Re: Njall 142 part 7 - - Grace's translation

At 2:57:50 PM on Monday, June 29, 2009, Fred and Grace
Hatton wrote:

> Sendimaður sagði að annar þeirra bjó við málnytu "og hefir
> bæði kýr og ær að búi

> (The) trustworthy man

Messenger.

> said that one of them lived with milking livestock "and
> has both cows and ewes at home?

'At (his) farm' might be a better choice here.

> en annar á þriðjung í landi því er þeir búa á og fæðir sig
> sjálfur

> and (the) other owns a third in land where they live on
> and (their?) father himself

No father here: <fæðir> (older <fœðir>) is third person
present singular of <fœða> 'to feed; to rear; to give birth
to'. 'But the other owns a third of the land on which they
live and feeds himself', presumably meaning that he grows
enough on his share for his own needs.

> og hafa þeir eina eldstó og hinn, er landið leigir, og
> einn smalamann."

> and they have only (one) hearth and that one, who rents
> the land, and one shepherd."

I think that <hinn, er landið leigir> is co-subject with
<þeir> of <hafa>: 'and they and the one rents the land (from
them) have (in common) a single hearth and shepherd'.

> Þórhallur mælti: "Enn mun þeim fara sem fyrr að þeim mun
> hafa yfir sést og skal eg þetta allskjótt rengja fyrir
> þeim

> Thorhall spoke, "Still will (it) go with them as before
> that (it) will have been overlooked by them and I shall
> very soon set aside this for them

'Reject' seems to fit the context a bit better than 'set
aside'; isn't he rejecting a challenge to two members of the
jury?

> og svo þó að Eyjólfur hefði hér alldigur orð um að rétt
> væri."

> and also still that Eyjolf had here very important words?
> concerning (it) that (it) were correct."

'And (shall do) so even though Eyjólf had here very big
words about (it) that (it) was correct', which I take to
mean that he had made boasts to that effect. (I would not
translate the subjunctive <væri> as 'were': in this context
it doesn't correspond to an English subjunctive even for
those of us who still use the latter.)

> Mörður gekk þá að dómi og nefndi sér votta "í það vætti,"
> sagði hann "að eg ónýti

> Mord went then to court and named witnesses for himself, "
> in witness thereof," said he, "that I nullify

> lögruðning Eyjólfs Bölverkssonar fyrir það er hann ruddi
> þá menn úr kviðinum er að réttu eiga í að vera.

> (the) legal challenge of Eyjolf Bolverkson for it when he
> challenged those men out of the jury who had to be there
> correctly.

Here I think that <fyrir þat er hann ruddi> is best
translated as 'because he challenged' (more literally, 'on
account of that, that he challenged'). <Eiga> here is 'have
a right', and this is further emphasized by <at réttu>
'rightfully'; <er at réttu eiga í at vera> is 'who
rightfully have a right to be in (it)', or in somewhat
better English, 'who certainly have a right to be in it'.

> Er sá hver réttur í búakviði er hann á þrjú hundruð í
> landi og þaðan af meira

> That one who is correctly in a jury of neighbors who has
> three hundred in land and even more still

The first <er> is the verb 'is'; the second is the relative
particle. 'Each one (sá hverr) is rightly in a jury of
neighbors when he has three hundreds of land and from that
more', i.e., when he has three hundreds of land or more.

> þó að hann hafi enga málnytu.

> that he have no milking livestock.

Although he have no milch cows. (Or in more current
English, 'even though he has no milch cows'.)

> Hinn er og réttur í búakvið er hann býr við málnytu þó að
> hann eigi eigi land."

> That one is also correctly in a jury of neighbors; he is a
> farmer with milking livestock even though he owns no
> land."

... when he has a household with milch cows, even though ...

(<Býr> is from <búa>.)

> Lét hann þá koma vættið í dóminn. Gekk hann nú þangað að
> er búarnir voru og bað þá

> Then he had witnesses come into the court.

<Vættið> here is 'the testimony' (that he has just given).
(It can't be plural: that would be <vættin>.)

Brian