A man named Audun west (firther) of Kin and (guessing -
poor) - good guess: fé means goods, chattel, possessions,
money; lítill means little or small.
Hann fór útan vestr þar í fjörðum með umráði Þorsteins bónda góðs, ok Þóris
stýrimanns,
he fared out west of the Fjords with
(Umraði) of Thorstein, a good bondsman and Thorir the
Steersman (or Captain) - yes! It is hard to find
an appropriate equivalent for bónda góðs - perhaps good yeoman or just good
farmer [to me bondsman implies something more along the lines of a servant -
but, hey, we're really nit-picking now :-)!!]
Umráði can be translated as patronage
- maybe sounds a bit old-fashioned? Is "with funding from" too
modern?
er þar hafði þegit vist of vetrinn með Þorsteini.
he had (work) throughout the winter with
Thorstein. Again, you've got the meaning ok.
"er" is a relative pronoun meaning "who". þegit is the past participle of
þiggja meaning to accept or to receive. vist means food and lodging or
employment [perhaps you got your food and lodging in return for the work!]
So this is referring to Thorir who had been employed by Thorstein for the
winter.
Auðun var ok þar, ok starfaði fyrir honum Þóri,
Auðun was also there and working for (honum - like enim in
Latin say - that same) Thorir - yes. Honum is the
dative of hann which agrees with the noun Þóri. It must be the preposition
fyrir which sends them into the dative. Have you seen our discussions on
the use of personal pronouns in this way?
ok þá þessi laun af honum, útanferðina ok hans umsjá.
And then this reward from him (out travel) and his (umsja -
care - food) - you're nearly there! Although þá
is often an adverb meaning "then", here it is the past indicative of the verb
þiggja meaning to receive. "útanferðina" is the outward journey - notice
the definite article tacked on to the end. Yes, umsjá is oversight, care
or supervision - maybe we could say "support"?
Hann Auðun lagði mestan hluta fjár, þess er var, fyrir móður sína,
He Auðun laid most of (hluta ? wealth) (fjar) that there was
for his mother, - yes, you've got it again.
"hluta" is the accusative singular of hluti meaning part and "fjár" is the
genitive singular of fé meaning money or possessions.
áðr hann stigi á skip, ok var kveðit á þriggja vetra björg.
Before he stood on ship it was settled as three years
work,
Pretty much so, björg is help, deliverance (out
of need or danger) or means of subsistence, stores, provisions. So the fé
that he left behind was to provide for his mum for 3 years.
Bye the way, if you´re after a good dictionary, University of
Toronto Press have just issued a paperback version of Zoega´s Concise Dictionary
of Old Icelandic at CAN$29.95 and you can order it over the internet from the
Uni of Toronto bookshop.
Bear with me Sarah, I have not started the course of
learning yet but I have German, which I am told should help and some of the
Old English, so if I can merely get the Gist of this I can see I'm pointed
in the right direction, so I shall then put bits in brackets that I cannot
tell, and I'll order a copy of a good dictionary through Amazon
A man named Audun west (firther) of Kin and
(guessing - poor) he fared out west of the Fjords with
(Umraði) of Thorstein, a good bondsman and Thorir the
Steersman (or Captain) he had (work) throughout the winter with
Thorstein.
Auðun was also there and working for (honum - like enim in
Latin say - that same) Thorir
And then this reward from him (out travel) and his (umsja
- care - food)
He Auðun laid most of (hluta ? wealth) (fjar) that there
was for his mother,
Before he stood on ship it was settled as three
years work,
And the last bit was slightly guess work, if it can only
be said I have gotten the basics of it, then it is worth going through the
whole course that I have, and getting the dictionary from Amazon, I only
wanted to try. Currently I have varying degrees of skill (Very Varying) in
the following Languages, English, French, German, Old English/Chaucer,
Latin, little Spanish (un poquito no de mas) and I think that is about it, I
must count English because it was not the first language I spoke, but I can
teach is to children, once I did remedial work.
I hope I have not wasted your time in writing to
me
Welcome on board! A group of us are translating a
short story about Audun and his bear. You'd be very welcome to have
a go at that and just do what bits you can. I'll gladly give you
feedback, based on my uni notes if you'd find that useful.
The first few lines which we have started on
are:
Maðr hét Auðun, vestfirzkr at kyni ok
félítill. Hann fór útan vestr þar í fjörðum með umráði Þorsteins
bónda góðs, ok Þóris stýrimanns, er þar hafði þegit vist of vetrinn með
Þorsteini. Auðun var ok þar, ok starfaði fyrir honum Þóri, ok þá
þessi laun af honum, útanferðina ok hans umsjá. Hann Auðun lagði
mestan hluta fjár, þess er var, fyrir móður sína, áðr hann stigi á skip,
ok var kveðit á þriggja vetra björg.
Don't worry if you can't make head nor tail of it
all. Just do the bits you can do! Look forward to hearing from
you.
May I please join in and do some work, to learn Old
Norse, a translation to do would be nice, but do not expect perfect work
from me I am a beginner who learns fairly fast.