Re: Njall 146 part 2 - - Grace's translation

At 4:31:37 PM on Thursday, September 10, 2009, Fred and
Grace Hatton wrote:

> There were several places that had me confused. I would
> appreciate any help.

> Grace



> Þorgeir mælti: "Hvort vilt þú að við vekjum þá?"

> Thorgeir spoke, "Do you wish that we wake them?"

> Kári svarar: "Eigi spyrðu þessa af því að eigi hafir þú
> þetta áður ráðið með þér að vega eigi að liggjandi mönnum
> og vega skammarvíg."

> Kari answers, "You did not ask this because you have not
> previously agreed not to slay sleeping men and slay in
> shameful manslaughter." (too many negatives??)

You got it basically right; now you just have to interpret
it properly! It's a litotes, like 'not unattractive' for
'attractive'; the literal sense is more or less 'You asked
this because you have previously resolved not to slay
sleeping men ...'. But I think that the indirect expression
gives it a different emotional charge from that plain
statement, something more like 'Come on, we all know that
you've previous resolved not to slay sleeping men, so why
are you even asking?'.

> Síðan æptu þeir á þá. Vöknuðu þeir þá og hljópu upp allir
> og þrífa til vopna sinna.

> Afterwards they shouted at them. They awakened then and
> all leaped up and seized their weapons.

> Þeir Kári réðu eigi á þá fyrr en þeir voru vopnaðir.

> They Kari (and Thorgeir) did not attack them before when
> they were armed.

By being too literal, you've changed the meaning; it's
simply 'before they were armed'. Kári and Þorgeirr are
being chivalrous.

> Þorgeir skorargeir hleypur þar að sem fyrir var Þorkell
> Sigfússon.

> Thorgeir skorageir leaps there where before him was
> Thorkell Sigfuss'son.

Here I think that <hlaupa> has more of its other meaning,
'runs, charges'.

> Í því bili hljóp maður að baki honum og fyrr en hann gæti
> unnið Þorgeiri nokkurn geig þá reiddi Þorgeir tveim höndum
> öxina Rimmugýgi og rak í höfuð þeim öxarhamarinn er að
> baki honum stóð svo að hausinn brotnaði í smán mola.

> Just then a man leaped on his back

And again here: the man ran behind him (<at baki honum>).

> and before he was able to do some harm to Thorgeir then
> Thorgeir swung the axe, Rimmgygi, with two hands and drove
> the back of the axe into (the) head (not sure what þeim
> refers to - - his hands?)

The man who was attacking him from behind: <þeim> is the
dative singular masculine of the demonstrative pronoun <sá>
'the, that', used here as a dative of respect functioning
much like a possessive: '(the) head to that one' = 'that
one's head' = 'his head'.

> (of the one) who stood at his back so that the skull broke
> in small pieces.

> Féll sá þegar og var dauður.

> That one fell at once and was dead.

I always get a kick out of this kind of very matter of fact
description.

> En er hann reiddi fram öxina hjó hann á öxl Þorkatli og
> klauf frá ofan alla höndina og féll Þorkell dauður niður.

> And when he swung the axe forward he hewed at (the)
> shoulder of Thorkell and cleaved below the whole arm and
> Thorkell fell down dead.

Here I think that <frá ofan> is simply 'from above': he
drove the axe down (i.e., from above) through Þorkell's
shoulder, cleaving off his whole arm.

> Í móti Kára réð Mörður Sigfússon og Sigurður Lambason og
> Lambi Sigurðarson.

> Mord Sigfuss' son and Sigurd Lambi's son and Lambi
> Sigurd's son attacked Kari in return.

I don't see any basis for 'in return'.

> Hann hljóp að baki Kára og lagði til hans spjóti.

> He leaped to Kari's back and thrust at him with a spear.

I think that he ran at Kári's back.

> Kári fékk séð hann og hljóp upp við lagið og brá í sundur
> við fótunum.

> Kari was able to see him and leaped up with the thrust and
> broke it apart with (his) feet.

He leaped up at the thrust and spread his legs apart (so
that it would pass between them).

> Kom þá lagið í völlinn en Kári hljóp á spjótskaftið og
> braut í sundur.

> Then the thrust came into the ground and Kari leaped at
> the spear shaft and broke?? it asunder.

He leaped onto the spear shaft. (This is probably not a
separate leap; my guess is that he simply came down on it.)
'Broke' is correct: <braut> is 3rd sing. past indic. of
<brjóta>.

[...]

> Eftir það snerist hann á hæli svo sem skaftkringla og að
> Lamba Sigurðarsyni en hann fékk það eitt fangaráðið að
> hann tók á rás undan.

> After that he turned on heels

Singular.

> like a top and towards Lambi Sigurd's son but he took one
> expedient that he took to his heels away.

Here <þat eitt fangaráðit> is 'that one expedient' = 'the
only expedient': 'but he took the only expedient (that gave
him a chance) and ran away'.

Brian