> Þeir fóru nú eptir blóðdrefjunum þangat til sem þeir komu
> at hömrum nökkurum.
> They now followed the trail of blood to that place to
> where they arrived at some precipices.
> They go back now blood-bespattered thither until they come
> to some crags.
> They now journeyed along (followed, fara eptir e=m, fara
> eptir e=u, Z18) the-drops-of-blood (ie the trail thereof)
> until they came to some crags (precipices, hamarr, Z3).
They now followed the blood trail until they came to some
crags.
> Þeir váru brattir ok hávir ok svá sléttir at eigi mátti
> klífa.
> They were steep and high and so smooth that (they) could
> not be climbed.
> They were steep and tall? and so smooth that (they) could
> not be climbed.
> They were steep and high (hár) and so smooth that (one)
> could not climb (them).
They were steep and high and so smooth that [one] could not
climb [them].
> Þeir báðu Stíganda forvitnast á fjallit.
> They asked Stigandi to enquire about the mountain.
> They asked Stigandi to scout on the mountain.
> They bade Stígandi to make-enquiries (go on a fact finding
> mission) on the-mountain
They asked Stígand to investigate the fell.
> Hann rann upp bergit ok kastaði þá skónum ofan til þeira
> ok renna þeir báðir bergit á skónum.
> He ran up the cliff and then threw his shoes down at them,
> and they both run (up) the cliff with the shoes.
> He ran up the hill and then threw down the shoes to them
> and they both ran (up) the hill on the shoes.
> He ran up the cliff and cast then down the (his)-shoes to
> them and they both run (up) the-cliff on (in?) the-shoes.
He ran up the mountain and then threw his shoes down to
them, and they both run [up] the mountain in [‘on’] the
shoes.
> Síðan ganga þeir um fjallit.
> Then they go up across the mountain.
> After that they go about the hill.
> After-that they go (on foot) across the-mountain.
After that they go over the mountain.
> En er þeir höfðu lengi geingit fundu þeir dal einn fyrir
> sér.
> And when they had gone (a) long way, they encountered a
> valley before them.
> When they had gone a long time, they found a certain dale
> before them.
> But (And) when they had walked (typo presumably)
> for-a-long-time (lengi, Z1) they found a single dale
> in-front-of them.
And when they had walked for a long time, they found a
valley before them.
<Geingit> may not be a typo: <ei> is a not uncommon variant.
Then again, it may be, since in theory the whole thing has
been normalized.
> Þar váru sléttirvellir.
> Flat-fields where there.
> There were smooth plains.
> Level fields were there.
There were level fields there.
> Þar sjá þeir níu tigi hrossa, ok var þar með einn hestr
> furðuliga fagr ok grár at lit.
> They saw 90 horses there, and one exceedingly beautiful
> and gray in color horse was there with them.
> There they see ninety horses, and therewith one stallion,
> remarkably beautiful and grey to see.
> There they saw ninety (lit: nine tens of) horses and
> there-with (ie among them) was one stallion exceedingly
> handsome and grey in colour (litr).
There they see 90 horses, and with them was a stallion,
wonderfully handsome and grey in color.
> Eitt flókafolald sá þeir.
> They saw a shaggy foal.
> They see one matted foal.
> They saw one a young-foal-with-a-matted-coat. (flóki +
> folald)
They saw a foal with a shaggy coat.
> Þat var at öllu skripiligt.
> It was all monstrous.
> It was all ???
> It (ie the foal) was monstrous in all respects (at öllu,
> allr, Z5).
It was in all respects monstrous.
Presumably <skripiligt> is a variant of <skrípiligt>.
> Hrossin öll lömdu þat ok óþægðu.
> All the horses beat and troubled it.
> The horses were all lamed? and unacceptable.
> All the-horses flogged (lemja, Z1) it and vexed (úþægja)
> (it)
The horses all beat it and plagued [it].
> Hestrinn lagði þat í eineltu.
> The stallion set off that in the singling out.
> The stallion lay it in singling one out.
> The-stallion put it (ie the foal) into harassment (ie
> harassed it, lit: a single pursuing, ein + elta, a
> feminine noun, CV has eltur, fem plural)
The stallion bullied it.
