> En er Arnkell fann Úlfar segir hann honum hversu Þórólfur
> hefir svarað.
> And when Arnkell met Ulfar, he tells him how Thorolfr has
> answered.
> And when Arnkell met Ulf, he tells him how Thorolf has
> answered.
And when Arnkel met with Úlfar, he tells how Þórólf has
answered.
> Það fannst á Úlfari að honum þótti sem Arnkell hefði lítt
> fylgt málinu og kvað hann ráða slíku við föður sinn ef
> hann vildi.
> That pleased Ulfar that to him it seemed as Anrkell had
> little pursued the matter and told him consult such (a
> matter) with his father if he wanted.
> Ulf found that it seemed to him as though Arnkell had
> little helped the case and said he could decide such with
> his father if he wanted.
It was seen that Úlfar thought that Arnkel had little
pursued the matter, and [Arnkel] said that he would
undertake this with his father, if he [= Úlfar] wanted.
Literally ‘that was seen/noticed in Úlfar, that he ...’;
it’s the impersonal <finna á> idiom, apparently with the
sk-form emphasizing the passive nature of the construction.
> Arnkell galt Úlfari fyrir heyið slíkt verð sem honum
> líkaði.
> Arnkell repaid Ulfar for the hay such a price as he liked.
> Arnkell paid Ulf for the hay such value as he pleased.
Arnkel paid Úlfar such price for the hay as satisfied him [=
Úlfar].
> Og er þeir feðgar fundust í annað sinn heimti Arnkell enn
> heyverð að föður sínum en Þórólfur lét eigi batna um
> svörin og skildu þeir þá reiðir.
> And when they, father and son, met for the second time,
> Arnkell searched for a payment for hay from his father,
> but Thorolfr didn't cause to improve concerning the answer
> and they then parted angry. (Z. anarr 2 - annat sinn for
> the second time)
> And when they, father and son met at another time Arnkell
> still claimed the value of the hay from his father, but
> Thorolf did not allow improvement regarding the answer and
> they parted angry then.
And when father and son met a second time, Arnkel still
claimed payment for [the] hay from his father, but Þórólf
gave no better answer [‘did not make to improve concerning
the answer’], and they then parted angry.
> Um haustið eftir lét Arnkell reka af fjalli yxn sjö er
> Þórólfur faðir hans átti og lét drepa alla í bú sitt.
> During the next fall, Arnkell caused to drive from (the)
> mountain seven oxen which is father Thorolfr owned and had
> all killed in his farm.
> During the next fall, Arnkell had seven oxen driven from
> the hill which his father, Thorolf, had and had them all
> killed on his farm.
The next fall Arnkel had seven oxen that Þórólf, his father,
owned driven from [the] fell and had [them] all killed at
his farm.
> Þetta líkaði Þórólfi stórilla og heimti verð af Arnkatli
> en Arnkell kvað þá skyldu koma fyrir heyið Úlfars.
> Thorolfr didn't like that very much, and looked for a
> price from Arnkatl, but Arnkell then said Ulfar's hay
> should come before (i.e., come first).
> Thorolf was exceedingly displeased and claimed (the) value
> from Arnkell, but Arnkell said then (it) should come for
> Ulf’s hay (deduct it from the hay’s value).
This greatly displeased Þórólf, and [he] claimed [their]
value from Arnkel, but Arnkel said that they should be
compensation for the cost of Úlfar’s hay.
Since <Þórólfi>, being a dative, cannot itself be the
subject of <heimti>, I’m taking this to be a case of
omission of an obvious element, namely, <hann>. The idiom
<koma fyrir e-t> 'be an equivalent for something' is in the
prepositions section of Zoëga’s entry for <koma>.
> Þá líkaði Þórólfi miklu verr en áður og kallast þetta af
> Úlfari hlotið hafa, kvað hann sig skyldu fyrir finna.
> Thorolfr liked that much worse than before and this is
> called of Ulfar to have allotted to himself, told him he
> should find first.
> Thorolf liked that then much worse than before and said of
> himself this to have been allotted to Ulf said he should
> find himself for (it).
Then Þórólf was pleased much worse than before and says that
he has suffered this from Úlfar; [he] said that he should
pay for [it] [with] himself [i.e., Þ. wants to take it out
of Ú.'s hide].
