Whew! That was pretty rugged.
> Gengu nú Íslendingar vel fram í því verki.
> The Icelanders now went forward bravely in that work.
> (The) Icelanders now went forward bravely in that work.
The Icelanders now went forward bravely in that work.
> En sem Rauðs menn sáu yfirburði þeirra ok at suðreyskir
> mundu eigi margir ná til jafns við þá at afli ok
> þrekvinnu, tók at kvikna í þeim öfund við fóstbræðr.
> And when Red's men saw their excess (?) and that the
> Hebrides would not many reach equal with them in virtue
> and and destitute of strength, (there) began to revive in
> them ill-will against the foster brothers.
> But when Rauðr’s people (men) saw their (ie the
> Icelander’s) superior-bearing (???) and that (the) many
> Hebridean (lit: South-Isled) (men) would not reach (ná til
> e-s) equality with (ie could not match) them in
> physical-strength and deeds-of-courage, ill-will started
> to quicken (revive, come to life) in them towards (the)
> foster-brothers.
But when Rauð’s men saw their superiority and that many
Hebrideans would not reach equality with them in physical
strength and derring-do, ill will began to quicken in them
towards the foster brothers.
It appears that there is an indeclinable modern Icelandic
<yfirburði> 'superiority'. <Þrekvinna> (weak fem.) is a
problem. I did find a few modern examples of the oblique
<þrekvinnu>; they seem to refer to hard physical labor or
exercise. (E.g., one is in connection with a swimmer whose
regime is <10 æfingar í viku í lauginni auk þrekvinnu á
landi> ‘10 practices a week in the pool in addition to
<þrekvinnu> on land’.) On the other hand, as an ON compound
it appears to be literally ‘strength-work; courage-work’.
Since <afli> was already mentioned, I leaned towards the
‘courage, guts’ sense.
> En bæði var, at þeir tveir héldu ætíð saman ok skildu
> aldri, líka höfðu þeir velunnan kaupmanns, því réðu
> skipsmenn aldri á þá, hvorki í vopnaskiptum eða öðrum
> atvikum stórfelldum.
> And/but both were, that the two always held fast together
> and never separated, also they had the merchant's
> favor/support, that the crew never attacked them, either
> in exchange of weapons or other important assaults. (I had
> difficulty with "velunnan," but found it in "Lexicon
> Islandico-Latino-Danicum, cura R.K. Raskii ed" online via
> Google)
> But (And) (it) was both that those two stayed together
> always (every-time) and never parted, (and) also (that)
> they had the-good-granting (ie support, approval?) of the
> merchant (chapman), therefore (the) sailors
> (lit:ship’s-persons) never attacked them, neither in
> exchange-of-weapons (n)or other ‘great-felled’ (???)
> assaults.
And [it] was both that the two always stuck together and
never separated, [and] also [that] they had the merchant’s
favor, so the crew never attacked them, either in armed
exchange or [in] other violent assault.
In addition to the Lexicon Islandico-Latino-Danicum compiled
by Björn Halldórsson and Rasmus Rask, I found the
Vergleichendes etymologisches Wörterbuch der
gothisch-teutonischen Mundarten, 2nd ed., 1836, by Heinrich
Meidinger, also translated as Dictionnaire comparatif et
étymologique des langues Teuto-Gothiques, 2nd ed., as by
Henri Meidinger; they gloss <velunnan> as <Gunst> and
<faveur>. The Icelandic Online Dictionary has
<stórfelldur>, and the relevent sense seems to be the first,
'violent, powerful'.
> En eitt sinn, þegar Rauðr heyrði á illyrði manna sinna til
> fóstbræðra, þá mælti hann: "Þat mun verða í fyrsta sinn ok
> síðasta, at ek kem til Íslands ok íslenzkir verða á fari
> með mér.
> And one time, as soon as Red heard his men speak ill to
> the foster brothers, he then said: "It will become in a
> first time and last, that I go to Iceland and Icelanders
> go on a trip with me.
> But (And) one time, as soon as Rauðr listened to (the)
> foul-language (CV) of his men towards (the)
> foster-brothers, then he spoke: “That will happen (ie be)
> for (the) first time and last, that I come to Iceland and
> Icelandic (men) enter (lit: happen) into passage with me.
And one time, as soon as Rauð listened to his men’s abusive
language towards the foster brothers, he said: ‘It will be
the first time and last that I come to Iceland and
Icelanders take passage with me.
