William wrote :

>
>Pardon my lack of faith in your opinion, but the moderators of this
>list have taken an issue with your commmand of the language more
>than once.

That is totally contrary to what I have experienced. I see them as
patient teachers who encourage people to make an effort.

>As you are a Norwegian, rather than a native speaker of
>Icelandic, your opinion here lacks any real teeth.

Fair enough. You would like to have an Icelander's opinion.
But I think it strange that you reject what I said merely
on the grounds of nationality, rather than on whether my
explanation made sense. I tried to give some possibilities,
not opinions.

The point is that I made a definite proposal of two alternative
ways to read "kjóla valdi". I also explained the reasons.
That way we shall have a concrete example to discuss, which is
a good way to learn.

>We've seen that
>the Icelandic scholarship agrees on this issue; I'm wondering where
>the Icelandic "man on the street" falls on this issue?

I should also like to hear the opinions of others.

>Haukur & Oskar, in regard to the trasnlation of Hymirskvida 19, who
>is more likely correct the Icelandic or the English scholarship? And
>why?

I think you are making a terrible mistake in posing various nations
against each other in this way. Your best bet would be to ask the
various scholars you quote, and ask them what reasons they can quote
for translating as they did. Translating the whole Edda is a big
task, and many translators sooner or later arrive at a point
where they start taking shortcuts, or simply copy the translations
of others. I think we saw an example of that with Regis Boyer on one
of the other discussion groups, who had simply copied Genzmer's
translation in one particular instance. (It concerned Havamal 74)


Keth


P.S. in the meantime I did some more reading about Hym 19, and
I find confirmed that many translators think there is a lacuna
after the words "horna tveggja". Some translators have then
gone to Snorri's Edda, where the corresponding prose story
gives some more details about what happened in the supposed
lacuna. There you will find it confirmed that Thor was rowing
with two oars, as I already suggested; he sat in the "austrrúm".
Hymir was also rowing and sat in the "háls" of the boat.
I think we could all learn something if we go into the terminology
here and try to understand what is what. For example, who
of Thor and Hymir was sitting forward, wnd who was sitting astern?
Then ask which seat is usually considered "the captain's seat".
Such answers may be relevant for the correct reading of the stanza.

>> 20. 'Verk þykkja þín verri miklu
>> kjóla valdi, an kyrr sitir."