> Þrim nóttum síðar kallaði meykonungrinn Knút til sín.
> On the third night after, the maid-king called Knutr to
> her.
> Three nights later the maiden king called Knutr to her.
> Three nights later (cf sið, Z2, comparative)
> the-maiden-king called (summoned) Knútr to herself.
Three nights later the maiden king summoned Knút to her.
> Hon mælti þá til hans, “sendiferð hef ek þér hugað.”
> She then spoke to him, "I have thought of your mission."
> She spoke to him then, “I have thought of a mission for
> you.”
> She spoke then to him, “I have thought of an errand for
> you.”
She said to him then, ‘I have thought up a mission for you.’
> “Hvárt skal ek fara?” segir hann.
> "Whether shall I go?" he says.
> “Where shall I go?”, says he.
> “Whether (hvárt, not hvert) shall I go (or not)?” he says.
> (‘Should I stay or should I go’)
‘So shall I be travelling?’ he says.
Baetke is useful concerning adverbial <hvárt>: he says that
it introduces a question and can mostly be left untranslated
but offers the translations ‘now’ and ‘as matters stand’.
(And it appears that Hall misread <hvárt> as <hvert>, unless
<hvárt> is a typo.)
> “Þú skalt sækja uxa mina.
> "You shall look for my oxen.
> “You shall find my oxen.
> „You shall go-to-fetch my oxen.
‘You shall seek my oxen.
> Þeir eru hundrað saman, ok koma þeim heilum ok ómeiddum
> til mín sumarsdaginn fyrsta.
> They are 100 altogether, and bring them home hale and
> hearty to me the first day of summer.
> They are one hundred altogether, and bring them safe and
> uninjured to me on the first summer’s day.
> They are a hundred together, and (you shall) bring them
> hale and uninjured to me on the first day-of-summer.
They are a hundred altogether, and bring them to me hale and
uninjured the first day of summer.
> Horn þat sem fram stendr ór hausi einum þeira skaltu taka
> ok færa mér fult af gulli.
> The horn that stands forward out of the skull of one of
> them, you shall take and fetch me full of gold.
> You shall take that horn which stands out of the front of
> the skull of one of them and bring (it) to me full of
> gold.
> That horn which stands forward out of (the) skull of one
> of them you-shall take and bring (foera) to me full of
> gold.
You shall take the horn that stands forth from the skull of
one of them and bring [it] to me full of gold.
> Á þínum veg er eitt vatn.
> On your way is a lake.
> On your way is a certain lake.
> On your way is a certain lake.
On your way is a certain lake.
> Þar er í einn hólmr, þar á ek í eggvarp nökkut.
> In there is an island, there I have on (it) somewhat of an
> egg-field.
> There is on (it) a certain island, there upon I have
> something of an egg gathering place.
> There-in is a certain islet, where-in I have (hold, carry
> on, eiga Z5) some ‘egg-laying-(activity)’ (= egg-ver, see
> egg-ver, CV and varp, CV). (the only play involving CV so
> Jim was right!)
Therein is a certain islet, whereon [‘wherein’] I have a
certain egg-field.
<Eggvarp>, literally ‘a casting of eggs’, is in CV and is
synonymous with <eggver> in Z, a place for gathering eggs
of sea-birds.
> Þau skaltu týna.
> You shall destroy them.
> You shall destroy them.
> You-shall lose them (Hall has gather up, which makes more
> sense in the context, but I couldn´t find this meaning for
> ‘týna’, unless ‘lose’ (Z1) implies the removal the eggs
> from the nests, ie the eggs are lost to the nest).
You shall collect them [i.e., the eggs].
<Þau> is neut. plur., matching neut. <egg>, which must be
the implied antecedent. The problem here is <týna>. The
next sentence makes it very clear that <týna> cannot mean
‘destroy’, and the only alternative that I can find is
‘lose, forfeit, forget’. The next sentence also implies
that Knút is to collect the eggs and bring them to her. I
can only guess that the idea is that collecting the eggs is
‘losing’ them from the egg-field.
> Þar liggr líf þitt á ef þú færir mér þau ei öll óbrotin,
> ok ef þú skilr nökkut eptir.”
> You life lies (in jeapordy) if you don't bring me them all
> unbroken, and if you leave something behind."
> Your life depends on (it) if you bring me them not? all
> unbroken, and if you explain something afterwards.” (not
> sure if she wants all the eggs unbroken or all the eggs
> broken???)
> There-on lies your life (ie your life depends on it),
> whether (ef, Z2) you convey them (ie the eggs) all to me
> un-broken, and whether (ef, Z2) you leave any (egg)
> behind.(skilja e-t eptir, Z7).
Your life is forfeit [‘depends thereon’] if you do not bring
them to me all unbroken, or [‘and’] if you leave any
behind.’