> Því vildi ek óska af ykkr, skipverjum mínum, at vera eigi
> svo áleitnum við þessa menn, einkum þar þeir hafa sýnt
> alla þægð ok spaklæti, síðan þeir kómu í samför vora.
> I wanted a wish of you two, my shipmates, to not be so
> aggressive with these men, especially there they have
> shown all agreeableness and gentleness (?), since you came
> in our travelling together.
> I wanted to wish (is óska a verb or noun here?) that, with
> regard to you-two for my crew to be not so aggressive
> towards these persons (men), especially where they have
> shown agreeableness (obedience, CV) and gentle-manners,
> since they came into our travelling-together.
I wanted to wish that of you, my crew, not to be so
aggressive towards these men, especially since they have
shown all agreeableness and gentle manners since they came
into our travelling together.
<Óska> must be the modern verb: otherwise it would be the
gen. plur. of <ósk>, which makes no sense here. <Ykkr> must
already have the sense of modern <ykkur> and be plural
rather than dual. I take <þar> to be short for <þar sem>.
> Annars held ek þér hafið bæði mik ok þá til mótparta."
> Otherwise I consider you had both me and then to then to
> (mótparta? dividing-against??)."
> Otherwise, I hold (ie think) you have both me and them
> ‘counter-shares’ (???).”
Otherwise I hold [that] you have both me and them as
adversaries.’
<Mótpartur> is now 'counterpart', which makes excellent
etymological sense. However, the Icelandic version of
Proverbs 18:17 is:
Hinn fyrri sýnist hafa á réttu að standa í þrætumáli sínu,
en síðan kemur mótpartur hans og rannsakar röksemdir hans.
The first seems to be in the right in his litigation, but
then his <mótpartur> comes and examines his arguments.
The New International Version has:
In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone
comes forward and cross-examines.
KJV:
He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his
neighbour cometh and searcheth him.
New Revised Standard Version:
The one who first states a case seems right, until the
other comes and cross-examines.
Here the meaning seems to be somewhere between 'counterpart'
and 'adversary', and I found a few quotations that seem to
support a sense 'adversary'. It fits the context, so I went
with it.
> Eftir þetta bar allt minna á hnýfilyrðum Rauðs manna.
> After this (they) carried all memory to Red's men's short
> horns. (obviously, I have not idea what this means!)
> After this everything happened less in short-horn
> (drunken, abusive???)-language of Rauðr´s people (men) (ie
> they toned down their language?).
After this the taunts of Rauð’s men were noticed much less.
I think that <hnýfilyrði> must be a variant of <hnœfilyrði>
'taunts, gibes'. Front umlaut changed <ó> to <œ> and <ú> to
<ý>. According to de Vries, <hnœfilyrði> is a derivative of
<hnafa> 'to cut off', which he says is attested only in a
past tense <hnóf>; presumably <hnœfil-> is then from the
same grade as <hnóf>. There is occasional variation between
<ó> and <ú>, so it seems possible, especially in a rare
word, that there might also have been occasional variation
between their front umlauts.
Aha: I found an online course that translates it as a modern
Icelandic word into the other Scandinavian languages; the
main sense seems to be 'sarcasm'.
Baetke notes that <al(l)t> before a comparative can be
'much, by much', and the entry for <bera> in the glossary to
Stefán Einarsson’s Icelandic has an example <ég lét ekki á
því bera> ‘I did not let it be noticed, I did not show it’;
I think that we have here an impersonal version of the same
construction.
> En um haustit skammt fyrir vetrnætr náðu þeir Suðreyjum.
> And during the fall shortly before the first winter night,
> they reached the Hebrides.
> But during the-autumn shortly before (the) Winter-nights
> they reached the Hebrides (lit: South-Isles).
And in the autumn, shortly before the three days that begin
the winter season [‘Winter Nights’], they reached the
Hebrides.
> Var kaupmanni þá vel fagnat heim komnum, ok mæltu sumir,
> at suðreysku skipverjunum ok Íslendingum væri mál at
> skilja.
> The merchant was then warmly welcomed (having) come home,
> and some said, that the Hebrideans and Icelanders had
> broken off speaking.
> (It) was then well received in the-coming (arrival) home
> for (the) merchant (ie the merchant´s home coming was well
> received), and some spoke, that (the) Hebridean crew and
> (the) Icelanders were separating speech (???)
The merchant, [having] come home, was then warmly welcomed,
and some said that the Hebridean crew and Icelanders stopped
speaking to each other [‘to the H.c. and I. speech was to be
broken off’].
