> 3. kafli - Hrani hefndi Vakrs ok vó Sigfús

> Hrana's Revenge of Vakr and Sigfus Lifted

> Hrani avenged Vakr and slew (past tense of vega, Z7)
> Sigfúss

Hrani avenged Vakr and killed Sigfús.

> Þat var eitt haust, at menn skyldu leita geldfjár síns til
> fjalla.

> It was one fall, that men should look for their pasture
> for barren sheep on the mountain.

> That was one autumn, that persons (men) should (ie had to)
> search for their gelded-sheep on (the) mountains (plural).

It was a certain autumn when folks had to search for their
dry sheep in the mountains.

In view of <gelda> it might be gelded sheep, but Baetke says
that it refers to cattle (including sheep) that don’t give
milk.

> Vakr hét einn sauðamaðr Helga, er í fjárleit fór ásamt
> öðrum.

> One of Helga's sheepherds was named Vakr, who in in loss
> of sheep went together with another (?)

> A certain shepherd of Helgi’s was called Vakr, who went in
> (the) search (leit)-for-sheep together with others.

One of Helgi’s shepherds was called Vakr, who travelled with
others in the search for sheep.

> Hrani fór líka.

> Hrani also went (there).

> Hrani went also.

Hrani also travelled [with the group].

> Þeir áttu fjallgöngur saman við Mývetninga.

> They had the same mountain path (??) through Midge-(?).

> They had (kept, held, eiga, Z5) (the) mountain-courses
> (ways, plural) together with (the) Mývatn
> (Midge-Lake)-folk.

They owned the mountain paths for hunting for sheep in
common with the Mývetnings.

<Mývetningr> is a derivative of <Mývatn>; adding the suffix
<-ingr> caused i-umlaut of <a> to <e>. It must be ‘man of
Mývatn’, just as modern <Englendingur> is ‘Englishman,
Englishwoman’. <Fjallganga> is a weak feminine, so
<fjallgöngur> is nom./acc. plural, here acc. after <við>.

> Þá bjó Gauti á Gautlandi.

> Gauti then lived in Gautland.

> Then (ie at that time) Gauti lived at Gautland.

Gauti then lived in Götaland.

Southern Sweden, more or less.

> Hjá honum var þá maðr, er Sigfúss hét, mesta illmenni ok
> sýndi mörgum ójöfnuð sinn.

> Next to him then lived a man who was named Sigfuss, the
> wickedest man and (he) showed much (of) his unfairness.

> Near him was then a person (man), who was-called Sigfúss,
> the greatest man-of-evil (cruelty) and (who) showed to
> many (people) his unfairness.

Near him was that man who was called Sigfús, a most wicked
man who [lit. ‘and’] showed many his unfairness.

> Hann fór ok í fjárleit með Mývetningum.

> He also went in loss of sheep across Myvetningum.

> He went also in (the) search-for-sheep with the
> Mývatn-folk.

He also went in search of sheep with the Mývetnings.

> Svo bar til, at þeir hittust, Vakr ok Sigfúss, ok gengu
> saman um hríð, þar til þeir hittu sauðahóp ok eltu hann
> lengi dags, unz þeir kómu at gjá einni.

> It so happened, that they, Vakr and Sigfuss, met each
> other, and went together a while, until they found a flock
> (?) of sheep and pursued them it (i.e., the flock) all day
> long, until they came to a chasm.

> (It) so happened that they, Vakr and Sigfúss,
> met-each-other, and (they) walked together for a while.,
> until they hit-upon a flock (hópr)-of-sheep and ran-after
> (elta, Z2) it for a great part of the day (cf lengi
> vetrar, under lengi), until they came to a certain chasm
> (rift, dual senses intended, I wonder?).

It so happened that they met each other, Vakr and Sigfús,
and walked together for a while, until they encountered a
flock of sheep and ran after it for a good part of the day
until they came to a certain ravine.

I don’t know, but I suspect that <gjá> doesn’t have the
interpersonal sense of <rift>.

Rob: See <hópr>.

> Þar náðu þeir sauðunum ok könnuðu þá.

> They overtook the sheep there and recognized them.

> There they got-hold-of the-sheep and reviewed (ie mustered
> and identified, kanna, Z1) them.

There they overtook the sheep and examined them.

> Átti Helgi krókr sauðina.

> Helgi "Peak" owned the sheep.

> Helgi ‘Hook’ owned the-sheep.

Helgi krók owned the sheep.

> Meðal annarra var þar einn sauðr öðrum stærri, er Vakr
> átti sjálfr.

> Among others there was one other large sheep, which Vark
> himself owned.

> Among the others was there a certain sheep, larger than
> (the) others, which Vakr himself owned.

Among the others there was a sheep larger than the others,
which Vakr himself owned.

> Sigfúss falar sauðinn ok kveðst jafnvel vilja hafa hann
> fyrir ómak sitt.

> Sigfuss demands for purchase the sheep and said for
> himself equally well he wanted to have him for his
> trouble. (??)

> Sigfúss demanded (for purchase) the-sheep and
> declared-of-himself equally-well to want to have it (ie
> the sheep, sauðr is masc) for his trouble (in
> participating in the search?).

Sigfús demands to purchase the sheep and also said that he
wanted to have it for his trouble.

> Vakr færðist undan ok vildi eigi láta sauðinn.

> Vakr tried to evade doing that (Z. has "released onself
> of," but Modern Icelandic has "tried to evade doing
> something," which makes more sense to me) and didn't want
> to lose the sheep.

> Vakr conveyed-himself away (showed his disinclination?)
> and wanted not to give-up (láta, Z2) the-sheep.

Vakr refused and would not give up the sheep.

