Re: Modern Icelandic texts # 2 / Alan's Translation

--- "AThompson" <athompso@...> wrote:

> Here is my translation of `Utan Hringsins'.

Faultless.

> it reminded me a little of a song by Icelandic pop group

It did? I'm sure the pop musicians knew Steinarr's
poem, it will have influenced them. However, the pop
lyric reminded me of a very old Eurovision song ...

> Íráfar

Sp. írafár. Literally "Irish trouble", or "Irishmen's
fury". Don't ask why this has come to mean "fluster",
I don't think anybody rightly knows ...

> Minn skuggi féll um stund
> My shadow fell for a (time) while

"Um stund" in combination with "féll" implies
a very short while - i.e. a moment. "Um stund"
here is very close to "momentarily", "for a
second".

> (Is this the window into your world?)

The ambiguity surrounding that question is, perhaps,
key to the power of the poem. Is this a lovesong, or
is that shadow akin to Plato´s on the wall of a cave?
Is the poet a stalker, or a philosopher? Both?

> Stórir hringir (Vignir/Birgitta)
> Large circles

Please note that the syntax is very loose, and as
a result the "sentences" are not very grammatical.

> Geng í hringi ég veit þú finnur mig.
> (When I) walk in a circle, I know you (will) find me.

Does not really scan as a grammatical sentence. It just
goes "Walk in a circle I know you'll find me." There is
really no "when" implied.

> Breytast í myndir ég leggst í grasið
> (As they) change into (different) shapes, I lie down in the grass

Similarly here - the syntax is very "sparse":
"(They) turn into pictures I lie down in the grass".

> Stórir hringir og hjartalaga
> Large circles and heart-like (heart-shaped?)

Heart-shaped. As in noun "lögun" (shape).

> sem síðan breytast í þig.
> which afterwards change themselves into you

"Síðan" = simply "then, next".
"Themselves" is superfluous. "Breytast" is simply
the intransitive version of "change":

Ég breyti honum = I change him
Ég breytist = I change
Ég breyti mér = I change myself
Ég er breyttur = I am (a) changed (person)
Mér er breytt = I am changed (by somebody)

> Læt mig dreyma um líf á nýjum stað
> (It) makes me dream about life in a new place

"Læt" is 1. person, so = "I let myself dream ..."

Regards,
Eysteinn