Re: Gull-Thoris Saga 10 A -- Rob's Translation

This one was a bit tougher than some.

> Þórir eignaðist Flatey eftir Hallgrímu og hafði þar sæði
> en Hergils son hennar bjó í Hergilsey sem fyrr var ritað.

> Thorir became the owner of Flatey after Hallgrimr and had
> crops there, and/but her son Hergil lived in
> Hergil's-island as was previously written.

> Thorir became the owner of Flat isle after Hallgrimr and
> had crops (or offspring) there but Hergils, her son, lived
> in Hergils isle as was previously written.

> Þórir became-owner-of Flatey (Flat-Island) after Hallgrímr
> and had crops there but (and) Hergils son (typo: sonr?) of
> her (Hallgríma) lived in Hergilsey (Hergils-Island) as
> before was written.

Þóri became the owner of Flatey after Hallgríma and had
crops there, but her son Hergils dwelt on Hergilsey as was
previously written.

The previous owner is a woman, Hallgríma, not a man
Hallgrímr. <Son> is not a typo: it’s being treated as it
would be in the metronymic <Hallgrímason>. I’ve seen this
before, and it’s consistent across at least five editions of
the saga.

> Hann var faðir Ingjalds er þar bjó síðan og hann barg
> Gísla Súrssyni og fyrir það gerði Börkur hinn digri af
> honum eyjarnar en Ingjaldur fór í Þorskafjarðardali og bjó
> á Ingjaldsstöðum.

> He was was father of Ingjold, who lived there after and he
> saved Gisla, Sur's son, and before that took away from
> Borkr the Stout the islands that Ingjaldr went into in
> cod-firth-dale and lived and Ingjald's-place.

> He was the father of Ingjaldr who lived there afterwards
> and he saved (or helped) Gisl, Sur's son, and for that
> Borkr the stout took the islands from him and Ingjaldr
> went to Thorskafjord dales and lived in Ingjaldr's steads.

> He was (the) father of Ingjaldr who afterwards lived there
> and he saved Gísli Súrr’s-son and for that (before that?)
> Börkr the Big (nominative) took from him the-islands but
> (and) Ingjaldr journeyed to Þorskafjarðardalr
> (Cod-Fjord-Dale) and lived at Ingjaldsstaðir
> (Ingjaldr’s-Steads)

He was the father of Ingjald, who dwelt there afterwards,
and he helped Gísli Súrsson, and because of that Börk hinn
digri [‘the stout’] extorted the islands from him, and
Ingjald travelled to Þorskafjarðardal and dwelt at
Ingjaldsstaðir.

Gísli Súrsson is the subject of Gísla saga Súrssonar.

> Hans son var Þórarinn er átti Þorgerði dóttur Glúms
> Geirasonar.

> His son was Thorarinn, who married Thorgerdi, daughter of
> Glum Gerarson.

> His son was Thorarinn who married Thorgerd, daughter of
> Glum, Geir's son.

> His son was Þórarinn who married Þorgerðr (accusative)
> daughter of Glúmr Geiri’s-son

His son was Þórarin, who married Þorgerð, daughter of Glúm
Geirason.

> Þeirra son var Helgu-Steinar.

> Their son was Helgu-Steinar.

> Their son was Helgu-Steinar.

> Their son was Helgu (Holy?)-Steinarr.

Their son was Helgu-Steinar.

The byname clearly refers to some woman named Helga, but
apparently no extant source gives any indication of who she
was.

> Þorgeir í Ólafsdal lét sér stórum illa líka til Þóris um
> konumálið.

> Thorgeir in Olaf's-dale caused himself greatly to dislike
> Thoris concerning the love-affair. (Z. líka: e-m líkar vel
> (illa) til e-s or við e-n, one likes or dislikes a person)

> Thorgeir in Olaf's dale took an intense disliking to
> Thorir regarding the affair of the woman.

> Þorgeirr in Ólafsdalr (Óáfr’s-Dale) declared of himself (=
> látast?) greatly to dislike Þórir over the-“love-affair”.

Þorgeir of Ólafsdal said that he greatly disliked Þóri on
account of the love affair.

> Hann vissi að fátt var með þeim Steinólfi og Þóri.

> He know that few were with Steinolfr and Thorir.

> He knew that there was coolness between Steinolfr and
> Thorir.

> He knew that (there) was a coolness (fár, Z2) between them
> Steinólfr and Þórir.

He knew that there was coolness between Steinólf and Þóri.

> Því gaf Þorgeir Steinólfi fé til að hann veitti Þóri
> umsátir ef færi yrði á.

> Thorgeir gave Steinolfr money so that he grant Thorir
> (umsátir?) if (he) would become more reserved.

> For that reason Thorgeir gave Steinolfr money for it that
> he help ambush Thorir if ? it came to it?

> Þorgeirr gave money/property to Steinólfr to that (end)
> that he would-lay an ambushes (úmsát) against Þórir if
> (an) opportunity (foeri) arose.

