Re: Kjalnesinga Saga - - Chapter 3 part 2 - - Grace's translation

At 11:31:25 AM on Monday, January 18, 2010, Fred and Grace
Hatton wrote:

> This seemed pretty rough going.

It was indeed.

> "Hversu lengi skal svo fram fara faðir að sjá hundur er eg
> sótti til skógar í sumar skal hér ganga um tún svo
> frjálslega sem hann eigi oss öngu að svara?

> "How long shall (this?) go on,

Not 'this', but 'thus, so, in this way': 'How long shall
this go on so'.

> father, that that dog who I prosecuted to outlawry in
> summer shall walk over the field here so freely as (if) he
> (need) answer to no one.

... as if he had nothing (öngu) for which to answer to us
(oss).

> Sýnist mér ef slíkt þolist af þínum nábúum sem öðrum muni
> eigi mikið þykja fyrir að brjóta þitt boð eða hirða eigi
> hvað vér mælum."

> (It) seems to me if such is tolerated from your neighbor
> then? to others will not think much before to break your
> edict or not care about what we speak."

<Þínum nábúum> is plural, so it's 'your neighbors'. Zoëga
s.v. <þykkja> (2) has <mér þykkir fyrir e-u> 'I dislike, am
unwilling to'. <Sem> is followed by a subjunctive (muni),
so the basic sense is 'as if': 'as if others would not be
very unwilling to break ...'. You can actually use this
wording if you reverse the clauses: 'It seems to me as if
others would not be very unwilling to violate your command
or to care not what we say, if such is tolerated from your
neighbors'. If you keep the clausal order, it's easiest to
translate <ef> as 'that if' and <sem> as 'then': 'It seems
to me that if such is tolerated from your neighbors, then
others would not be very unwilling to violate your command
or to ignore what we say'.

> Þorgrími kveðst mikið þykja til slíks haft "eða hvað viltu
> nú að hafast?"

> Thorgrim said of himself to have thought much about such
> "or what do you want to do now?"

<Eða> here is a connective linking the question to a
preceding statement; 'but' would probably be the best
translation here (Zoëga s.v. <eða> (4)). While 'said of
himself' is the literal sense of <kvezk>, it isn't really a
natural translation. Take a look at the last example but
one in Zoëga s.v. <kveða> (4): <Kára kvaðsk (= Kári kvað
sér) önnur ferð betri þykkja> 'K. said he thought another
course preferable'. <Þorgrími> is a dative, like <Kára>,
and we have 'Þ. says he has thought much about that'. (See
Z. s.v. <slíkr> (2) for the final 'that'.)

> Mér þykir eigi það í að virða að faðir hans bjóði nokkura
> sæmd fyrir hann."

> It doesn't seem to me that his father would offer? to
> estimate? some honour for him."

This is the nastiest sentence in the whole passage. I'm
reasonably sure that it can be punctuated <Mér þykkir eigi
þat í at virða, at faðir hans bjóði nökkura sœmd fyrir
hann>, and that we want Z. s.v. <sœmd> (2), 'redress for
loss or injury'. <Mér þykkir þat eigi í at virða, at> is a
usage that I've not seen before, but I'm inclined to
interpret it fairly literally: 'It does not seem to me "in"
to estimate that', i.e., 'I don't think it likely that'. If
that's right, <bjóða> must be used here in the sense 'bid,
order': 'I don't think it likely that his father would
demand redress for him'.

> Halda þeir nú til njósnum nær Búi gengur heim hjá.
> They wait now for news nearby of Bui going home close by.

Z. s.v. <halda> I(5): <halda njósnum> 'to keep watch, to
spy' (= <Halda njósnum til um e-t>); s.v. <nær> (7) 'when'.
<Hjá> as an adverb is 'by, past', and <heim> is 'homewards',
so it's 'Now they keep watch for when Búi goes by on his way
home'.

> Vildi eg að þú létir fara með þér hið fæsta tvo vaska menn
> og bærir vopn en færir eigi slyppur sem konur."

> I would want that you allow to go with you the two most
> capable brave men and carry weapons and go not unarmed as
> a woman."

<Hit fæsta> is 'at least (Z. s.v. <fár> (1): <sex menn it
fæsta> 'at least six men'): 'at least two valiant men'.

> Búi segir: "Skyldur er eg að gera eftir þínum vilja en
> þungt er fóstru minni að annast slíka fleiri sem eg er.