> “Hvert á þeira at vænta?” segir hann.
> "Where do I have to expect them?" he says.
> “What have (I) to expect of them?” says he.
> “Where has (eiga) (one) to expect (to find) them?” says
> he.
‘Where must [one] expect them?’ he says.
> “Ei mundir þú mik at spyrja,” segir hon, “ef þér þætti
> eptirlæti í at fara.
> "You would not ask me," she says, "if you intended
> enjoyment in travelling.
> “You will not question me,” says she, “if you think to go
> indulgently
> “You would (subjunctive) not ask me,” says she, “if (it)
> seemed to you a gratification-of-one’s-desire to go into
> (it) (ie if you really wanted to take on this errand, see
> ‘Hvárt skal ek fara’ above).
‘You would not ask me,’ she says, ‘if there seemed to you
gratification in going.
The sense seems to require interpreting <mundir> as the
modern subjunctive (answering to ON <myndir>), so as ‘would’
rather than as ‘will’.
> Ok eigi mundi Sigrgarðr torfelt hafa þessa för.”
> And Sigrgardr would not have (torfelt?) this for."
> And Sigrgardr will not have this journey ??”
> And Sigrgarðr would not have (been) tearful (tár-feldr)
> (ie so sad, such a whinger) over this journey.”
And Sigrgarð would not have bemoaned this journey.’
<Torfelt> appears to be a variant spelling of <tárfelt>
showing the á > o change seen in the modern spellings <svo>
(from <svá>) and others; that mostly occurs after <v>, but I
can’t find any better interpretation of <torfelt>. In
principle this could be either the neut. nom. sing. of the
adjective ‘weeping, tearful’ or the neut. past part. of
<torfella> (i.e., <tárfella>) ‘to shed tears’. The
adjective would have to modify <Sigrgarðr> and would
therefore be masc. nom. sing. <torfeldr>, while the past
part. could indeed appear in the neuter, so I take <torfelt>
to be the past part. This, however, leaves <þessa för>
hanging a bit. It’s accusative and not the object of any
preposition, so either it’s a direct object, or it’s
adverbial, specifying a direction (more or less). If it’s a
direct object, <torfella> here must have a sense something
like ‘to bemoan (something)’ rather than simply ‘to cry’.
Otherwise it seems to me that <torfella þessa för> would
have to be parallel to <fara þessa för> ‘to travel this
journey’ and would mean either ‘to bemoan this journey’ or
perhaps ‘to cry one’s way through this journey’. I’m still
not sure of the syntax, but I’m going with the ‘bemoan,
bewail, whine over’ interpretation.
> “Minnst þú vel á þat,” segir hann.
> "Least you well to that (???)," he says.
> “Keep that well in mind,” says he.
> “(How) well you remember that (minnast á e-t, Z3),” says
> he. (not sure if this is indicative or imperative mood,
> but indicative would make more sense here, I think?)
‘Bear that well in mind,’ he says.
<Minnst> is the imperative of <minnast>.
> “Þegi vanmenna,” segir hon.
> "Be silent, worthless person," she says.
> “Shut up, worthless man,” says she.
> “Be silent, worthless-person” says she.
‘Be silent, worthless person,’ she says.
> Var hon þá reiðulig at sjá.
> She was then angry looking at that.
> She was then angry to see.
> She was then angry-looking to behold.
She was then angry-looking [literally ‘angry-looking to
see’].
> Hann sneri þegar í burtu ok bjóst þegar at fara sína
> sendiferð.
> He at once turned away and immediately began to prepare to
> go on his mission.
> He turns away at once and readied himself to go on his
> mission.
> He turns at-once away and readied-himself at-once to go on
> his errand.
He turned away at once and and immediately prepared to go on
his mission.
<Sneri> is past tense.
> Ok hafði með sér sex menn sína.
> And he had with him six of his men.
> And (he) had six of his men with him.
> And (he) had with him six persons (men) of his-own.
And [he] had with him six of his men.
> En aðrir váru eptir hjá því sem þeir áttu.
> But others remained by that as they had. (??)
> And others were after near which they had.???
> But (the) others were (ie stayed) behind with that which
> they had (ie their possessions).
And [the] others stayed behind with that which they owned
[i.e., to guard their possessions].
> Knútr fór nú leið sína.
> Knutr now went on his way.
> Knut went on his way.
> Knútr journeyed now (on) his way.
Knút now went his way.
> Ferr hann margan ókunnigan stig.
> He went many unknown steps.
> He traveled many unknown paths.
> He travels many an unknown path (stigr, masc acc sg).
He travels many an unknown path.
> Eitt kveld koma þeir at einu sæluhúsi.
> One evening they came to a hospice.
> One evening they came to a certain hospice.
> One evening they come to a certain hospice (travelodge).