Therefore Þorgeir gave Steinólf money so that he would
ambush Þóri if the opportunity occurred.

<Færi> is actually <fœri>. <Umsátir> is acc. plur. of fem.
<umsát> 'siege; assassination attempt; ambush'. I assume
that <veita e-m umsátir> is like <veita e-m atsókn>, and I
chose the ‘ambush’ sense on the basis of <umsátarmaðr>
'waylayer'.

> Og er þeir höfðu ráðið samband fann Þorgeir Hall af
> Hofstöðum og bað hann ganga í málið með þeim.

> And when they had planned a joint-effort, Thorgeir met
> Hallr of Hofstad and asked him to go talk with them.

> And when they had planned together, Thorgeir met Hall at
> Hofsteads and asked him to go in to the affair with them.

> And when they had formed a coalition-of-the-willing,
> Þorgeirr met Hallr from Hofstaðir (Temple-Steads) and
> asked him to go undertake the-case (ganga í mál, Z15) with
> (ie join) them.

And when they had agreed on an alliance, Þorgeir visited
Hall of Hofstaðir and asked him to become party to the
affair with them.

> En hann varð glaður við og bað þeim heill duga er fyrstur
> réði ráðum til skamma Þóri en kvað þó illt við hann að
> eiga "fyrir sakir harðfengi og fylgdar þeirrar er hann
> hefir."

> And he was glad with (that) and wished them good speed who
> first advised plans to disgrace Thorir and yet said (it
> went) poorly with him to have "for the sake of their valor
> and support which he has." (??) (Z. heill (n. and f.):
> hann bað þeim heill duga = he wished them good speed)

> And he became glad at that and wished them good speed when
> (they) had a conference? to disgrace Thorir but said still
> to quarrel with him "for the sake of valor and those
> followers which he has."

> But (And) he became (ie was) glad with (that) and wished
> them good speed (see heill, n., Z) who (the) first adopted
> plans (ie took action) to shame Þórir and declared still
> to be on bad terms with him (eiga illt við e-n, Z10) “by
> reasons of hardihood and followers(?) of those who he
> has.”

And he became very cheerful at [that] and wished that luck
suffice them [i.e., he wished them good luck] who first
would devise plans for shame to Þóri but said that it was
nevertheless bad to quarrel with him ‘because of the valor
and support that he has.’

<Skamma> appears to be a noun here, the object of <til>; if
so, it must be in the genitive, which makes it the genitive
plural of <skömma> 'shame'.

> En það ráð gerði Hallur að þeir skyldu ráða af einnhvern
> fóstbróður hans.

> And Hallr did that plan that they should put a stop to
> each of his two foster-brothers.

> And Hallr followed that advice that they should do away
> with a certain fosterbrother of his.

> But (And) Hallr rendered that advice that they should
> do-away with some-one of his foster-brothers.

And Hall decided that they should do away with one of his
foster brothers.

> Hallur hitti þá Askmann og Hólmgöngu-Kýlan og gaf þeim
> þrjár merkur silfurs að þeir dræpu Má Hallvarðsson og því
> hétu þeir að leita við ef þeir mættu.

> Hallr then met with Askmadr (literally "Viking") and
> Holmgongu-Kylan and gave them three marks of silver that
> they slay Ma Hallvardson and they promised that, to try if
> they were able.

> Hallr meets Askmadr then and Duel-Kylan and gave them
> three marks silver that they kill Mar Hallvard's son and
> they promised it to try if they could.

> Hallr met then Askmaðr and Hólmgöngu (Dueller)-Kýlan and
> gave them three marks of silver (so) that they should-kill
> Már Hallvarðr’s-son and they promised that, to try-to (do
> it) if they could.

Hall then met with Askmaðr and Hólmgöngu-Kýlan and gave them
three marks of silver to kill Már Hallvarðsson, and they
promised to try if they could.

<Askmaðr> is yet another example of an original byname that
came into use as an idionym. It’s a compound of <ask-> 'ash
(tree)' and <maðr> 'man', but by extension the first element
also came to mean '(ash) spear' and 'ship', and an <askmaðr>
was a seaman or, more specifically, a freebooter, a viking.
<Kýlan> is a borrowing of the Old Irish masculine name
<Cáelán>. I know of two other men of that name in Iceland:
one was a Hebridean who took land during the Settlement, and
the other was his grandson.

> Litlu síðar fór Askmaður til móts við Kýlan og taka vopn
> sín og fara til Hríshvols.

> A little later Askmadr went to meet with Kylan and takes
> his weapon and goes to Hrisvol. (Brushwood-(vol?))

> A little later Askmadr to meet with Kylan and take his
> weapons and go to Hrishvol.

