This reminds me of an example from Yngvars saga víðförla, ch. 12.

Þó angraði enn nú marga menn mjök sá daunn, þó at eigi fengi fleiri
líflát þar af.

What is the role of the first 'þó' here? Is it standing independently
in the first clause with the meaning "but, however" (contrasting this
with what has gone before), or does it anticipate the subordinate
clause which follows, even though that begins with a 'þó' of its own.

(1) ? BUT that stench much troubled many men further, although no more
got their deaths from it.

(2) ? That stench much troubled many men further, although no more got
their deaths from it.

(Incidentally, is 'enn' "continued to trouble", "gave further trouble
to many men" -- or it troubled "many more/other men (besides the ones
it killed)"?)

Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards reverse the order of the clauses in
their translation: "Though these were the only ones killed, most of
the others were in agony because of it." Their paraphrase seems most
like option (2).

The passage leading up to this goes:

Eptir þenna atburð bað Sveinn, at þeir hvötuðu í burt frá daun þeim ok
fýlu, er af varð. Síðan snúa þeir til skipa hvatliga á braut, ok gerðu
svá flestir allir fyrir utan sex menn, er til drekans gengu fyrir
forvitnissakir, ok fellu þeir niðr dauðir.

After this event, Svein told them to hurry away from the stench and
foulness which came off it. Then they head away quickly towards the
ships, and almost all of them did so except for six men who went to
the dragon out of curiosity (!), and they fell down dead.

(Obviously...)

LN



--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Eysteinn Bjornsson"
<eysteinn@...> wrote:
>
> Just another small pointer:
>
> --- "AThompson" <athompso@> wrote:
>
> > Þó hafa húsfreyjur þótt góðar austur hér að ekki hafi staðið
> > í mannráðum.
> > Yet house-wives have seemed good here that none have
> > been-engaged in plots-against-a-man's-life
> > I found this speech very difficult to understand ...
>
> You might find it easier to comprehend by reordering slightly:
>
> "Húsfreyjur hafa þótt góðar austur hér, þó að ekki hafi staðið
> í mannráðum" - i.e.
>
> "Housewives have been thought (to be) good here in the
> east, even though (they) haven't plotted men's deaths."
>
> I know it doesn't sound like proper English idiom, but
> the force is:
>
> "Until now women in these parts have been considered to
> be perfectly adequate without plotting murder!"
>
> Desperate housewives of the Meandering River Plains .....
>
>
> Hope this helped a bit,
> E.
>