One evening they come to a certain hospice.
> Þat var timbrhús.
> It was a wooden house.
> It was a log? house.
> That was a timber-house
It was a timber building.
> Þeir komu þar snemma um kveldit.
> They arrived there early during the evening.
> They came there early during the evening.
> They came there early during the-evening.
They arrived there early in the evening.
> Bjuggust þeir þar um.
> They encamped there. (Z. búa 10: búast um (= búa um sik),
> to make one’s own bed, to make oneself comfortable, to
> encamp)
> They encamped there.
> They encamped (búast um, Z10) there.
They settled in there.
> Hann sendi þrjá eptir eldiviði en tvá menn at sækja vatn.
> He sent three (men) for firewood and two men to look for
> water.
> He sent three for firewood and two men to look for water.
> He sent three (men) after fire-wood but (and) two persons
> (men) to go-to-fetch water.
He sent three for firewood and two men to find water.
> Þótti honum þeir seinir aptr.
> It seemed to him they (were) slow (to come) back.
> It seemed to him they (were) slow (to come) back.
> They seemed to him late back.
They seemed to him late [getting] back.
> Fór hann síðan at vitja þeira, ok fann hann dauða
> hvártveggju.
> He then went to get them, and he found each one dead.
> He went afterwards to look for them, and he found both
> (groups) dead.
> He went after-that to fetch (find) them, and he found
> each-of-the-two (search parties) dead.
Thereupon he went to find them, and he found each of the two
[groups] dead.
> Ok váru aðrir snaraðir úr hálsliðinum.
> And there were others thrown out of the neck joint.
> And some had (necks) twisted out of the neck joint.
> And the-one (party) (annarr…annarr, Z1) were turned out-of
> the (their)-neck-joint (ie they´d had their necks wrung).
And the one [group] were wrung from the neck joint [i.e.,
had had their necks wrung].
> En af öðrum váru bitin höfuðin.
> But of others, they were bitten in the head.
> And others were bitten on the head.
> But (And) the-heads were bitten off (af) the-others (ie
> those in the other party)
And from the others the heads were bitten off.
> Ferr hann nú heim aptr í sæluhúsit.
> He then went back home to the hospice.
> He goes now back home to the hospice.
> He journeys now back home to the hospice (travelodge).
He now goes back to the hospice.
<Heim> doesn’t add anything here.
> En er hann kom þar þá váru þar fyrir þrír menn.
> But when he arrived there, then three men were before
> (him).
> But when he came there, there were three men in front (of
> it).
> (But) And when he came there then three persons (men) were
> present there.
But when he arrived there, three men were already there.
> Þeir váru féhirðar meykonungsins.
> They were the maid-king's shepherds.
> They were the maiden king’s herders.
> They were shepherds of the-maiden-king.
They were herdsmen of the maiden king.
> Einn hét Kampi, annar Skeggi, þriði hét Toppr.
> One was named Kampi, the second Skeggi, the third was
> named Toppr.
> One was named Kampi, the second Skeggi, the third named
> Toppr.
> One was called Kampi, (the) second Skeggi, (the) third
> was-called Toppr.
One was called Kampi, [the] second Skeggi, [and the] third
was called Topp.
Their names appear to signify ‘moustache’, ‘beard’, and
‘forelock’, respectively.
> Þeir váru illvirkjar miklir ok drápu þeir menn.
> They were great criminals and they killed men.
> They were very evil doers and they killed men.
> They were great evil-doers and they killed people (men).
They were great criminals, and they killed people.
> En færðu meykonunginum fé þeira.
> And they conveyed the maid-king's livestock.
> But (they) brought the maiden king their livestock.
> But (And) (they) conveyed (the) money (or property, fé) of
> them (þeira, ie of those whom they killed) to
> the-maiden-king (dative).
And [they] brought the maiden king their money [i.e., the
money of those whom they killed].
> Þeir sóttu þegar at Knúti allir er þeir sjá hann.
> At once they attacked Knutr, all they who saw him.
> They attacked Knutr at once, all those who see him.?
> They all attacked (soekja at, Z10) Knútr as soon as
> (þegar…er) they saw him.
They all attacked Knút as soon as they saw him.
> Váru þeir bæði sterkir ok stórhöggvir.
> They were both strong and dealing heavy blows.
> They were both strong and dealing heavy blows.
> They were both strong and heavy-hitting
They were both strong and hard-hitting.
> Aldri þóttist hann í viðrlíka raun ok mannhættu komit
> hafa.
> He never thought himself to have come in a similar
> experience and danger of life.
> He never thought himself to have come in a similar trial
> and risk of life.
> He bethought-himself never to have come into (ie been
> faced with) similar danger (raun, Z2) and
> peril-to-(his)-life.
He thought that he had never entered into a similar trial
and mortal danger.
Brian