Re: Starwars XIX part 2 - Rob's Translation

> Óinn kvað bróður hans Anakin vesa dauðan.
> Oinn stated his brother Ankin was dead.
> Oinn told his brother? Anakin was dead.

Ignore <bróður hans> for a moment. <Anakin> can only be the
acc. of <Anakinn>, and of course <vesa> = <vera> is the
infinitive, so we have here an infinitive and accusative
construction: 'Óin said that Anakin was dead'. <Bróður> is
ambiguous: it can be gen., dat., or acc. singular of
<bróðir>. The most straightforward reading takes it to be
accusative, in apposition to <Anakin>; that's Rob's
interpretation and apparently also what Jackson intended.
Grace's would require <bróður hans> to be the person told,
and I've not seen any examples of that construction with
<kveða>, though it's common enough with <segja>.

> Lúkr vas mikill maðr vexti, ljósjarpr á hár ok rauðlitaðr,
> breiðleitr ok inn kurteisasti.

> Luke was a large grown man, with light-chestnut and
> reddish(?) hair, broadfaced and the most courteous.

> Luke was (grown into) a very tall man light chestnut of
> hair and reddish, wide faced and the most courteous.

I agree with Grace that <rauðlitaðr> doesn't apply to his
hair; I suspect that it's intended to refer primarily to his
face.

> “Þú hefir rétt at mæla, bokki sæll,” segir Þrípíó; “Ok
> mæli ek mǫrgum mǭlum.

> You have precisely spoken (literally “to speak), my dear
> fellow,” says 3P0; “And I speak many languages. (Z bokki -
> b. sæll, my dear fellow!)

> “You are correct to say (that), dear fellow,” says 3PO;
> “and I speak many languages.

I'd make it simply 'You are correct': it's the same kind of
construction as <lög hafið þér at mæla> 'you are right' in
Zoëga s.v. <hafa> (11).

> Ek kann at mæla írsku, norrœnu, ensku, latínu, vǫlsku,
> þýzku, brezku -”

> I can speak Irish, Norwegian, English, Latin, French,
> German (? Z has þýðverska=German), Welsh -”

> I am able to speak Irish, Norse, English, Latin, ??
> German, Welsch,”

Rob: <Þýzku> is indeed 'German (language)'; in fact, it's
cognate with the word <Deutsch>.

Grace: <Völsku> is the gen./dat./acc. sing. of <valska>
'French'. The people of (northern) France are <Valir>, a
term that probably originally referred to the Celtic
population. (<Valska> is actually cognate with <Welsh>.)

> “Þegi þú,” segir Óinn, “Þess es ek þarf es sá þræll es
> mælir skozku.”

> “Be silent,” says Oinn, “That which I want is such a
> thrall who speaks Scottish.” (Z þegja - þegi þú!, be
> silent!)

> “Be quiet,” says Oinn, “What I need is that thrall who
> speaks Scots.”

'Scottish' is a better choice than 'Scots': 'Scots' properly
refers to the Germanic language very closely related to
English (think Robbie Burns), not to the Gaelic language
very closely related to Irish.

> Skozka es sem móðurmál mitt, jafnvel þó allar tungur eru
> sem móðurmǭl mín, því at ek gleðjumk af tungum -”

> Scottish is as my mother-language, equal although all
> languages are as my mother-language, because I (
> gleðjumk?) of languages -”

<Gleðjumk> is the 1st person sing. <-sk> form of <gleðja>;
it means 'to be glad, to rejoice', so with the preposition
it's 'because I rejoice in languages'.

> Scots is as my mother tongue, even though all languages
> are as my mother tongue, because I enjoy languages.”


> Útíni Javason segir, at sjá inn rauðhærði maðr sé
> vinnumaðr mjǫk hagr; Óinn keypir ok þenna mann.

> (Útíni?), son of Java says, to see the red-haired man was
> a very skillful laborer; Oinn also buys this man.

> Utini Java’s son says that that one, the redhaired man, is
> a very handy servant, Oinn also buys that man.

Despite the double article, <sjá inn rauðhærði maðr>
corresponds simply to English 'the red-haired man'.

> Óinn segir Lúki, “Fœr þessa menn heim ok bú þá í vinnu
> sem skjótlegast.”

> Oinn says to Luke, “Go home (with) these men and prepare
> then for work as soon as possible.”

> Oinn tells Luke, “Take these men hom and put them to work
> as quickly as possible.”

Rob: The main verb is <fœra> 'to bring, convey', not <fara>.
<Þessa menn> is accusative, for the direct object, as in
Grace's translation. What you had in mind would need
something like <Far með þessum mönnum>. I also agree with
Grace about <þá>: here it's the pronoun 'them'.

> Þá segir Lúkr, “En ek vilda fara til Takabœ, þar es
> hestavígr skal vera í nótt.”

> Then Luke says, “But I wanted to go to Takboe, there is a
> horse-fight (which) will be tonight.”

> Then Luke says, “But I wanted to go to Taki farm, there
> where (the) horse fight will be tonight.”

<Es> can't be 'is', because the clause already has a finite
verb in <skal>, so it has to be the relative particle, as
Grace has it. I don't understand the final <-r> of
<hestavígr>: every source that I can find gives the noun as
a neuter <hestavíg>.

> “Þú fær þér leiknum á hestavígum ...
> You get your games at horse fights ...
> “You get your game of horse fighting ...

This is the <fá> plus past participle construction (Zoëga
s.v. <fá> (7)) 'to be able to'; <leiknum> is the masc. dat.
sing. of the past part. <leikinn> of <leika> 'to play', so
it's 'You can play at horse fights'. <Þér> isn't the
possessive 'your'; it's the dative of <þú>, because the
construction is quasi-reflexive -- literally something like
'you get yourself yourself played'. That's why the
participle is in the masc. dat. sing.: it has to agree with
<þér>, which is dative and refers to Lúk.

> “Óinn frændi,” segir hann, “Sjá inn rauðhærði maðr es
> sjúkr.”

> “Kinsman Oinn,” he says, “See the red-haired man is sick.”

> “Oinn kinsman,” says he, “See the red-haired man is sick.”

That's not 'see': here <sjá> is the masc. nom. sing.
article, and it's literally 'That the red-haired man'.
However, the ON double article construction corresponds to
English single article, so it's simply 'The red-haired man
is sick'.

Brian