--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "WMajor" <wm@...> wrote:

>
> Thank you all so very much for weighing in -- so could I then address
> the truncated phrase:
>
> "ek skal unna thér engu verr enn mér"
>
> which apparently means, "I will love you no less than myself."
>
> Would it be fair to say that this is an expression of the highest form
> of love? Given that it was carved into a piece of wood, I'd like to
> believe that the intent was one of selfless devotion rather than
> self-absorbed arrogance.

Yes, I don't see any statement of arrogance intended in the
expression. Of course, not everything carved on wood in Old Norse was
so polite...

> What I'm trying to get to is the gist of the poem - would you
> interpret this poem as being written in humility by someone profoundly
> dedicated to their true love,

Yes, I'm sure that's the idea the words are meant to convey.

> or is there a tinge of arrogance to it,
> as in, "You should be so lucky to be with someone like me!"

Not at all.

> The literal English translation doesn't convey this nuance, and I'm
> trying to get to what idiomatic tone is lost in the translation.

Come to think of it, a similar expression will be familiar to many
people in English from Jesus's instruction to "love thy neighbour as
thyself", quoted in the Old Norse Hómilíubók as 'En þú elska náung
þinn svá sem sjálfan þik'. Hómilíubók also advises us to follow the
example of the humble and selfless dove:

Sicut dúfa foeðir annarra unga jafnt sem sína, svá skulum vér ok elska
náunga óra sem sjálfa oss ok duga þeim í þurftir. Því at ást leitar
eigi sinnar þurftar, heldr náungs.

"As the dove nurtures the young of others, so should we too love our
neighbours as ourselves and help them with what they need. For love
seeks not its own needs, but rather those of its neighbour."

As Haukur's example (from more recent Icelandic) shows, the idea that
"loving someone as much one loves oneself" means "loving them as much
as can be" wasn't confined to a Christian religious context.