> Þórir bað sína menn hlífa sér og gæta síns sem best.
> Thorir asked his men to protect themselves and take care
> as best (as they can).
> Thorir bade his men protect themselves and defend
> themselves as well as they could.
> Þórir bade his people (men) to protect themselves and
> take-care-of themselves as best (they could).
Þóri told his men to protect themselves and guard
themselves as best [they could].
> Tókst þá ei mannfallið allskjótt.
> Then the slaughter didn't begin very soon.
> Then ever a great slaughter happened all too quickly
> The-loss-of-life (fall of men in battle) did not (ei, Z2,
> based on this texts use of ei previously) take-place then
> very-speedily.
The slaughter did not begin very soon then.
> Þá kom Halldór til liðs við Þóri við tólfta mann.
> Then Halldor arrived to help Thorir with 11 men.
> Then Halldor came to help Thorir with 12 men.
> Then Halldórr came to (the) aid of Þórir with (the)
> twelfth person (man) (ie with eleven other men)
Then Halldór came to Þóri’s aid with eleven men.
> Þeir börðust nú um hríð.
> They fought now a while.
> They fought now for a while.
> They fought now for a while.
They fought now for a while.
> Urðu menn sárir af hvorum tveggjum.
> Men became wounded of both (sides).
> Men became wounded of each two (sides?)
Men from both [sides] were wounded.
> People (men) became (were) wounded from each two (sides).
> Og þá komu njósnarmenn þeirra Steinólfs og segja að eigi
> mundu færri menn ríða inn fyrir Króksfjarðarmúla en fimm
> tigir.
> And then Steinolfr's spies arrived and say that it would
> not be fewer men riding in above Kroksfjardarmul
> (Krook's-firth's-mull) than 50.
> And then their, Steinolf’s, spies came and say that
> (there) will (be) not fewer than fifty men riding in
> before Krok’s firth mull.
> And then came (the) spies of them, Steinólfr (and co) and
> (they) say that fewer men than fifty (five tens) would not
> ride in over Króksfjarðarmúli (Hook’s-Fjord’s-Mull)
And then [the] spies of Steinólf and his companions came and
say that no fewer than fifty men would be riding in over
Króksfjarðarmúli.
> Þeir segja og mikið lið ríða frá Gróstöðum.
> They say also a large (group of) troops is riding from
> Grosstead.
> They say also a great company rides from Groa’s steads.
> They say also (that) a great troop rides from Gróstaðir
> (Gróa’s-Steads).
They also say that a large company is riding from Gróstaðir.
> Þá kallar Steinólfur á sína menn og biður þá halda til
> skipa og láta þau gæta sín.
> Then Steinolfr calls to his men and asks them to keep to
> (the) ship and let them take care.
> Then Steinolf calls to his men and tells them head for the
> ships and let them (the ships) be defended.
> Then Steinólfr calls to his people (men) and asks them to
> hold (course) for (the) ships (plural) and cause them (ie
> the ships) to take-care-of themselves.
Then Steinólf calls to his men and tells them to head for
the ships and have them [= ships] guard themselves.
> Snúa þeir Kjallakur þá út undir bakkana og til skipa sinna
> en hinir hlupu eftir þeim.
> They, Kjallakr (and others), turn then out under the banks
> and to his ship and/but the others run after them.
> They, Kjallak (and his men), turn then out below the ridge
> and towards his ships and those run after them.
> They, Kjallakr (and co) turn (go) then out under the-bank
> and to their ships (plural) but (and) the-others ran after
> them.
Kjallak and his companions then go out below the bank and
to their ships, and the rest ran after them.
> Skipið var uppi fjarað.
> The ship was lying ashore on the beach.
> The ship was aground.
> The-ship was left-aground (lit: the-ship (acc) was-ebbed
> up)
The ship had been left aground [by the ebbing tide].
> Þeir Jósteinn hrundu fram skipinu en Þorvaldur bróðir hans
> hélt upp bardaganum á eyrinni við Þóri.
> They, Jostein (and others), streamed forward to the ship,
> and/but his brother Thorvaldr kept going (in) the battle
> on the sandbank against Thorir.
> They Jostein (and his men) pushed the ship forward and
> Thorvaldr, his brother, kept the fight going (held them
> off?) on the river bank with Thorir.
