These - comments are printed up and kept for a useful reference
what I have now in mind - the phrase a certain bull - prepares the
reader for the events of his scaring the natives - and for what happens
next - and yes I did read on - he becomes something of a "Mascot"
Which I was well -pleased to read 
Thanks again
Patricia
-------Original Message-------
 
From: llama_nom
Date: 07/08/2008 19:19:51
Subject: [norse_course] Re: Greenland Sage Ch6 Part 2 Patricia's Translation
 
--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Patti (Wilson)"
<originalpatricia@...> wrote:
>
> Thanks LN - these comments of yours are always of much help
> I am unsure but the einn after griðung - I thought would have been
> one rather special - I wonder with what  other word amd I confusing
> einn - like - einn dag - or what ever - when it means one particular
> whatever
> And it pays to "cheat" and read ahead - yes - like  cheating at cooking
> With Delia Smith
> Very useful indeed
> Kveðja
> Patricia
 
Sæl Patricia,
 
I can think of a few possible ways of translating it - "a bull, "one
bull", "this one bull", "this particular bull", "this one particular
bull", "a certain bull" any of which might work depending on what
sounds most natural in the context according to the style you're
aiming at, whether more formal or colloquial; natural and idiomatic,
or trying to mimic apsects of the Old Norse idiom. In theory also
"only a bull", but I think that makes less sense in the context.
 
> Fénaðr gekk þar á land upp, en þat var brátt, at graðfé varð úrigt
ok gerði mikit um sik. Þeir höfðu haft með sér griðung einn.
 
As it's a bit of an afterthought telling us that they had a bull AFTER
telling is what it did, maybe "They had a bull with them." would sound
slightly awkward, abrupt and redundant - but then if you were aiming
to recreate the style of the original regardless of how strange that
might sound in English, then that might be okay. "They had a certain
bull with them." is more like the sort of thing you'd expect to come
before hearing anything else about it. One advantage of using a fairly
colloqial style would be that if you went with something like "They
had this one bull with them." it's easier for a reader to think of the
slight awkwardness as representing the natural way someone might be
telling the story aloud, adding afterthoughts and extra explanations
as they go along: "Oh, did I mention, they had this one bull with
them?" Rather like the authorial comment in one of our recent
installments about it being still the early days of Christianity in
Greenland.
 
To get back to 'einn' in general, I'd say that "a particular" or "one
particular" are both good ways to translate it sometimes, but if
you're going for a more idiomatic English style, a simple "a" is
sometimes enough, e.g.
 
Oddr gengr nú aptr í mörkina ok höggr sér kylfu eina
"Odd goes back into the forest now and cuts himself a club"
 
There's nothing particular about it, it's just whatever branch is
handy that can be improvised into a weapon.
 
En er á leið daginn, sáu þeir, at dýr eitt furðu stórt kom fram ór
skóginum.
"And as the day drew to a close, they saw a creature, tremendously
big, come out of the wood."
 
You could maybe say "a certain creature" or "one particular creature"
or "this one creature", as it is a distinctive and particular
creature, but still, its seems more natural to me here to just say "a
creature".
 
Þar var einn alinn hrútur sem á sumrum gekk í töðum og túnum ómarkaður
því hann var alltíð heima við bæ og gekk eigi með öðru fé.
"There was a certain tame ram there which went unmarked in the
home-fields and meadows, as it was always at home at the farm and
didn't go with the other livestock."
 
Here is seems more natural to say "a certain" or "one particula ram"
or "one ram in particular", although that last is maybe a bit too
emphatic. Although livestock have been the subject of discussion
before this passage, "one in particular" suggests to me that it ought
to have said something similar about other rams immediately before
(e.g. a there were a lot of rams which behaved like this, and here is
one particular - possibly extreme - example of them), rather than just
that some sheep had gone missing.
 
Reið hann eftir honum upp frá bæjum og sá á  einum  litlum hálsi til
manna undan sér.
"He rode after him from the farm and saw, on a (certain) small ridge,
a man below him."
 
Here "certain" or "particular" don't seem wildly unnatural to me,
although possibly a bit redundant or overemphatic. I'd probably go for
"one small ridge" or "a small ridge", but in an example like this, I'd
say it's a matter of taste or of what style of translation you're
attempting.
 
LN
 
 
------------------------------------
 
A Norse funny farm, overrun by smart people.
 
 
To escape from this funny farm try rattling off an e-mail to:
 
 
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
 
<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional
 
<*> To change settings online go to:
    (Yahoo! ID required)
 
<*> To change settings via email:
 
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
 
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: