> Hvítserkr svarar: "Ef ek réða, þá skyldum vér fara til
> Serklands."
> White-shirt answers: "If I were to advise (?), we should
> go to the land of the Saracens."
> Whiteshirt answers, “If it’s up to me, then we shall go to
> Serkland.”
Hvítserk answers: 'If I had my way, we’d go to Serkland.'
> Jökull segir, at hann skyldi því ráða, - "tak til ok seg
> fyrir leiðinni."
> Jokull says, that he should advise that, - "Begin and
> pilot the way." (Z. segja 1 - s s. e-m leið, to tell the
> way, esp. on the sea, to pilot)
> Jokull says that it is up to him, “Get going? and tell
> (us) the way.”
Jökul says that he should have his way in this: 'Go ahead
and set the course.'
> Hann segist svá gera mundu.
> He declared of himself that he would do so.
> He says he would do so.
He says that he would do so.
> Gaf þeim síðan vel byri ok kómu við Serkland í þá höfn, er
> þeir vildu kjósa, fyrir höfuðborg Soldáns konungs.
> They got a good breeze and arrived at Serkland in that
> port, which they wanted to choose, before the capital city
> of King Soldan.
> They got a fair breeze after that and reached Serkland in
> that harbor which they wanted to choose, before the
> capital of King Soldan.
They got a fair breeze and reached Serkland at the harbor
that they wanted (to choose), before king Soldán's capital.
> Konungr sendi til skips, ok þegar hann vissi, hverir menn
> at landi váru komnir, gekk hann sjálfr til strandar.
> The king dispatched a ship/ships there, and at once he
> knew what people had landed, he went himself to the beach.
> (The) king sent (his men) to (the) ship and as soon as he
> knew what men had come ashore, he went to the beach
> himself.
[The] king sent to [the] ship, and as soon as he learned
what folks had landed, he went himself to the strand.
> Hvítserkr ok Marsibilla runnu í móti honum.
> White-shirt and Marsibil ran to meet him.
> Whiteshirt and Marsibilla ran to meet him.
Hvítserk and Marsibilla ran to meet him.
> Varð þá mikill fagnaðarfundr.
> There was then a great joyful meeting.
> Then a great meeting of welcome happened.
[There] was then a great joyful meeting.
> Konungr bauð Jökli heim með sér til veizlu með alla sína
> menn, ok þat þáði hann, ganga síðan heim til hallar.
> The King invited Jokull home with him to a feast with all
> his (Jokull's presumbably) men, and he accepted that, then
> they went home to the palace.
> (The) king invited Jokull home with him for a feast with
> all his men, and he accepted it, then went home to (the)
> hall.
[The] king invited Jökul home with him to a feast with all
his men, and he accepted (that), then went (home) to [the]
hall.
> Settist konungr í hásæti ok á aðra hönd honum Jökull, en
> sonr hans á aðra.
> The King sat in (the) high-seat and at one of his hands,
> Jokull, and at the other, his son.
> (The) king sat in the high seat and on one side of him,
> Jokull, and his son on the other.
[The] king sat at the high seat and on one side of him
Jökul and on the other side his son.
> Var Jökli þar leitat inna helztu virðinga.
> There (they) acted toward Jokull (with) the most honor.
> Jokull was regarded inside? with the greatest honour.
Jökul was treated there with the greatest honor.
<Inna> = <hinna>, the gen. plur. of the definite article in
all genders. <Var> is singular, so it can't have 'they' as
an implied subject; the construction is impersonal and
corresponds to an English passive.
<Inna helztu virðinga> is formally plural, but that just
doesn't work in English.
> Konungr spyrr Hvítserk, hvat fram hefði farit um hans ævi,
> síðan þeir skildu.
> The king asks White-short, from what had happened during
> his life, since they parted.
> The king asks Whiteshirt what had happened during his life
> after they parted.
[The] king asks Hvítserk what had happened in his life since
they parted.
> Hann segir honum allt sem greiniligast ok hversu Jökull
> hefði hjálpat honum ok hverr afreksmaðr hann var.
> He tells him all as most clearly and how Jokull had helped
> him and what a valiant man he was.
> He tells him all as distinctly as possible and how Jokull
> had helped him and what a hero he was.
He tells him everything as clearly as possible and how Jökul
had helped him and what a valiant man he was.
> Konungr lét vel yfir ok kvað hann vera afbragð flestra
> manna.
> The king expressed approval and stated he would be a
> paragon of many men.
> (The) king was please and said him to be a paragon of most
> men.
[The] king expressed approval and said [that] he was a man
superior to most men.
> Var nú gleði mikil í höllinni ok glaumr ok drukkit fímet
> ok klaret.
> Much gladness was now in the palace and noisy merriment
> and claret and (fimet?) drunk.
> Now (there) was great happiness in the hall and noisy
> merriment and claret and something fermented? (wild guess)
> was drunk.
[There] was now great gladness in the hall and noisy
merriment and spiced wine and claret [were] drunk.
Digging around online, I found an entry for <fímet> (with a
variant form <fíment> as well) 'a kind of wine' in the 1863
_Oldnordisk Ordbog_ by Erik Jonsson. He labels it a foreign
word. I also found some indication that it may be
equivalent to <píment>, which Fritzner defines as a kind of
drink consisting of wine with honey and various spices.
(Although Fritner doesn't mention it, the word apparently
has a variant <pímet> as well.) At any rate, <píment> is a
borrowing of medieval Latin <pimentum> 'spiced wine', from
classical Latin <pigmentum> 'pigment, paint, color', which
for some reason also came to mean 'spice' in medieval Latin.
> Þar var sungit, básúnat ok leikit með allra handa
> hljóðfærum, er fá kunni.
> It was sung there, a bassoon and played with all hands
> musical instruments, which were able.
> There it was sung and basooned (scary image) and played
> with all kinds of musical instruments that could be known.
There was singing and bassoon-playing and playing of all
kinds of musical instruments that could be got.
Although I decided to go for natural English this time
instead of a close translation, I really like 'bassooned'!
The <fá kunni> construction is at <kunna> Z10.
Rob: You'll find that <allra handa> idiom at the very end of
the <hönd> article in Z.
Brian