Re: Hrana Saga Hrings 14 B -- Rob's Translation

> En sem berserkir kómu ok sjá flokkinn alvopnaðan hinum
> megin garðsins, segir Arnhöfði: "Hræddir eru nú mýslingar,
> eða hví standið þit hér í hnappi, eyjamenn?

> And when the berserkers arrived and saw the
> completely-armed body of men (in) the main part of the
> yard; Arnhofdi says: "They are now afraid little mice, why
> are you standing here in little groups, islanders?
> (compare Z. allt megin landsins, the main part of the
> land)

> But as (or when) (the) berserks came and see
> the-body-of-men fully-armed on the other side of the-wall
> (cf öðrum megin, adv, Z), Arnhöfði says:
> “(The) little-mice are now afraid, but why do you-two
> stand here in a huddle, islanders?

And when the berserks came and see the fully-armed body of
men on the other side of the wall, Arnhöfði says: ‘The
little mice are afraid now, or why are you standing here in
a knot, islanders?

I’m inclined to think that <þit> here is plural, like modern
<þið>, and not dual; it makes better sense that way.

> Vit bræðr, Arnhöfði ok Hildir, erum komnir at sækja þik
> heim, Kaupa-Rauðr.

> We brothers, Arnhofd and Hildir, have arrived to fetch you
> home, Merchant-Red.

> We-two brothers, Arnhöfði and Hildir are (have) come to
> seek (visit) you at home, Trader-Rauðr.

We brothers, Arnhöfði and Hildir, have come to visit you at
home, Kaupa-Rauð.

> Þú ert atfangamaðr mikill, ok muntu taka vel við gestum,"

> You are a good housekeeper, and you well welcome the
> guests."

> You are a great provider (housekeeper), and you-will
> receive guests well.”

You are a great housekeeper, and you will receive guests
well.’

> "Svo vildi ek við ykkr taka sem þit leitið mín," sagði
> Rauðr.

> "Thus I wanted to welcome you as you searched for me,"
> said Red.

> “I would-want to receive you thus when you-two seek me,”
> said Rauðr.

‘I wanted to welcome you thus as you act towards me,’ said
Rauð.

First person sing. <vildi> is a modern form; it could be
indic. or subj., but here indic. seems to make better sense.
I take this to be <leita> Z(3).

> "Nú færðu þína vöru selda strax í dag," sagði Hildir.

> "Now bring your wares deliver right away today," said
> Hildir.

> “Now bring-you your goods handed-over immediately today,”
> said Hildir.

‘Now bring your wares and hand them over [‘handed over’]
immediately today,’ said Hildir.

> "Líkt vil ek úti láta ok þat inn er lagt," segir Rauðr.

> "Likely I want to put outside that put inside," says Red.

> “I want to give-up the-like (which is) outside and (but)
> that (which is) inside is (already) assigned,” says Rauðr.
> (Not sure about this nor what precisely Rauðr´s message
> is, ie ‘is it you can have some things but not all)

‘Probably I will also pay out what is paid in,’ says Rauð.

Baetke and modern usage offer support for my interpretations
of <láta úti> and <leggja inn>; it appears to me that he’s
essentially reiterating his earlier statement of wanting to
welcome them as they act towards him, saying that he’ll give
them as good as he gets from them.

> "Eigi skortir okkr bræðr," segir Arnhöfði.

> "(You) are not lacking, our brother," says Arnhofdi.

> “We-two brothers are not in-want (impers. constr),” says
> Arnhöfði.

‘We brothers are not in want,’ says Arnhöfði.

> "Hefi ek þat sverð í hendi, er heitir Grásíða, en Hildir,
> bróðir minn, þat, sem heitir Svaf."

> "I have that sword in hand, which is named Grasida
> (Gray-side), and Hlidir, my brother, (has) the one, which
> is named Svaf (Sleep?)."

> “I have that sword in (my) hand which is called Grásíða
> (Grey-Side), but (and) Hildir, my brother, that, which
> is-called Svaf (‘Sleepmaker’?).’

‘I have in my hand the sword that is called Grásíða
[‘Grey-side’], and Hildir, my brother, that which is
called Svaf.’

