Re: Jokull's Thattr 1 Part 3 -- Rob's Translation

I'm enjoying the story, but this is some of the hairiest
syntax that I've ever encountered.

> "Ek þykkjumst gerla vita," segir Gnípa.
> "It seems to me (to) know quite [surely]," says Gnipa.
> “I think myself to know fully,” says Gnipa.

'I think I know very well,' says Gnípa.

> "Hér er kominn Jökull, sonr Búa ok Fríðar Dofradóttur.

> "Here has come Jokull, son of Bui and Frida, daughter of
> Dofra.

> “Jokull, son of Bui and Frid, Dofri’s daughter, has come
> here.”

Jökul, son of Búi and Fríð Dofri's daughter, has come
here.

> Af honum gengr nú mest frægð, ok hefði sú betr, er slíkan
> mann ætti."

> From him goes now most fame, and got the better, than such
> a noble man."

> “Of him goes now most fame, and that had better, (given?)
> ancestors of such a man.”

He has now [the] greatest renown, and she would do better
who married such a man.

In other words, he's a great catch.

> Geit segir þá við Gnípu: "Göngum til móts við hann ok
> bjóðum honum tvá kosti, þann eina, at hann eigi aðra hvára
> okkar, hinn annan, at vit skulum drepa hann ella."

> Geit then says to Gnipu: "Let's go meet him and offer him
> two choices: the one, the he marry us each other (or
> "marry one of us"?); the second, that we should kill him
> otherwise."

> Geit speaks then with Gnipa, “(Let us) go to meet with him
> and offer him two choices, the that he marry?? one or the
> other of us, the other, that we shall kill him otherwise.”

Geit then says to Gnípa: 'Let's go to meet him and offer
him two choices, the one, that he marry one of us two, the
other, that we kill him otherwise.'

> "Svá skal vera, systir sæl," segir hon.
> "So shall it be, happy sister," she says.
> “So shall (it) be, dear sister,” says she.

'So shall [it] be, dear sister,' says she.

<Sæll> isn't precisely 'dear', but that does seem to be the
effective sense here, and one manuscript apparently even
substitutes <kær> for <sæl>.

> Eftir þat gengu þær til móts við Jökul ok stigu heldr
> stórum.

> After that they go to meet Jokull and took rather long
> steps (meaning that they were hurrying?). (Z. stórum -
> stíga stórum, to take long steps)

> After that they go to meet with Jokull and take rather
> long steps.

After that they go to meet Jökul and take rather long
steps.

My guess is that this is supposed to be a literal
description and another indication of their uncouthness
rather than a way of saying that they were hurrying.

> Þær váru næsta ófrýnligar, nefsíðar, ok hekk vörrin ofan á
> bringu.

> They were very frowning, long-nosed, and their lips hung
> down upon [their] chests.

> They were almost frowningly, long-nosed, and the upper lip
> hung down to the chest.

They were greatly frowning, long-nosed, and the upper lip
hung down on [the] chest.

> Skinnstökkum váru þær klæddar síðum í fyrir, svá þær stigu
> at mestu á þá, en bak til fylgdu þeir ofanverðum
> þjóhnöppunum.

> Their clothes were skin cloaks hanging down in front, so
> they nearly stepped on them, and the backside followed to
> the tops of their buttocks.

> They were wearing skin-cloaks hoods (hanging ) in front,
> so that they mostly stepped on them, but in back? they
> (the cloaks?) followed?( only covered??) uppermost the
> buttocks.

They were clad in skin cloaks hanging down in front, so
that they nearly stepped on them, but in back they
followed the upper buttocks.

<Þeir> is masculine, so it must refer to the cloaks, not to
the lovely ladies. <Fylgja> takes the dative of the thing
followed or accompanied, and <til> requires the genitive, so
'the upper buttocks' is the dative object of <fylgdu>, not
the object of <til>. Note that <bak> is nom. or acc., so it
can't be the object of <til>; I can only guess that it's
short for <á bak> 'behind, in back', contrasting with <í
fyrir>. Since <til> has no apparent object, I take it to be
adverbial in some sense, but I'm frankly not sure just what
that sense is.

> Þær skelldu á lærin ok fóru mjök ókvenliga.

> They hit at the thigh and walked very un-lady-like.

> They clattered on the thighs and went in a very unseemly
> way for women.

They smacked the[ir] thighs and walked very unfemininely.

> Jökull sá þetta ok brá sverðinu, er Fríðr, móðir hans,
> hafði gefit honum, ok hjó til Geitar á hálsinn, svá af
> fauk höfuðit.

> Jokull saw this and drew his sword, which Frida his
> mother, had given him, and struck at Geit in the neck, so
> (to make) her head fly off.

> Jokull saw that and drew (his) sword, which Frid, his
> mother, had given him, and hewed at Geit at the neck so
> the head flew off.

Jökull saw this and drew his ('the') sword that Fríð, his
mother, had given him and hewed at Geit at the neck, so
that her ('the') head flew off.

> Í því kom Gnípa at ok réð á Jökul.
> At that Gnip came at and attacked Jokull.
> At that Gnipa came and attacked Jokull.

At that [very moment] Gnípa came upon and attacked Jökul.

> Tókst þar in harðasta glíma.

> There began the hardest (i.e., most contentious)
> wrestling.

> There took place the hardest wrestling.

There began the hardest wrestling.

> Varð flestallt, sem fyrir var, upp at ganga.

> It became almost all, as (to who) was ahead/in the lead,
> to go up. (??)

> (It) became very severe, as was before to get loose??

Almost everything that was present came to be torn loose.

In other words, their fight was so intense that it tore up
the surroundings. I'm by no means sure of this translation,
however.

