Hi Grace

 

Please find inserted comments. I know they are brief but hopefully they are adequate. I have underlined the words or phrases in the original text where I think you have gone astray and provided either a brief explanation under your translation or an alternate reading within your translation. I hope you can make sense of this. Unfortunately, I am unable to compete with the quality of Lama Nom’s fantastic feedback.  If you have any doubts check my translation posting, particularly the table at the bottom which is a word by word analysis of the grammar.

 

Kveðja

Alan

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: norse_course@yahoogroups.com [mailto:norse_course@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Fred and Grace Hatton
Sent: Sunday, 23 October 2005 12:40 AM
To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [norse_course] Hrafnkel 295

 

295 Þetta þing var harðla fjölmennt. Váru þar flestir höfðingjar,

At the Thing was a very (big) crowd.  Most of the chiefs were there,

 

            Noting that in the original þing is the grammatical subject and fjölmennr is an adjective.

 

þeir er váru á Íslandi. Sámr finnr alla höfðingja ok bað sér

they who were in Iceland.  Sam finds all the chiefs and asked for himself

 

            finna can also have the extended meaning of to ‘meet’ or ‘visit’ which may be more appropriate here, although I was tempted to translate it as ‘seeks out.’

 

 

trausts ok liðsinnis, en einn veg svöruðu allir, at engi kvazk

support and assistance, but all answered in one way, that no talk?

 

            engi is the subject here, meaning ‘none,’ ie none of the chieftains, kvazk is past tense of kveðast, ‘to say of oneself’;

 

eiga svá gott Sámi upp at gjalda, at ganga vildi í deild við

(would be good enough?) of possessions so good to repay, to wish to undertake a lawsuit with

 

            eiga is a verb here meaning ‘to be obliged to’. Please see my translation for further elaboration on this clause.

 

Hrafnkel goða ok hætta svá sinni virðingu, segja ok þat einn

the chief, Hrafnkel, and so risk one’s reputation, also said that the

 

300 veg flestum farit hafa, þeim er þingdeilur við Hrafnkel hafa

way most have gone, (with) those who have had lawsuits with H.

 

            one way (it) to have gone with most, flestum is dat.

 

haft, at hann hafi alla menn hrakit af málaferlum þeim, er við

that he has treated [ driven out, hrekja] all those men badly in lawsuits, who have

 

hann hafa haft.

had them with him.

 

 

Sámr gengr heim til búðar sinnar, ok var þeim frændum

Sam went [goes] home to his booth, and it was to them, (his) kinsmen,

 

           

 

þungt í skapi ok uggðu, at þeira mál mundi svá niðr falla, at

heavy in mood and anxiety, (fearing) that for them the time might so (come)of (their) death, that

 

            uggðu is past tense of ugga, to fear, thus ‘feared’; mál here has the meaning ‘suit, action, cause, case’. See my translation for further explanation on this clause.

 

305 þeir mundi ekki fyrir hafa nema skömm ok svívirðing. Ok svá

they might not for (it?) have to take [would have (gotten) nothing for (it) except] shame and disgrace.  And

 

mikla áhyggju hafa þeir frændr, at þeir njóta hvárki svefns né

the kinsmen had such great anxiety that they needed [enjoyed] neither sleep nor

 

matar, því at allir höfðingjar skárusk undan liðsinni við þá

food, because all of the chiefs refused [withdrew, drew back, skerask] the kinsmen assistance with it

 

frændr, jafnvel þeir, sem þeir væntu, at þeim mundi lið veita.

       even those, that they (had) hoped that would help them.

 

Grace

Fred and Grace Hatton

Hawley , Pa