My best guess is that it is indeed ‘Sleep’, with the idea
that it puts people to sleep permanently.

> Tóku þá bræðr að láta æsiliga ok grenjuðu.

> The brothers began to behave violently and howled.

> Then (the) brothers started to behave violently and
> bellowed.

Then the brothers began to behave violently and howled.

> Þeir Hrani ok Einarr gengu þá fyrir garðsendann alla götu
> at þeim bræðrum.

> They, Hrani and Einarr, then went over the garden's end
> all paths to the brothers.

> They, Hrani and Einarr went then in-front-of (ie over)
> the-end-of-the-wall all (the) way to those brothers.

Then Hrani and Einar went in front of the end of the wall
right up to the brothers.

> "Við mega menn skiptast, þó lægra láti," segir Hrani.

> "Men can make an exchange (??), though behaved low (??),"
> says Hrani.

> “Men (persons) are-able to make-an-exchange, even-if (one)
> values(láta, Z9) (them) lower,” says Hrani.

Men can fight it out even though [they] speak softer.

<Láti> is 3rd plur. subj., so <menn> ought to be its
subject; Z(11) looks like the best bet to me. I’m pretty
sure that the exchange here is an exchange of blows; Baetke
offers <ausfechten> as a possible translation, which is
pretty much what I used.

> Arnhöfði snýr þá at honum, en Hildir at Einari.

> Arnhofi then turns on him, and Hildir on Einar.

> Arnhöfði turns then to him, but (and) Hildir to Einarr,

Then Arnhöfði turns on him, and Hildir on Einar.

> Höggr Arnhöfði í skjöld Hrana, en tók eigi á.

> Arnhofdi hews at Hrani's shield, but it didn't touch.

> Arnhöfði hews into (the) shield of Hrani, but (it, ie the
> sword, blow) did not touch (it) (ie made no contact).

Arnhöfði strikes at Hrani’s shield but didn’t touch [it].

> Hrani hjó aftr ok klauf skjöld fyrir Arnhöfða.

> Hrani hacked back and and split (the) shield in front of
> Arnhofdi.

> Hrani hewed back and cleaved (split) (the) shield)
> in-front-of Arnhöfði.

Hrani struck back and cleft the shield in front of Arnhöfði.

> Í annat sinn hjó Arnhöfði, ok nam höggit þriðjung af
> skildi Hrana, en eigi særðist hann.

> Arnhofdi struck a second time, and the blow amounted to a
> split into 3 parts of Hrani's shield, but he wasn't
> wounded.

> Arnhöfði hewed for a second time, and the-blow took
> the-third-part (ie a third) from (the) shield of Hrani,
> but he was not wounded.

Arnhöfði struck a second time, and the blow took off a third
of Hrani’s shield, but he was not wounded.

> Hrani hjó ok í annat sinn.

> Hrani also struck a second time.

> Hrani hewed also for a second time.

Hrani also struck a second time.

> Kom þat högg á öxl víkingsins ok nam frá síðuna hægri með
> handleggnum, ok segir eigi framar af honum.

> That blow landed on the Viking's shoulder, and it reached
> from (his) right side through (his) arm, and nothing more
> is said about him (more literally "and it is not said more
> of him.)

> That blow came onto (the) shoulder of the-viking and (it)
> took-off (ie removed flesh) from the right side (together)
> with the-arm, and (it, ie accounts) say(s) not more of
> him.

That blow landed on the viking’s shoulder and took away his
side together with his arm, and nothing more is said of him.

(Gee, I wonder why!) <Frá> takes the dative, while <síðuna>
is accusative, so <frá> must be adverbial here.

> En sameign þeirra Einars ok Hildis gekk svo, at Hildir hjó
> í skjöld Einars ok klauf hann í fyrsta bragði.

> And their, Einar's and Hildi's, conflict went this: that
> Hildir struck Einar's shield and split it in the first
> moment.

> But the fight of them, Einarr and Hildir went this, that
> Hildir hewed into (the) shield of Einarr and cleaved
> (split) it at (the) first strike.

And their fight, Einar’s and Hildir’s, went thus: that
Hildir struck Einar’s shield and cleft it right away.

I’m with Rob on the interpretation of <í fyrsta bragði>.