CV has a neuter noun <einelti> ‘the singling one out’. The
modern language has it in <leggja e-n í einelti> ‘to
persecute someone’. I also found a page with what appears
to be a very recent edition of regulations concerning the
interception of civil aircraft; it has a side-by-side
translation into English, and it’s clear that <einelti> here
is ‘interception’. Finally, I found this paragraph from
seven years ago:
Einelti er reyndar ekki nema þriggja alda gamalt orð í
íslensku, og önnur afbrigði orðsins eru einelta og
einelting. Þetta er gott orð og gagnsætt og þýðir að veita
einhverjum einum eftirför, reyna að ná og elta á röndum.
Einelti og einelta undirstrika þannig hóp sem veitist að
einum.
<Einelti> is actually only a three-year-old word in
Icelandic, and other variants of the word are <einelta>
and <einelting>. This is a good word and transparent and
means to pursue someone, to try to catch and dog someone’s
heels. <Einelti> and <einelta> thus emphasize a group
that attacks one only.
Google Translate says that <einelti> is ‘bullying’, and an
online Icelandic-German dictionary confirms this. It also
translates <að leggja e-n í einelti> as (the German for) ‘to
harass, to bully’. We seem to have here a very early
instance of this usage.
> Þótti þeim gaman at horfa á þetta.
> It seemed to them a game to turn to this.
> It seemed to them a game to turn on that one?
> (It) seemed to them (ie Knútr et al) and amusement to turn
> to this (ie that there was the prospect of entertainment
> in this, cf horfir til gamans, under horfa, CV2).
They found it amusing to watch this.
Impersonal <Horfir til gaman mikils> is a different
construction; <horfa á e-t> is ‘to look at or observe
something’. See also <gaman> in Zoëga: <mér þykkir gaman at
e-u> ‘I am amused by something’.
> Þeir sáu helli stóran.
> They saw a large cave.
> They saw a large cave.
> They saw a large cave.
They saw a large cave.
> Þá mælti Knútr: “Hér muntu Hörðr eptir dveljast þó at mér
> þiki mikit fyrir at skilja við þik.
> Then Knutr said: "Here, Hordr, will you stay back, though
> to me it didn't seem much further to separate with you.
> Then Knutr spoke, “Here, Hordr, you will remain behind
> even though it seems to me very (concerning) to part with
> you.”
> Then Knútr spoke: “Here, Hörðr, you-will remain behind
> even-though I am unwilling (lit: it seems to me a great
> (thing) to take the step, þykkja, Z2) to part with you.
Then Knút said: ‘You, Hörð, will stay here, although I am
very unwilling to part with you.
> En nú er tími svá stuttr at vantækt er á hvárt vér náum
> heim stefnudeginum, þó at oss beri eigi til tafa.
> But now time is so short at (vantækt?) which whether we
> reach home on the day of summons, although it doesn't bear
> us to a delay.
> But now time is so short (and) difficult to receive when
> how we approach home on the appointed day even though it
> doesn’t befall us to delay.
> But now time is so short that (it) is a problematic
> (couldn´t find vantækt in CV or Z, but found the word used
> in several Facebook posts etc with apparently this sense?)
> on (as to) whether we (will) reach home on
> the-day-of-summons (ie first day of summer), even though
> (it) happens not for us as-a-result of delay (töf, CV) (ie
> even if we are not delayed)
But now time is so short that it is difficult as to whether
we get home on the appointed day even if we do not have
hindrances.
CV s.v. <tækt> (from earlier <tœkt>, derived from <taka>)
has <útækt> ‘unacceptable, unfair’; <tækr> itself is
‘acceptable, fair; fit, meet’. Modern Icelandic has these
as <ótækur> ‘useless, impossible’, with a phrase <það er
ótækt> ‘that won’t work’, and <tækur> ‘acceptable,
admissible’. The prefix <van-> is typically ‘lacking,
under-, un-’, so <vantækr> ought to have a meaning similar
to but perhaps a bit weaker than that of <ótækr>. Judging
by <það er ótækt> and the fact that this saga has a number
of late usages, one might guess at ‘difficult’.
> En geym þú hellisdyr þessar þangat til sem ek kem aptr,
> því at þar liggr líf várt allra við ef nökkut tröll kemst
> út ór hellinum.”
> But mind the this door of the cave, until that time when I
> return, because all our lives lie there (in danger) if
> some troll comes out of the cave."
> But go you thither to this cave door until I come back,
> because our all lives depend on it if some troll comes out
> of the cave.”
> But watch you this cave-entrance (gram plural) till that
> time that I come back, because there-with lies our life of
> all (all our lives depend on it) whether some troll
> makes-his-way out out-of the-cave.
