At 2:01:14 PM on Saturday, February 13, 2010, rob13567
wrote:
> Unnur hafði og með sér marga þá menn er mikils voru verðir
> og stórættaðir.
> Unn also then had with her many men who were worthy and
> high-born.
The first <og> here is 'also', and <þá> is not the adverb
'then', but rather the masculine accusative plural of <sá>
'the, that', modifying <menn>. <Verðir> is the masc. nom.
plural of the adjective <verðr> 'worthy'. It doesn't modify
<menn> -- it's in the wrong case -- but it does refer to
<menn>, via the relative particle <er>: 'men who were worthy
(of something)'. Zoëga s.v. <verðr> says that the
(something) will be in the genitive case, and here <mikils>
is in the genitive: 'men who were worth of much', i.e., who
were very worthy.
> Maður er nefndur Kollur er einna var mest verður af
> föruneyti Unnar.
> A man who is-named Koll who was one [of the?] most worth
> of Unn's entourage.
This is a bit tricky. The genitive plural <einna> is used
as an intensifier; Z. s.v. <einn> (6) gives the examples
<einna manna bezt> 'best (one) of all men' and <einna verst>
'by far the worst'. Also, the first <er> is the verb:
'[There] is [a] man named Koll who was the very most worthy
of Unn's entourage'.
> Kom mest til þess ætt hans.
> Thus most came to his lineage. [Obviously doesn't mean
> that. I must be missing something here.]
The subject of the sentence is <ætt hans>, and one of the
main senses of <koma til> is 'to cause': 'His lineage most
caused this', i.e., Koll's lineage was the main cause of his
excellence.
> Hann var hersir að nafni.
> He was a chieftan of namesake. [Again, not sure what I am
> missing.]
<At nafni> is 'by name' or 'by title/position': 'He was a
chieftain by position', 'He was called a chieftain', or the
like.
> Sá maður var og í ferð með Unni er Hörður hét.
> That man who traveled with Unn was named Hord.
Here again you missed <og> 'also', and the <er> 'who' comes
later: 'That man was also on the journey with Unn who was
called Hörð'. More idiomatically, 'Unn was also
accompanied by a man called Hörð'.
> Hann var enn stórættaður maður og mikils verður.
> He was a highborn man and very worthy.
Here <enn> is the adverb whose basic meaning is 'yet,
still'; however, it can also mean 'to boot, further,
moreover' (CV s.v. <en> (3)), a sense that clearly fits
this context better. 'He was moreover a highborn man and
very worthy.'
> Unnur heldur skipinu í Orkneyjar þegar er hún var búin.
> Unn sailed forthwith the ship to (the) Orkney Islands when
> she was ready.
Not quite: you've got <þegar> 'forthwith, at once' out of
place. 'Unn sailed the ship to Orkney at once when she was
ready', or, more idiomatically, 'as soon as she was ready'.
[...]
> Hún var móðir Grélaðar er Þorfinnur jarl átti, son
> Torf-Einars jarls, sonar Rögnvalds Mærajarls.
> She was the mother of Grelader whom Thorfin the earl
> married, son of earl Torf-Einar, son of Rgnvald Maerajarl.
The nominative of <Grélaðar> is <Grélöð>; she also appears
as <Gjaflöð>. I suspect that both versions are attempts to
render some Old Irish feminine name in <-flaith> (cf.
<Kormlöð> for <Gormflaith>), but I've not been able to
identify the original name.
> Þeirra son var Hlöðvir faðir Sigurðar jarls, föður
> Þorfinns jarls, og er þaðan komið kyn allra
> Orkneyingajarla.
> Their son was Hlodvir, father of earl Sigurd, father of
> earl Thorgin, and from whom came all the Orkney earls.
The sense is right, but you may have missed a couple of
technicalities. First, <er> here is the verb: it's a
perfect tense, <er komit> 'have come'. Secondly, <kyn> is
'kin, kindred'. Thus, it's 'and thence have come the kin of
all the Orkney jarls'.
> Eftir það hélt Unnur skipi sínu til Færeyja og átti þar
> enn nokkura dvöl.
> After that Unn sailed her ship to (the) Faroe Islands and
> had a somewhat short stay there.
<Enn> is again the adverb 'yet, still, moreover': 'and had
there moreover some short stay', i.e., she sailed to the
Faroes and moreover stayed there for a bit.
[...]
> Sú hét Ólöf.
> That one was named Olaf.
No, <Ólöf> (feminine) and <Óláfr> (masculine) are related,
but they're two different names.
> Þaðan er komin sú ætt er ágæst er í því landi er þeir
> kalla Götuskeggja.
> From there comes the lineage [???] therefore land that
> they call Gotuskeg.
