Re: Star Wars XXXI end & XXXII beginning - Rob's Translation

> Ok es Hólmgǫngu-Hani leit niðr ýr glugga, sá hann, at
> harkabátr fór þar hjá Dauðastjǫrnu, ok bar harka stœrra
> skips á braut.

> And when Dueler-Han looked down out of a window, he saw
> that a garbage ship (why is this “harkabátr” and not
> “harkibátr” as Z. has “harki” = “garbage”) went there near
> the Death Star, and took much ship’s garbage away.

> And when Duel Han looked down out (the) window, he saw,
> that a garbage boat went there near Death Star, and
> carried much ship’s refuse away.

It's <harkabátr> because the first element of a compound is
normally in the genitive. Sometimes it's the genitive
singular and sometimes the genitive plural; the choice
depends on the meaning of the compound, though it isn't
always predictable. (Here there's no difference between the
two.) If you look at the entry for <harki> in CV, you'll
see several <harka-> compounds.

> Leia konungsdóttir fell á harkaklæði ok vas ósǭr, ok með
> handalæti segir hon, at þeir Hani ætti at fylgja henni.

> Princess Leia fell on garbage clothes (?) and was
> unharmed, and with arm gestures she says that they, Han
> (and the others) purpose to follow her.

> Princess Leia fell on discarded clothing and was unhurt,
> and with hand signals she says that Han was obliged to
> follow her.

Rob: I agree with Grace: 'rubbish clothes' in this context
must be clothes that have been thrown away, discarded
clothing. <Ætti> is a past subjunctive of <eiga>, so it's
something like 'should have to follow' (though I suspect
that what's intended is closer to 'should follow').

> Tsiubakka óttaðisk mjǫk at hlaupa, því at hann kenndi
> nekkvat fúit, þat es hann kvað vesa verra an harki einn.

> Chewbacca feared much to jump, because he knew some
> (fúit?), that when he said to be worse than just garbage.

> Chewbacca was very afraid to jump, because he recognized
> something rotten, that which he declared to be worse than
> garbage alone.

Rob: <fúit> is the neuter of <fúinn> 'rotten, decayed'.

> En Hólmgǫngu-Hani sagði at hann hirði eigi hvat Tsiubakka
> kenndi, ok hratt honum ýr glugga.

> But Dueler-Han said that he didn’t care what Chewbacca
> knew, and pushed him out of a window.

> But Duel Han said that he didn’t care what Chewbacca
> recognized and dropped him out (the) window.

For <hratt> I'd go with 'pushed', 'thrust', 'shoved', or the
like. There are probably a number of ways to express
transitive 'to drop', but the one that comes to mind is <at
láta falla>.

> En Hólmgǫngu-Hani skaut síðustu ǫrum sínum, fyrr en hann
> hljóp sjálfr.

> But Dueler-Han shut his last arrow, before he jumped
> himself.

> And Duel Han shot his last arrow before he jumped himself.

That's 'last arrows', plural; the dative singular was <öru>,
later <ör>.

> “Unaðsǫm mey,” segir hann hleypandi, “En ek veit eigi enn,
> hvárt ek koma til at frjǭlsa hana, eða drepa hana.”

> “Delightful (?) girl,” he says jumping, “But I don’t know
> yet, whether I come to free her or kill her.”

> “Charming girl,” says he leaping, “But I still don’t know
> whether I come to free her or kill her.”

Rob: 'Delightful' is correct. Were you worried about the
vowel <ǫ>? The word is a compound of <unað> and <samr>,
whose nom. sing. fem. is <söm>, formerly <sǫm>. (At an
earlier stage of the language it was *samu; the <-u> caused
u-umlaut to *sǫmu and subsequently disappeared.)

> Nú es þau vǭru komin á harkabát, fá þau eigi komizk undan,
> því at Veiði-Anakinn hafði gǫrt þat at álitum, at
> fjandmenn hans mætti felask þar, ok kvað hann yfir þat
> skip galdra, svá at menn vǭru gildraðir þar sem melrakkar
> í gildru, ok þat vápn, es maðr þar hóf upp, brásk í mót
> sik.

> Now when they had come to the garbage boat, they didn’t
> get to escape, because Vader-Anakin had made that to
> appearances, that his enemies could hide themselves there,
> and he said over that ship charms, so that people were
> trapped there, and that weapon, which a man raised up, was
> caused to thrust against himself.

> Now when they had come on (the) garbage boat, they were
> not able to escape because Vader-Anakinn had taken that
> into consideration, that his enemies might hide themselves
> there, and recited a spell over that ship so that men were
> trapped there as foxes in traps and that weapon which a
> man raised up, turned towards him.

Rob: See <gøra e-t at álitum> 'to take into consideration'
at <álit> (Z2). <Gildru> is singular: 'like foxes in a
trap'. I think that the <-sk> form <brásk> here is intended
to function as a passive, and since <bregða>, when applied
to a weapon, is most likely to refer to drawing a sword, I'd
make it 'was drawn against himself'.

> Ok þá setti hann orm stóran í þeim báti, ok sá dreki
> brenndi harka þá es bátrinn kom firr frá skipi
> Dauðastjǫrnu, fyrr en bátrinn kom aptr til Dauðastjǫrnu.

> And then he set a large snake in the boat, and the dragon
> burned the trash that the boat came first from the ship
> the Death Star, before the boat came back to the Death
> Star.

> And then he set a great dragon on that boat and that
> dragon burned that trash which came to the boat from (the)
> ship, Death Star, before the boat came back to Death Star.

<Bátrinn> is nominative, so it must be the subject of <kom>,
and <firr> is the comparative of <fjarri>: 'when the boat
came farther off from the Death Star'.

> Ok þess vænti Veiðr, at engi maðr fengi þar lifat lengi.

> And Vader hoped for that, that no man obtain there long
> life.

> And Vader intended this that no man was able to live there
> long.

The first part is the impersonal usage of <vænta> at (Z3);
in this context 'expected' seems more likely than 'hoped'.
<Fengi> is a subjunctive: 'that no one could [or 'would be
able to'] live there long'. Rob: This is the <fá> + past
part. construction again.

> En þau Hólmgǫngu-Hani vissu eigi at bátrinn vas galdraðr,
> ok þess vegna skaut Hólmgǫngu-Hani Dauðastjǫrnu ǫru, en
> sjá ǫr flaug aptr ok sótti heldr hann, ok fengi
> Hólmgǫngu-Hani harðla forðask hana.

> But they, Dueler Han (and the others) didn’t know that the
> boat was enchanted, and Dueler-Han proceeds to shoot the
> Death Star with arrow, but the arrow flew back and
> attacked rather him, and Dueler Han caught very avoided
> it. (?)

> But they, Duel Han (and co.) did not know that the boat
> was enchanted and for this reason Duel Han shot an arrow,
> but that arrow flew back and sought him instead and Duel
> Han was barely able to escape it.

Rob: <þess vegna> is 'on that account, for that reason', and
<fengi ... forðask> is another <fá> + past part. 'to be able
to escape/avoid'. Grace: You missed 'at the Death Star'.
<Harðla> 'very' doesn't make much sense here; I shouldn't be
surprised if it were a typo for <varla> 'barely, scarcely,
hardly', since that's clearly the intended meaning.

> “Ok kastaðu niðr boga þann!” ...
> “And throw the bow down!” ...
> “And you cast down your bow!” ...

I'd make it 'that bow'.

Brian