"Lewis, Raymond J." wrote:

-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Bray
To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 4/13/2003 10:54 AM
Subject: Re: [norse_course] Mini-lesson - Ordinal Numbers

Heill Haukur,

OK, I'll have a go.

haukurth@... wrote:

> EXERCISES
>
> 1. Translate the following.
>
> Hér eru tveir menn. Þeir heita Óláfr ok Eiríkr.
> Er Óláfr helgr maðr ok góðr mjök en Eiríkr er bæði
> vándr ok illr. Er Eiríkr sér Óláf vill hann hann vega.
> Eiríkr hefir tíu menn en Óláfr fjóra.  Óláfr vegr tvá
> manna Eiríks. Menn Eiríks vega einn manna Óláfs. Nú vilja
> sumir flýja því at þeir eru ragir. Tveir manna Eiríks
> flýja. Þá hefir Eiríkr sex menn en Óláfr þrjá.
>

Here are two men. They are called Óláfr and Eiríkr. Óláfr is a holy man
and
very good, but Eiríkr is both bad and wicked. When Eiríkr sees Óláfr he
will
kill him. Eiríkr has ten men and Óláfr four. Óláfr kills two men of
Eirík´s.
Eirík´s men kill one of Óláf´s men. Now some will flee because they are
cowardly. Two of Eirík´s men flee. Then Eiríkr has six men and Óláfr
three.

>
> 2. Make up the end of the story in Old Norse.
>

*************************************************************************
Menn Eiríks brenna þrjá manna Óláfs í húsit þeira. Óláfr ferr til
Alþingis.
Eiríkr er sannr at sökinni. Eiríkr geldr Óláfi tvau naut ok fjóra sauða.
Síðan gerði Óláfr blótveizlu mikil, svá at má hann sætta við Eirík.
*************************************************************************

Daniel -
     I can gather the meaning somewhat here: Eiriks men burn Olafs men in
their houses? Olaf goes to the thing and Eirik is guilty as charged or some
such thing? The rest is a blur.
     The problem I'm having is your vocabulary. At what level in the course
are you writing from? I'm wondering if you might provide a list of the
"non-course" vocabulary in use here? This would allow myself and the other
(who knows how many?) people to better appreciate your work.

Thank's
Raymond
 

Well, as I mentioned before, I'm not exactly a beginner. I haven't done the course, but I have studied under Margaret Clunies-Ross for three years. The vocabulary is as follows:

sannr at sökinni = found guilty
geldr<gjalda = to pay
naut = cattle
sauðr = sheep
blótveizla = sacrificial feast
sætta við = reconcile, make peace

What I was trying to say was:

"Eirík´s men burn three of Óláf´s men in their house (singular). Óláfr goes to Althing. Eiríkr is found guilty. Eiríkr pays Óláfr two cattle and four sheep. Later Óláfr prepares a sacrificial feast, so that he might reconcile with Eiríkr."

I hope I wasn't too far off the mark...

Kveðja,
--
Daniel Bray
dbray@...
School of Studies in Religion A20
University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia

"Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." H. G. Wells (1866 - 1946)