<Ágæst> (or <ágæzt>) is the superlative of <ágætr>: 'most
famous, most renowned, most excellent'. Word for word it's
'Thence is come the lineage that most renowned is in that
land that they call Götuskeggja', but that's just a little
misleading, in that it makes it sound like <Götuskeggja> is
the name of the land; in fact it's to be read as 'Thence is
come the lineage that most renowned is in that land, [the
one] that they call Götuskeggja'. In more normal English
it's 'From her is descended the most renowned family in that
land, called the Götuskeggjar'. (The family name is
literally 'road's beards', but the actual meaning is
'Gata-men, men of the farm called Gata'.)
[...]
> Nú býst Unnur í brott úr Færeyjum og lýsir því fyrir skip
> verjum sínum að hún ætlar til Íslands.
> Now Unn got ready for a journey abroad out of the Faroe
> islands and therefore makes it known before her ship's
> crew that she intends (to go) to Iceland.
> Hún hefir með sér Ólaf feilan son Þorsteins rauðs og
> systur hans þær er ógiftar voru.
> She has with her Olaf Feilan, son of Thorstein the Red and
> his sister, who were unmarried. [[Apparently it's "systers
> who were unmarried."]]
Yes, though you can't tell from the noun: <systur> is the
genitive, dative, and accusative singular and the nominative
and accusative plural of <systir> 'sister'. What gives it
away is <þær>, which can only be feminine nominative or
accusative plural; since it's a direct object, it must be
accusative plural. The relative clause <er ógiptar váru> is
restrictive: it's 'the sisters who were unmarried', not 'the
sisters, who were unmarried'. (Recall that two of the
sisters had already been married off.)
> Eftir það lætur hún í haf og verður vel reiðfara og kemur
> skipi sínu fyrir sunnan land á Vikrarskeið.
> After that she puts to sea and has a good voyage and sails
> her ship in the south coast at Vikrarskeid.
Not quite: <fyrir sunnan> means 'south of' (Z. s.v. <fyrir>
(14)), so it's 'sails her ship south of the land to
Vikrarskeið'.
> Þar brjóta þau skipið í spón.
> There the ship was broken in pieces.
That's the sense of it; the grammatical details are a little
unclear (see my brief discussion with Alan).
> Menn allir héldust og svo fé.
> However, all were preserved as was wealth. [I know this is
> supposed to mean "All were saved including their
> possessions" or something similar, but I am not sure how
> to get there from the above sentence.]
Start with <Menn allir héldust>. Z. s.v. <halda> (IV) has
<haldast> 'to be kept safe and sound', with the exact
example <menn allir héldust> 'all hands were saved' ('all
persons were kept safe and sound'). <Fé> is 'possessions'
as well as 'wealth', and <ok svá fé> is 'and so
possessions', i.e., 'and in the same manner [their]
possessions'.
[...]
> Og er hún kom þar gekk hann á mót henni og bauð henni til
> sín við tíunda mann.
> And when she came there he went to a meeting (with) her
> and invited her in with 10 of her own men.
Not 'invited her in' but 'invited her to him', i.e., to his
home.
> [I know this is supposed to mean "ten" men, but the
> dictionary definition looks more like "one tenth."]
<Tíunda> is the ordinal number 'tenth' (as in tenth day,
tenth chapter, etc.). Here it's used in a very common
idiom: <henni ... við tíunda mann> is literally 'her ...
with [the] tenth person', but it means 'her and nine other
people' (making ten altogether).
> Hún svarar reiðulega og kvaðst eigi vitað hafa að hann
> væri slíkt lítilmenni og fer í brott.
> She answers angrily and says she didn't know [how does
> "hafa" fit in here?] that he was so small a person and
> [she] went abroad. ["í brott" is supposed to mean
> "abroad," I thought, but if I understand correctly she
> isn't even traveling by sea.] [[OK, I see that "í brott"
> can simply mean "away"]]
<Hún ... kvazk eigi vitat hafa at ...> 'She ... said that
she had not known that ...', more literally 'She ...
declares of herself not to have known that ...'. A
<lítilmenni> is a small, mean person or one of low status;
she's complaining because he wouldn't receive her whole
company, so in this case it must mean 'small-spirited
person, mean-spirited person, stingy person'.
> Ætlar hún nú að sækja heim Björn bróður sinn í
> Breiðafjörð.
> She thinks now to look for her brother Bjorn's home in
> Breidafjord.
<Skja> is indeed 'to seek' -- the words are even cognate --
but <skja e-n heim> is 'to visit someone at home' (Z. s.v.
<skja> (3)): she intends now to visit her brother Björn in
Breiðafjörð.
> Og er hann spyr til ferða hennar þá fer hann í mót henni
> með fjölmenni og fagnar henni vel og bauð henni til sín
> með öllu liði sínu því að hann kunni veglyndi systur
> sinnar.
> And when he finds out about her trip, he leaves for a
> meeting (with) her with a big crowd and welcomes her well
> and invites her with all her party so that he could [for
> the rest I have the following that isn't right "generosity
> his sister"] [[I see now "he knew his sister's
> generosity."]]
And <því at> is 'because', not 'so that': 'because he knew
his sister's generosity'.
[...]
> Hún var þar um veturinn og var veitt hið stórmannlegasta
> því að efni voru nóg en fé eigi sparað.
