CHAPTER 1

Þat var á dögum Haralds konungs ins hárfagra,
It was in the day of King Harald the Fairhair

Hálfdanar sonar ins svarta,
Son of Halfdane the black (word order makes this confusing for me. I don't
get who is whose son. Is Harald son of Halfdanar the black or is Halfdanar
son of the black Guðrøðar?)

Guðrøðar sonar veiðikonungs,
Son of Guðrøðar, hunting king,

Hálfdanar sonar ins milda ok ins matarilla,
Son of Halfdane the generous and the niggardly with food

Eysteins sonar freys,
Son (?)of Eystein, son of Freyer ( again I don't know who is who.)


Oláfs sonar trételgju Svíakonungs,
Olaft, wood cutter, son of the Swedish king (or is the Swedish king the
woodcutter?)

at sá maðr kom skipi sínu til Íslands í Breiðdal, er hét.
That a man came in his ship to Iceland to Breida Valley who was called
Hallfreðr

Þat er fyrir neðan Fljótsdalsherað.
It was below the Fljóts Valley district.

Þar var á skipi kona hans ok sonr, er Hrafnkell hét.
There was on the ship his wife and son who was called Hrafnkell.

Hann var fimmtán vetra gamall, mannvænn ok gørviligr.
He was fifteen winters old, promising and capable.

Hallfreðr setti bú saman.
Hallfreðr established a farm.

Um vetrinn andaðisk útlend ambátt, er Arnþrúðr hét,
In the winter, a foreign bondswoman who was called Arnþrúðr died,

ok því heitir þat síðan á Arnþrúðarstöðum.
And they called it since then Arnþrúðrstad.

En um várit foerði Hallfreðr bú sitt norðr yfir heiði ok gerði bú þar,
But in the spring, Hallfreðr went (? I couldn’t figure out what sitt was
unless it is an idiomatic expression involving foerði, the verb, bú as a
reflexive pronoun with the sense that he moved house?) north over the heath
and built a house there

sem heitir í Geitdal
which is called Goatdale.

Ok eina nótt dreymði hann, at maðr kom at honum ok mælti:
And one night he dreamt that a man came to him and spoke:

'Þar liggr þú, Hallfreðr, ok heldr óvarliga.
"There you lie, Hallfreðr, and rather carelessly.

Foer þú á brott bú þitt ok vestr yfir Lagarfljót.
Move on up the road (same idiom as above, same problem) and west over
Lagarfljót

Þar er heill þín öll.'
There is all your luck."

Eptir þat vaknar hann ok foerir bú sitt út yfir Rangá í Tungu,
Afterwards he woke and moved house out over Rangá in Tongue,

þar sem síðan heitir á Hallfreðarstöðum,
which ever since has been called Hallfreðarstad.

ok bjó þar til elli.
And there he lived to old age.

En honum varð þar eptir geit ok hafr.
But a female and a male goat of his were left

Ok inn sama dag, sem Hallfreðr var í brott,
And on the same day, as Hallfreðr was on the road,

hljóp skriða á húsin,
a landslide leaped on the house,

ok týndusk þar þessir gripir,
and his valuable animals were lost there,

ok því heitir þat síðan í Geitdal.
And they called it Goatdale ever since.

Grace
Fred and Grace Hatton
Hawley, PA
hatton@...