Hello everyone!
I´m another relative ´newbie' (started in Sept) and
I've been reading the recent postings with interest.
I just want to say that although most of the
postings are very scholarly and way over my head, I agree with Jarrod and Diego
that it's worth trying to read them (or save them for future reference) because
hopefully in a few years' time we will ALL be much more skilled and experienced
at understanding Old Norse and these postings will be of interest to us.
So thank you Konrad and others for your complex discussions.
Whilst I wholeheartedly agree with Daniel, Laurel
and Jennifer that it would be great to have some beginner level translations
being posted as well as the more scholarly stuff, I'm not sure that it's wise
for people whose first language is not Icelandic or a mainland Scandinavian
language to try and write Old Norse themselves. As Arlie pointed out it is
very hard for 'foreigners' to produce something 'native-sounding' and we might
end up learning one another's mistakes rather than learning from
them!
I'm a first year student at UCL in London and we've
just finished our 'introduction to Old Norse' module where we translated the
tale about Bodvar Bjarki in Hrolfs Saga Kraka. Many of us couldn't tell a
noun from a verb when we first started (English grammar is not taught in schools
in Britain) but it was quite manageable really.
Alternatively, I would love to go back to the
Færeyinga Saga or even try some poetry. There is such a wealth of
beautiful literature out there, some of it not too complex, why not take
advantage of it?
OK! Now here's a crazy suggestion!
Having just studied Böðvarr's story and analysed every word in the utmost
grammatical detail, I don't mind posting up a paragraph every week or so.
Then if folk want to translate it, I will try to give constructive feedback on
their translations, based on my uni notes - provided there is some more
experienced person (Konrad, Pelle, Haukur) in the background who is prepared to
jump in and correct any mis-advice I may be giving.
Your comments on this crazy idea of the
partially-sighted leading the blind is welcome!!!
Bye for now,
Sarah.