Re: Laxdaela Saga 19 part 2 - - Grace's translation

My ISP seems to be having problems; once again my response
has failed to appear, and I never even received Rob's
translation.

Just a couple of comments this time.

At 11:54:39 AM on Monday, August 23, 2010, Fred and Grace
Hatton wrote:

> Kölluðu það flestir að Hrútur hefði rétt að mæla.

> Most said it that Hrut was right to speak (up for his
> entitlement).

> Most (people) said that, that Hrútr had (the) right to
> speak (ie plead his case).

Here I think that Grace's reading is right. Zoëga s.v.
<hafa> (11) has <lög hafið þér at mæla> 'you (pl.) are
right', and this seems to be the same idea with <réttr>
'law, right' replacing <lög>. I suspect, though, that the
sense is actually more like '... said that Hrút was in the
right' or '... said that Hrút had the right/justice on his
side'.

> Hrútur kvaðst það ekki hirða, kvað þá því verrum förum
> fara skyldu sem þeir væru fleiri.

> Hrut said he didn't care, said for that reason it then
> would go worse (förum??) as they were more.

Dative plural of <för>, whose basic sense is 'a journey' but
here is 'fate' (Z3).

> Hrútr declared-of-himself (that he) cared not (gave not a
> tinker´s damn) about that, declared them (ie that they, ie
> Höskuldr's men) in that (affair) should travel in a worse
> passage (ie end up worse off) as they were more (ie to the
> extent that there were more of `em).

This is <því> with comparative and <sem>, Zoëga s.v. <því>
(5): 'said then so much the worse would [they] fare, the
more they were'.

Brian