Re: Færeyinga saga - week 3

Heil Alfta!

> I hope to have week 4 ready to send in tomorrow.

If I'm not mistaken you did :-)
I'm glad you didn't drop out.

> Also I was wondering if you could talk a little about
> the notations in Zoëga such as "e-t" or "e-m."

Okay. Let's take an example:

- - -
af-auðit, pp. n., e-m verðr afauðit um e-t, one has bad
luck (fails) in a thing;
- - -

pp. = past participle
n. = neuter
e-m = einhverjum = someone (dative)
e-t = eitthvat = something (accusative)

> Þorlákr beiddi Þránd eftir skiptit at hann mundi
> hafa heimabólit,
>>
> Thorlakr asked Thrand after(?) dividing between
> him should have (the) homestead,

Well. Word for word:

Þorlákr beiddi Þránd eptir skipt-it at hann
Thorlac bade Thrond after division-the that he

mundi hafa heima-ból-it
would have home-stead-the

"Þorlákr asked Þrándr after the division that he
should have the homestead."

In this case 'eptir' has a temporal meaning; like,
I believe, 'after' in English can have.

A minor spelling note. I've changed the spelling from
'eftir' (which is used in the MS and in modern Icelandic)
to 'eptir' (which is used in ÍF Heimskringla).

> en hann lausafé meira,
> and him chattels more,

In this case 'hann' is nominative; "he".

> en Þrándr vildi þat eigi.
> but Thrand wanted that not.

Correct.

> Fór Þorlákr þá í burt ok fekk sér annan bústað
> þar í eyjunum.
>>
> Fared Thorlakr then away and got another dwelling
> there on the island.

Almost :-) The 'eyjunum' is plural.

> Þrándr seldi á leigu landit í Götu mörgum mönnum ok
> tók leigu sem mesta,
>>
> Thrand lent with rent the land in Gate to many men and
> took rent (?) the greatest,

Correct.

> ******Could you talk a little about "sem" here. I could not figure
> it out.

The idiom 'sem mestr' usually means "as much as possible"
but is used unusually much in Færeyinga saga. Sometimes
it is best translated simply "large" or, like Arlie does,
"as great as any".

> en hann réðsk til skips um sumarit ok hafði lítinn kaupeyri
> But he ran the ship himself during summer but had little goods

Middle voice! :-) He didn't "rule" the ship he
hired himself to it. Note the passive meaning
lent here by the middle voice.

> ******Is "during" a correct translation for "um"?

Yes.

> ok fór til Noregs ok hafði boejarsetu um vetrinn
> and came to Norway and had dwelling during the winter

Correct.

> ok þótti jafnan myrkr í skapi.
> and seemed generally dark in mood.

Correct.

> Þá réð fyrir Noregi Haraldr gráfeldr.
> Then ruled over Norway Haraldr Gray-Cloak.

Correct. In this case 'réð' is in active voice.

> Um sumarit eftir fór Þrándr með byrðingsmönnum suðr til Danmerkr
> During summer (?) went Thrandr with merchant men south to Denmark

Um sumarit eftir = "(During) the next summer..."

> ******Eftir is one that continues to give me problems. How is it
> translated and what tense and part of speech is it exactly?

In this case I guess it would be an adverb;
usually it's a preposition.

> ok kom á Haleyri um sumarit.
> and came to Haleyri during summer.

Correct.

> Þar var þá fjölmenni sem mest,
> There was then a crowd (?) great,

Correct.

> ok svo er sagt,
> and so is said,

Correct.

> at þar kømr mest fjölmenni hingat á Norðurlönd
> meðan stendr markaðrinn.
>>
> of there comes great a crowd of the Northland
> while stands the market.

Almost. "So is said that there comes the greatest
crowd of people here to the Northern Lands while
the market stands."

> Þá réð fyrir Danmörk Haraldr konungr Gormsson
> er kallaðr var blátönn.
>>
> Then ruled over Denmark Harald King Gormsson
> (who was?) called blue-tooth.

Correct.

er kallaðr var
who called was

Remember from the Norse Course lessons that 'er'
is an all purpose relative pronoun.

> Haraldr konungr var á Haleyri um sumarit ok fjölmenni
> mikit með hánum.
>>
> Harald King was at Haleyri during summer and a crowd
> great with him.

Correct. (The nominative should probably be 'Haleyrr'.)


You're doing all right, Alfta, and obviously working
quite hard at this. You're not lacking in enthusaism
or vocabulary but formal grammar seems to be your
weak point. Maybe you could benefit from brushing up on
formal English grammar. Studying one's own language helps
a lot with understanding others - and vice versa.

Kveðja,
Haukur