> og gyrður saxi.
> and girds on a short-sword.

Unless I'm mistaken: "and girt with a short-sword" (instrumental
dative of 'sax'), that is: wearing a short-sword on his belt. 'gyrðr'
= masculine nominative singular (agreeing with maðr) the past
participle of 'gyrða' "to gird", with 'var' understood.

> "Eg er akurgerðarmaður og margt er mér vel hent að gera," segir

hann, "en eigi vil eg því leyna að eg er maður skapharður og hefir
(note: 3 pers sg so eg cannot be subject) jafnan (is this a typo,
Zoega suggests it should be margr) hlotið (hljóta) um sárt að binda
fyrir mér."

> 'I am a husbandman and many (things) are very suitable for me to

do,' he says, `but I do not want to conceal that, that I am a severe
man and (one) has always been obliged to bind (themselves) painfully
for (because of) me.'


Yes, 'eg er' = 'ek em'; but I think this isn't so much a typo as a
deliberate use of the modern norm (compare 'þótt þú sért', rather than
the older form 'sér'). Searching in our text just now, I see that 'eg
er' occurs a few times and 'eg em' never. The use of the 3rd person
form goes back to the late Middle Ages, so it may even be in the
manuscripts that the text is based on. Apparently these forms with
the 3rd person used in place of the 1st became common in the early
14th c., but the older forms were later restored in the present tense,
with the exception of 'ég er'.

I wonder if the 'jafnan' and 'margr' difference is due to difference
manuscripts?

> "Gera mun eg kost á því," segir hún, "ef þú vilt vinna allt það er

eg legg fyrir þig og svo þó að eg vilji senda þig til mannráða."

> 'I will make a choice on that,' she says, `if you want to do all

that which I put before you and also even though I want to send you in
plots-against-a-man's-life.'

I think 'kost' is rather "a condition" here: I'll take you on, on
condition that you'll do whatever work I set you, even if I want to
send you to take a man's life."

> "Átt þú svo til varið (verja) um menn," segir hann, "að þú munt ekki

mín þurfa að því að kosta."
'You must be-provided so with men (enough already), `he says, `that
you will not need to choose me for that.'


What exactly does 'kosta' mean here? Zoega: (1) try, test +gen.; (2)
try, strive +inf.; (3) hurt, injure; (4) cost; (5) defray the expenses
of; () entertain. Is the genitive 'mín' dependent on 'kosta' or
'þurfa' -- I'm guessing the former: you won't (I doubt that you will)
need to use? me 'at því' in this matter? Is this like Zoaga's example
'B. þurfti alls at kosta' "B. had to exert all his strength", with
'alls' = 'alls afls, magns' dependent on 'kosta'?

LN