CV has <færask undan> 'to withhold', which seems to fit
reasonably well here. Whatever the exact meaning, the sense
must be that Vakr refused the demand.

> Kífuðu þeir nú um þetta, þar til Sigfúss hefr upp öxi sína
> ok höggr til Vakrs, svo í heila stóð.

> They now quarreled concerning this, until Sigfus lifts up
> his axe and strikes at Vakr, so it stuck in (his) brain.

> They quarrelled now about this, until Sigfúss raises up
> his axe and hews at Vakr, so (it, ie the axe) stood
> (lodged) in (the) brain.

They quarrelled now about this, until Sigfús lifts up his
axe and hews at Vakr, so that [the axe] lodged in [Vakr’s]
brain.

> Í því kom Hrani ok förunautar hans ok sjá, hvat um var, at
> Vakr er veginn.

> At that (moment), Hrani and his group arrived and saw, how
> matters stood, that Vakr was slain. (not exactly the same,
> but Z. um 14 -- hvat um var at vera, what it was about,
> how matters stood)

> In that (instant) Hrani came and his travelling-companions
> and (they) see (present tense), what was about (ie what
> the upshot was), that Vakr was slain.

At that moment Hrani arrived, and his companions, and saw
what was going on, that Vakr was slain.

> Spyrr nú Hrani Sigfús, hverju þetta sæti, en Sigfúss segir
> slíkt er var af viðskiptum þeirra.

> Hrani now asks Sigfus, who did (Z. "caused") this, and
> Sigfuss says in such wise what it was of their hostile
> intercourse.

> Hrani now asks Sigfúss, to what this amounts (sæta, Z4?),
> but (and) Sigfúss says such as was of their dealings
> (quarrel).

Now Hrani asks Sigfús what caused this, and Sigfús says such
as was caused by [‘of’] their hostile dealings.

For <hverju þetta sæti> see the yellow Glossary (A New
Introduction to Old Norse).

> Hrani mælti: "Víða kemr fram ójöfnuðr þinn ok illmennska,
> ok vil ek nú hefna hans á þér."

> Hrani said: "(it) comes far and wide from your injustice
> and wickedness, and I now want to avenge him of you."

> Hrani spoke: ‘Your unfairness (nominative, subject) comes
> forth (ie appears) far-and-wide (extensively) and (your)
> wickedness (cruelty), and I want now to avenge him on
> you.”

Hrani said: ‘Your unfairness comes forth extensively, and
[your] cruelty, and I will now avenge him on you.’

> Sigfúss mælti: "Eigi mælist ek þá undan þér," ok hleypr at
> Hrana ok höggr til hans með öxinni, en hann brá skildi
> fyrir sik.

> Sigfuss said: "I don't excuse myself to you," and leaps at
> Hrani and strikes at him with (his) axe, and he raised
> (his) shield in front of him.

> Sigfúss spoke: “I do not decline (lit:speak-myself-away
> from) you,” and leaps at Hrani and hews towards him with
> the-axe, but he (Hrani) quickly-drew (his) shield in front
> of himself.

Sigfús said: ‘I do not decline,’ and springs at Hrani and
hews at him with his axe, and he [= Hrani] quickly thrust
his shield in front of himself.

> Kom þá höggit utan á hnét ok renndi út af.

> The blow then landed outside at (hnét?) and deflected (it)
> out away. (??)

> The-blow came then from-without onto the-knee (kne, m) or
> nuts! (hnot, f) (both unlikely but I can’t find anything
> better, clasp?) and ran out from (it).

The blow then came from the outside onto his knee and
slipped off.

<Hnét> is apparently the neuter noun <hné> 'knee' with the
definite article. The word isn’t in any of the ON
dictionaries that I’ve checked, but it is in the Univ. of
Wisconsin’s Icelandic Online Dictionary, and we’ve already
seen a few other things in this saga that seem to lean a bit
towards the modern language.

> Varð þat allstórt sár.

> It became a very big wound.

> That became (ie was) a very-large wound,

That resulted in a very large wound.

> Nú höggr Hrani aftr til Sigfúsar saxinu Helganaut.

> Now Hrani struck back at Sigfuss with the sword Helganaut.

> Now Hrani hew back towards Sigfúss with the
> short-single-edged-sword Helganautr (Helgi´s-gift).

Now Hrani strikes back at Sigfús with the seax Helganaut.

> Kom þat högg á handlegginn ok nam brott öxlina við síðuna,
> ok féll hann at vonum dauðr niðr.

> That blow landed at (his) forearm, and (it) carried off
> his shoulder by his side, and he fell down dead, as
> expected.

> That blow came onto the arm and took away the-shoulder
> along-with the flank (side), and he fell down dead
> according-to-expectations (ie as expected, ván).

That blow landed on his arm and took away his shoulder at
his side, and as could be expected he fell down dead.

<Öxlina> and <síðuna> are accusative, so I take this to be
<við> Z.II(1).

Rob: Considering the damage, the blow must have landed a lot
higher than the forearm.

> Varð nú mikill krytr um þetta milli Mývetninga ok Hrana.

> It now became very quiet concerning this between Myvetning
> and Hrani.

> (There) became (ie was) now a great hubbub about this
> between (the) Mývatn-folk and Hrani.

There was now much grumbling about this between the
Mývetnings and Hrani.

> Heygðu þeir þar Sigfús.

> They buried Sigfuss there in a how.

> They buried (in a how) Sigfúss there.

They buried Sigfús there in a how.

> Ok eftir þetta sneru menn til byggða með fé sitt, er
> fundit höfðu.

> And after this people turned to settle(?) with their
> sheep, which they had found.

> And after this people (men) turn (ie go) to (their) abodes
> with their-sheep, which (they) had found.

And after this folks headed for home with their sheep that
they had found.

Brian