Sæll Thomas!
 
Well done again!  Only a few tiny bits which seemed to pose you a problem...
 
Kømr nú þessi fregn fyrir Hrólf konung ok kappa hans upp í kastalann,
Now the news reached king Hrólf and his warriors up in the castle
 
 ok vildu þeir láta drepa manninn. 
and now they wanted to kill the man.
I think we need to get the sense of "láta" into the English here.  E.g. and they wanted to have the man killed.
Or maybe, and they wanted to be allowed to kill the man.
 
hvárt hirðmaðrinn hefði verit saklauss drepinn.
whether the retainer had done anything to deserve his death.
As a 'loose' translation this is fine because you've basically got the meaning across, but it does translate quite well into English following the ON more closely...
hefði verit - had been
drepinn - killed (past participle)
saklauss - without cause, without reason
 
 “Því var næsta”,
”very close”
This is a phrase or expression in ON and is translated in English as "very nearly so" or "almost". 
For what it's worth, the grammar is
næsta - nearly (adverb)
því - (to) that    (demonstrative pronoun in the dative)
 
Kómusk þá fyrir Hrólf konung ơll sannindi hér um.  Hrólfr konungr sagði þat skyldu fjarri, at drepa skyldi manninn
They told the king how this had happened. When whole the truth had been revealed to the king he told them not to kill the man.
Again, you've conveyed the meaning but the English words do not stick very close to the original.  More literally, it would be...
 
Then all the truth about this came out before King Hrolf.  King Hrolf said that by no means should they kill the man.
 
er mér í því óvirðing, en yðr stór skơmm, at gøra slíkt. 
that´s a great disgrace for me and a shame for you to be doing this.
 
Hefi ek jafnan roett um þetta áðr
I have told you about this before many times
In English you can keep the word order of verb + subject, provided you add the negative 'not' (otherwise it becomes a simple question!) 
E.g.
Have I not spoken you about this many times before...
This gives the sense of the King admonishing them.
 
ok kveðr hann kurteisliga. 
and greets him gracefully.
In English you move gracefully but speak graciously.  Another option would be "politely"
 
“Til þess gørði hann, sem hann fekk.” 
”He deserved it”.
Perhaps it would be better to include the phrase sem hann fekk as well.  How about "He got what he deserved".
 
ok munu vit ekki skiljask svá búit, vit Hơttr, ok dveljask nær þér báðir, heldr en þessi hefir setit
but I don´t want to be separated from Höttr and I will serve you better than the man who just died did
"vit" is the dual form which we don't have in English so the translation doesn't sound as smooth but a fairly literal translation would be...
and we two will not be separated in such circumstances, Hott and I, and will both remain/sit nearer to you than this man did
 
Byock translates this as
but Hott and I will not, as matters stand, be separated.  We will both sit closer to you on the benches than that man did
 
en ek spara ekki mat við hann.”
but I won't deny him his food"
 
I hope this has helped!  Also have a look at Xigung's comments on Jed's translation.  She had some very useful insights.
 
Kveðja,
Sarah.
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Thomas Lindblom
To: group norse course
Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 12:28 PM
Subject: [norse_course] bodhvarr translated

Heil Sarah,

 

I.... have…now translated the latest Bothvarr …text.

 

Here is the Old Norse version of the text:

 

Bøðvarr meets King Hrólfr

 

Kømr nú þessi fregn fyrir Hrólf konung ok kappa hans upp í kastalann, at maðr mikilúðligr sé kominn til hallarinnar ok hafi drepit einn hirðmann hans, ok vildu þeir láta drepa manninn.  Hrólfr konungr spurðisk eptir, hvárt hirðmaðrinn hefði verit saklauss drepinn.  “Því var næsta”, sơgðu þeir.  Kómusk þá fyrir Hrólf konung ơll sannindi hér um.  Hrólfr konungr sagði þat skyldu fjarri, at drepa skyldi manninn – “hafi þit hér illan vanda upp tekit, at berja saklausa menn beinum; er mér í því óvirðing, en yðr stór skơmm, at gøra slíkt.  Hefi ek jafnan roett um þetta áðr, ok hafi þit at þessu engan gaum gefit, ok hygg ek at þessi maðr muni ekki allítill fyrir sér, er þér hafið nú á leitat; ok kallið hann til mín, svá at ek viti hverr hann er.”

 

Bơðvarr gengr fyrir konung ok kveðr hann kurteisliga.  Konungr spyrr hann at nafni.  “Hattargriða kalla mik hirðmenn yðar, en Bơðvarr heiti ek.”  Konungr mælti, “Hverjar boetr viltu bjóða mér fyrir hirðmann minn?”  Bơðvarr segir, “Til þess gørði hann, sem hann fekk.”  Konungr mælti, “Viltu vera minn maðr ok skipa rúm hans?”  Bơðvarr segir, “Ekki neita ek at vera yðarr maðr, ok munu vit ekki skiljask svá búit, vit Hơttr, ok dveljask nær þér báðir, heldr en þessi hefir setit; elligar vit fơrum brott báðir.”  Konungr mælti, “Eigi sé ek at honum soemd, en ek spara ekki mat við hann.”

 

 And here is my translated version which isn´t directly translated in all places:

 

Now the news reached king Hrólf that an imposing man had came to the hall and that he had killed one of the kings retainers and now they wanted to kill the man.

The king asked them whether the retainer had done anything to deserve his death ”very close” they said.

They told the king how this had happened.

When whole the truth had been revealed to the king he told them not to kill the man.-you  have taken up a bad habit here, to strike innocent men with bones that´s a great disgrace for me and a shame for you,I have told you about this before many times but you haven´t paid any attention and I think that this man you´ve just attacked is not a coward,and call him to me so that I can find out who he is.

Boðvarr goes before the king and greets him gracefully.The king asks about his name.”Yor men are calling me Hattargriða but my name is Boðvarr”.The king said “what will you offer as compensation for my retainer”

Boðvarr says”He deserved it”. The king says ”Do you want to serve me and take his place? Boðvarr says

“I do not refuse to be your man but I don´t want to be separated from Höttr and I will serve you better than the man who just died did, otherwise we will both leave”. The king said”I don´t see any honour in him but I don´t save food with him(??)

 

As you can see is the last words of the last sentence  underlined simply because I couldn´t understand it.

 

 

See ya

 

thomas

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