Re: Star Wars XXXI part 3 - Rob's Translation

> ... stóðu nær margir hermenn þeir es skutu ǫrum þau.

> ... many soldiers stood nearby, they who shot the arrows.

> ... nearby stood those many warriors who shot arrows at
> them.

Grace is right: <skjóta> takes the dative of the thing shot
(<ǫrum>) and the accusative of the thing shot at (<þau>).

> Hann skaut ǫrum við, en fleiri hermenn fylgdu þeim es
> dǭttu fyrr.

> He shot arrows with (it), but more soldiers accompanied
> them who fell over.

> He shot arrows with it, but more warriors followed thos
> who dropped before.

I'm pretty sure that <við> is being used adverbially here,
to mean 'back' or 'at [them].

> "Mér sýnisk," segir Leia konungsdóttir Hólmgǫngu-Hana, "At
> þú hefir undanferð óra hindraða, því at eigi fám vér
> rekizk undan, nema í gegnum dyrr þær, es Stormhermenn
> standa."

> "It seemed to me," says Princess Leia to Dueler-Han, "That
> you have hindered our means of escape, because we few do
> not escape, except through the doors, where the Storm
> troopers stand."

> “Seems to me,” says Leia, daughter of (the) king to Duel
> Han, “That you have hindered our means of escape, because
> we cannot escape, unless through that door where
> Stormtroopers stand.”

Rob: <fám> is contracted from <fáum>; it's the first person
plural present indicative of <fá>, here in a <fá> + past
participle construction 'we cannot escape'. But I agree
with you that <nema> is best translated 'except' here.

> En takandi við atgeir þann, es Víga-Óbívan honum gaf,
> reist Lúkr á rúnar ok reið á blóðinu, en hann kvað þat
> galdraljóð, es Víga-Óbívan lærði honum, ok fengi maðr sá
> es kvað þat galdraljóð talazk við annan mann, jafnvel þó
> hverr stœði langt á braut frá ǫðrum.

> And taking the halberd, which Slayer-Obiwan gave him, Luke
> carved runes and weaved in blood, and he said that magic
> verse, which Slayer-Obiwan taught him, and a man took that
> which stated that magic verse was spoken with another man,
> equally as well although who (stœði? stood?) long away
> from others.

> And picking up that spear which Slayer Obiwan gave him,
> Luke drew runes on (it) and wrote in the blood, when he
> recited that magic spell which Slayer Obiwan taught him,
> and that man who recited that magic spell talked with
> another man, even though each stood far away from (the)
> other.

<Reist ... á> 'carved on/in [it]' and <reið á> 'smeared on
[it]' are the same construction, in both cases with the
halberd as the implied object. <Fengi ... talazk> is
another <fá> + past part. construction: 'the man who recited
that spell could speak with another man even though/if each
stood far away from [the] other'. Rob: Yes, <stœði> is a
past subjunctive of <standa>.

> En at svá kveðnu, spyrr hann Artú, sá es stóð á Fálkanum,
> hvárt hann þekkti aðra undanferð, es þau Lúkr fengi farna.

> And at the welcome, he asks R2, who stood onboard the
> Falcon, whether he noticed another means of escape, which
> they, Luke (and company) could go.

> And at such R2 asks him, who stood on the Falcon, whether
> he noticed another means of escape which they (Leia and)
> Luke were able to go (through).

<Kveðnu> is the neut. dat. sing. of <kveðinn>, the past
participle of <kveða>: 'And [having] so recited (i.e.,
spoken the spell), he asks R2 ...'.

> "Mælisk sjá frjǭlsun eigi vel fyr yðr," kvað Leia
> konungsdóttir, "Af því, at ér kvǭmuð inn, en vissuð eigi,
> hvé ér kœmið út."

> "The freedom (?) is not well reported of by you," said
> Princess Leia, "Therefore, that you came in, but didn't
> know, how you would come out."

> “This rescue does not speak well for you,” said Princess
> Leia, “Because ye come in, but know not how ye come out.”

Rob: The third word is in Z. as <frjálsan> 'rescue'; <ǭ> is
the old back mutation (u-mutation) of <á>, in this case
triggered by the <u> of <-un>. By about 1250 it and <á> had
fallen back together, giving <frjáls->. The <u> must be
old, since it's what caused the mutation of <á> to <ǭ> in
the first place, so I can only guess that after <ǭ> and <á>
fell back together, final <-un> changed to <-an>, perhaps
because the first syllable no longer reflected the presence
of a following <u>.

The <-uð> ending marks <kvǭmuð> and <vissuð> as 2nd person
plural past indicative, so Rob is right about 'came' and
'didn't know'; <kœmið> is clearly also 2nd person plural,
and the combination of <-ið> and the front umlaut of <ó> to
<œ> marks it as a past subjunctive. It's subjunctive
because the event in question -- coming out -- is somewhat
hypothetical: 'how you would come/get out'.

> "Vas ætlunin hans, en eigi mín, konungsdóttir," segir
> Hólmgǫngu-Hani Sólósson, "Ok vilda ek hafa heldr beðizk á
> skipi mínu, ok hefða ek vel lifat þar jafnvel þó þú værir
> hér drepin."

> "The plan was his, but not mine, Princess," says
> Dueler-Han, son of Solo, "And I wish I have rather been
> waiting on my ship, and I well acquired a prescription
> right to life as well although you would be slain here."

> “(It) was his intention, and not mine, Princess,” says
> Duel Han Solo’s son, “And I rather wished I had waited on
> my ship, and I could have (just as) lived there even
> though you were slain here.”

Rob: <ætlunin> is <ætlan> 'plan' (Z2) with the postposed
definite article, but here again we have <-un> instead of
<-an>. I found some discussion of this variation in CV, p.
xxxi, top of the 2nd column. These are nouns formed from
verbal infinitives by adding <-n>, but CV notes that there
is variation even in old mss. between <-an> and <-un> ~
<-on>.

<Vilda> is past tense, as Grace has it, but I think that I'd
translate <vilda ek hafa heldr beðizk> as 'I would rather
have waited'.

Brian