----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2003 4:28
AM
Subject: Re: [norse_course] Boðvarr
translation 1-8.
Wow, Sarah! That was fast. Thanks for your comments.
S: Wow! For someone "who is not quite
at the translation stage yet" this is a very impressive translation!!!
And you´ve started to analyse the grammar!
L: Thanks! I surprised myself,
too!
S: Your translation was really very good, so
anything I say here is really just nit-picking detail, but hopefully you will
find it helpful...
L: Yes, please do nit-pick. I won't
learn anything otherwise!
sína=pron., masc.
refl.. gen.=his nearly... sína is the
feminine, accusative singular form of sinn and it agrees with the noun
leið.
Ah, okay. I somehow want all possessives to be genitive,
because that's how they tend to be marked in other languages I've
studied.
And afterwards Boðvarr
went (on) his way to
Hleiðargarðr.
or went on his
journey?, or maybe, continued his journey? I think
the sentence you´ve got above is the most accurate, but depending on how far
he had to travel to Hleiðargarðr, we would say "went on his journey" rather
than "way" in English. I think it is better to say "went" rather than
"continued" because that might come from a different verb in O.N. (I´m not
sure here... perhaps someone more knowledgeable can
advise?)
That's
fine. The first was the literal translation. I might use
"continued" in a looser, more natural English sense. Of course, it
depends what has happened just previously in the
story.
He came
to a king's
residence.
Yes.
Why "a
king's residence" in the Norse instead of "THE king's residence?" Was
there more than one king? More than one residence? Or is it just
understood that it is "the
king?"
stall=noun, masc. sing.
dat.? (with á=prep. w. dat.)=stall Actually it´s
accusative because movement (into the stall) is
implied.
Okay,
I'll try to remember that. I haven't really gotten to prepositions yet
-- I'm just guessing by the
glossary.
hinum=pron.
dat.=that Yes, masculine plural
dative form of "hinn" which Barnes also has as meaning "the
other"
That's
right! I had forgotten it could also mean "the
other"
Boðvarr - to lead
(don't know tense here) "leiðir" is present
tense- afterwards - horse - his - into - stall - beside - king's -
horses - that - best - and - asks - none - (about
it?)
Boðvarr then leads his
horse into a stall beside (that) the king's other best
horses and asks no one for
permission,
This was
tricky. "Other" makes an awkward English construction. It makes us
want to ask what we're comparing it to. How about: "beside the
king's horses that (were the) best" or "beside the best of the king's
horses"? I think that is the sense of it
anyway.......
útarliga=far out (from
Gordon: setjask ú.=sit near the door "útar" is the comparative form of "út" so strictly speaking this
should be "further
out"
Yes, I
noticed útar used later on, and Gordon gave that as "further out". So
how does "liga" alter the sense, or does it? Does it mean something like
"to lie" -- "lying further out", or "in a position further
out"?
I
don't know why this needs to be "by the door." (according to Gordon's
glossary). I would rather say something like "he sat himself at a
distance (i.e. from the men) Yes, I see
what you mean, but according to our lecturer it makes sense if you know the
layout of a medieval hall! Apparently the fire ran up the centre of the
hall with the top table furthest from the door, at right angles to the
fire. The courtiers sat on benches parallel to the fire. The more
important you were, the closer you sat to the top table (and therefore
the furthest away from the draughty
door!)
I think
part of my thinking here, was that if he hears a noise "further out" than he
is, but still in the hall, is he necessarily by the door? Wouldn't by
the door be "furthest out"? But yes, from your description of the hall,
I do understand the general sense of
it.
nokkut=as
adv.?=somewhat Pretty much so, "nokkut" is the accusative singular neuter form
of "nokkurr". It is agreeing with þrausk. (Sorry, these 'o's
should be hooked, don´t
forget.)
Yes, but I don't have any fonts that have a
hooked o. We could underline them maybe? nokkut hmmm
maybe not. Alright -- how about this? nçkkut would
that work? Close enough for
jazz?
he heard
a rummaging noise somewhat farther out in a certain place in a
corner. Close. In the grammar
analysis you had "nokkut" as an adjective agreeing with "þrausk". So the
English runs... he heard some noise (or some rummaging). Then a literal
translation would follow ...some noise further out in the corner in a certain
(or some) place. So perhaps a close English translation might be
... he heard some noise
further over in the corner somewhere.
What do you
think?
OHHHH --
nçkkut goes with þrausk Okay, "he heard a sort of rummaging sound
farther out ...." As for the corner, I wasn't sure whether einnhverjum
should be taken as "certain" or "some" which has very different senses in
English. Also is it the noise which is in a certain place or the
corner which is in a certain place, i.e. a "particular" corner maybe? Or
is the sense just some corner or other?
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