> They Josteinn (and co) pushed the-ship forward but (and)
> Þorvaldr his brother kept up the-battle on the-sand-bank
> against Þórir.
Jóstein and his companions pushed the ship forward, and his
brother Þorvald kept up the battle against Þóri on the
sandbank.
<Hrundu> is the modern 3rd person plural past tense of
<hrinda>; the older one is <hrandu>.
> Vöflu-Gunnar kom að þar er Jósteinn hafði flotað skipinu
> og hjó hann í sundur í miðju við saxinu en brýndi upp
> skipinu.
> Voflu-Gunnar arrived there when Josteinn had launched the
> ship and hacked him asunder in the middle with his short,
> one-edged sword (or possibly "in the middle by gunwale by
> the prow"), and he dragged the ship half ashore. (Z.
> brýna: brýna upp skipi = to drag a boat or a ship half
> ashore)
> Voflu-Gunnar arrived there when Jostein had launched the
> ship and hewed him apart in the middle with a short sword
> and dragged the ship half ashore.
> Vöflu (Wavering)-Gunarr came to there where Josteinn had
> floated the-ship and hewed him a-sunder in the middle
> (‘amidships’, ie cut him in half) with
> the-short-single-edged-sword but (and) dragged up the-ship
> (half-ashore) (brýna, Z2)
Vöflu-Gunnar came to where Jóstein had launched the ship and
hewed him asunder in the middle with his seax and dragged
the ship half ashore.
> Þeir Þórarinn koma þá á eyrina er Þorvaldur var fallinn og
> flestir allir hans menn.
> Thorarinn and others arrived there at the sandbank when
> Thorvaldr had fallen and almost all his men.
> They, Thorarinn and his men, come then to the river bank
> where Thorvaldr had fallen and almost all of his men.
> They Þórarinn (and co) come then to the-sand-bank where
> Þorvaldr was fallen (in battle) and most all his people
> (men).
Þórarin and his companions then come to the sandbank where
Þorvald had fallen along with almost all of his men.
> Hann bað menn hætta að drepa niður forystulausa menn:
> "Höldum heldur eftir þeim Steinólfi og látum nú sverfa til
> stáls með oss."
> He asked (the) men (to) stop killing killing off
> unprotected men: "Rather lets pursue the Steinolfrs and
> let us now fight it out to the last against us." (Z. stál
> 1: sverfa til stáls = to fight it out to the last) (hætta:
> Modern Icelandic includes "stop" as a translation, which
> seems to fit better than "risk, venture" that Z. gives)
Zoëga also has <hætta> 'to leave off' (with the dative of a
noun naming an activity), 'to cease' (with the infinitive of
a verb).
> He bade men leave off killing the leaderless men: “Rather
> keep after them, Steinolfr and his men, and let us now
> fight it out to the last.”
> He bade people (men) to cease (hætta is also listed in Z)
> to kill off (lit: strike down) unprotected people (men):
> “Rather (let-us) pursue them, Steinólf (and co) and
> (let-us) cause (them) now to fight-to-the-last with us.”
He told folks to stop killing off leaderless men: ‘Rather
let us pursue Steinólf and his men, and let us now make
[them] fight it out to the last [lit. ‘file to the steel’]
with us.
‘Leaderless’ seems to fit the context better than
‘unprotected’ and is supported by Baetke and CV.
> Þórir kvað þá fyrr ná mundu skipum sín en þeir yrðu
> teknir.
> Thorir told them that they would sooner reach their ships,
> and/but they must take (????).
> Thorir said then before they would reach his ship and they
> became seized.?
> Þórir declared them (ie that they) would reach their ships
> sooner than (fyrr…en, ie before) they (the men, not the
> ships) became (ie were) taken (captured).
Þóri said that they would reach their ships before they were
captured.
<Þeir> is masculine; if it referred to the ships, it would
have to be neuter <þau>.
> Þórarinn kveðst eiga teinæring "er marga menn mun bera og
> eltum þá suður yfir fjörð."
> Thorarinn said he had a ten oared boat “which will carry
> many men and we pursue them south over the fjord.”
> Þórarinn declared-of-himself to have a ten-oarer (ie a
> ten-oared boat, CV) “which will carry many men and
> (let-us) pursue them south over (the) fjord.”
