----- Original Message -----

From: xigung

To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2004 8:36 PM

Subject: [norse_course] Re: Hrafnkel 126 -151/Sarah

Hi Sarah,
I don't have my grammar book with me now, and so
I cannot check all the details. However, I did read
Jed and Allan's contributions after reading your's,
and they seem to have answered as I was inclined to
in several instances.

I do not understand everything, but your translation
underneath the Icelendic text is really good, and greatly
facilitates comprehension. That is because your translation
is very literal.


--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Sarah Bowen" <sarahbowen@...>
wrote:
> 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?

I also thought mál would have to do with time,
though I must say that I find ON mál a rather difficult
word. That is because it can have so many different
meanings. In the legal language, for example, it
occurs in a variety of meanings, as will be apparent later
in Hrafnkels saga, as the trials start.

In today's Norwegian we usually read it as "goal",
which can be the physical goal in football, or
an abstract goal, such as "what is your goal in life".
However, it can also occur in such combinations as
måltid or rismål, where the first form seems to link
up with the English "meal". Also German Mahlzeit.
But it can also mean a meeting, an appointment and
even a situation + several other meanings.

Einari kom þat í hug, at honum mundi mál heim
> It occurred to Einar that he should head home

Well, it would be more literal to say (perhaps)
that "it occurred [to him], that to him [the goal] should
[be] home."   ???

Then one could presumably substitute either 'appointment'
or 'time' for [the goal] or maybe even 'schedule'. ???

Less literally maybe like this: "he was due [to be] home".
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Well, I must say that none of this satisfies me 100%.
Also, there seems to be a kind of necessity of
inserting the verb 'to be' (vera). But I feel unsure
of the correctness of this. I have evidently also
felt a need to use mál as the subject of mundi.
Heim is then adverb to munu. I see that you have also felt
a need to insert an extra verb. In your version it
is 'to head [home]'.

>
> 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"?

How about 'the other week'?
That is the first idea that occurs to me, because
aðr has a sound that is very similar to English
'other'. Hence 'last week'.

This is of course not quite correct, because aðr is not
a form of 'annarr' (the adjective), but is the adverb.
It must then be adverb to 'vantat', hence the meaning
ought to be "the sheep missed/lost earlier" [in the week].

That would then be because aðr is synonymous with fyrr
(also adverb) = earlier.

> 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,

How about "as he descends to Grjotteigi"?

> 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.

The adverb áðr again. Here adverb to riðit.


> 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.

Hnegg would here be a noun, but you have rendered is as
a verb. The meaning is the same, though.
Strange that you have the form hnegg here, since it isn't
an entry in any of the dictionaries (Zoega for example)
The correct ON form is gneggr (m.).
The sound a horse makes. (A whinny perhaps?)


>
> 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.

The tables were probably made of several planks, hence the plural.
(literally "he sat over the planks/boards")
But singular borð also occurs, as in yfir borði,
according to the dictionary. Modern Norwegian used
bord (sg.) as the word for 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,

Here you might try "doorway" instead of "door".
The reason is that what we call door, used to be called
hurð in ON. The dyrr is really a plural, and means the
opening into which the hurð is inserted.

>
> -- 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.

"Then she steps into the dorway..."
The door/hurð is open. When she stands in the doorway
she can see who is outside.


> Hon sagði Hrafnkeli,
> She said to Hrafnkel,
>
> at Freyfaxi var fyrir durum úti, mjsk óþokkuligr.
> that Freyfaxi was outside the door, very dirty.

"And she said that Freyfaxi was outside before the doorway/entrance.."

Well, just some suggestions.
Your translation was close to perfect any way!

Cheers
Xigung




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