Re: Eyrbyggja Saga 43 part 5 + 44 part 1 -- Rob's Translation

Sorry to be so far behind; life got a bit hectic there for a
while.

> Björn svarar: "Eigi mun eg keppast til fylgdar við þig
> meir en þér þykir hæfilegt en eigi hefi eg þar fyrr verið
> að eg hafi liðrækur verið ger.

> Bjorn answers: “I will not strive after support against
> you more, but it seems to you due that I not have been
> there previously that I have been rejected from the body
> of troops.

Björn answers: ‘I would not strive to accompany you more
than you think fit, but I have not been there before, that I
have been rejected from a host/company.

Remember that he had just been asked to stay behind. He
doesn’t want to, but he’s not going to fight it. I’m pretty
sure that <við þik> goes with <fylgðar>, ‘Eigi mun ek
keppask til (fylgðar við þik)’, and not with <keppask> (as
in ‘(keppask við þik) til fylgðar’).

> En það hygg eg," segir hann, "að yður verði Snorri goði
> djúpsær í ráðunum en eigi er eg framsýnn," sagði Björn,
> "en það er hugboð mitt að þar komi í þessi ferð að þér
> þyki þínir menn eigi of margir áður við finnumst næst."

> “But I believe that,” he says, “that you become chieftain
> Snorri penetrating in advice that I have not foreseen,”
> said Bjorn, “but that is my anticipation that comes there
> in this journey and that it seems to you your men also
> fight with (each other) before we next meet.”

But I think,’ he says, ‘that to you Snorri goði will be
penetrating in his counsels, and I am not foreseeing,’ said
Björn, ‘but it is my foreboding that it will happen in this
journey that you think your men not over-many before we two
next meet.’

I think that he’s saying that he expects Snorri to be smart
enough to get the better of Steinþór & Co., and although he
hasn’t had a vision of the future, he thinks that Steinþór
will regret not having taken as many men as possible.

> Steinþór svarar: "Eg skal gera ráð fyrir oss meðan eg er
> hjá þó að eg sé eigi svo djúpsær sem Snorri goði."

> Steinthor answers: “I will make advice for us while I am
> beside although I not be so penetrating as chieftain
> Snorri.

Steinþór answers: ‘I shall decide for us as long as I am
present, though I do not see as penetratingly as Snorri
goði.’

> "Mega skaltu það frændi fyrir mér," segir Björn.

> “You will be able (to do) that, kinsman, for me,” says
> Bjorn.

‘You shall be able to do that as far as I’m concerned,
kinsman,’ says Björn.

Here <fyrir mér> could be either ‘on my behalf’ or ‘as far
as I’m concerned’ (like German <meinetwegen>); the latter
seems to fit the context better.

> Eftir þetta riðu þeir Steinþór brott af Bakka, nær sex
> tigir manna, inn eftir Skeiðum til Drápuhlíðar og inn yfir
> Vatnsháls og um þveran Svelgsárdal og stefndu þaðan inná
> Úlfarsfellsháls.

> Afterthis they, Steinthor (and the others), rode away from
> Bakka, almost 60 men, inwards along Skeidum to Drapuhlidar
> and inward across Vatnshals and round transverse
> Svelgsardale and went in the direction inn to
> Ulfarsfellshal.

After that Steinþór rode away from Bakki with almost sixty
men, in along Skeið to Drápuhlíð and in over Vatnsháls and
across Svelgsárdal and headed thence in to Úlfarsfellsháls.

<Þveran> is masc. acc. sing., agreeing with <Svelgsárdal>;
it combines with <um> to mean simply 'across'.

> Snorri goði hafði sent nábúum sínum orð að þeir skyldu
> flytja skip sín undir Rauðavíkurhöfða.

> Chieftain Snorri had sent his neighbors word that they
> should move his ship below Raudavikrhofd.

Snorri goði had sent word to his neighbors that they should
move his ship under Rauðavíkrhöfði.

> Fór hann þegar þangað með heimamenn sína er sendimaður
> Steinþórs var farinn brott.

> He went immediately there with his house servants when
> Steinthor's messenger had gone away.

When Steinþór’s messenger had gone away, he at once went
thither with his household.

> En því fór hann eigi fyrr að hann þóttist vita að maðurinn
> mundi sendur vera að njósna um athafnir hans.

> But yet he did not go before that he seemed to know that
> the man would send to be busy at spying around his
> activites.

But he did not go earlier, for he thought that he knew that
the man must have been sent to spy on his doings.

Literally: But for this [reason] he did not go earlier,
[namely,] that he thought that he knew ... .

> Snorri fór inn eftir Álftafirði þrennum skipum og hafði
> nær fimm tigu manna og kom hann fyrr á Kársstaði en þeir
> Steinþór.

> Snorri went to fetch in Alftafirth three ships and head
> nearly 50 men and he came before to Karsstad and the
> Steinthors.

Snorri went in along Álptafjörð in three ships and had
almost fifty men, and he reached Kársstað before Steinþór
and his company.

> En er menn sáu ferð þeirra Steinþórs af Kársstöðum, þá
> mæltu Þorbrandssynir að þeir skyldu fara í móti þeim og
> láta þá eigi ná að komast í túnið "því að vér höfum lið
> mikið og frítt."

> But when men saw their, Steinthor's (and the others),
> journey from Karsstad, then Thorbran's sons said that they
> should go against them and not let them be able to arrive
> at the hayfield “because we have many free troops,”

And when people saw Steinþór of Kársstað and his men coming,
Þorbrand’s sons said that they should go to meet them and
not let them get into the home field ‘for we have a large
and fine host.’

> Það voru átta tigir manna.

> That was 80 men.

That was eighty men.

> Þá svarar Snorri goði: "Eigi skal þeim verja bæinn og skal
> Steinþór ná lögum því að hann mun viturlega og spaklega
> fara með sínu máli.

> Then Chieftain Snorri answers: “They shall not guard the
> farm, and Steinthor shall have a lawful trial because he
> will wisely and peacefully go forward with his case.

Then Snorri goði answers: ‘The farm shall not be defended
against them, and Steinþór shall have a lawful trial, for he
will proceed wisely and judiciously with his case.

> Vil eg að allir menn séu inni og kastist engum orðum á svo
> að af því aukist vandræði manna."

> I want that all men be inside and no words be exchanged
> (Z. kasta1) so that therefore (Z. af 9) people's
> difficulties are increased.

I want everyone to be inside and to exchange no words in
such a way that folk’s difficulty increases.

> Eftir það gengu allir inn í stofu og settust í bekki en
> Þorbrandssynir gengu um gólf.

> After this they all went inside, into (the) sitting room
> and sat on a bench, but Thorbrand's sons walked up and
> down the floor. (not sure if this is the correct
> interpretation or if I need something other than Z 5 ganga
> um golf = to cross the floor (but also to walk up and down
> the floor))

After that they all went into [the] sitting-room and seated
themselves on [the] bench, but Þorbrand’s pace up and down
the floor.

You picked the right choice: they’re restless.

Brian