Eysteinn wrote :

>but a German translation I have seems as good as
>it can get: "in dem langgestreckten Sälen".

That is odd. I expect an error here. Dative seems okay when
describing a state of rest, but then it would have to be
either "in dem langgestreckten Saal(e)" (singular), OR "in den
langgestreckten Sälen" (plural). I think it is the latter
that must have been intended, since the Old Norse "sali"
is supposedly a plural form.

It is interesting to note, as exemplified here, that Old
Norse here, in connection with the verb sitja, uses the
accusative to describe a state of rest, whereas German uses
the dative for the same purpose. Such usage is sometimes
referred to as "accusative of locality". In a book like
"An introductin to Old Norse" by E.V. Gordon, there is however
very little to be found about such topics. (For the little
there is, see for example paragraph 156 in the 2nd ed. of 1957)
An important difference with English and German is that "sitja"
is here used without a preposition, whereas English, for instance,
usually talks about "sitting in", sitting at", sitting by", etc.

The combination "sitja" + accusative does not occur elsewhere
in the Edda - it occurs only here in Skirnesmål verse 3.
It is however documented in other sources, especially
in old Norwegian sources.

Here is an old Norwegian example of such usage :
"þjónustukona hennar skal sitja sveina borð ok hafa þar kost."
(from the Norw. Diplomae No. III) As translation hereof
I'll propose "her servant woman shall sit at the boys' (swains')
table and eat there." Here the important part of the sentence
is "Kona skal sitja sveina borð". Here "borð" is an accusative
singular n. of "table".

>But a too-exact translation
>would be a mistake, I feel, - the
>"end-long" hall is simply a BIG/EXTENDED
>hall, which accentuates the lord's sadness
>as he sits there alone. Not forgetting
>that this is poetry, the implication
>is almost "alone in the empty, echoing
>halls".

As a consequence of the transitive usage of the verb,
"sitja" could also metaphorically indicate "to sit
out something" or "to endure something".

Cheers,
Keth

>An adverbial meaning has been claimed
>here, but this isn't really possible
>with a static verb like "sitja" used
>thus with the accusative. Freyr can't
>possibly sit along the length of a hall
>(or many halls - "sali" is plural).
>With a non-static verb such a meaning
>is, of course, possible, as perhaps in
>Völundarkviða 16: "hún inn um gekk /
>endlangan sal", where the implication is
>that "she walked along the hall", "she
>walked the whole length of the hall".
>But such a shade of meaning is not
>possible with the verb "sitja" taking
>the accusative "endlanga sali" (plural).
>
>Regards
>Eysteinn
>