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

>
> Þeir Eiríkur urðu sekir
>
> They outlawed Eric

Eiríkur is nominative; compare 'þeir Þorgestur'. Gwyn Jones
translates, "Eiríkur and his following were outlawed [...] Thorgest
and his men were combing the islands for him".

> Gunnbjarnarsker
> Gunnbjarn's skerries

Gunnbjarnar is the genitive of Gunnbjörn, so if the latter is
Anglicised as Gunnbjorn, I suppose we ought to call them Gunnbjorn's
skerries.

> fylgdu Eiríki
> followed Eric

'fylgja' can mean "to follow" or "to accompany". In this context, I
think "accompany" is probably meant. GJ has "escorted".

> Kveðst Eiríkur þeim skyldu verða að þvílíku trausti sem

hann mætti sér við koma ef þeir kynnu hans að þurfa.

"E. said that he would be just such help to them as he might be able
to perform if they should need him."

'koma sér við' "to bring about, effect, be able to do".
'verða at e-u' "to become something"
'þvílíku trausti' "such help, support"
'þeim' "to them"

'skyldu' is the past infinitive of 'skulu', here subordinated to
'kveðst'; 'verða' is subordinated to 'skyldu'.

'kynnu', past subjunctive plural of 'kunna' (modern form; in early Old
Norse this was 'kynni' like the singular). For this sense of 'kunna',
see Zoega 11 "to chance, happen" ('hvar sem þik kann at at bera'
"wheresoever thou may happen to arrive").

'þurfa' takes a genitive object, indicating what is needed, hence 'hans'.

> undan Snæfellsjökli

Literally "from under S." GJ "by way of S."

> Bláserkur
> Pale-shirt?

Blue-shirt or maybe Dark/Black-shirt.

> Hann fór þaðan suður að leita ef þar væri byggjanda.
> He sailed thence south to seek if there were (any)habitable (place).

That's right: it's that 'gerundive' construction we met recently.
Skólavefurinn has a note: "Hægt að búa."

> Hann var hinn fyrsta vetur í Eiríkseyju, nær miðri hinni vestri

byggðinni.

> He stayed the first winter in Eric's Isle, near the middle of the

western (both Gwyn Jones and M & P have Eastern, so what we think of
as the western settlement didn't exist yet and this is the western
part of the Eastern settlement, if that makes sense) settlement.

Ah, I see. That had me a bit confused. Thanks for the clarification!

> Eiríkshólmum

Nominative Eiríkshólmar (plural).

> Þá þóttist hann kominn fyrir botn Eiríksfjarðar

"He thought that he had come before (i.e. up to, as far as) the head
of Eiríksfjörður."

> fyrir mynni Eiríksfjarðar.
> before the mouth of Eric's Firths.

Genitive sg. "before the mouth of Eric's Firth". 'fjörðr' is a
masculine u-stem, declined like 'skjöldr'.

> að byggja landið það er hann hafði fundið
> to settle land that he had found

"to settle THE land that he had found"

> þangað
> thence

"thither"! (A typo, I'm sure. If I had a golden arm-ring for every
time I've mixed those two up...)

> Réðst Þorbjörn þangað byggðum og gerðist göfugmenni mikið.
> Þorbjorn settled in at once in the settlements and didmuch for noble

men.

GJ: "Th. moved house there and became a man of great note." Compounds
with -menni denoting a sort of person are neuter.

LN