Note that <Þórólfi> isn’t actually the grammatical subject
of <kallast>: as in the previous sentence with <heimti>,
that’s not actually present.
> Þenna vetur um jól hafði Þórólfur drykkju mikla og veitti
> kappsamlega þrælum sínum.
> This winter during Yule, Thorolfr had much drink and he
> gave his thralls plentifully.
> That winter, during Yule, Thorolf had drunk much and
> treated his thralls impetuously.
This winter at Yule Þórólf had much drink and treated his
thralls [to it] liberally.
My addition of ‘to it’ is inferred from the context.
> En er þeir voru drukknir eggjar hann þá að fara inn til
> Úlfarsfells og brenna Úlfar inni og hét að gefa þeim þar
> til frelsi.
> And when they were drunk, he egged them on to go in to
> Ulfar's Fell and Burn Ulrar inside and promised to give
> them thereto (their) freedom.
> And when they were drunk, he urges them to go in to Ulf’s
> Hill and burn Ulf inside and promised to give them freedom
> for it.
And when they were drunk, he egged them on to go in to
Úlfarsfell and burn Úlfar in [his house] and promised to
grant them freedom for it.
> Þrælarnir sögðust þetta mundu vinna til frelsis sér ef
> hann efndi orð sín.
> The thralls declared themselves this would win oneself
> freedom if he fulfilled his word.
> The thralls said they would work to free themselves if he
> would fulfill his word.
The thralls said that they would do this for their freedom,
if he fulfilled his word.
> Síðan fóru þeir sex saman inn til Úlfarsfells.
> Then they, six together, went in to Ular's Fell.
> Afterwards they went six all together in to Ulf’s Hill.
After that they went, six together, in to Úlfarsfell.
> Tóku þeir viðköst og drógu að bænum og slógu eldi í.
> They took there a pile of wood and dragged (it) to the
> farm and set fire to (it). (Z. slá 6 slá eldi í e-t, to
> set fire to)
> The took a pile of wood and dragged (it) to the house and
> set fire to it.
They took a pile of wood and dragged it to the farmhouse and
struck fire to [it].
> Í þenna tíma sátu þeir Arnkell við drykkju á Bólstað.
> In this time they, Anrkell (and others), sat with drink at
> Bolstad.
> At that time, they, Arnkell (and co.) sat with drinks at
> Bolstad.
At that time Arnkel and Co. sat drinking at Bólstað.
<Drykkju> is the oblique singular case of the feminine
n-stem (or weak feminine) <drykkja> 'drinking'.
> Og er þeir gengu til svefns sáu þeir eld til Úlfarsfells,
> fóru þá þegar til og tóku þrælana en slökktu eldinn.
> And when they went to sleep (this must mean "when they
> were getting ready to go to sleep") they saw a fire on
> Ulfar's Fell, they went at once there and seized the
> thralls and put out the fire.
> And when they went to sleep they saw fire at Ulf’s Hill,
> then went at once there and seized the thralls and put out
> the fire.
And when they went to bed [‘sleep’], they saw fire at
Úlfarsfell. They at once went there and caught the thralls
and quenched the fire.
> Voru þá enn lítt brennd húsin.
> The house was then burned a little.
> Then the house was yet lightly burned.
The houses were then still little burned.
In other words, little damage had yet been done.
> Um morguninn eftir lét Arnkell flytja þrælana inn í
> Vaðilshöfða og voru þeir þar hengdir allir.
> During the next morning, Arnkell had the thralls taken to
> Vadilshofda, and they were all hanged there.
> During the next morning, Arnkell had the thralls conveyed
> in to Vadilshofud and they were all hung there.
The next morning Arnkel had the thralls taken in to
Vaðilshöfði, and they were all hanged there.
> Eftir það handsalaði Úlfar Arnkatli fé sitt allt og
> gerðist hann þá varnaðarmaður Úlfars.
> After that, Ulfar confirmed with a handshake to Arnkatl
> all his money, and he then became Ulfar's warder.
> After it Ulf gave over to Arnkell all his posessions and
> he became then Ulf’s defender.
After that Úlfar made over [with a handshake] all his
property to Arnkel, and he [A.] then became Úlfar’s
guardian.
