"hålla sig från" is synonymous to "hålla sig undan" in
Swedish. "draga sig från" and "lägga från sig" are similar in meaning
to "draga sig undan" and "lägga undan". But 'ifrån' would probably be
the normal spelling rather than 'från'. (Not to mention that 'draga'
and 'gånga' are less used than the more modern 'dra' and 'gå' - isn't
Old Norse 'fá' a similar simplification, *fanga > fá ?)

/Sjuler



--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, Haukur Thorgeirsson
<haukurth@...> wrote:

> > 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