Saell Alan, Haukur
I would like to just offer tentatively an opinion, could the King be as much human as anything else, and could he simply have been sorry, to lose a "friend" maybe he liked the odd fellow who went to such lengths to get a bear for him, and such a nice bear too!
As for nakkvarar stundr, it seems to equate with Etwas Stunde in German and to mean some hours, which word - Stunde refers to a lesson as well, and may be related to a study period, in our time, but perhaps implied in Auðun's day - "a little while" meaning nothing definite at all.
Kveðja
Patricia 
who holds a view that Kings too can be human, though in our day and age often too human and obviously not it contact with the obligations of Nobility - Noblesse Oblige
----- Original Message -----
From: AThompson
To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2005 10:16 AM
Subject: RE: [norse_course] Auðun - section 11

Haukur

Thanks for your excellent analysis. I agree that 5 weeks would seem to
fit the overall chronology of the story. Do you think that the King
would have given Auðun the job of ármaðr? He would have been looking for
a new one.

"Konungr svarar heldr seint" could be translated as "The king answers
rather coldly" or "rather slowly." Would a request to leave after 5
weeks be likely to prompt a particularly "cold" response from the King,
before he has even heard Auðun's reason for going? I suspect that if he
had given Auðun the job of ármaðr, he would have had good reason to be a
little angry.

As a more general point, I would be interested in gaining an
understanding what range of times could be covered "um hríð" and
"nakkvarar stundir."

Kveðja
Alan

-----Original Message-----
From: Haukur Þorgeirsson [mailto:haukurth@...]
Sent: Wednesday, 9 February 2005 1:18 PM
To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [norse_course] Auðun - section 11

> Also, how long do people think Auðun stays with King Sveinn, ie do um
> hríð and nakkvarar stundir represent 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 months, or
> longer?

Good question and I have no answer. Maybe we can make
an educated guess from the context of the story. Wasn't
there something at the start about Auðun's mother being
provided for for a certain amount of time? And how long
do you figure the rest of Auðun's adventures take?

Let's see. Auðun's mother will last three winters.
Auðun spends the first winter in Norway with Þórir.
He spends the second winter in Greenland with the same.
He arrives at Sveinn's during summer and after the
'hríð / nakkvarar stundir' he goes to Rome. He returns
next Easter. That spring he returns to Iceland to support
his mother.

I'd guess Auðun didn't want to make the long journey during
mid-winter and it takes some time to see the sights in Rome
(there is no place there not smeared with the blood of holy men,
according to Fóstbroeðra saga).

So, shall we say 5 weeks?

Kveðja,
Haukur


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