Re: Njall 135 part 3 / Alan's Translation

At 6:30:55 AM on Wednesday, April 15, 2009, AThompson wrote:

> Here´s my translation.

> I am wondering if there is any subtle difference between:
> það er að ben gerðist and því sári er að ben gerðist,
> because MM/HP´s translation does not seem to make a
> distinction..

I don't think so; see below.

> Also with veita, the object sár (neut) is acc. sg but with
> lýsa the object sári is dat sg. I can only conclude,
> therefore, that heilundar, holundar and mergundar which
> all seem to be fem gen sg are genitives of specification
> (of identity) (see Z157), linked to sár either explicitly,
> in the case of heilund, or implicitly in the case of
> holund and mergund. I would be grateful for any
> clarification on this matter.

(I think that this was intended to be a reference to Gordon,
§157.) I agree with your interpretation: it's a wound, and
specifically either a brain wound, a wound to the body
cavity, or a wound to the marrow.

> Í annað sinn nefndi Mörður sér votta "í það vætti," segir
> hann, "að eg lýsi

> For another time (ie again), Mörð named for himself
> witnesses ‘in that testimony,’ says he, ‘that I proclaim

> lögmætu frumhlaupi á hönd Flosa Þórðarsyni er hann veitti
> Helga Njálssyni

> a punishable personal-assault against (see á hönd, Z1)
> Flosi Þórð’s-son when he inflicted on (see veita e-m
> áverka, Z7) Helgi Njál’s-son

> heilundar sár eða holundar eða mergundar það er að ben
> gerðist en Helgi fékk bana af.

> a brain-wound or body-penetrating-wound or marrow-wound,
> that which was made into (became, turned out to be) a
> mortal wound but (and) Helgi received death from (it).

Here it's <þat er at ben gerðisk> with accusative <þat>
because the antecedent of the pronoun is <sár>; I suspect
that one could also say <þat sár er at ben gerðisk>, on the
model of <því sári er ...> below.

> Í öðru sinni nefndi hann votta "í það vætti að eg lýsi
> heilundarsári eða

> For another time (again) he named witnesses ‘in that
> testimony that I proclaim a brain-wound or

> holundar eða mergundar á hönd Flosa Þórðarsyni, því sári
> er að ben gerðist

> body-penetrating-wound or marrow-wound against Flosi
> Þórð’s-son, with that wound which was made into (became) a
> mortal-wound

I'd say 'proclaim a ... wound against F. Þ., the wound that
became ...'; <því sári> picks up the dative from the main
clause.

> en Helgi fékk bana af á þeim vettvangi (vættvangr) er
> Flosi Þórðarson hljóp til Helga

> but (and) Helgi received death from (it) at that
> spot-where-an-assault-took-place when Flosi Þórð’s-son
> sprang towards Helgi

I take <hlaupa til> to be synonymous with <hlaupa at> 'to
attack' rather than the more literal 'to spring towards'.

Brian