--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "AThompson" <athompso@...> wrote:

>

> "Vera má að svo sé," segir Runólfur, "en eg hefi hina skilning að

engi sé þeirra maki síð er Gunnar að Hlíðarenda lést og er það líkara
að hér dragi öðrum hvorum (annar hvárr)til bana."

> (It) may be that (it) be so,' says Runólf, `but I have the-other (a

contrary) opinion that no-one (would) be their equal (match) since
Gunnar at Hlíðarendi died and that is more-likely that here (it) draws
one or the other to (their) death. (it will prove fatal to one-or-the
other)'


'síð er' = 'sízt', 'síz' "since", with the same meaning as 'síðan er'.
A variant of this example is cited by Zoega under 'sízt' or 'síz',
conj[unction]: 'engi er þeira maki, s. Gunnarr lézt'--and by CV [
http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/png/oi_cleasbyvigfusson/b0532.png ].

Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson's edition has: 'at engi sje þeira
maki, síz gunnarr at hlíðarenda ljezt'.

Müller's Islansk læsebog has: 'at engi sé þeirra maki sízt Gunnarr at
Hlíðarenda lézt'.

The more etymologically "correct" form is 'síz'. This is a contraction
of 'síð' + 'es' (an archaic form of the relative particle 'er' which
you might have met in poetry, compare: 'þars' = 'þar er' "where"; þás
= 'þá er' "when"). According to a regular Old Norse sound-change, [ð]
and [d] both became [t] before [s], as often in the middle voice of
verbs, for instance, and before the superlative ending in some
adjectives and adverbs. The resulting [ts] was spelt 'z'. I'm guessing
that in 'sízt', this has been reinterpreted as the superlative of the
adverb, owing to its similar pronunciation.

In Modern Icelandic, this 'z' is pronounced [s], the same as 's',
hence the modern spelling 'lést' for Old Norse 'lézt' or earlier 'lézk'.

> smár spengur (could not locate in Z)

It's in there! Look under 'spöng', f. "spangle; floe, flake of ice"
(gen.sg. 'spangar', nom./acc.pl. 'spengr' or 'spangir'). CV "spangle;
ice making a bridge across water" [
http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/png/oi_cleasbyvigfusson/b0585.png ]. It's
declined like 'tönn' (Gordon, § 89), except for the alternative nom.
and acc. plural 'spangir'.

> "Þeir er mestir oflátar (úfláttr?) voru," segja þær.
> 'Those who were most uncut-up (full of themselves?),' they say.

Nominative plural of the noun 'of-láti' "a vain, showy person". I
assume it's derived from the verb 'láta' in such senses as "to behave,
comport oneself" and "to express, say". Compare compounds like
'mikil-látr' "proud, grand" and 'lítil-látr' "meek", and various other
derivatives (e.g. 'látaðr vel' "well-mannered"; læti, n.pl. "noise,
cries; manners, voice"). Magnús Magnússon and Hermann Pálsson have a
nice paraphrase: "'The most conceited people alive,' they replied."

> en það þótti oss að er þeir voru svo fjölorðir og illorðir hingað

til bónda þíns og sona hans.

> but that seemed to us that, that they were so talkative and abusive

towards-here to your husband and his sons.'


The 'at' ('að') is part of a phrasal verb. Zoega offers 'e-m þykkir at
e-u' "one feels hurt at, takes to heart, is displeased at something",
and has the example: 'þótti mönnum mikit at um víg Kartans' "people
were much affected/grieved at the killing of Kjartan". MM & HP
translate: "But we were annoyed at all the unpleasant things they were
saying about your husband and your sons."

Our example has a slightly different syntax from Zoega's 'e-m þykkir
at e-u', and from the example quoted there, in that the thing that
troubles the women in our example is a clausal complement of a
nominative correlative/antecedent pronoun 'þat'. But here's an ominous
exchange from the shorter version of Gísla saga where the syntax is
more like our example:

Nú spyrr Gísli hvárt honum sé þungt.
Now Gisli asks whether he's unhappy.

"Engar eru sóttir á mér," segir Þorkell, "en sóttum verra er þó."
"I'm not ill," says Thorkel, "but it's worse than being ill."

"Hef eg nökkut þat gert," segir Gísli, "að þér þykki við mik at?"
"Have I by any chance done something," says Gisli, "to make you angry
with me?"

"Sá er engi hlutr," segir Þorkell, "ok muntú þess vís verða þó at
síðar sé."
"It's nothing," says Thorkel. "You'll find out eventually."

(Thus according to Benedikt Sveinsson's 1922 edition; the online text
at Netútgáfan has 'þess gert', but is otherwise the same; in BS's
edition, 'þess gert' appears at the corresponding point in the longer
version of the saga, although there the verb in the dependent clause
is 'mislíki', which confirms the meaning "dislike", "be unhappy about".)

Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson have the same as our text: 'enn
þat þótti oss at, er þeir váru svá fjölorðir ok illorðir hingat til
bónda þíns ok sona hans'.

But Müller has a different version: 'en þat þótti oss helzt at, segja
þær, er þeir voru svá fjölorðir ok illorðir hingat til bónda þíns ok
sona hans'.