I feel as though I have progressed greatly this passed month, and feel relatively strong in my ability to read Old Norse and, to a lesser extend, Icelandic.
This saga, þó, seems to use words which are unfamiliar to me. The style is different, and somewhat confusing from what I have grown accustomed to.
I translated the following in under an hour I'd say; seeing as how there is no poetry within the text, it should be easy enough for me to translate the entire thing, provided I understand those few colloquialisms which are beyond my level of comprehension.
As always, here is the text in Old Norse, which is to be followed by my translation:
Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra
I. KAPÍTULI
Sá konungr hefir ráðit fyrir Danmörku, er Hringr hét. Hann var Skjaldarson, Dagssonar. Þessi Skjöldr barðist við Hermann, sem segir í sögu þeira. Hringr konungr var vitr maðr ok vinsæll ok mildr af fé ok inn mesti bardagamaðr. Hann átti drottningu, er Sigríðr hét. Hún var dóttir Vilhjálms konungs ór Vallandi. Við henni átti hann þann son, er Sigurðr hét. Hann var allra manna fríðastr ok at íþróttum bezt búinn. Hann var blíðr við vini sína, örr af fé, en grimmr sínum óvinum.
Sviði hefir karl nefndr verit. Hann átti eitt garðshorn, harðla skammt frá konungshöllunni. Hann átti kerlingu, er hét Hildr. Við henni átti hann einn son, er Illugi hét. Hann var mikill vexti ok sterkr at afli, fimr var hann á alla leika. Faðir hans var kallaðr Sviði inn sókndjarfi. Sigurðr konungsson ok Illugi lögðu leika með sér. Átti Sigurðr marga leiksveina, ok bar hann langt af þeim, hvat sem þeir skyldu reyna, en Illugi vann hann í öllu. Ok svá kom, at þeir sórust í stallbræðralag, ok skyldi hvárr annars hefna, ef þeir væri með vápnum vegnir. Var nú allkært þeira á milli.
II. KAPÍTULI
Björn hét maðr. Hann var ráðgjafi konungs. Honum var allt illa gefit, er honum var sjálfrátt. Hann var lyginn ok lymskr at öllu, en þó eigi at síðr var hann inn mesti kappi ok varði land konungs fyrir víkingum, ok því mat konungr hann mikils.
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Saga of Illuga, Grithar's Fosterson
Chapter One
The king has reign over Denmark which is called Hringr. He was the son of Skjald, son of Dag. This Skjald fought with Hermann, as is said in their story. King Hringr was a wise man and beloved and munificent of wealth and the greatest of warriors. He had a queen, who was called Sigrid. She was the daughter of King William of Valland. They had together a son who was called Sigurd. He was of all men fairest and best fitted in accomplishments. He was pleasant with his friends, open-handed of wealth, and stern with his enemies.
Svithi was the name of a man, he had a cottage, very short from the king's hall. He had a wife whose name was Hildr. With her had he a son by the name of Illugi. He was much grown and strong of power, agile was he in all play. His father was called Svithi the Valiant. Prince Sigurd and Illugi [lögu??] would play. Sigurd had many playmates and he bore long from them, what as they could test[?], and Illugi won he in all. And thus came, that they swore to each other in fellowship, and should either avenge, if they were with weapons proceed. Was now beloved they in between.
Chapter Two
There was a man who was called Bjorn. He was the king's counsellor. To him was all bad given, which to him was voluntary.[?] He was deceitful and cunning in everything, and although as much was he the best champion and defend king's land from piracy, and therefore king had many meals.
Thank you,
Russ
P.s. Anybody know any good sources for Icelandic paleography? I've tried reading some of the manuscripts in their original form from Handrit.is, but it was far more difficult than I expected. I've never been good at reading regular English handwriting, much less Icelandic handwriting, filled with short-forms and, I believe, abbreviations.