> Jökull mælti: "Eigi mun þá betur."
> Jokull said: "I would have the better."
> Jokull spoke, “(That) will not (be) better then.”
> Jökull spoke: (I) will then better not (I will rather it
> not be me).
I'm pretty much with Grace on this one: it seems to me that
Jökul is saying yet again that this really isn't a good
idea.
> Og í því var sem kippt væri báðum fótum senn undan Búa og
> féll hann áfram og þar varð við brestur hár og mikill.
> And in that was as both feet would be pulled at the same
> time from under Bui, and he fell on his face and there
> (it) happened with a hard and great crash. (Z. - féll hann
> á., on the face)
> And at that (it) was as (if) both feet were pulled out
> from under Bui all at once and he fell on his face and
> there happened with (that) a loud and great crash.
> And (it) was at that (moment) when (it) were pulled with
> both legs at-the-same-time from under Búi and he fell
> forward (on his face) and a loud and might crash happened
> therewith (I´m not quite clear on the intricacies of this
> wrestling move ie whose legs did what but whatever, it
> left Búi lying flat on his face).
'And at that moment [it] was as if both legs were jerked
simultaneously from under Búi ... .' I take this to mean
that Jökul's mother intervened when Jökul was about to fall.
> Búi mælti: "Fellt mun nú til hlítar og mátti móðir þín
> eigi hlutlaust láta vera."
> Bui said: "Fallen (?) now tolerably and your mother will
> not result from causing to be." (??) (Z. hlít- til
> (nökkurrar) hlítar, tolerably, pretty well
> Bui spoke, “Now (it) falls (that you?) will be satisfied
> and your mother be able not be allowed to have a part in
> it.”
> Búi spoke: Now (it) will be felled to sufficiency
> (Methinks this is the decisive fall) and your mother could
> not allow to remain having-taken-no-part-in-(it) (ie she
> couldn´t keep out of it and had to interfere).
The omitted subject of <mun> just might be <eg>: 'I'll be
tolerably well felled now, and your mother could not let
[it] be without interference'.
> Þá hlupu að aðrir menn og sáu þar vegsummerki að
> bringspelirnir voru í sundur í Búa og hafði orðið undir
> steinn.
> Then other men came suddenly and saw there signs that the
> lower chest was in pieces in Bui and had become under a
> stone. (??)
> Then other men ran up and saw there signs? that the lower
> parts of Bui’s chest were sundered and had happened under
> (the) stone.
> Then other persons (men) ran up and saw there (the)
> marks-of-glory (the tell-tale-signs of victory?) that
> (the) breast-rails (the lower part of the chest) were
> asunder in Búi and had become (positioned) under a rock.
CV s.v. <verk> (with a cross-reference from the very end of
the article on <vegr> 'a way') explains that modern
<vegsummerki> is a pronunciation spelling of an older
<verks-um-merki> (also <verks-of-merki>) 'traces of work',
especially in a bad sense, referring to marks of a
devastation, slaughter, or the like. They 'saw there signs
of destruction, that Búi's lower chest was asunder, and a
stone had come to be under [him]'. Note that <steinn> is
nominative, so it can't be the object of <undir>. I think
that we can safely infer that Fríð not only pulled Búi's
legs out from under him, but also caused the rock to be
where he'd break himself up on it.
> Jökli þótti verk sitt svo illt að hann reið þegar í brott
> og til skips er búið var suður á Eyrarbakka og fór þar
> utan um sumarið en síðan höfum vér önga sögu heyrt frá
> honum.
> Jokul thought his deed so poor that he rode at once away
> and to (his) ship that was ready south at Eyrarbakka (ear
> bank) and there went abroad during the summer but then we
> have heard no news about him.
> This deed seemed to Jokull so bad that he rode away
> immediately and to (the) ship which was ready south at
> Eyrarbakka and went there abroad during the summer and
> afterwards we have heard no tales of him.
> His deed seemed to Jökull so bad that he rode at-once away
> and to a ship which was ready south in Eyrarbakki
> (Sand-Bank) and journeyed then abroad during the-summer
> and after-that we have heard no story about him.
Of course: the Glacier just melted away in the summer! <g>
> Sú hin sama járnklukka hékk þá fyrir kirkjunni á Esjubergi
> er Árni biskup réð fyrir stað, Þorláksson, og Nikulás
> Pétursson bjó að Hofi, og var þá slitin af ryði.
> That same iron clock hung then over the church at Esjuberg
> which bishop Arni had authority over (the) church,
> Thorlakson, and Nikulas Peterson lived at Hofi, and worn
> out from rust.
> That same iron bell hung then before the church at Esja’s
> Cliff when Bishop Arni, Thorlak’s son, ruled over the
> place and Nicholas Peter’s son lived at Hof and (it) was
> then worn from rust.
> That very iron-bell hanged then (at that time)
> at-the-front-of the-church which bishop Árni Þorlákrs-son
> decreed for (the) place (church), and Nikulás Péturrs-son
> lived at Hof, and (the bell) was then broken from rust.
I agree with Grace's reading of <er> as 'when': 'The same
iron bell hung then before the church at Esjuberg when
bishop Árni governed the place and Nikulás Pétursson lived
at Hof, and [it] was then broken from rust.'
> Árni biskup lét og þann sama plenarium fara suður í
> Skálholt og lét búa og líma öll blöðin í kjölinn og er
> írskt letur á.
> Bishop Arni also had that same (?) plenarium (plenarium =
> complete set of texts) go south to Skalhot and caused to
> be built and cemented all the blood in the keel which had
> Irish letters. (??)
> Bishop Arni had also that same plenarium to go south in
> Skalhold and had built and limed all ?? in the kiln and on
> it are Irish letters.
> Bishop Árni caused also that very plenary-session to
> journey south to Skálholt and caused to prepare and to
> glue all the-blades (neut pl of blað, pieces of the bell?)
> into the-keel and Irish writing is on (it).
Here <kjölr> is metaphorical, 'the back of a book'
(presumably the spine); <blöðin> are 'the leaves/pages' of
the book. (CV actually uses this bit as an example.)
Apparently the good bishop pretty much had the plenarium
made: he had the individual leaves prepared, which may
include everything from preparing the parchment to doing the
writing and any illumination that might have been done, and
then glued to a spine instead of being left loose or merely
sewn together. And the writing was in an Irish script.
This was sufficiently different from the typical Northern
hands to be very noticeable (though this tale mixes pre- and
post-Christian eras indiscriminately, quite apart from its
fantasical elements).
By the way, for all that we're told here that nothing more
was heard of Jökul, there is a whole þáttr about him,
'Jökuls þáttr Búasonar'!
Brian