off-topic at all, Icelandic has a very similar idiom to this in
which the personal pronoun is placed before the name: hann Sigmundr,
hún Signý (these are just two made up examples: I can´t remember
where to find a real one just now). I think it has the same idea of
familiarity as the German definite article + name. In some parts of
England we might say "our" in a similar way, but I think this would
tend to be used mainly of relatives.
2) Law Texts
Imre skrifaði:
> I would be very glad if someone had a digitalized copy of 'Grágás'
(Grey Goose) or 'Jónsbók' (John's book).
I don't know of any, but there are scanned images of post-medieval
manuscripts containing some extracts from each of these texts at the
following site:
http://saga.library.cornell.edu/
If you click on "uniform titles", you can find texts by their
conventional names in alphabetical menus. One of the Grágás
extracts in particular (Lbs 739 4to) is remarkably clearly written.
I suspect the uncertainty of its dating is due to its use of
medieval spelling. Most of the later saga manuscripts I´ve seen at
this site employ contemporary spelling, and they vary a great deal
in legibility.
3) Valkyrjur
Imre skrifaði enn:
> As to your presumption on the connection of the ON `val' and
Latin `vellere', you may be right that these words are related to
each other, but may be the cause of this is that these two words both
originate from a common proto-Indo-European word.
Yes, cognates, this was what my etymological mystery benefactor was
suggesting!
> If I've misunderstood anything in your letter...please tell me
about it.
No, as far as I can tell you understood perfectly. As you say,
Valland, Valzka, etc. is a different root (Proto Norse 'walha-',
attested in the Tjurkö runic inscription). The origin
of 'valr' "hawk" is debated, whether related to slaughter, or France.
> especially what you wrote on Svanhild's and Glám's gaze reminds me
on the sirens from Ulysses
In Old Norse literature people in disguise can often be recognised
by their eyes, likewise humans who magically take on animal form:
they still have human eyes. There´s a very sinister seal with human
eyes in Laxdaela Saga, and even a whale with human eyes in the Saga
of Ketil Trout. In the Eddic poem Þrymskviða, the god Thor has to
attend a wedding disguise as a woman, namely Freyja. Only Loki´s
quick talking saves the day when the giant Thrym comments on the
bride´s ferocious gaze. The big red beard can´t have helped
either. As for Sirens, hast Du schon mal Kafkas "Das Schweigen der
Sirenen" gelesen?
http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/kafka/erzaehlg/Druckversion_sirenen.htm
4) Syntax Thanks
Patricia skrifaði:
> The Syntax of Old Norse by Jan Terja Faarkund
Thanks for the tip. It sounds like just the thing. Ack £50! Hmmm,
mér þykkir, at ek mun þurfa í hernað um sumarit ok herja víða um
lönd -- best not translate that, for legal reasons. Or maybe I
should send the Queen a nice poem celebrating all her grisly
exploits?
Llama Nom