> Eftir það reið Arnkell heim í Hvamm og kastaði sinni eign
> á fé það allt er þar stóð saman og faðir hans hafði átt.
> After that Arnkell rode home to Hvamm and took possession
> of the property, all that which stood there together and
> his father had owned. (Z. eiga 1 -kasta sinni eigu, leggja
> sína eigu, í e-t, to take possession of)
> After that Arnkell rode home to Hvamm and took possession
> of all that wealth which stood together (was assembled)
> there and his father had had.
After that Arnkel rode home to Hvamm and took possession of
all the property that was gathered there and his father had
owned.
> Var Arnkell þar þrjár nætur og var þessa stund
> tíðindalaust.
> Arnkell stayed there three nights and this time was
> un-newsworthy.
> Arnkell was there three nights and this period was quiet.
Arnkel was there three nights, and this time was without
incident.
> Fór hann síðan heim.
> He then went home.
> He went home afterwards.
After that he went home.
> Eftir dauða Þórólfs bægifóts þótti mörgum mönnum verra úti
> þegar er sólina lægði.
> After Thorolf lamefoot’s death, it seemed to many people
> worse once the sun set.
> After Thorolf lame-foot’s death, many people thought (ill)
> of being outside immediately after the sun set.
After Þórólf bægifót’s death many people thought it worse
outside when the sun got low.
The phrase <þegar er sólina lægði> is an example in Zoëga
s.v. <sól>. Here ‘worse’ is by implication ‘more
dangerous’.
> En er á leið sumarið urðu menn þess varir að Þórólfur lá
> eigi kyrr.
> And when during the course of summer, it happened to
> people that gives (them) foreboding that Thorolfr didn’t
> lay quietly (in his grave (in spite of their efforts to
> make the grave strong)).
> And when the summer passed people became aware that
> Thorolf did not rest quietly.
And as the summer drew to a close, folks became aware that
Þórólf did not lie quiet.
> Máttu menn þá aldrei í friði úti vera þegar er sól
> settist.
> People could then never be outside in peace once the son
> had set.
> People were never able to be outside in peace as soon as
> the sun set.
Folks could never then be outside in peace once the sun had
set.
> Það var og með að yxn þeir er Þórólfur var ekinn á urðu
> tröllriða, og allt fé það er nær kom dys Þórólfs ærðist og
> æpti til bana.
> That was also with that the oxen (with) which Thorolfr was
> driven became ridden by a troll, and all the livestock
> which came near Thorolfr’s cairn went crazy and cried to
> death. (Disclaimer – no actual animals were harmed or
> injured during this translatioin.)
> In addition it was also that the oxen, those which Thorolf
> had driven, suffered from troll riding and all that
> livestock which came near Thorolf’s cairn?, they became
> mad and bawled until death.
Moreover, the oxen by which Þórólf was drawn became
troll-ridden, and all livestock that came near Þórólf’s
cairn went mad and cried out until [their] deaths.
A footnote in another edition explains <trollríða> as
<riðinn, sligaður af óvættum> 'ridden, broken down by evil
spirits'.
> Smalamaður í Hvammi kom svo oft heim að Þórólfur hafði
> eltan hann.
> A shepherd in Hvamm came so often home that Thorolfr had
> pursued him.
> A shepherd in Hvamm came home so often due to Thorolf
> having chased him.
A shepherd at Hvamm often came home thus, that Þórólf had
chased him.
In other words, Þórólf had often chased him when he was on
his way home. It appears that <svá opt heim at> is actually
<svá, at> 'thus, that' broken by <opt heim>, with the
meaning that we would more naturally write <opt heim svá,
at>.
> Sá atburður varð um haustið í Hvammi að hvorki kom heim
> smalamaður né féið og um morguninn var leita farið og
> fannst smalamaður dauður skammt frá dys Þórólfs.
> The incident happened during the fall in Hvamm that
> neither (the) shepherd came home nor the sheep and during
> the morning (there) was a undertaken a search, and the
> shepherd was found dead scarcely (away) from Thorolfr’s
> cairn.
> That event happened during the fall in Hvamm that neither
> the shepherd nor the livestock came home and during the
> morning a search was done and the shepherd was found dead
> a short way from Thorolf’s cairn.
It so happened that fall at Hvamm that neither [the]
shepherd nor the sheep came home, and in the morning a
search was made, and [the] shepherd was found dead a short
distance from Þórólf’s cairn.
> Var hann allur kolblár og lamið í hvert bein.
> He was all coal-black and beaten on every bone.
> He was all coal black and every bone broken.
He was all coal-black with every bone broken.
