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

> "En Artú veit nekkvat þat es hon þarf selja her þeim, es
> slæsk á mót Falfaðni konungi," segir Lúkr.

> "But R2 knows something that she needs to deliver to the
> army, which strikes against King Palpatine," says Luke.

> “But R2 knows something which she needs to turn over to
> them, who fight against King Palpatine

Grace: I think that you overlooked <her> 'army'.

> "Fyr hví fær hann eigi segja upp þetta sjálfr?" segir
> Hólmgǫngu-Hani, "Fyr hví þurfu þeir at heyra raust hennar?"

> "Why is he not able to pronounce this himself?" says
> Dueler-Han, "Why do they need to hear her voice?"

> “Why is he not able to declare this himself?” says Duel
> Han, “Why did they need to hear her voice?”

<Þurfu> is present tense; past would be <þurftu>. I'm not
sure why Jackson used <segja upp> 'announce, proclaim' here
instead of simple <segja>.

> "Ek sit hér unz þat dettr í hug, hvé vér komum sjálfir
> undan."

> "I sit her until that falls in mind (comes to mind?), how
> we ourselves escape."

> “I sit here until it drops into (my) mind, how we
> ourselves escape.”

Yes, 'comes to mind' is probably the closest idiomatic
English equivalent.

> Ef þú frjálsaðir hana, væri laun -"
> If you freed her, (there) would be a reward (plural in ON) - "
> If you freed her, repayment would be…”

Rob: In isolation your translation would certainly be
possible, but I take the dash to mean that Han interrupted
and that Luke's sentence continues with <meira fé ...>. On
that interpretation it's '[the] reward would be -'.

> "Þat fær þú," segir Lúkr.
> "That you are able," says Luke.
> “That you can,” says Luke.

This is <fá> with its basic sense of 'get, receive':
'You['ll] get that'.

> "Slíkt væri víst gott," kvað Hólmgǫngu-Hani, "En hvessu?"
> "So would be well known," said Dueler-Han, "But what(?) ?"
> “Such would certainly be good,” said Duel Han, “But how?”

Rob: <Hvessu> is a variant of <hversu> 'how'. Grace is
right about <víst gott>.

> En Víga-Óbívan kvað, "Ek kann þat galdraljóð, es
> Veiði-Anakinn kvað yfir sævi.

> And Slayer Obiwan said, "I knew that magic song (?), which
> Vader Anakin said over the sea.

> But Slayer Obiwan said, “I know that magic verse, which
> Vader Anakinn said over the sea.

<Kann> is present tense; past is <kunna>. 'Magic verse' is
probably a little better than 'magic song', simply because
we don't think of 'saying' a song, but my impression is that
such a verse was indeed sung, or at least chanted;
'incantation' and 'spell' avoid the issue.

> Mon ek hann finna, ok sigrumk, møni þat galdraljóð
> veikjask, ok ér fáið komit undan á Fálkanum."

> I will (mon = mun?) find him, and I gain a victory, that
> magic song will will grow ill, and you can escape on (the)
> Falcon."

Yes, <mon> is an old variant of <mun>, and it makes forms
with front/palatal umlaut in <ø> instead of <y>, e.g.,
<møni> instead of <myni>.

> I will find him and we will win, that magic verse will
> turn it, and ye are able to escape to the Falcon.”

The ending <-umk> is first person singular, but it can be
either indicative or subjunctive. <Møni> is definitely
subjunctive, 'would', which suggests that we should consider
the possibility that <sigrumk> is as well. In the
construction <møni ... veikjask>, <veikjask> must be an
infinitive, and in any case <-ask> is the infinitive ending
of <-sk> verbs. Thus, <veikjask> can't be from the past
tense of <víkja> 'to move, to turn'; it must be the verb
that Rob found that CV glosses 'to grow ill'. It seems
likely that a spell that 'grows ill' is one that weakens, so
I read <møni þat galdraljóð veikjask> as 'that spell would
weaken'. Reading <sigrumk> as a subjunctive, we can then
translate it as 'and if I win, that spell would weaken',
which makes excellent sense in context. (I expect that
<fáið> is also a subjunctive, since the result is uncertain,
but there's no way to tell from the form.)

By the way, <veikjask> is pretty clearly derived from
<veikr> 'weak', and for reasons that go back to
Proto-Germanic, a <-ja> verb derived from an adjective X
generally means 'to make X'. Thus, we might hypothesize a
verb <veikja> 'to weaken' with an <-sk> form having the
derived sense 'to grow ill'; such a verb actually exists in
the modern language. This also tends to support the
'weaken' interpretation.

> "Ek vil fara með þik," segir Lúkr, "Ok fám vit
> konungsdótturina frjálsaða."

> "I want to go with you," says Luke, "And we few free the
> Princess."

> “I want to go with you,” says Luke, “And we are able to
> free the king’s daughter.”

Grace has it: <fám> is 1st person plur. present indic. of
<fá>, and this is yet another instance of the <fá> + past
part. construction.

> "Nei, Lúkr, it Hólmgǫngu-Hani finnið hana, en má ek
> berjask einn.

> "No, Luke, you, Dueler-Han (and you), find here, and I can
> fight alone.

> “No, Luke, you (two) Duel Han (and you) find her but I am
> able to fight alone.

At least in the modern language <mega> can mean 'must', and
that sense would fit well here: 'but I must fight alone'. I
don't know how old this sense is, however.

> Væntik eigi þess, at ek koma undan lifandi," segir
> Víga-Óbívan, "En seldu mér þat sverð it góða, es þú í erfð
> fǫður þíns tók.

> I don't hope for that, that I escape alive," says Slayer
> Obiwan, "But had me that sword, the good, which you came
> into inheritance from your father.

> I do not expect this that I escape alive,” says Slayer
> Obiwan, “but hand over to me that sword, the good one,
> which you received as an inheritance from your father.

<Þat sverð it góða> is just a fancy way of saying 'the/that
good sword'; <þat it góða sverð> and <sverð þat it góða> are
also possible. (See Barnes, Section 3.9.2, if you have it.)

Brian