I am by no means sure of the last part. Since Baetke says
that <mál> can be 'agreement', one could perhaps make a case
for ‘[they] agreed to separate’, literally ‘to [them] was an
agreement to separate’.
> 13. kafli - Frá Signýju ok Ölrúnu ok þeim fóstbræðrum
> 13: Concerning Sigyju and Olrunu and the fosterbrothers.
> Chapter 13 – About Signýr and Ölrún and those
> foster-brothers.
Of Signý and Ölrún and the foster brothers
> Þat er at segja frá fóstbræðrum, at þat þeir tóku vetrvist
> með þeim manni þar, er Högni hét, hánefr at viðrnafni.
> Now it's time to tell about the foster-brothers, that they
> took winter quarters with the man there, who was named
> Hogni, surnamed Hanefr.
> That is to say about (the) foster-brothers, that they took
> winter-quarters with that person (man) there, who
> was-called Högni, “high-nosed” by surname.
It is to be said of the foster brothers that they took
winter quarters with the man there who was called Högni,
hánefr [‘high-nose’] by byname.
> Hann átti konu þá, er Geirþrúðr hét.
> He then had a wife, who was named Geirtrude.
> He had that wife who was-called Geirþrúðr.
He had [as wife] the woman who was called Geirþrúð.
> Þau tóku vel við gestum.
> They received the guests warmly.
> They received (the) guests well.
They received the guests warmly.
> Þeir sýndu sik óáleitna ok þæga hverjum manni.
> They seemed friendly and agreeable to every man.
> They (ie the guests) showed themselves unencroaching and
> agreeable to each person (man).
They [= foster brothers] showed themselves [to be]
unassuming and agreeable to each person.
> Hjónin áttu þá dóttur, er Signý hét.
> The couple had the daughter who was named Signy.
> The-couple had that daughter who was-called Signý.
The couple had that daughter who was called Signý.
> Var hún hart nær gjafvaxta orðin, fríð ok björt á hár ok
> hörund, svo hún tók fram öðrum meyjum þar í grennd.
> She had fast become nearly marriageable, beautiful and
> bright hair and skin, so she was superior to other girls
> there in (the) vicinity. (compare Z. harðr 3: ríða hart,
> to ride fast)
The neuter <hart> can be adverbial, meaning ‘very’.
> She was damn near become marriageable (ie she was so close
> to being of a marriageable age it wasn´t funny), beautiful
> and shining in hair and complexion, so she outshone (lit:
> took (ie was valued) in front of) other maidens there in
> (the) vicinity.
She had very nearly become marriageable [and was] beautiful
and bright of hair and complexion, so she was superior to
other maidens there in the vicinity.
> Var hún ok nefnd ljósbrá at tilnafni.
> She was also called light-eyelash by name.
> She was also named ‘light-eyelash’ by nick-name (?).
She was also named ljósbrá [‘light eyelash’] by byname.
> Brátt fannst þat, at Hrana var orðit kært til hennar, ok
> hún tók því með kurteisi ok blíðu.
> It was soon discovered, that Hrani had become close to
> her, and she received that with courtesy and friendliness.
> Soon that was-discovered, that (it) was become beloved of
> Hrani towards her (impers, ie Hrani had become besotted
> with her), and she took that with courtesy and
> friendliness.
It was soon noticed that Hrani had become very fond of her,
and she received that with courtesy and friendliness.
Although the meaning is clear enough, the syntax of <Hrana
... hennar> isn’t clear to me. Alan’s version is one
possibility; another, I think, is that neuter <kært> is
functioning as a noun, making it ‘to Hrani had become
great fondness to her’ or the like.
> Í húsum Högna hánefs vóru ok tvær mæðgur.
> The the house of Hogna High-Nose, there were also two: a
> mother and a daughter.
> In (the) house of Högni high-nose were also two, mother
> and daughter.
In Högni’s house were also two [more], mother and daughter.
> Hét sú eldri Sunnefa, in yngri Ölrún, sem þá var
> nýfulltíða.
> The older was named Sunnefa, and the younger Olrun, who
> then was newly-grown up.
> That elder was-called Sunnefa, the younger Ölrún, who then
> was newly-full-grown.
The elder was called Sunnefa, the younger Ölrún, who was
then newly full-grown.
The name <Sunnefa> is interesting, being a borrowing of Old
English <Sunngifu> that became well-established in
Scandinavia. Over the last 20 years of the 18th century it
(as <Synneva> and some variants) was the 25th most common
feminine name in Norway. It also still occurs in Iceland in
a few spellings.
Brian