Gordon gives two examples leið a vetrinn (Winter)/ or leið a
varit (spring) being far spent and since the text was given leið a varit
I chose to say in late spring.
Had it said vetrinn I would have referred to winter but it
did not it said varit - spring, Am I confused here.
My history book gives some information that the Norsemen
traded with Russia, so next time I shall translate austrveg as the
Baltic/Russia
As for a day or a season being far spent, okay is sounds a
trifle Biblical/poetic in context but I should have thought -
acceptable.
I sometimes find people less pleased with Gordon,
actually since I have Zoega and Gordon and the three books by Barnes and
Faulkes, well I have a good team, I find Barnes easier to study, easier so to
say on the brain, I also find that with some terms the definitions given in
all three are much the same, so if it is not in Zoega which I prefer, I try
Barnes, and leave Gordon as Back-up
Could
give the impression that specifically the area around Dresden was
meant. Maybe "Germany" or "North Germany" is better after all?
Or even Saxland + footnote.
er á leið várit -- You can see
the impersonal nature from other examples. Zoega quotes 'er á leið
daginn' "when the day was far spent", and with dative 'þá var liðit
degi' "the day was far spent".
Another time expression with verb and
adverb: 'líða at' +dat. "[it] to draw near to [a point in time]".
Zoega has: er at leið jólinum "when it drew near to
Yule".
Finally, the two dative absolute expressions that I find hard
not to get confused. The 'at' here is not like the adverb in the
previous example, but a preposition, summing up the whole
situation:
(1) at liðnum vetri "when winter had passed" (2) at
áliðnum vetri "towards the end of winter"
Maybe it would help to
remember it to think of it literally: (1) with winter [being]
GONE. (2) "with winter [being] GONE ON, or been going on, but not
quite over".