At last, a bit of piece and quiet to look at
Hrafnkel! I have a couple of queries... maybe someone could help me with
these.
1/ l. 130 mundi mál heim - how do you translate
"mál" or do
you just leave it
out?
2/ l.135 áðr viku - time expressions are invariably
tricky
because they tend to be quite
idiosyncratic in each
language. Is this "previous week" or "earlier in the
week"?
3/ l.140 á mikilli rás - not sure I´ve got this
quite right.. the
notion of "hurrying" seems
rather too human to be applied
to an animal!! What do
others think?
Here goes...
Hann spurði alla sauðarmenn at seljum,
He asked all the shepherds at the
shieling
ef nskkur
hefði sét þetta fé, ok kvazk engi sét hafa.
whether someone had seen the animals,
but no-one said they had.
Einarr reið Freyfaxa allt frá eldingu ok til miðs
aptans.
Einar rode Freyfaxi right from dawn
til mid-evening.
Hestrinn bar hann skjótt yfir ok víða,
The horse carried him quickly and far
and wide,
því at hestrinn var góðr af sér.
because he was a willing
horse.
Einari kom þat í hug, at honum mundi mál
heim
It occurred to Einar that he should
head home
ok reka þat fyrst heim, sem heima var,
but first round up the ones who were
already at the shieling,
þótt hann fyndi hitt eigi.
even though he couldn´t find the
others.
Reið hann þá austr yfir hálsa í
Hrafnkelsdal.
Then he rode eastwards over the ridge
in Hrafnkelsdale.
En er hann kemr ofan at Grjótteigi,
But when he came down towards
Grotteigi,
heyrir hann sauðarjarm fram með
gilinu,
he heard a bleating coming from the
ravine
þangat sem hann hafði fram riðit áðr.
where he had ridden
previously.
Snýr hann þangat til ok sér renna í móti sér
þrjá tigu ásauðar,
He turned in that direction and saw
30 sheep running towards him,
þat sama sem hann vantat hafði áðr
viku,
the same ones he had been missing
earlier in the week,
ok støkkði hann því heim með fénu.
and he drove them home with the
flock.
Hestrinn var vátr allr af sveita, svá at draup ór
hverju hári hans,
The horse was all wet with sweat, so
that he dripped from every hair,
var mjsk
leirstokkinn ok módr mjsk
ákafliga.
he was covered with mud and was
exceptionally tired.
Hann veltisk nskkurum tólf sinnum,
He rolled over about a dozen times,
ok eptir þat setr hann upp hnegg
mikit.
and after that he got up and neighed a
lot.
Siðan tekr hann á mikilli rás ofan
eptir gstunum.
Then he ran off in a great hurry down the
paths.
Einarr snýr eptir honum ok vill
komask fyrir hestinn
Einar turned towards him and tried to catch up with
the horse
ok vildi hsndla hann of foera hann aptr til
hrossa,
and wanted to catch him and bring him back to the
mares,
en hann var svá styggr, at Einarr
komsk hvergi í nándir honum.
but he was so shy that Einar didn´t get anywhere
near him.
Hestrinn hleypr ofan eptir dalnum ok
nemr eigi stað,
The horse ran back down the valley and didn´t
stop
fyrr en hann kemr á
Aðalból.
until he came to The Manor.
Þá sat Hrafnkell yfir
borðum.
Hrafnkel was sitting at the table.
Ok er hestrinn kemr fyrir dyrr,
hneggjaði hann þá hátt.
And when the horse came to the door, he neighed
loudly.
Hrafnkell mælti við eina konu, þá sem
þjónaði fyrir borðinu,
Hrafnkel said to a woman, who was serving them at
the table,
at hon skyldi fara til duranna, því
at hross hneggjaði,
that she should go to the door because a horse was
neighing,
-- ok þótti mér líkt vera gnegg
Freyfaxa.
and it seemed to me to be like Freyfaxi´s
neigh.
Hon gengr fram í dyrrnar ok sér
Freyfaxa mjsk
ókræsiligan.
She went to the door and saw Freyfaxi was filthy
dirty.
Hon sagði Hrafnkeli,
She said to Hrafnkel,
at Freyfaxi var fyrir durum úti,
mjsk óþokkuligr.
that Freyfaxi was outside the door, very
dirty.