Re: Njall 142 part 2 - - Grace's translation

At 11:36:39 AM on Friday, June 12, 2009, Fred and Grace
Hatton wrote:

> Whew! I had many difficulties with this section and would
> welcome any help. Grace

> "Nefni eg í það vætti," sagði hann, "að eg tek miskviðu
> alla úr máli mínu hvort sem mér verður ofmælt eða vanmælt.

> "I name witnesses in it," he said, "that I take all slips
> of the tongue out of my case whether as to me happens
> exaggeration or omission.

I suspect that by our standards a more natural word order
would be <Ek nefni vætti í þat, at ek tek ...>, literally 'I
name/appoint witnesses in that, that I take ...' but meaning
'I name/appoint witnesses to the fact that I take ...', or
perhaps even 'to testify to the fact that'. (Similarly with
later instances of this idiom.)

> Vil eg eiga rétting allra orða minna uns eg kem máli mínu
> til réttra laga.

> I claim a right to amend (Z) all my words until I bring my
> case to (the) more correct laws.

Although <lög> is formally a plural, it seems also to refer
to the body of law as a whole and to its formal
requirements. I take <unz ek kem máli mínu til réttra laga>
to be 'until I bring my case into more correct law', meaning
'into more correct legal form'.

> "Nefni eg í það vætti," sagði hann, "að eg býð Flosa
> Þórðarsyni eða þeim manni öðrum en

This seems to be an error for <er>.

> handselda lögvörn hefir fyrir hann að hlýða til eiðspjalls
> míns og til framsögu sakar minnar og til sóknargagna
> þeirra allra er eg hygg fram að færa á hendur honum.

> "I name witnesses in it," said he, "that I announce Flosi
> Thordarson or those other people and (to whom) he has
> lawfully turned over (the case) beforehand to listen to my
> oath and to my declaration of (the) case and to all their
> proofs of a prosecution which I intend to bring forward
> against him.

(Whee! Wordy bloke, isn't he?) I think that <býð ... at
hlýða> is best rendered by 'bid, order ... to listen to';
those being bidden or ordered are 'Flósi Þ. or those other
men who have lawful points of defense made over by hansel
(an agreement formalized by shaking hands)', i.e., Flósi or
his assigned proxies.

> Býð eg lögboði að dómi svo að dómendur heyra um dóm
> þveran."

> I proclaim a demand to the court so that judges hear
> concerning from across??? (the) court."

I believe that <um dóm þveran> is 'across the court': 'I
offer a lawful call to the court in such a way that (the)
judges hear across the court'. I take it that the idea is
'in the clear hearing of every judge' or something similar.

> og helst að lögum og öll lögmæt skil af hendi inna meðan
> eg er að þessu máli."

> and hold myself to (the) law and all prescribed in the law
> ??????????? while I am at this case."

<Inna> is 'to perform', adverbial <af hendi> is 'in turn',
and Zoëga s.v. <skil> (4) has 'pleading' with the example
<öll lögmælt skil> 'all lawful pleading': 'and in turn to
perform all lawful pleading as long as I am involved in this
case'.

> Síðan kvað hann svo að orði: "Þórodd nefndi eg í vætti,
> annan Þorbjörn nefndi eg í það vætti að eg lýsti

> Afterwards he declared so in words, "I named Thorod in
> witness, I name Thorbjorn second witness in it that I
> proclaim

<Kveða at orði> 'speak, express oneself, say':

Then he spoke thus: 'I named Þórodd as witness, second I
named Þorbjörn, to the fact that I proclaimed ... .'

> því er að ben gerðist en Helgi fékk bana af.

> that became a wound which and Helgi made (his) bane of.

'that became a mortal wound and Helgi died of', or in better
English, 'that became a mortal wound from which H. died':
<fá bana> is 'to die', and <fá bana af> is 'to die of/from'.

> Segi eg svo skapaða skóggangssök þessa fram í
> Austfirðingadóm yfir höfði Jóni sem eg kvað að þá er eg
> lýsti."

> I say so (was?) made this case of outlawry in East Firth
> court over (the) head? of Jon as I declare that then I am
> proclaiming?."

<Skapaða> is the past participle used as an adjective
modifying <skóggangssök> (fem. acc. sing.), and the verb is
<segja fram> 'say forth, pronounce, read (a pleading)'. I
*think* that <Segi ek svá skapaða skóggangssök þessa fram>
is something like 'I pronounce this case of outlawry, so
made', meaning 'as I had previously announced it'.

I think that you're right in making <yfir höfði Jóni> 'over
Jón's head', even though <Jóni> is a dative, not the
genitive <Jóns>: <Jóni> appears to be a dative of respect,
functioning almost as a possessive. However, while I've not
been following closely, I don't recall that any significant
<Jón> is involved. In his 1906 Altnordische Saga-Bibliothek
edition Finnur Jónsson explains the usage is follows (my
translation from his German):

<Jón> is here a substitute for the real name of the judge
who will sum up (<reifa>, the <reifingamaðr>) the case.

In other words, it's rather like <John Doe>, but for the
judge.

Finally, in <sem ek kvað at þá er ek lýsti> I take the first
verb to be <kveða at> 'to say': 'as I said when I gave
notice'.

Brian