Re: Star Wars XXVII part 2 - Rob's Translation

> "Skjótt, já!" segir Hólmgǫngu-Hani, "Svá skjótt, at ef ek
> misreikna, mønum vér snart standa undir þau norrœnu skip
> þar!

> "Fast, yes!" says Dueler Han, "So fast, that if I
> miscalculate, we men soon stand under that Norwegian ship
> there!

> “Fast, yes!” says Duel Han, “So fast that if I
> miscalculate, we will quickly stand under those Norse
> ships there!

<Mønum> is an old form of <munu>, which was apparently once
<monu>, but I think that it contains an error. Both the
context and the front mutation of <o> to <ø> suggest that
it's a subjunctive. The ending <-um>, on the other hand, is
indicative and moreover should not cause front mutation. I
suspect that this should be <mønim>. <Skip> is indeed
plural here, as is indicated by plural <þau>.

> Láttu okkr Tsiubakka reikna leið óra!
> Let us, Chewbacca (and me), calculate a course (away?)!
> Let us, Chewbacca (and I), calculate our course!

Presumably it will be a course away, but that isn't
expressed here.

> Ok svá vas; skipit fór svá skjótt þá, at engi skip
> Falfaðins fengi því fylgdu.

> And so (it) was; the ship went so fast then, than no ship
> of Palpatine was thus able to follow.

> And so (it) was. The ship went so fast then that no ship
> of Palpatines was able to follow it.

Rob: <fylgja> takes the dative in this context, so <því> is
simply the pronoun 'it'.

> Síðarr Hani sjándi at allir vǭru grimmir enn, snerisk í
> móti þeim Víga-Óbivani, segjandi, "Ér fengið mǫnnum
> Falfaðins konungs ok skipum hans gleymdum.

> Later, Han seeing that all were still grim, turned upon
> them, Slayer Obiwan (and the others), saying, "You men are
> able to forget King Palpatine and his ships.

> Later seeing that all were still looking severely, Han
> turns himself towards them, Slayer Obiwan and the others,
> saying, “Ye could forget? King Palpatine’s men and his
> ship.

<Grimmir> is an adjective, not an adverb, so it must be
'grim'; <snerisk> is past tense. <Fengið> is present tense:
'you can forget'. Rob: <mǫnnum> is the dative plural of
<maðr>, dative because <gleyma> 'to forget' takes the dative
of the thing forgotten. <Falfaðins konungs> is genitive, so
it couldn't be one of the things forgotten. Finally,
<skipum> is also plural, so it's 'you can forget King
Palpatine's men and his ships'.

> Engi fengi øss fylgdum, þá es vér fǫrum svá skjótt sem
> nú."

> No one is able to follow us, when we go as fast as (we do)
> now."

> (They were) unable to follow us, then when we went as fast
> as now.”

Rob's got this one.

> "Þú mont kveðask vesa maðr forspár," segir Hólmgǫngu-Hani,
> "En menn deyja óhefndir hverjan dag."

> "You boast stating for yourself to be a prophesying man,"
> says Dueler Han, "But men die un-avenged every day."

> “You will be said to be a prophesying man,” says Duel Han,
> “but men die unavenged every day.”

'You will say that you are a fore-seeing man'. But I think
that Jackson actually has in mind something that isn't quite
clairvoyance but is closer to that than to prophecy.

> Artú Dítússon ok Tsiubakka inn fríski tefldu í horni, en
> Artú tefldi Tsiubakka ávallt upp.

> R2, D2's son and Chewbacca the Frisian played chess in the
> corner, and R2 always beat Chewbacca in chess.

> R2 D2’s son and Chewbacca the Frisian played at tafls in a
> corner, but R2 always beat Chewbacca.

This seems to be narrative <en>, corresponding better to
English 'and'. It's probably best just to say 'a board
game', since we can't know exactly what game is intended.
(I was tempted by the old expression 'to play at tables',
but that referred specifically to backgammon.)

> Tsiubakka vas inn reiðasti, því at hann vas vanr at tefla
> alla upp, þá es tefldi við sik.

> Chewbacca was most angry, because he was accustomed to
> beating everyone, those who played chess with him.

> Chewbacca was the most angry because he was accustomed to
> beat those who played at tafls with him.

Perhaps the easiest way to follow the ON syntax closely and
produce normal English is 'to beat all those who played this
game with him'.

> "Þú ert eigi maðr víss," segir Hólmgǫngu-Hani Artú, ok
> Þrípíó sneri orðum hans í írsku, "Ræð ek þér þat, at þú
> látir Frískinn fá sigr."

> "You are not a wise man," says Duel Han to R2, and 3PO
> translated his words in Irish, "I fear you that, that you
> let the Frisian get a victory."

> “You are no wise man,’ says Duel Han. R2 and 3PO translate
> his words into Irish, “I advise you that you let the
> Frisian be winner.”

<Artú>, as is shown by the comma immediately following it,
is, as Rob makes it, the indirect object of <segir>. You
can also tell from the fact that <sneri> is 3rd person
sing.; a 3rd person plur. would be needed if <Artú ok
Þrípíó> were the subject. It's also past tense; present is
<snýr>.

> "En fyr hví þat, bokki sæll?" spyrr Þrípíó, "Fyr hví ræðr
> þú eigi Frískinum, at hann láti Írann fá sigr?"

> "But why that, my good fellow?" asks 3PO, "Why don't you
> fear the Frisian, that he let the Irish get a victory?"

> “But why that, my dear fellow?” asks 3PO, “Why do you not
> advise the Frisian that he let the Irish be victor?”

Rob: Strong verbs (like <ráða>) have front mutation in the
present singular indicative.

> "Því at Írar eru eigi vanir at slíta mann á sundr, ef þeir
> fái eigi sigr á taflborði," kvað Hólmgǫngu-Hani.

> "Because (the) Irish are not accustomed to break a man
> asunder, if they don't allow a victory at chess," stated
> Dueler-Han.

> “Because Irish are not accustomed to tear a man apart if
> they are not able to be victors at tafls.” said Duel Han.

I'm with Grace here: 'tear' produces a more satisfying image
than 'break'.

Brian