Re: Eyrbyggja Saga 28 part 5 -- Rob's Translation

> Eftir þetta skildi með þeim.
> After this they part.
> After this they parted.

After this they parted.

> Berserkirnir gengu heim um kveldið og voru móðir mjög sem
> háttur er þeirra manna sem eigi eru einhama að þeir verða
> máttlausir mjög er af þeim gengur berserksgangurinn.

> The berserkers went home during the evening and were very
> exhausted as usual when of the men as were not
> single-shaped (so says Z., but I don't understand) that
> they became very exhausted when they depart from the fury
> of the berserkers.

> The berserkers went home during the evening and were very
> tired as custom is of those men, as were not werewolves??
> that they become entirely without strength when the
> condition of going berserk leaves them.

The berserks went home in the evening and were very tired,
as [it] is [the] nature of those men who are not
single-shaped that they become greatly exhausted when the
berserkergang leaves them.

The berserks were thought to be shape-changers; to say that
someone is single-shaped is to say that he is *not* a
shape-changer.

> Styr gekk þá í mót þeim og þakkaði þeim verk og bað þá
> fara í bað og hvíla sig eftir það.

> Styr then went to meet them and thanked them for the work
> and asked them to take a bath and rest after that.

> Styr went then towards them and thanked them for the work
> and bade them go to a bath and rest themselves after it.

Styr then went to meet them and thanked them for the work
and asked them to take a bath and take a rest after that.

> Þeir gerðu svo.
> They did so.
> They did so.

They did so.

> Og er þeir komu í baðið lét Styr byrgja baðstofuna og bera
> grjót á hlemminn er var yfir forstofunni en hann lét
> breiða niður nautshúð hráblauta hjá uppganginum.

> And when they came to the bath, Styr had caused to shut
> the bath-furnace and carry stones to the trap door which
> was over the ante-chamber and he caused to lay down raw
> ox-hides against the (uppganginum = exit?).

> And when they came to the bath, Styr had the bath-room
> shut and (had) stones carried to the trap door which was
> over the anteroom and he had spread beneath a raw cow hide
> near the step up?

And when they came into the bath, Styr had the bathing room
closed and stones carried to the trapdoor that was over the
anteroom, and he had raw oxhides laid down by the opening.

The general sense of <uppgangr> is 'a way up', and it
appears from the description that the bathing room had an
exit through its ceiling; CV does give 'the opening of a
bath' as one sense of the word.

> Síðan lét hann gefa utan á baðið í glugg þann er yfir var
> ofninum.

> Then he had water poured on outside the bath in an opening
> which was over the oven. (Z. gefa 7 - g. á e-t, to pour
> water on)

> Then he had poured from outside on the bath in that window
> which was over the opening.

Then he had [water] poured from outside into the opening
that was above the oven.

> Var þá baðið svo heitt að berserkirnir þoldu eigi í baðinu
> og hljópu á hurðirnar.

> The bath was then so hot that the berserkers couldn't
> endure it in the bath and leapt to the doors.

> Then the bath was so hot that the berserkers dared not
> (remain) in the bath and leaped against the doors.

Then the bath was so hot that the berserks could not bear
[it] in the bath and ran to the doors.

> Fékk Halli brotið hlemminn og komst upp og féll á húðinni.

> Halli was able to open the trap door and came up and fell
> on the cattle hide.

> Halli was able to break the door and got himself through
> and fell on the hide.

Halli was able to break the trapdoor and managed to get up
and fell on the oxhide.

> Veitti Styr honum á banasár.
> Styr gave him a death-wound.
> Styr gave him (his) death wound.

Styr gave him a death wound.

> En er Leiknir vildi hlaupa upp úr dyrunum lagði Styr í
> gegnum hann og féll hann inn í baðstofuna og lést þar.

> When Leiknir wanted to jump up out of the door, Styr
> thrust through him and he fell inside the bathing room
> (think "sauna") and died there. [I wonder how long it was
> before Styr and his family wanted to use the sauna again?
> Also, I think it might be a tad awkward for Styr to invite
> people from the neighborhood in the future to use his
> sauna…. ]

> And when Leiknir wanted to run up out of the doors, Styr
> thrust through him and he fell in into the bath-room and
> died there.

And when Leiknir wanted to leap up out of the doorway, Styr
thrust through him, and he fell into the bathing room and
died there.

<Dyrunum> is formally plural, but it translates to 'doorway,
door opening'.

> Síða lét Styr veita umbúnað líkum þeirra.
> Then (síða = síðan?) Styr had their bodies buried.
> Then? Styr had granted their bodies burial.

Then Styr had their bodies given burial.

Yes, I’m pretty sure that <Síða> is just a typo for <Síðan>,
which is what my other edition has.

> Voru þeir færðir út í hraunið og kasaðir í dal þeim er þar
> er í hrauninu er svo djúpur að engan hlut sér úr nema
> himin yfir sig.

> They were brought out to the lava field and buried in a
> valley which is there in the lava field is so deep that no
> thing is seen out (of it) except the sky over you.

> They were carried out to the lava field and buried in that
> dale which is there in the lava field and so deep that no
> part looks out except for the heavens over him.

They were brought out to the lava field and unceremoniously
buried in the valley that is in the lava field [and] that is
so deep that no thing is seen from [it] except [the] sky
above it.

The reflexive pronoun <sik> here refers to the valley.
‘Unceremoniously’ isn’t literally present in the Old Norse,
but the verb <kasa> is from <kös> 'a heap, a pile', and the
editor of my other edition suggests that this is to be
distinguished from a proper <haugr> 'cairn'.

