obviously I'm not so well advanced in my studies, of this
fascinating subject, I missed this, but thankfully you have pointed it out,
and I guess that it is perhaps the humour of the writer, making us to smile,
the sagas were after all in many cases meant to be stories for entertainment,
like the poems and the singing
Subject: [norse_course] engu játum vér
öðru en þessu er vér höfum áðr ætlat
Hello all,
I wonder if anyone can tell me
why Auðun "goes plural" here? In Old Norse, as in English, I think
it's normal for a king to talk of himself as "we", and Auðun very wisely
addresses Harald with respectful 2nd person plural pronouns (yðru, þér),
but is it unusual for someone non-royal to call themselves "we" in front
of a king?
I was just wondering if this was intended to add to the
humour of an already quite fun scene, that poor little Auðun very
respectfully and innocently talks back to the king, as if his own
decisions carry as much weight as whatever the great Harald might
decide--and the fact that the king good humouredly ignores the affront,
or is rather amused by it himself.