Hi Alan,

I'm probably nitpicking here, but what about 'inn í gegnum'?
According to this page [
http://imf.hi.is/jgf012.php ], 'inn í gegnum', in the clause 'skríða
inn í gegnum gluggann', is equivalent to 'inn um', so presumably 'í
gegnum' = 'um', at least in this intance. Notice the other examples
where 'í' is optional. I was just wondering if to translate 'í
gegnum' "in through", as a rule, might perhaps add an extra emphasis
that was lacking in the original, likewise "creep in, in through" when
maybe "to creep in through" would be enough? To say nothing of 'út í
gegnum' "out through"...

Ekki horfa út í gegnum gluggann!
Do not look out through the window.

allan veturinn í gegnum
"all through the winter"

fara í gegnum e-ð (mál/skjöl)
"go through a case/documents"

Meyjar flugu sunnan,
myrkvið í gegnum,
Thorpe: "Maids flew from the south, through the murky wood,"

Hann gekk inn í gegnum hina stærri og fullkomnari tjaldbúð (Hebrews
9:11) = '(inn) í gegnum' Greek DIA "through"
New International Version: "he went through the greater and more
perfect tabernacle"

LN

--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "AThompson" <athompso@...> wrote:
>
> Hi LN
>
> I was simply translating an ON `complex preposition' with a MnE complex
> preposition :-) to give a clearer sense of the initial penetration (in)
> and the subsequent thrusting (through).
>
> Cf `In Through The Out Door' Led Zeppelin (1979)
>
> Kveðja
> Alan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: norse_course@yahoogroups.com [mailto:norse_course@yahoogroups.com]
> On Behalf Of llama_nom
> Sent: Sunday, 29 October 2006 5:44 AM
> To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [norse_course] instrumental dative & complex prepositions (í
> gegnum)
>
> 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