> Gnípa gekk allfast fram, svá Jökull varð orkuvana fyrir
> henni ok allt hans hold blátt ok blóðrisa.

> Gnip stepped forward very firmly, so (that) Jokull became
> bereft of strength before her and all his flesh black and
> bruised and bloody.

> Gnipa went forward very hard so Jokull became ?? before
> her and all his flesh pale and bloody.

Gnípa went forward very hard, so [that] Jökul became
without strength before her, and all his flesh livid and
bloody.

> Sá Jökull, at eigi mátti svá lengi fram fara, ok sló til
> sniðglímu við Gnípu, en er hana varði minnst, brá hann
> henni lausamjöðm, ok kom fyrst niðr höfuðit ok síðan
> búkrinn.

> Jokull saw, that (he) could not go on so long, and struck
> at a certain mode of wrestling with Gnip, which defended
> her the least, he quickly gave her a hip throw, and (she)
> came down first on her head and then her body.

> Jokull saw that (he) was not able to go on for long and
> aimed at a wrestling move with Gnipa, but when to her was
> least defended, he drew her into a hip wrestling throw??
> and first came down the head and afterwards the body.

Jökul saw that he could not go on so for long and went for
a hip throw against Glíma, and when she was least
defended, he executed a hip throw against her, and her
('the') head came down first and then her ('the') body.

It's not really 'to her', because <hana> is accusative, not
dative; it's more '[it] defended her least', though I chose
a more idiomatic translation.

Rob: Note that although <höfuðit> could be nom. or acc.
<búkrinn> is unambiguously nom., so they must be parallel
subjects of <kom niðr>.

> Varð þetta fall allmikit.
> This fall happened (in a) very great way.
> This became a mighty fall

This was a mighty fall.

> Gnípa mælti: "Njóttu nú fallsins, karlmaðr."
> Gnip said: "Enjoy defeat now, guy."
> Gnipa spoke, “You enjoy the fall now, man.”

Gnípa said: 'Enjoy the fall now, fellow.'

That's definitely an imperative, not a simple declarative
statement. I'm not sure whether the idea is 'enjoy it while
you can', or 'okay, you win'; either can be seen as
compatible with J's response, though I lean towards the
former.

> Jökull mælti: "Fyrr skaltu fara sem Geit, systir þín."
> Jokull said: "You shall go sooner as Geit, your sister."
> Jokull spoke, “You shall go as Geit, your sister, before.”

Jökul said: 'Rather shall you go like Geit, your sister.'

I'm pretty sure that this is <fyrr> Z2 'rather'.

> Gnípa mælti: "Eigi máttu svá gera.
> Gnip said: "You are not able to do so.
> Gnipa spoke, “You are not able to do so.

Gnípa said: 'You can't do so.

> Þú munt vilja gefa mér líf ok seg mér, hvers þínir menn
> við þurfa."

> You would want to grant my life and tell me, what your men
> need."

> You will want to give me life and tell me, what your men
> need.”

You will want to grant me life and tell me what your men
stand in need of.'

> "Svá skal vera," segir Jökull, "enda vert mér trú ok
> liðsinnandi."

> "It shall be so," says Jokull, "if worth me true and ready
> to help."

> “So shall (it) be,” says Jokull, “and (typo for veit??)
> grant me honour and assistance.”

'So shall [it] be,' says Jökul, 'if you are faithful and
helpful to me.'

<Vert> is correct, according to the other editions that I've
seen. After much digging and puzzling I've come to the
conclusion that it's a second person form of <vera>, though
I've seen it elsewhere only in religious texts. <Trú> is
the fem. nom. sing. of <trúr> 'faithful, true', and
<liðsinnandi> is the present participle of <liðsinna> 'to
help, assist', 'helping, assisting'.

> Þessu játar Gnípa.
> Gnip agrees to this.
> Gnipa agreed to this.

Gnípa agrees to this.

> Síðan stóð hon upp ok mælti: "Ódrengiliga fór þér áðan,
> Jökull, er þú drapt Geit, systur mína, tólf vetra gamalt
> barnit, en ek er nú þrettán vetra.

> Then she stood up and said: "You went un-nobly a little
> while ago, Jokull, when you killed Geit, my sister, the 12
> year old child, but I am now 13 years (old).

> Afterwards she stood up and spoke, “ You behaved in an
> unmanly way before, Jokull, when you killed Geit, my
> sister, the twelve year old child, but I am now thirteen
> years old.

Then she stood up and said: 'You behaved meanly a little
while ago, Jökul, when you killed Geit, my sister, the
twelve-year-old child, but I am now thirteen years [old].

> Erum vér nú sjau systkinin eftir ok ek yngst af öllum."

> We are now seven siblings left and I (the) youngest of
> all."

> We are now seven sisters after (this loss) and I youngest
> of all.”

We are now seven remaining siblings, and I [the] youngest
of all.'

> "Eigi ferr ek svá grannt at slíku," segir Jökull, "en hvar
> erum vér nú at komnir, félagar mínir?"

> "I don't go so nicely at that," says Jokull, "but where
> have we come to now, my crew (and I)?"

> “I go not so slim??? at such,” says Jokull, “but where
> have we now arrived at, my comrades?”

'I don't care so nicely about such,' says Jökul, but where
have we have we come now, my fellows [and I]?'

Z notes that idiom <fara at e-u> 'to mind, pay heed to, care
about'. CV s.v. <grannr> has <grannt> 'nicely' as an
adverb. I take him to be saying that he doesn't care about
any harm that he may have inflicted on her family, or how
old she is; he just wants to know where he and his fellows
are.

Brian