Re: Laxdaela Saga 26 Part 2 -- Rob's Translation

Sorry to be slow; all three of the classes that I'm teaching
this term hit busy spots at once, and this bit was a little
trickier than it looked at first.

> Það þótti mikill skaði, fyrst að upphafi sonum hans og
> öllum frændum hans og tengdamönnum þeirra og vinum.

> That was thought a great loss, first beginning to his sons
> and all his relatives and their relations by affinity and
> friends.

> It seemed a great loss, firstly ? beginning? with his sons
> and all his kinsmen and those relations by affinity and
> friends.

> That seemed (was-thought) a great loss, firstly from the
> beginning (ie first and foremost?) to his sons and all his
> kinsmen and their relations (by affinity) and friends.

Yes: <fyrst at upphafi> is 'first and foremost'.

> Synir hans láta verpa haug virðulegan eftir hann.
> His sons caused (to) raise a worthy mound for him.
> His sons had a splendid mound thrown up in his honour.
> His sons caused to raise a mound worthy of him.

I'm with Rob and Grace here: <virðulegan> modifies <haug>,
so it's 'a splendid/worthy mound', and <eftir hann> is 'to
his memory' (or any reasonable paraphrase thereof).

> En er því var lokið þá taka þeir bræður tal um það að þeir
> muni efna til erfis eftir föður sinn því að það var þá
> tíska í það mund.

> And when thus (it) was concluded, then the brothers begin
> to talk together concerning that, that they would perform
> with regard to a funeral feast for their father because
> that was then (the) fashion(?) in that time.

> But when it was over then those brothers began a
> discussion about it that they would perform a funeral
> feast in honour of their father because it was then ?? in
> that time.

> But when that (the mound, dative) was closed (see, lúka,
> z4, impers), then they, (the) brothers take-to
> conversation (start talking) about that, that they will
> prepare a funeral feast for their father because that was
> then (the) custom (tíðska) at that time.

<Tíska> isn't a typo: it's the modern spelling. (Compare
<íslensk> with older <íslenzk>.) Zoëga's <tíðska> shows the
etymology, but <ðs> and <ts> are commonly written <z> in ON,
so I'd actually expect <tízka> in a normalized ON edition.

Like Rob and Grace, I take <lúka> in Zoëga's sense (2), 'to
end, to finish'. (Rob: In this sense it takes the dative of
the thing ended, so <er því var lokið> is simply 'when it
was finished': <því> is the 'it' here.) I take <því> to
refer to the funeral as a whole, including the raising of
the mound.

> Þá mælti Ólafur: "Svo líst mér sem ekki megi svo skjótt að
> þessi veislu snúa ef hún skal svo virðuleg verða sem oss
> þætti sóma.

> Olaf then spoke: "So it seems to me as can not so speedily
> that this feast turn if it shall be so worthy as we
> thought (to) befit.

> Then Olaf spoke, “So it seems to me not possible to
> prepare for this feast so quickly if it shall be splendid
> as would beseem our honour.

> Then Ólafr spoke: ‘(It) seems to me such that (one) might
> not so quickly prepare for this feast (see snúa at e-m,
> Z7) if it shall happen-to-be as honourable as would-seem
> to befit us.

I wasn't sure at first whether <oss> was to be construed
with <þœtti> or with <sóma>, but both the sense and the
existence of a manuscript with the variant <oss sóma þœtti>
suggest the latter, as Grace and Alan interpreted it. In
that case <hún> is effectively the subject of <þœtti>.

'[It] seems to me the case [lit. 'so'] that [one] may not so
quickly prepare for this feast if it is to be as splendid as
would seem to befit us.'

> Er nú mjög á liðið haustið en ekki auðvelt að afla fanga
> til.

> (It) is now very little the harvest-season and no easiness
> to procure means for (it).

> But now it has passed well along into fall and not easy to
> procure provisions for (it).

> Autumn is now much drawn to a close (see líða á e-t, Z6)
> but (and) (it is) not easy to procure provisions towards
> (a feast).

Note that <haustið> is 'the autumn/the fall', with the
definite article.

> Mun og flestum mönnum þykja torvelt, þeim er langt eiga
> til að sækja, á haustdegi og vís von að margir komi eigi
> þeir er vér vildum helst að kæmu.

> Also most men will think it difficult, they which have far
> to come to, on an autumn day and certainly that many not
> come they which we would rather to come.

> Also (it) will seem difficult to most people, those who
> have to go a long distance, on fall days and certain to be
> expected that those many would not come who we most wished
> would come.

> (It) will also seem to most men difficult, for those who a
> long-way have to seek (ie to travel), in autumn and (there
> is) certain expectation that many would-come not, those
> who we would-want most that (they) would-come.

<Á haustdegi> is literally 'on a fall day' (singular), but
as Alan notes, it can (as Zoëga suggests) be translated
simply 'in autumn'. I think that the verb <mun> carries
over to <vís von>: 'and [there] will [be] a certain
expectation that ...'.

