--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Fred and Grace Hatton"
<hatton@...> wrote:

>
> Hi Alan,
> Thanks for your comments!
>
> In your translation, I think that spjóti could be the instrumental

dative

> rather than accusative. If it is, I will be doing the happy dance

because I

> was able to recognize it. If it is, it would be translated " thrust

through

> with a spear."

Hi Grace,

Yes, you can dance ;-) 'spjóti' is dative (instrumental). Compare:

Bresti ok leggr til hans með spjóti ok rekr á honum miðjum ok í gegnum
hann.

Bresti also thrusts at him with a spear and drives it into his middle
and through him.

With verbs of stabbing and thrusting, it can often work just as well
to translate it "with a spear" or to make it the direct object of the
verb in English, although sometimes I suppose it might depend on the
context or stylistic choices.

ok lagði hann spjóti í gegnum
and thrust a spear through him
and ran him through with a spear

Þ. leggr hann spjóti til bana (Zoega's example, leggja 12)
Þ. stabbed him to death with his spear

leggr hann spjóti til Bjarnar
he thrusts a spear at Björn
he thrusts at Björn with his spear

Guðrún rekr hann spjóti í gegn
G. drives a spear through him
G. runs him through with a spear

But Old Norse also uses the instrumental dative for the missile with
verbs of throwing and shooting, even where we would make the missile
the direct object of the verb in English.

þá fleygir hann spjóti til hans
then he threw a spear at him

Þá skaut Gríss spjóti til Hallfrøðar
Then Gríss cast a spear at Hallfrøðr

Þórir skaut spjóti ok varð fyrir sá maðr er næstr sat Steinólfi.
Þ. cast a spear and it hit the man who was sitting next to Steinolf.

Ok er Þorbjörn ætlaði at kasta steininum skruppu honum foetrnir
And (just) as Þ. intended to cast the stone, his feet slipped
___________________________________________________________

Alan,

I would just translate 'í gegnum' as "through" (synonumous with
'gegnum'), rather than "in through". Compare:

í/á mót(i) towards
til móts towards
til handa for
á hönd/hendr towards, against
í/á milli/miðli between
í gegn towards, against
í hjá at, by, with
fyrir ofan above
fyrir vestan to the west of

Jan Faarlund calls these sort of constructions "complex prepositions"
in his Old Norse Syntax, some being in origin two prepositions, others
a preposition followed by a word that still behaves independently as a
noun in ON, in which case "the prepositional phrase is grammaticalized
and used in a metaphorical sense".

LN

>
>
> Alan's translation below:
> helst hlífa. Gunnar hjó undan honum báðar fætur. Kolskeggur lagði Karl
> best protect himself. Gunnar hewed both legs from under him (ie he cut
> off both legs). Kolskegg thrust
>
> spjóti í gegnum. Eftir það tóku þeir herfang mikið.
> a spear in through Karl. After that they took great battle-loot (booty).
>
> Grace
> Fred and Grace Hatton
> Hawley Pa
>