Þórarin said that he had a ten-oared boat ‘that will carry
many men, and let us pursue them south across the fjord.’
> Þórir bað hann ráða en kveðst svo hugur um segja að þá
> væri best að skilja.
> Thorir said it was up to him and said of himself to be so
> of a mind to say that then it would be best to part.
> Þórir bade him to have-his-own-way (ráða, Z9) but
> declared-of-himself to forbode (see hugr, Z4) that (it)
> would-be best to part them (þá, acc) (ie that they should
> part, skilja, impers. Z4)
Þóri told him to have his way but said that he considered
that in that case it would be best to part.
I take <þá> to be the adverb.
> En Þórarinn vill ekki annað en að fara eftir þeim.
> But Thorarin doesn't want (anything) other than to go
> after them.
> But Thorarinn will not otherwise than to go after them.
> But (And) Þórarinn wants not other than to go after them.
But Þórarin wants nothing other than to go after them.
> Reið hann heim til skips með tuttugasta mann en Þórir gekk
> á skip með nokkura menn.
> He rode home to (the) ship with 19 men, and Thorir went to
> (the) ship with several men.
> He rode home to the ship as the twentieth man and Thorir
> went on a ship with some men.
> He rode home to (his) ship with (the) twentieth (person)
> man (ie with nineteen others) but Þórir went aboard (his)
> ship with some people (men)
He rode home to his ship with 19 men, and Þóri went aboard
[his] ship with several men.
> Menn Þóris voru bæði sárir og vígmóðir og gekk seint
> róðurinn.
> Thorir's men were both wounded and battle-weary (Z. has
> "weary in battle") and went rowing slowly.
> Thorir’s men were both wounded and battle-weary and went
> at the rowing slowly.
> Þórir’s people were both wounded and battle-weary and
> the-rowing (subject, nom) went (proceeded) slowly.
Þóri’s men were both wounded and battle-weary, and the
rowing went slowly.
<Roðrinn> is nominative; it’s the subject of <gekk>.
> En Þórarinn sótti ákaft róðurinn og hans menn er þeir voru
> hvíldir og drógu skjótt eftir þeim Steinólfi og Kjallaki.
> But Thorarin vehemently pursued the rowing (rower?) and
> his men when they were resting and gained on Steinolfr and
> Kjallakr. (Z. draga eptir = to gain on one -- and Z.
> glosses this very sentence)
> But Thorarinn pulled fiercely at the rowing and his men
> since they were rested and drew quickly after them,
> Steinolfr and Kjallakr.
> But Þórarinn undertook the-rowing fervently and his people
> (men) when they were rested and speedily drew after
> (gained on) them, Steinólf and Kjallakr.
But Þórarin and his men attacked the rowing furiously, since
they were rested, and quickly gained on Steinólf and
Kjallak.
Here I think that the sense of the relative particle <er> is
‘since’: recall that Þórarin & Co. had not been involved in
the actual fighting.
> Steinólfur bað þá ei undan róa að þeir hyrfu fyrir það
> aftur er eftir sóttu "því að vera kann að þeir nenni eigi
> að bíða hinna er eftir róa og mætti áður umskipti verða
> áður félagar þeirra kæmu eftir."
> Steinolfr asked them not to row away, that they disappear
> from sight ahead that after whicb they sought "because it
> can be that they cannot bear to wait for the (thing) that
> they are rowing after and could already become a change
> before their companions come after.
> Steinolfr bade then always row away that they rest for it
> afterwards when pursued after: “it can be that they are
> not inclined to await those who row after and be able
> before to be changed before their comrades come after.”???
> Steinólfr bade them not (ei, Z2) to row away (so) that
> they turned back around before (ie in the face of) that
> (ship?) which followed behind “because (it) can be that
> they are not willing (inclined) to wait for those-others
> (ie their comrades) who row behind and a “decisive-turn”
> might already happen before their comrades come after
> (them). (ie our best chance of victory is to fight this
> lot before the others arrive)
Steinólf told them not to row away [so] that they disappear
from sight again ahead of that which pursued ‘because it may
be that they are not inclined to wait for the others who are
rowing after [us], and a decisive change might already occur
before their comrades arrive [‘come after’].’
Brian