> Þeir Þorleikur og Bárður skipta fé með sér.

> They, Thorleik and Bard, divide (the) wealth between
> themselves.

> They, Thorleik and Bard, divided (the) wealth between
> themselves.

> They, Þorleikr and Bárðr divided (the) property between
> themselves.

Rob's right about the tense: <skipta> is 3rd plur. pres.
indic. If it were 3rd plur. past indic., it would be
<skiptu>.

> Hlýtur Bárður föðurleifð þeirra því að til þess héldu
> fleiri menn því að hann var vinsælli.

> Bard gets their patrimony because several men held to that
> because he was beloved.

> Bard is allotted his father’s estate because for this
> reason (that) most people considered that he was friendly.

> Bárðr gets (by lot) their father’s patrimony (left-overs)
> because more men held to (ie were bent on, conducive to,
> supportive of, see halda til, Z.iii) that because he was
> more-popular.

As we see in the next sentence Bárð doesn't get the whole
patrimony. And since Þorleik gets moveable property, it
must be that <föðurleifð> here refers specifically to the
estate -- the real property. I don't think that we can
safely infer that the division was by lot, i.e., that some
chance mechanism was used: <hljóta> can be simply 'to get'.
<Halda til e-s> can also be 'to desire something', 'to cause
something, to bring something about', and 'to further
something', of which the first and last make good sense
here: 'Bárð gets their father's estate because more people
desired this', or 'Bárð gets their father's estate because
more people pushed for this'. Indeed, in this context there
isn't much difference between the two, and I shouldn't be
surprised if the real sense were a combination of them. And
on any of these interpretations the division wasn't actually
by lot.

Note that <vinsælli> is not formally a comparative; rather,
it's the nom. sing. masc. of the weak adjectival declension.
The weak declension is associated with definiteness, which
is why it's the one used with determiners. Here there's no
determiner, and one would normally expect <vinsæll>, the
nom. sing. masc. of the strong declension. I suspect that
the marked use of the weak declension implies a certain
definiteness, so that <því at hann var vinsæli> is 'for he
was [the] popular [one (of the two brothers)]'. That gives
it something like the sense of a comparative without
actually being one.

> Nú líður sjá hinn næsti vetur og kemur sumar og líður að
> þingi.

> Now the next winter passes, and summer comes and (the)
> Thing takes-place.

> Now the next winter passes and summer comes and it passes
> toward (the) Thing.

> Now that passes, the next winter, and summer comes
> (arrives) and (it) passes to (the) Thing.

I'm with Rob and Grace: <sjá hinn næsti vetur> is simply
'the next winter'.

> Nú er það vilji bræðra minna að eg bjóði yður til erfis
> eftir Höskuld föður vorn, öllum goðorðsmönnum því að þeir
> munu flestir hinir gildari menn er í tengdum voru bundnir
> við hann.

> Now, that is my brothers' desire that I invite you to a
> funeral feast in honor of our father Hoskuld, all owners
> of the dignity and authority of a chief because most will
> be great men in affinity were bound with him.

> Now it is the will of my brothers that I invite you to a
> funeral feast in honour of our father, all chieftain’s?
> men because they will, most the better? men who were bound
> by affinity with him.

> Now that is the will (wish) of my brothers that I invite
> you to (the) funeral feast for Höskuldr, our father, all
> owners-of-the-authority-of-chieftain-priest, because they
> will (be) most, the more worthy men (persons) who in
> affinity were bound with him.

I'll go with 'a funeral feast'. <[Þ]eir munu flestir hinir
gildari menn er í tendum voru bundnir við hann> is a little
tricky. I'm pretty sure that <flestir hinir gildari menn>
is effectively 'most [of] the greater men', so it's 'they
will [be] most [of] the greater men who were bound to him by
affinity', i.e., 'most of the greater men were bound to him
by affinity [had family ties to him]'.

> Skal sækja hálfsmánaðar veislu á Höskuldsstaði þá er tíu
> vikur eru til vetrar."

> (The) funderal feast shall go a half-month at
> Haskuld's-stead then (when it) is 10 weeks before winter."

> (They) shall come to a two-week-long feast at Hoskuld’s
> steads then when ten weeks are before winter.”

> (I) shall prosecute a half-month’s feast at
> Höskuldsstaðir, when (there) are ten weeks to winter.”

Rob: <veislu> can't be the subject, because it's not in the
nom. case. I think that singular <skal> is parallel to
singular <vill> in the preceding sentence:

Þar með viljum vér bjóða bœndum ok hverjum er þiggja vill,
sælum ok veslum. Skal sœkja hálfsmánaðar veizlu ...

We wish besides to invite farmers and anyone who wants to
come, rich and poor. [He who wishes to come] shall attend
a half-month-long feast ...

Note that while <hverjum> is ambiguous as to number, <vill>
isn't.

Brian