Another edition has the following explanation of
<varnaðarmaðr>:
varnaðarmaðr: sá, er hefur annan mann i vernd sinni. Hér
handsalar Úlfar Arnkatli fé sitt gegn því, að Arnkell
veiti honum umsjá og styrk, ef með þarf. Þetta er hið
sama og lögin nefna arfsal (sjá Grg. III 585), að því einu
undan skildu, að Úlfar býr eftir sem áður búi sínu. Nú
voru um arfsal þau ákvæði í lögum, að ef næstu erfingjar
arfsalans töldu arfsalið sér óhagstœtt, gátu þeir ónýtt
samninginn. En frjálsgjafi leysings var erfingi hans;
Þorbrandssynir áttu því að erfa Úlfar. — Um þetta mál
mátti og koma að ákvæðum laganna um arfskot leysingja; ef
leysingi réð arfskot frjálsgjafa sínum, þ. e. ráðstafaði
eignum sínum svo, að tilvonandi erfingja var skaði að, þá
var kostur að gera leysingjann að þræli aftur.
One who has another person under his protection. Here Ú.
makes over his property to A. in exchange for A.’s care
and assistance if necessary. This is the same as the law
called <arfsal> ['cession of right of inheritance in
exchange for lifetime maintenance'], with this one
exception, that Ú. deals with his farm afterwards as he
did before. Now concerning <arfsal> there was this
decision in law, that if immediate heirs of the
<arfsal>-er considered the <arfsal> unfavorable to them,
they got the agreement annulled. And a freedman’s
manumitter was his heir; Þorbrand’s sons were therefore to
inherit from Úlfar[1]. — In this case a legal decision
concerning inheritance fraud by a freedman could also
apply; if a freedman advised his manumitter [to commit]
inheritance fraud, i.e., arranged his property so that
prospective heirs were harmed, there was a possibility to
make the freedman a thrall again.
[1] I really don’t understand the syntax here, and I wonder
if there isn’t simply a word missing. It appears to say
that Þorbrand’s sons were to inherit Úlfar, which in
context just doesn’t make sense, so I’ve translated it
as if it were <að erfa eftir Úlfar>.
> Þetta handsal líkaði illa Þorbrandssonum því að þeir
> þóttust eiga allt fé eftir Úlfar, leysingja sinn, og tókst
> af þessu fæð mikil með þeim Arnkatli og Þorbrandssonum og
> máttu þeir þaðan af eigi leika saman eiga.
> That pledge little pleased the sons of Thorbrand because
> they thought to own all the property after Ulfar, his
> freedwoman, and was brought about of this much enmity with
> them, Arnkatl and the sons of Thorbrand, and they were not
> able after that to have play together. (???)
> Thorbrand’s sons were displeased with this agreement
> because they thought to own (inherit) all wealth after
> Ulf, their freedman, and from this much coolness took
> place between them, Arnkell and Thorbrand’s sons and they
> could thence forward not have games together.
This bargain displeased Þorbrand’s sons, for they thought to
have [the] whole property after Úlfar, their freedman, and
from this great coldness arose between them, Arnkel and
Þorbrand’s sons, and thereafter they could not have games
together.
> En áður höfðu þeir leikist við og var Arnkell þó
> sterkastur að leikum.
> And previously they had played one against the other and
> Arnkell was yet the strongest at playing.
> But before they had played with each other and Arnkell was
> still strongest at games.
But before they had played with one another, and Arnkel was
nevertheless strongest at sport.
> En sá maður tók best í móti honum og var annar sterkastur
> er hét Freysteinn bófi og var fóstri Þorbrands og
> kenningarson því að það var flestra manna sögn að hann
> væri hans son en ambátt var móðir hans.
> And the man took best against him and (there) was another
> stronger who was named Freysteinn "(the) Rogue" and (he)
> was a foster relative of Thorbrand's and an alleged son
> because it was said by most men that he would be his son,
> but his mother was a concubine.
> But that man offered best resistance against him and
> another was strongest and was named Freysteinn rogue and
> was Thorbrand’s foster son and alleged son because it was
> said by most people that he was his son and a concubine
> was his mother.
But that man best resisted him and was next strongest who
was called Freystein bófi ['knave, rogue'] and was
Þorbrand's foster son and alleged son, because most people
said that he was his son, and a bondswoman/concubine was his
mother.
> Hann var dre[n]gilegur maður og mikill fyrir sér.
> He was a (dregilegur?) man and great before himself. (?)
> He was a brave man and powerful.
He was a brave man and strong.
Brian