> She was there through the winter and was treated
> munificently (like a great man) so that means were enough
> and wealth not spared.
Here again <því at> is 'because', not 'so that'. <Hit
stórmannligasta> is a superlative, literally 'the most
munificently'. (Even more literally, 'the
great-man-ly-est'!)
> Og um vorið fór hún yfir Breiðafjörð og kom að nesi
> nokkuru og átu þar dagverð.
> And in spring she goes over (to) Breidafjord and comes to
> some headland and ate there a day-meal.
Note the postposed definite article on <vorið> ~ <várit>:
'in the spring'. You don't want that '(to)': she was
already at the farm called Breiðafjörð. Now she's
travelling across the fjord called Breiðafjörð.
<Dagverðr> 'day-meal' was so called because it was the chief
meal of the day; it was taken at the time called <dagmál>,
about 9 a.m., so in point of time it corresponds roughly to
our breakfast. In importance it's apparently more like our
dinner. (Somehow it calls to mind the traditional full
English breakfast.)
[...]
> Þar heitir síðan Kambsnes.
> Then the place is called "Comb-nes." [["Combs-nes"]]
Here <síðan> is better translated 'afterwards, after that':
> Eftir það fór hún um alla Breiðafjarðardali og nam sér
> lönd svo víða sem hún vildi.
> After that she goes over all Breidford and takes for
> herself land so far and wide as she wanted.
You left out the <-dali> in the place-name:
<Breiðafjarðardalr> is 'Breiðafjörð's valley', here in the
dative. <Nam> is past tense: 'took for herself'. (Old
Norse narrative has a tendency to jump unpredictably between
present and past tense.)
> Síðan hélt Unnur skipi sínu í fjarðarbotninn.
> Next Unn sailed here ship in Fjardarbotninn.
Here again I'd translate <síðan> as 'after that'.
<Fjarðarbotninn> isn't a place-name; it's the noun
<fjarðarbotn> 'bottom or head of a fjord' with the postposed
definite article. (<Fjarðarbotn> itself is a transparent
compound of <fjarðar>, the genitive of <fjörð> 'a fjord',
and <botn> 'bottom; head (of a bay, fjord, valley, etc.)'.)
<Fjarðarbotninn> could be either nominative or accusative,
but as the object of the preposition <í> it must be
accusative.)
[...]
> Þótti henni þá auðvitað hvar hún skyldi bústað taka.
> She thought that pointed out where she should choose a
> dwelling.
<Auðvitat> is literally 'easily-known', from <auð->
'easily-' and <vitat>, the neuter past participle of <vita>
'to know'; it means 'clear'. 'She thought it then clear
where she should fix [her] dwelling-place.'
> Hún lætur bæ reisa þar er síðan heitir í Hvammi og bjó
> þar.
> She let (had) a village
A farm.
> raised at the place where later is called Havammi and
> (she) lived there.
It's actually 'is called "at Hvamm"', but in English we'd
just say 'is called Hvamm'.
> Það sama vor er Unnur setti bú saman í Hvammi fékk Kollur
> Þorgerðar dóttur Þorsteins rauðs.
> That same spring when Unn gradually set up housekeeping in
> Hvammi,
The nominative is <Hvammr>, and the idiomatic English
preposition is 'at': 'at Hvamm'.
> (she) handed over Thorstein the Red's daughter Koll. [[I
> see that I missed the expression "setja saman"]]
<Kollur> (or in older spelling <Kollr>) is the nominative
case of the name, and <Þorgerðar> and <dóttur> are not, so
<Kollr> must be the subject of <fékk>: 'Koll got (in
marriage) Þorgerð, daughter of Þorstein [the] Red'. (In
general <fá konu>, literally 'get [a] woman/wife', is 'to
marry'; see Z. s.v. <fá> (8).
[...]
> Lætur hún Þorgerði heiman fylgja Laxárdal allan og setti
> hann þar bú saman fyrir sunnan Laxá.
> She lets Thorgerd Heiman accompany Laxardal and he sets up
> there housekeeping by degrees next to southern Laxa.
> [[Also missed that "setja saman" is an expression]]
<Heiman> is the adverb 'from home'; <fylgja heiman> is 'to
accompany from home', but in the context of marriage it
refers to the dowry that accompanies the wife when she
leaves home to live with her husband. <Þorgerði> is a
dative, while <Laxárdal allan> is an accusative, so it's
<Laxárdal allan> 'all Laxárdal (Lax River Valley)' that
accompanies Þorgerð: 'She let all Laxárdal accompany
Þorgerð from home', meaning that she provided Þorgerð with
all Laxárdal as her dowry.
> Var Kollur hinn mesti tilkvæmdarmaður.
> Koll was the most person of consequence.
<Mesti> isn't <mest> 'most'; it's the nominative singular
masculine form of the adjective <mestr> 'greatest' in the
weak (definite) declension, so he was 'the greatest person
of consequence'. Probably the most natural English
equivalent is 'a person of the greatest importance'.
Brian