Re: Laxdaela Saga 33 part 43 - Rob's Translation

> Ólafur lét taka hesta og reið hann í mót Gesti við nokkura
> menn.

> Olaf causes to take a horse and he rode with several men
> to meet Gest. (Or were them men with Gest?)

> Olaf had a horse caught and he rode to meet Gest with some
> men.

> Ólafr caused to take a horse and he rode to-a-meeting with
> (ie to meet) Gestr with some men (persons).

<Hesta> is acc. plural: 'Ó. had horses caught/fetched',
presumably for his whole party.

> Þeir Gestur finnast inn við Ljá.

> Gest was pleased to meet them in Lja.

> They, Gest (and Olaf) met along the Ljr River.

> They, (he and) Gestr meet-one-another (reflexive form of
> finna, Z2) in (?) by Ljá (Ljá River).

I suspect that <inn> just indicates 'further away from the
coast'.

> Ólafur fagnar honum vel og bauð honum til sín með allan
> flokk sinn.

> Olaf welcomes him well and invites him to his (place) with
> all his party.

> Olaf received him well and invited him to his home with
> all his company.

> Ólafr receives him well and invited him to (stay with) him
> with all his (why reflexive?) party.

It's reflexive because it refers to Ólaf, the subject of the
sentence, not to Gest: Gest, unlike Ólaf, was riding alone.

> Gestur dvaldist litla hríð og sá þó víða á bæinn og lét
> vel yfir, kvað eigi þar fé til sparað bæjar þess.

> Gest stayed a little while and said although in many
> places the farm and expressed approval of it, stated was
> not spared money on that farm. (Z. láta 12 - l. vel
> (illa) yfir e-u, to express approval (disapproval) of a thing)

> Gest remained (there) for a little while and looked at the
> farm besides and expressed approval of it, said no money
> was spared on this farm there.

> Gestr stayed a little while and (but) saw (looked, sjá,
> Z2) nevertheless widely around (lit: on) the-farm(stead?)
> and expressed approval, declared there wealth (or simply
> cattle and sheep) (had) not (been) spared from that
> farm(stead?) (ie it lacked for nothing).

It could also be 'the farmhouse'; I see that this is how M&P
have interpreted it. Since G. wasn't there very long,
perhaps this is the most reasonable interpretation: it would
be much easier to look all over a house than a whole farm.
In that case <fé> would definitely be 'money', 'wealth', or
the like.

> Þá hlupu þeir Kjartan og Bolli af sundi er flokkurinn reið
> að, voru þá mjög klæddir er þeir Gestur og Ólafur riðu að.

> Then they, Kjartan and Bolli, jumped from swimming which
> the party rode to, they were many clothes which they, Gest
> and Olaf, wrung out. (?)

> They, Kjartan and Bollli, ran then from swimming towards
> where the group rode to, then they were mostly dressed
> when Gest and Olaf rode up.

> Then, they, Kjartan and Bolli, ran from (the) swimming
> when the party road towards (them), were then almost-fully
> clothed (clad, pp. of klæða) when they, Gestr and Ólafr
> rode to (them).

I agree with Alan's reading of <er þeir G. og Ó. riðu að>.

> Gestur svarar: "Það mun mjög ganga eftir ástríki þínu að
> um Kjartan mun þykja mest vert meðan hann er uppi."

> Gest answers: "That will prove very true your
> affectionate-tenderness that concerning Kjartan will seem
> to be most worthy while his is alive. (Z. ganga 15 - g.
> eptir, to prove true, be fulfilled)

> Gest answers, “ It will go most after your fullness? of
> love regarding Kjartan , that (he) will seem most worthy
> while he is alive?”

> Gestr answers: “That will very-nearly go (turn out, ganga,
> Z12) according-to (see eptir, Z4) your
> affectionate-tenderness that (it) will be-thought (þykkja,
> Z1) most worthy (verðr) concerning Kjartan (I think „um
> Kjartan“ relates to „þykkja“ rather than to „ástriki
> þínu“) (ie Kjartan will be considered most worthy) while
> he is alive (up, above ground? upright?)”

CV has the correct (neuter) gender for <ástríki> and offers
the alternative gloss 'paternal love'. It's impossible to
tell whether the word here is acc. sing. or acc. plur.; I've
made it plural to match the way that I'd say it in English.
'That will turn out much in accord with your affections,
that Kjartan will be thought most worthy while he is alive.'
I'm not sure just which metaphor lies behind <vera uppi> 'to
be alive'.

> Síðan keyrði Gestur hestinn og reið í brott.

> Then Gest lashed ("lash" is probably too strong, but I
> can't think of the right word in English) his horse and
> rode away.

> Afterward Gest turned the horse and rode away.

> After-that Gestr whipped the horse and rode away.

<Keyrði> might be short for <keyrði sporum> 'set spurs to,
spurred'; all that seems certain is that he did something to
get it moving sharply.

> En nokkuru síðar ríður Þórður hinn lági son hans hjá honum
> og mælti: "Hvað ber nú þess við faðir minn er þér hrynja
> tár?"

> And somewhat later Thord the short his son rides beside
> him and says: "What do (you) convey now concerning my
> father which you flow tears (i.e., you are crying)?"

> And sometime later Thord the short, his son, rides near
> him and spoke, “What happened now, my father, since you
> shed tears?”

> But somewhat later Þórðr the short, his son, rides
> alongside him and spoke: ‘What now happens (bera við,
> Z.ii.3), my father, for that (effect), that (ie to cause,
> þess er?) tears stream-down from you?” (ie why are you
> crying?)

According to Fritzner, <bera e-t við> can be 'to cause
something'; that leaves the gen. <þess> instead of acc.
<þat> unexplained, but I'm still inclined to think that it's
'what is the cause of this, my father, that you shed tears'.

Brian