Re: Hrafnkel 101-125 / Laurel's {undan fyr undan}

From: Haukur Thorgeirsson
Message: 3902
Date: 2003-11-30

> In Modern Swedish, 'komma undan' means "get away from (something/-
> one)". E.g. "Jag kom undan med några skråmor", meaning "I got away
> with [only] a few scratches". Similar construction using 'undan' are
> possible:
>
> 'draga sig undan' - move out of the way,
> 'hålla sig undan' - keep away,
> 'lägga undan' - put aside,
> 'gånga undan' - go quickly,
> 'undan för undan' - bit by bit,
> etc
>
> The Swedish definition of the adverb 'undan' is "i riktning bort från
> någon", translated "in direction away from something/-one".
>
> I wonder if Old Norse has expressions like
>
> *draga sik undan.
> *halda sik undan,
> *leggja undan,
> *ganga undan,
> *undan fyr undan,
>
> with the same meanings as in the Swedish examples.

Well, we definitely have "ganga undan" but I'm not sure
about any of the other constructions. I think we may use
'frá' rather than 'undan' in some of these. For example
Old Norse "halda sik frá" seems to mean the same as your
"hålla sig undan".

Kveðja,
Haukur

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