a stupid
question that you all have probably been asked many times... How hard is it
learning Old Norse.. I'm from Danmark, I now live in the US, I'm part of the SCA
here in the US, I'm a 10th century Viking, great times :) however, I'm trying to
get into it with heart and soul, so therefor I would like to learn Old Norse or
at least SOME Old Norse :) I was looking over all the lessons you all have
around here... they're all great, however, what I learn alot from too is hearing
words spoken, so now my question is, is there anywhere I can find words spoken
with their meanings... a bunch of soundfiles are fine :) I'm determined to learn
this... current I speak, ofcourse Danish, English, then I know German, some
Swedish and Norwegian. not sure if this helps any :)
thank you
much for taking the time to read this email.
In
Service,
Ísólfr
From: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:norse_course@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Patricia Sent: Monday, July 11, 2005 11:22 AM To:
norse_course@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [norse_course] Re:
Miscellanea Section L Subsection (iii)/Translation
I am glad to see that LN, because I am really pleased to
have got most of the Kennings, Kennings are worth researching IMO, I am no
poet, but the use of Kennings and allusion are both fascinating in their
way
Kveðja
Patricia
The idea of the bane/sorrow of snakes as a kenning for
winter, is now a favorite of mine
Subject: [norse_course] Re: Miscellanea
Section L Subsection (iii)/Translation
Well, I butted in earlier because I thought this was
a bit of a tangled one and not really fair to unleash on beginners, but
actually you all did impressively well in riddling out the
meanings. In case anyone doesn't have access to Gordon's
translation, here it is: "I have laid a loop on the heath beyond
Jordan--the wise lady will remember this during the serpent's sorrow
[lit. path-thong's]; but I think it seems far to all stay-at-home's
to go thither; blood fell warm on the wide plain."
>
> 'Ek hefi lagða lykkju leiðar þvengs of heiði > I have placed
a coil of lace of (the) way over (the) heath.
'leiðar þvengs'
"lace/thong of the way" [snake] would seem to be parenthetical, not
connected with this sentence but rather with 'sút'. The 'sút
þvengs leiðar' "sorrow of the thong of the road" = "serpent's
sorrow". The skalds often spliced their sentences like this, and
the confusion caused by the fact that he's already talking about tying
knots may well be deliberate!
The kenning might seem bizarre but is
actually a conventional way of referring to seasons in skaldic verse,
according to how amenable the weather is to snakes. Snorri says
that winter can be called 'bani orma' "death/bane/killer of snakes", and
summer 'líkn ormanna' "comfort/relief/mercy of the snakes". He
cites Ormr Steinþórsson's kenning 'orms tregi' "snake's grief" for
winter.
Did the poets care about snakes? I think it was just a
good excuse for gratuitous snake-kennings. For example,
Sörlastikki, in Sörla þáttr, has 'dalreyðar miskunnar' "dale-rorqual's
[=land-fish = serpent's] mercies", that is to say: the season which is
kind to the snake, i.e. summer. Similarly Egill Skallagrímsson
called summer 'dalmiskunn fiska'. Here the elements of the kenning
are swapped, but the intended meaning is 'miskunn dalfiska' "mercy of
[i.e. for] dale-fishes", summer.
> Snotr minnisk
þess svanni > A wise woman (will) be reminded of that
Or
simply "remember that" (his tying of the knots).
See above: sorrow nothing to do with the wise woman,
just part of the kenning for winter. Yes, I think
dat.sg.
> en hykk at þó þykki > but I think that
nevertheless (it) seems
The (dative) subject of 'þykki' is
'heimdrögum öllum' "all stay-at- homes" in the final line: I think it
seems to them; I think [that] they think [that] it [is] a long way to
walk/go there [to where I tied the knots, on the heath beyond the River
Jordan].
> þangat langt at ganga > a long way to walk
from there,
'þangat' "to there, thither" (þann veg at), rather
than "from there, thence", which would be 'þaðan'. Slip of the
keyboard, no doubt.
> (blóð fell varmt á víðan >
blood fell warm on (the) wide > völl) heimdrögum öllum > plain,
for all those who yearn for [are drawn to] home
I'm not even
sure there needs to be an excuse to mention blood in Viking
poetry. Violence was done, it almost goes without saying.
Like the woman, it might refer to a particular event, or it might be
just part of the convention. It seems like a parenthetical
interjection, as Gordon punctuates it, in the middle of the sentence
about it seeming a long way to stay-at-homes.
How was that?
Hope I haven't confused things even
more.