> Það er við sjálfa götuna.

> That is by the same path (that the berserkers cleared,
> presumably).

> It is on the verge of the road.

That is right by the path.

If you’re curious, the Berserkjagata is shown at
<http://en.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=948906>.

> Yfir grefti berserkjanna kvað Styr vísu:

> Over (the) burial of the berserkers, Styr recited this
> verse:

> Over the berserkers burial, Styr recited a verse:

Styr recited a verse over the berserkers’ burial:

> Sýndist mér sem myndi
> It seemed to me as would remember
> Seemed to me as would

> móteflandar spjóta
> (móteflandar?) spear
> Strengthening against spear

> Ála ekki dælir
> leather strap not valleys
> ?? not to deal with

> Él-herðöndum verða.
> becomes a hot fight-in the neighborhood.
> become a hail-storm??

> Uggi eg eigi seggja
> I am not afraid to say
> I fear no men??

> ofrgang of mig strangan.
> excess of my strong.
> going to excess?? too severe for me?

> Nú hefr bilgrönduðr brandi
> How has (bilgrönduðr?) a blade
> Now has a victor

> berserkjum stað merktan.
> The berserkers denote a place.
> marked the berserkers (resting?) place with a sword.

Sýndisk mér sem myndi
móteflandar spjóta
Ála ekki dælir
élherðǫndum verða;
uggek eigi seggja
ofrgang of mik strangan;
nú hefr bilgrǫnduðr brandi
berserkjum stað merktan.

It seemed to me that spears’ meeting-organizers would not
become easy to deal with to Áli’s storm-strengtheners;
I do not fear men’s severe excess concerning me; now [the]
fear-damager has with sword marked [the] berserks’ place.

<Móteflandar> is a compound, <mót-eflandar>, and the second
element seems to be an irregular, non-standard variant of
the nom. plur. <eflendr> of the agent noun <eflandi> from
the present participle of <efla>. The spears’
meeting-organizers are warriors, here referring to the
berserks. <Ála> is the gen. of <Áli>, the name of a
mythological sea-king; his storm is battle, and its
strengtheners are again warriors, in this case apparently
Styr. I’m not sure why <herðöndum>, the dat. plur. of the
agent noun <herðandi>, from <herða>, is plural, unless it’s
meant to cover not just Styr, but also his various
supporters.

<Seggja> is the gen. plur. of <seggr> (poet.) 'man'. I used
CV’s gloss 'excess' of <ofgangr> (= <ofrgangr>), but a more
literal sense of 'over-going' may be intended here,
something close to 'oppression'. <Bilgrönduðr> is mentioned
in CV s.v. <bil> as one of a number of poetic epithets
meaning 'fearless, dauntless' that are applied to heroes;
<grönduðr> is evidently an agent noun from <granda> 'to do
harm'. <Brandi> is an instrumental dative, 'with a sword'.
The place is presumably their final resting place under a
heap of stones by the path that they built.

> En er Snorri goði spyr þetta reið hann út undir Hraun og
> sátu þeir Snorri og Styr enn allan dag.

> When chieftain Snorri learns this, he rides out below
> Hraun and they, Snorri and Styr, sat all day long.

> And when Chieftain Snorri learns this he rode out below
> Hraun and they, Snorri and Styr, sat yet all day.

And when Snorri goði learns of this, he rode out beneath
Hraun, and they, Snorri and Styr, moreover sat all day.

> En af tali þeirra kom það upp að Styr fastnaði Snorra goða
> Ásdísi dóttur sína og tókust þessi ráð um haustið eftir og
> var það mál manna að hvortveggja þótti vaxa af þessum
> tengdum.

> And from their talk, it came up that Styr pledged his
> daughter Asdisi to Snorri and this marriage should take
> place in the next fall, and it was man's talk that each of
> the two was thought to grow from this relationship through
> marriage.

> And from their discussions it came about that Styr pledged
> to Chieftain Snorri, Asdis, his daughter and this plan
> took place during the next fall and it was said by people
> that each of the two seemed to grow (in importance) from
> these affinities.

And from their talk it came about that Styr betrothed to
Snorri goði his daughter Ásdís, and this marriage took place
the next fall, and people said that each of the two was
considered to increase [in renown] as a result of this
marital tie.

<Tengdir> is formally a plural, literally 'bonds', but in
practice it’s 'affinity through marriage' or the like.

> Var Snorri goði ráðagerðarmaður meiri og vitrari en Styr
> atgöngumeiri.

> Chieftain Snorri was more a man of many devices and wiser,
> but Styr more an attacker (or helper?).

> Snorri was a chieftain, more so a man of many devices, and
> wiser, and Styr more combative.

Snorri goði was a greater man of good counsels and wiser,
and Styr more energetic/decisive [in attacking problems,
tasks, etc.].

I had to dig a bit for <atgöngumeiri>. CV s.v. <atgangr>
has the compound <atgangsmikill> 'energetic', and an old ON
dictionary by Möbius has <atgöngumikill> 'wer eine Sache
kräftig in Angriff nimmt'.

> Báðir voru þeir frændmargir og fjölmennir innan héraðs.

> They both are (people who have) many relatives and
> followers in the district.

> They were both great friends and many people from in the
> district.

They both had many kinsmen and followers in the district.

<Innan> as a preposition (taking the gen.) is simply
'(with)in', not 'from within'.

Brian