But watch this cave entrance until I come back, because all
of our lives depend on whether some troll makes it out of
the cave.’
> Síðan skilja þeir.
> Then they part.
> After that they part.
> After-that they part.
After that they part.
> Fara þeir Stígandi ok Knútr í burtu þangat til sem þeir
> koma at hólum nökkurum.
> Sigandi and Knutr go away until when they arrive at some
> hill.
> They, Stigandi and Knutr, go away thither until they come
> to some islands.
> They, Stígandi and Knútr, journey away until (þangat til
> sem) they come to some knolls (plural).
Stígand and Knút travel away until they they arrive at some
hills.
> Þar sjá þeir svín mörg, ok váru þau þá komin í svefn.
> There they say many pigs, and they had then entered sleep.
> There they see many pigs, and they then were overcome with
> sleep.
> There they see many swine, and they (the swine) were then
> come into sleep (ie fallen asleep).
There they see many swine, and they [= swine] had then
fallen asleep.
> Eina gyltu sáu þeir liggja undir hamri einum.
> They saw a young sow lying under a precipice.
> They saw one gilt lying under a crag.
> They saw one young-sow lie under a single crag.
They saw one young sow lying under a crag.
> Hana sugu tveir grísir.
> She suckled two young pigs.
> She suckled two piglets.
> Two young-pigs sucked (súga) her.
Two young pigs were suckling from her.
> Hon var svá mögr at hon gat varla risit.
> She was so lean that she scarcely could get up.
> She was so ?? that she could scarcely rise.
> She was so lean (magr) that she could hardly rise.
She was so lean that she could hardly get up.
> En þegar at aðrir grísir fóru frá henni þá fóru aðrir til
> hennar at sjúga hana.
> And/but at once when other pigs went from her, then others
> went to her to suckle (from) her.
> But immediately other piglets went from her then others
> went to her to suckle her.
> But (And) as-soon-as the-one (set of) young-pigs went from
> her, then the-other (set) went to her to suck her.
And as soon as the first young pigs went away from her,
others came to her to suckle from her.
> Knútr gekk at háli einum ok mælti til Stíganda: “Hér munt
> þú eptir verða, ok bíða mín þangat til at þrjár sólir eru
> af himni.
> Knutr went to a (háli?) alone and spoke to Stigandi: "Here
> you would be left, and wait for me until there are three
> days have passed. (Z. sól 2: áðr sjau sólir eru af himni,
> before seven days have passed)
> Knutr went to an island and spoke to Stigandi, “You will
> stay behind here, and wait on me thither until three suns
> have (gone) from the sky.”
> Knút walked to a single knoll (hvállr? = hóll, see above)
> and spoke to Stígandi: “Here you will stay (lit: be)
> behind, and wait for me, until three suns are from (the)
> heaven (sky) (ie until the sun sets three times, for three
> days)
Knút went to a certain hill and said to Stígand: ‘You will
remain here and wait for me until three days have passed.
I’m taking <háli> to be equivalent to <hváli>; it looks like
the result of a conflation of <hóll> and <hváll>.
> En ef ek kem þá eigi aptr þá þarf eigi mín at vænta.
> And/but if I don't come back, then you don't need to wait
> for me.
> But if I do not come back, then you must not wait for me.
> But (And) if I come then not back then (it) is not
> necessary to wait for (lit: expect, hope for) me.
And if I do not come back then, there is no need to expect
me.
> En ekki skaltu við svínin eiga fyrr enn úr kulit er um
> mína komu.
> And/but you shall not by the pigs have before yet out of
> the breeze which mine came. (??)
> But you shall not deal with the pigs before out ?? when
> (they) come regarding me??
> But you-shall not have anything to do with (eiga við e-n,
> Z10) the-swine before the-cold-breeze (of hope?) is out-of
> (it) (ie has faded?, possibly kulit is a past part but
> could find no such verb) concerning my coming (koma,
> noun).
But you shall have nothing to do with the swine before [it]
is out of the breeze concerning my arrival.
I’ve not been able to find another instance of this usage,
but it strikes me that it *might* be akin to English ‘in the
wind’, meaning ‘likely to happen, about to happen’.
> Ok muntu þó ærit eiga at vinna.
> And yet you will have enough to do.
> And you will still have enough to succeed.
> And you-will nevertheless have enough to do (vinna, Z1).
And you will nevertheless have enough to do.
Brian