> Einarr hjó aftr til Hildis ok nam lítit af skildi hans.

> Einar struck back at Hildir and it touched little of his
> shield.

> Einarr hewed back at Hildir and took a small (piece) from
> his shield.

Einar struck back at Hildir and took a small [piece] off his
shield.

> Berserkrinn hjó aftr til hans, en hann brást undan, snerti
> þó oddrinn lærit, svo nokkut særðist, en sverðit gekk í
> völlinn á kaf, en Hildir laut eftir þessu jötunliga höggi.

> The berserker struck back at him, but he quickly moved
> away, although the tip of the spear touched his thigh, so
> (he) was somewhat wounded, and the sword went in the
> ground under water, and Hildir gave way after this giant
> blow.

> The-beserk hewed back at him, but he flung-himself away,
> the point-(of-the-sword) touched however the-thigh, so
> (he) was-wounded somewhat, but the-sword went into
> the-ground in a ‘dive’ (presumably stuck deep into the
> snow), but (and) Hildir bowed-down after this giant-like
> blow.

The berserk struck back at him, but he dodged, though the
point [of the sword] touched his thigh, so [that he] was
somewhat wounded, and the sword went deep into the ground,
and Hildir bent over after this gigantic blow.

The modern online dictiony has <reka hníf á kaf> 'thrust the
knife deep in', so I suspect that <á kaf> here just means
that he drove his sword far into the ground.

> Á meðan hjó Einarr á háls honum, svo af tók höfuðit, ok er
> hann líka úr sögunni sem hinn.

> Meanwhile, Einarr struck him in the neck, (and) so took
> off his head, and he is also out of the story as the other
> one.

> Meanwhile Einarr hewed at his neck, thus took off
> the-head, and he is also out-of the-story (saga) like
> the-other (ie Arnhöfði).

Meanwhile Einar struck at his neck, so [that he] took off
his head, and he is also out of the saga like the other.

> En á meðan þessi víg gengu af, mættu eyjamenn fyrir hinum,
> ok tók brátt til at berast á þá.

> And while this slaying went off, the islanders met before
> the one, and soon began to attack (?) them.

> But while this battle went off (ie was going on), (the)
> islanders met in-front-of the-others (ie the brothers’
> crew) and started suddenly to attack (typo for berjast? Or
> berast vápn á, Z12, with vápn understood?) them.

And while these fights went on, the islanders met in front
of the others, and soon started to attack them.

<Þessi> and <gengu> are plural, so <víg> must be plural
here. <Berast> is right: the other version that I have has
<beraz>. As Alan suggests, we appear to have an elliptical
version of <berast vápn á> 'to attack one another' Z(12).
The direct object <þá> is a little odd with the apparently
reciprocal verb <berask>, but no odder than some of the
other things that we’ve seen in this saga!

> Skaut þá Dal-Þórðr ok aðrir bogmenn margan skelmi til
> bana.

> Then Dale-Thordr and other archers, many scoundrels,
> rushed to (the) slayer.

> Then Dal (Bow)-Þórðr and (the) other bowmen shot many a
> rogue to (his) death.

Then Dal-Þórð and the other bowmen shot many a rogue to
death.

Technically <skaut> is singular, with only D-Þ as subject.

> En sem þeir Hrani ok Einarr höfðu fellt bræðr, urðu þeir
> stórhöggir ok mikilvirkir við þá eftir vóru, ok réttu þeir
> brátt hlut manna sinna.

> And when they, Hrani and Einarr, had killed (the)
> brothers, they became dealing-heavy-blows and
> doing-great-work then with (those who) were left, and they
> soon put right his man's position. (?)

> Bit (And) when they, Hrani and Einarr had felled (in
> battle) (the) brothers, they became dealing-heavy-blows
> (ie increased their strike rate) and were
> doing-great-deeds against those behind, and they put-right
> quickly (the) lot of their men (turned around the fate of
> their men in the battle).

And when Hrani and Einar had felled the brothers, they dealt
heavy blows and did great work against those (i.e., of the
enemy) [who] were left and soon put right the condition of
their men.

I don’t think that it implies that they increased their
strike rate; it just means that they devoted their efforts,
which were still energetic, to the remaining opponents.

Brian