Re: Njall 142 part 10 - - Grace's translation

At 6:47:07 AM on Wednesday, July 15, 2009, Fred and Grace
Hatton wrote:

> Hefir nú vottorð komið fyrir þá fjóra er bera áttu með
> oss. Skylda nú til lög að bera fram kviðinn.

> Now evidence has come before (the court regarding) those
> four who had to bear (witness) with us.

Here I expect that <bera> is elliptical for <bera kvið>:
'those four who were to have brought a verdict with us'.
I'm not entirely sure of the exact sense of <fyrir>, but it
definitely goes with <þá fjóra> as a prepositional phrase
and not with the verb. In context I'm inclined to render it
'against'.

> Now (can't figure out the subject here) according to law
> obliged to give a verdict.

I *think* that the subject of <skylda> is actually <lög>:
<skylda> is 3rd person plural, and <lög> is formally a
plural noun. CV has some examples showing <skylda ... til>
'oblige ... to', and <lög>, not being genitive, cannot be
the object of <til>, so I take this to be a variant of
<Skylda nú lög til at bera fram kviðinn> 'Now law obliges
(us) to bring a verdict'.

> Vorum vér kvaddir að bera um það hvort Flosi Þórðarson
> hljóp lögmætu

> We are

were

> summoned to give a verdict in it

I think that Alan's 'about that' is preferable.

[...]

> Kvaddi hann oss þeirra orða allra er oss skylda lög til um
> að skilja

> He summoned us (using) all those words which oblige us by
> law to decide

'He demanded of us all those words that law requires us to
decide about.' Here <þeirra orða allra> in the genitive is
the thing demanded, and <at skilja um> is 'to decide about'.
I take it that 'all those words' refers to the jury's
findings, making the sense something like 'He summoned us to
make those findings required of us by law'.

> og hann vildi oss að dómi beitt hafa og þessu máli áttu að
> fylgja.

> and he wanted us to have ?? to court and had to pertain to
> this case.

I think that this should be read as if it had an <er> at the
beginning of *each* clause:

Kvaddi hann oss þeirra orða allra er oss skylda lög til um
at skilja ok (er) hann vildi oss at dómi beitt hafa ok
(er) þessu máli áttu at fylgja.

He summoned us to make those findings required of us by
law and (which) he wanted us to have 'asked' in court and
(which) had to pertain to this case (i.e., properly or by
right pertained to it).

Apparently in this legal context <beitt> (from <beiða> 'to
ask, to request') can mean something close to 'presented'.

It's an echo from Ch. 135, where Mörð says:

Kveð ek yðr þeira orða allra, er yðr skylda lög til um at
bera ok ek vil yðr at dómi beitt hafa ok þessu máli eigu
at fylgja.

[...]

> Kvaddi hann um handselt mál Þorgeirs Þórissonar.

> He summoned regarding the turning over of the case of
> Thorgeir Thorisson.

Here <handselt> is a participial adjective modifying <mál>:
'the turned-over case, the proxied case'.

> Höfum vér nú allir eiða unnið og réttan kvið vorn og orðið
> á eitt sáttir,

> We have now all performed oaths and our correct verdict
> and become to a man? agreed,

<Réttan> is the masculine accusative singular of the past
participle of <rétta>. <Sáttir> is the masculine nominative
plural of the adjective <sáttr (á)> 'agreed (on)'.

We have now all taken oaths and 'set up' our verdict and
become agreed on one (thing), ...

> berum á Flosa Þórðarson kviðinn og berum hann sannan að
> sökinni.

> (we) give a verdict against Flosi Thordarson and bear him
> proof to the case.

See Alan's translation here (and in similar passages later).

> Berum vér svo skapaðan níu búa kvið þenna fram í

> We, nine neighbors, give that verdict so shaped in

<Níu búa> can't be in apposition to the subject: the
nominative plural of <búi> is <búar>. It's a genitive
plural, and <níu búa kvið> is 'verdict of nine neighbors
(acting as jury)'.

[...]

> En ef nokkur hlutur gerist sá í lögvörn þeirra er eg þurfi
> til sóknar að hafa þá kýs eg sókn undir mig.

> But if some thing happens that one? in their legal defense
> which I need to (my) case to have then I choose (to keep?)
> under my (power?) in (the) case.

<Sá> here is 'such' (Z2), and <hafa til e-s> is 'to use for'
(Z14):

But if any such thing occurs in their legal defense that I
need to use for (my) prosecution, then I desire (Z2) the
prosecution under me (i.e., I want the right to respond).

Brian