Hi Patricia - you've done a great job!!
 
Maðr hét Auðun, vestfirzkr at kyni ok félítill. 
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.
 
Cheers,
Sarah.
----- Original Message -----
From: Patricia
To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2004 11:12 PM
Subject: Re: [norse_course] I am learning

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
It is past eleven at night (Patricia Time)
Many thanks and Blessings
Patricia  Waiter 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2004 7:17 PM
Subject: Re: [norse_course] I am learning

Hi Patricia!
 
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.
 
Good luck!
Sarah.
----- Original Message -----
From: Patricia
Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2004 4:52 PM
Subject: [norse_course] I am learning

From Patricia, originalpatricia@...
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.
Thanks
Patricia
 



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