More literally ‘and beaten/injured in every bone’, but it
seems awfully likely that the intended sense is that every
bone was broken.
> Var hann dysjaður hjá Þórólfi en fénaður allur, sá er
> verið hafði í dalnum, fannst sumur dauður en sumur hljóp á
> fjöll og fannst aldrei.
> He was buried in a cairn beside Thorolfr, and all his
> sheep, such that had been in the valley, some were found
> dead and some ran up the mountain and were never found.
> He was buried in a cairn near Thorolf and all the
> livestock, those which had been in the dale, were found
> some dead and some ran on the mountain and were never
> found.
He was buried in a cairn near Þórólf, but [of] all the sheep
that had been in the valley, some were found dead, and some
ran into [the] mountains and were never found.
> En ef fuglar settust á dys Þórólfs féllu þeir niður dauðir.
> And if birds landed on Thorolfr’s cairn, they fell down
> dead.
> And if birds sat on Thorolf’s cairn they fell down dead.
And if birds settled on Þórólf’s cairn, they fell down dead.
> Svo gerðist mikill gangur að þessu að engi maður þorði að
> beita upp í dalinn.
> Such great activity came of this that no man dared to hunt
> up in the valley.
> Many such goings-on happened at that that no man dared to
> graze (his livestock) up in the dale.
Thus it came to prevail that no one dared graze [his
livestock] up in the valley.
> Oft heyrðu menn úti dunur miklar um nætur í Hvammi.
> Men often heard outside great thundering noises during
> nights in Hvamm.
> And often people heard a great din outside during the
> night in Hvamm.
Often folks heard great rushing, thundering noises at night
at Hvamm.
> Urðu menn og þess varir að oft var riðið skálanum.
> Men became wary of that and often had ridden on the ridge
> of a house. (??) (Z. ríða 1 – ríða húsum, skála, to ‘ride’
> on the ridge of a house)
> People also became aware of this that often the hut was
> ridden.
Folks also became aware that the the hall was often
[ghost-]ridden.
Another footnote from that other edition:
Það er altítt í draugasögum, að afturgöngurnar ríði húsum,
sjá t. d. Grettis s., 32. og 35. kap.
It is extremely common in ghost stories that the spectres
ride houses, see e.g. Grettis saga, chapters 32 and 35.
> Og er vetur kom sýndist Þórólfur oft heima á bænum og
> sótti mest að húsfreyju.
> And when winter came, Thorolfr was often seen at home on
> the farm and assailed most the lady of the house.
> And when winter came, Thorolf seemed often at home on the
> farm and mostly attacked his wife.
And when winter came, Þórólf often appeared at home at the
farm and attacked [the] mistress of the house most.
> Varð og mörgum manni að þessu mein en henni sjálfri hélt
> við vitfirring.
> Harm came to many a man to this, but to her herself was on
> the point of insanity.
> Also many people received this harm but she herself was
> afflicted with insanity.
And many people were harmed by this, and she herself was on
the point of madness.
> Svo lauk þessu að húsfreyja lést af þessum sökum.
> This so ended that the lady of the house died from these
> things.
> So this ended that the wife died of this sickness.
The end of this was that the mistress of the house died of
these causes.
> Var hún og færð upp í Þórsárdal og var dysjuð hjá Þórólfi.
> She was also brought up to Thor’s-dale and was buried next
> to Thorolfr.
> She was brought up to Thor’s River Dale and was buried in
> a cairn near Thorolf.
She was also carried up to Þórsárdal and was buried in a
cairn near Þórólf.
> Eftir þetta stukku menn burt af bænum.
> After this, people fled away from the farm.
> After that people fled the farm.
After that people fled from the farm.
> Tók Þórólfur nú að ganga svo víða um dalinn að hann eyddi
> alla bæi í dalnum.
> Thorolfr now took to going so widely about the valley that
> he made empty all the farms in the valley.
> Thorolf now started to go so far about the dale that he
> emptied all farms in the dale.
Þórólf now took to going so widely about the valley that he
emptied all the farms in the valley.
> Svo var og mikill gangur að afturgöngum hans að hann
> deyddi suma menn en sumir stukku undan.
> Activity was also so great that his ghost that he killed
> some men and some fled.
> Such were also great goings-on that in his hauntings that
> he killed some men but some fled.
And so great was [the] activity of his ghost that he killed
some people, but some fled away.
> En allir menn þeir er létust voru sénir í ferð með
> Þórólfi.
> And all the men who died were seen(?) on a journey with
> Thorolfr.
> And all those men who died were seen on a journey with
> Thorolf.
But everyone who died was seen in Þórólf’s company.
Brian