> A little later Askmaðr journeyed to a meeting (ie to see)
> Kýlan and (they) take (3rd pers plural) their weapons and
> (they) journey to Hríshváll (Brushwood-Hillock, -hváll)

A little later Askmaðr travelled to meet Kýlan, and [they]
take their weapons and travel to Hrísahvál [‘brushwood
knoll’].

The older normalized spelling of the second element of the
place-name is <hváll>, and the first element still had the
genitive plural ending <-a> typical of compounds; the modern
name is <Hríshóll>.

> Askmaður hafði króksviðu í hendi.

> Askmadr had a wooden-hook (?) in (his) hand.

> Askmadr had a hatchet with a hook in hand.

> Askmaðr had a hooked-weapon (cutlass, -sviða) in hand.

Askmaðr had a barbed spear in his hand.

CV has <króksviða>; the second element, <sviða>, is said by
Zoëga to be a kind of weapon, a cutlass, and by Baetke to be
a kind of spear. De Vries relates it to <svíða> 'to singe,
burn, roast', making it originally 'a spear with a burnt
tip' (by which I presume he means a fire-hardened tip). I
looked ahead a bit, and the description of the fight in
which he uses the weapon shows that it could be driven into
a man’s body from behind between the shoulders and come out
through the chest. All in all, I think that it’s most
probably some kind of barbed or hooked spear.

> Hann fór til húss og sagði Mávi að uxi lá í mýri og bað
> hann upp draga.

> He went to a house and told Mavi that an ox was mired in a
> swamp and asked him (to) drag (it) out with a rope.
> (similar to Z. draga 10: draga upp fisk = to pull up fish
> with a line)

> He went to the house and told Mar that the axe lay in the
> moor and asked him to pull it up.

> He journeys to (the) house and said to Már that an ox lay
> in (the) swamp (mire) and asked him to drag (it) up (ie
> out of the swamp)

He went to [the] house and told Már that an ox was stuck in
[the] swamp and asked him to pull it out.

> Már kvað hann fara munu að nokkuru illu og sagðist eigi
> trúa munu lygi hans.

> Mar said he will behave somewhat badly and said for
> himself (that he) will not believe his lie. (Z. fara 10:
> fara e-m ferr vel, illa = one behaves or acts well, ill)

> Mar said he would go to something evil and said he will
> not believe his lies.

> Már declared (that) he (ie Askmaðr) will go with a certain
> ill (intent) (he was up to no good) and said-of-himself
> (that he) will not believe his (ie Askmaðr’s) lie.

Már said that he [= Askmaðr] would be travelling with some
ill [intent] and said that he would not believe his [=
Askmaðr’s] lies.

> Askmaður kvað eigi kynlegt að hann þyrði eigi að ganga í
> Valshelli er hann þorði eigi að bjarga fé sínu þótt hann
> fylgdi honum til.

> Askmadr said (it was) not odd that he didn't have the
> courage to go to Val's-cave when he wouldn't have had the
> courage to save his wealth although he accompanied him.

> Askmadr said (it to be) nothing extraordinary that he did
> not dare to go to Val's cave when he dared not save his
> wealth even though he followed him to it.

> Askmaðr declared (it) not strange that he (ie Már)
> should-dare not to go into Valr’s-Cave when he dared not
> to save his (own) cattle even-though he (Askmaðr) guided
> him to (it).

Askmaðr said that it was not strange that he [= Már] did not
dare to go into Valshellir when he dared not save his own
cattle even though he [= Askmaðr] accompanied him thereto.

> Þá hljóp Már upp og tók vopn sín, hjálm, skjöld og sverð.

> Then Mar leaped up, took his weapon, helmet, shield, and
> sword.

> Then Mar leaped up and took his weapons, helmet, shield
> and sword.

> Then Már leapt and took his weapons (plural), helmet,
> shield and sword

Then Már leaped up and took his weapons, helm, shield, and
sword.

> En er þeir voru á leið komnir lofaði Askmaður hann mjög og
> vopn hans og bað hann sýna sér sverðið.

> When they were on the way, Askmadr came praising him much
> and his weapon and asked him to show him the sword.

> And when they were on their way, Askmadr praised him much
> and his weapons and bade him show him the sword.

> But (And) when they were (had) come on (their) way Askmaðr
> praised him much and his weapons and asked him to show him
> the-sword.

And when they were on their way, Askmaðr praised him
greatly, and his weapons, and asked him to show him the
sword.

> Már gerði svo.

> Mar did so.

> Mar did so.

> Már did so.

Már did so.

> Askmaður brá sverðinu og blés í eggjarnar áður hann lét
> laust.

> Askmadr drew his sword and blew on the edges (of it)
> before he let loose.

> Askmadr drew the sword blew on the edges?? before he let
> loose.

> Askmaðr drew the-sword and blew into the-edge (to reduce
> its power?) before he let (it) loose.

Askmaðr drew the sword and blew on the edges before he
relinquished [it].

Events just a little further on suggest that the blowing had
a magical effect that did indeed reduce its ability to cut.

Brian