> Bui says, "I am obliged? to behave according to your
> wishes (I know it's a verb, but couldn't make the English
> work) but it is is difficult to concern? myself about my
> foster brother more than I am.

It actually isn't a verb: <vilja> here is the gen., dat. and
acc. sing. of <vili> 'will, wish, desire', so <eptir þínum
vilja> is indeed 'according to your wish'. CV s.v. <anna>
(II.1.gamma) gives <annast> 'to engage in battle', a sense
omitted by Zoëga: 'but it is more (fleiri) difficult for my
foster brother to engage [one] such as I am in battle'.

> En vant er að sjá þótt fund okkarn Þorsteins beri saman
> hverjir frá kunna að segja þótt eg eigi við liðsmun
> nokkurn.

> But difficult?? is to see although our meeting, Thorsteins
> and mine, coincides each to understand about? (I don't
> really get this whole sentence) to say I seemed not with
> some odds.

<Vant> is from <vanr> 'lacking, wanting'; <vant er at sjá>
is 'it remains to be seen'. At the end of Z. s.v. <bera>
II(2): <fund várn bar saman> 'we met'. <Eigi> is the modern
first person singular present subjunctive of <eiga> 'to
have'; ON used <eiga> here. Finally, <eiga við> is 'to have
to do with, to fight with', so the whole thing must be: 'But
it remains to be seen, even though Þ. and I meet, who can
tell of (segja frá) [it], though I fight against some odds'.

> Búi var þá kominn á hæð þá er heitir Kléberg er hann sá
> eftirförina.

> Bui was then come to a hill then which is called Kleberg
> when he saw those coming after.

<Þá> is the fem. acc. sing. determiner: <hæð þá> 'that
hill'.

> Þeir Þorsteinn fóru mikið og er þeir komu yfir læk þann er
> þar var þá heyra þeir að þaut í slöngu Búa og fló steinn.

> They Thorstein ran hard and when they came over that ???
> which was there then they hear that Bui's sling whizzed
> and a stone flew.

<Læk> is the the acc. sing. of <lækur>, the modern spelling
of <lœkr> 'a brook, a rivulet'.

> Sá kom fyrir brjóstið á einum manni Þorsteins og fékk sá
> þegar bana.

> That (stone) came in the chest of a one man of Thorsteins
> and gave that one (his) death immediately.

The second clause, <fekk sá þegar bana>, has <sá> 'that one,
he' as its subject, not <Sá> 'That [stone]': 'he at once got
his death', 'he died immediately'.

> Þá sendi Búi steina nokkura og hafði mann fyrir hverjum.
> Then Bui sent some stones and aimed at each man.

I think that it's the other way about: 'and [he] had a man
in front of each', i.e., 'and each one hit a man'. (Cf. CV
s.v. <fyrir> A.II.4 <verða fyrir e-u> 'to be hit, taken,
suffer from a thing'.)

> Voru þeir Þorsteinn þá mjög komnir að Búa.

> They, Thorstein (and company) were then come (very close?)
> to Bui.

In this context <mjök> is 'nearly, almost'; CV even has a
fairly close parallel amongst its examples. 'Þ. and his men
had then almost reached Búi.'

> Sneri Búi þá af hæðinni annan veg.
> Bui turned then from the hill on another road.

Here <annan veg> is 'in another direction' (Z. s.v. <vegr>
(4)).

> Var þá leitið eitt í millum þeirra.
> Then was one road between them.

You were thinking of <leið> 'way, road', but apart from
having the wrong final consonant, it's feminine, so that
with the article you'd get <leiðin>. Here the postposed
article indicates that we're dealing with a neut. nom. or
acc. sing., so without the article it must be <leiti> 'a
hill'. <Eitt> follows the noun, so it probably means 'only,
but': 'There was then only the hill between them'.

> Í því laust yfir myrkri því að hvergi sá af tám sér.

> At that darkness came on suddenly because neither saw his
> ???

<Tám> is the dat. plur. of <tá> 'toe', and <hvergi> is
'each, everyone'. The second <því> isn't part of the
compound conjunction <því at> 'because': it's part of
<því myrkri>, literally 'that darkness' but better
translated here as 'such darkness'. Finally, <af> is 'by
means of, with' (Z. (10)): 'At that such darkness came on
that everyone saw with his toes'. In other words, they had
to feel their way, because they couldn't see. I like that,
but it took me quite a while to puzzle it out.

Whew! <g>

Brian