Re: Eyrbyggja Saga 50 end -- Rob's Translation

> Er mér og verkið óleitt en þó vil eg engi vosverk vinna.

> It has also become to me agreeable (?) and yet I do not
> want win wet-work (?).

The work is also agreeable to me, although I do not want to
perform wet work.

Baetke says that <vásverk> is wet, dirty, exhausting labor.

> Vil eg sjálf ráða hvað eg skal gefa fyrir mig af því fé
> sem eg hefi."

> I will myself advise what I shall give for me from that
> wealth as I have."

I will decide myself what I shall pay for myself of the
wealth that I have.’

> Talaði Þórgunna um heldur harðfærlega en Þuríður vildi þó
> að hún færi þangað.

> Thorgrunn spoke concerning (it) rather stubbornly (?), and
> yet Thuridur wanted that she should go there.

Þórgunna discussed [it] rather bluntly, but Þuríð
nevertheless wanted her to go thither.

> Voru þá föng Þórgunnu borin af skipi.

> Then Thorgunn's baggage was then taken off (the) ship.

Þórgunna’s luggage was then borne off [the] ship.

> Það var örk mikil læst, er hún átti, og sviptikista.

> It was a large locked chest, which she had, and a movable
> chest.

It was a large locked chest that she had, and a moveable
chest.

I suspect that ‘moveable’ here is really ‘portable’,
contrasting with ‘large’.

> Var það þá fært heim til Fróðár.

> It was then conveyed home to Frodar.

It was then carried home to Fróðá.

> Og er Þórgunna kom til vistar sinnar bað hún fá sér
> rekkju.

> And when Thorgunn came herself to stay, she then asked to
> get herself to bed.

And when Þórgunna came for her stay, she asked to receive a
bed.

> Var henni fengið rúm í innanverðum skála.

> She was given a room in the interior of the
> hut/sleeping-hall.

She was given a bed in [the] inner hall.

Note that <innanverðum> modifies <skála>.

> Þá lauk hún upp örkina og tók þar upp úr rekkjuklæði og
> voru þau öll mjög vönduð.

> Then she opened the chest and took there up out of (it)
> bed-clothes (or "jammies"), and they were all very well
> made.

Then she opened the chest and took up from it [‘thereup’]
bedclothes, and they were all very elaborately worked.

See <vanda> Z1.

> Breiddi hún yfir rekkjuna enskar blæjur og silkikult.

> She spread (them) over the bed fine-colored English cloth
> and a silken quilt.

She spread English bed covers over the bed and a silken
quilt.

> Hún tók og úr örkinni rekkjurefil og allan ársalinn með.

> She also took out of the chest a bed curain and all
> precious hangings with (it).

She also took from the chest a bed-curtain together with all
of the precious bed-hangings.

Another edition has the following note about <ársalinn>:

Hér er að ræða um það, sem síðar var nefnt sparlak.
Rúmstólparnir voru mjög háir, og var fest í þá
rekkjutjaldið. Rekkjurefillinn hyggur Hj. Falk (Kleiderk.
209) að hafi verið álnarbreiður borði, sem festur var efst
um rúmstólpana, en ársalr eða ársali sjálft rúmtjaldið,
sem draga mátti frá rúminu eða fyrir það eftir vild.

What is at issue here is what was later called a
<sparlak>. The bedposts were very tall, and the
bed-curtain was fastened to them. Hj. Falk thinks the
<rekkjurefill> to have been a band an ell in breadth that
was fastened to the tops of the bedposts, the bed-curtain
itself having been the <ársalr> or <ársali>, which could
be drawn away from the bed or in front of it as desired.

> Það var svo góður búningur að menn þóttust eigi slíkan séð
> hafa þess kyns.

> It was so good attire that people thought that such kind
> has not been seen.

Those were such good furnishings that folks thought
themselves not to have seen such of this kind.

<Búningur> refers to the bed-furnishings, not to her
nightclothes.

> Þá mælti Þuríður húsfreyja: "Met þú við mig
> rekkjubúnaðinn."

> Then Mistress Thuridur said: "Tell me the price of the bed
> furniture." (Z. meta 2)

Then mistress Þuríð said: ‘Tell me the price of the
bed-furnishings.’

> Þórgunna svarar: "Eigi mun eg liggja í hálmi fyrir þig þó
> að þú sért kurteis og berist á mikið."

> Thorgunn answers: "I will not lie on straw for you
> although you would be coureous and born yourself proudly."

Þórgunna replies: ‘I will not lie in straw for you, though
you be courteous and bear yourself proudly.’

> Þetta mislíkar Þuríði og falar eigi oftar gripina.

> This displeases Thuridur and (she) doesn't demand for
> purchase any more (?) costly items.

This displeases Þuríð, and [she] does not again [‘more
often’] ask to buy the goods.

> Þórgunna vann voðverk hvern dag er eigi var heyverk.

> Thorgunn did an accidental deed of an unintentional harm
> inflicted each day when (there) was not hay making.

Þórgunna worked at cloth-making every day that there was not
hay-making.

See <váðverk>.

> En þá er þerrar voru vann hún að þurru heyi í töðunni og
> lét gera sér hrífu þá er hún vildi ein með fara.

> And when they were drying, she did that (the) hay dried in
> the manured field and she had done herself caught when she
> wanted alone to go with. (??)

But when there was dry weather, she was busy with [the] dry
hay in the home field and had a rake made for herself, which
she wanted to wield alone [i.e., no one else was to use it].

See <vinna> Z12 for <vann at heyi>.

> Þórgunna var mikil kona vexti, bæði digur og há og holdug
> mjög, svartbrún og mjóeyg, jörp á hár og hærð mjög,
> háttagóð hversdaglega og kom til kirkju hvern dag áður hún
> færi til verks síns en eigi var hún glöð eða margmálug
> hversdaglega.

> Thorgunna was a full grown woman, both stout and tall and
> very portly, dark brown and narrow eyed, reddish-brown
> hair and having much hair, generally well mannered and
> came to church each day before she went to her work, but
> she generally was not cheerful or talkative.

Þórgunna was a large woman in stature, both stout and tall
and very fleshy ['corpulent, portly' in mod. Ic.]; dark
brown and narrow-eyed [i.e., with dark brown, close-set
eyes], reddish-brown of hair and [with] much hair; generally
well-mannered, and [she] went to church every day before she
went to her work, but she was not generally easy-tempered or
talkative.

> Það var áhugi manna að Þórgunna mundi sótt hafa hinn sétta
> tug og var hún þó kona hin ernasta.

> It is a man's intention that Thorgunna would have sickness
> the sixth decade and she was yet the most active old
> person.

It was people’s opinion that Þórgunna must have reached the
sixth decade, and she was nevertheless the most vigorous
woman.

Here <sótt> is the past participle of <sœkja>; there’s
noting in the last clause to imply ‘old’.

> Í þenna tíma var Þórir viðleggur kominn á framfærslu til
> Fróðár og svo Þorgríma galdrakinn kona hans og lagðist
> heldur þungt á með þeim Þórgunnu.

> At this time, Thorir "with-leg" had come to support Frodar
> and also Thorgrim (galdrakinn?) his wife and it laid
> rather heavily against them, Thorgun (and others).

At that time Þórir viðleggr [‘wooden-leg’] had come to Fróðá
for maintenance and also Þorgríma galdrakinn [‘spell-cheek’;
she’s the witch whom we met back back in Ch. 40], his wife,
and things went rather poorly [‘heavily’] between them, her
and Þórgunna.

> Kjartan sonur bónda var þar svo manna að Þórgunna vildi
> flest við eiga og elskaði hún hann mjög en hann var heldur
> fár við hana og varð hún oft af því skapstygg.

> Kjartan, a son of a farmer, was there so of men that
> Thorgun wanted do deal with and she loved him much, but he
> was rather cold with her, and she often became of that
> irritable.

Kjartan, [the] farmer’s son, was such a man there as
Þórgunna wanted to have most to do with, but he was rather
cold to her, and for this reason she was often irritable.

Kjartan is Þuríð’s son, but <sonr bonda> is a bit
misleading: although he was reared by Þuríð and Þórodd, his
biological father is actually Björn Breiðvíkingakappi.

> Kjartan var þá þrettán vetra eða fjórtán og var bæði
> mikill vexti og skörulegur að sjá.

> Kjartan was then 13 or 14 and was both fully grown and
> imposing in appearance to see.

Kjartan was then thirteen or fourteen years old and was both
large of stature and imposing in appearance.

Brian