Re: Hfrafns Saga 6C + 7A

> Þeir sögðu þessa sök búna vera á hendr Markúsi um
> sauðaskurð á mót þeiri sök, er hann hafði á höndum Inga um
> bænahústoll.

> They said this charge (búna?) is at the hands of Markus
> concerning the sheep slaughtering against their charge,
> which had had at the hands of Ingi concerning the chapel
> tax.

> They said this charge to [have] be[en] prepared (ie
> ‘fixed‘, fem acc sg strong of  pp of <búa>, cf búa mál á
> hendr e-m, Z1) against Markús about [the] sheep-slaughter
> in-exchange-for that charge, which he (ie Markús) brought
> (lit: had, <hafa> Z6) against Ingi about [the]
> house-of-prayer (chapel)-toll.

They said that this suit was prepared against Markús for
sheep slaughter in return for the suit that he had brought
against Ingi for chapel tax.

> Ok síðan drógu þeir glott at ok mikit skaup, at Markús
> mundi eigi allt réttiliga fá til bús síns, ok höfðu mörg
> heimslig orð um þetta mál.

> And then they sneered also at a great mockery, that Markus
> would not completely justly get for his house, and they
> had many foolish (?) words concerning this matter. (Z.
> glott: draga g. at e-u, to sneer at)

> And after-that they drew sneers at [them] and great
> mockery (ie they sneered at and greatly mocked them), that
> Markús would not altogether justly lay-hold (<fá til e-s>,
> Z12 ?) of his-own farm, and [they] used (<hafa>, Z4) many
> foolish words concerning this matter.

And after that they sneered and greatly mocked that Markús
must not have got his farm altogether justly and used many
foolish words about this matter.

> Nú við þessi slög þeira ok illt orðalag þá reiddist Markús
> mjök ok kvaðst eigi lengi mundu nenna at sitja sér minnum
> mönnum slíkan ósóma, er þeir tóku upp.

> Now with this defeat of theirs and poor manner of
> speaking, then Markus got very mad and said for himself he
> would not longer be willing for himself to tarry in the
> memory of such disgrace, which they picked up (?).

> Now at these skirmishes and ill manner-of-speaking, then
> Markús became-very-angry (cf <verða reiðr við e-t>, under
> <við>, Z7) and declared-of-himself [that he] would not
> long be inclined to endure (<sitja e-t>, Z6) such
> dishonour (<úsomi>) to his lesser folk (men, ie his
> underlings, manservants), which they took up (If <þeir>
> refers to his manservants <which they put up with,
> endured>; if it refers to their abusers, then <which they
> raised, adopted against (his manservants)?)

Now at these blows of theirs and ill manner of speaking
Markús became very angry and said that he would not long be
disposed to suffer such dishonor from lesser men as they
raised up.

Here <við> is Z.II(7) ‘at, because of’, and the relative
particle <er> refers to <ósóma>; the lesser men are the
people making nasty comments, who are also the subject
(<þeir>) of the final clause.

> 7. Víg Markúss ok eftirmál.

> The slaying of Markus and action on behalf of a person
> slain against the slayer

> 7. [The] Slaying of Markús and action-against-the
> slayer-on-behalf-of-the-slain.

The killing of Markús and the action against the killer.

> Þá er þessi mál hófust, þá dreymdi þann mann draum, er
> Guðbrandr hét Gestsson.

> When this matter began, then that man dreamed a dream, who
> was named Gudbrandr, son of Gest.

> When these affairs began (arose, hefjast) then a dream
> was-dreamt by that person (man) who was-called Guðbrandr
> Gestr’s-son.

When these suits were begun, the man who was called
Guðbrand Gestsson dreamed a dream.

I take <mál> to refer to the suit and countersuit.

> Hann dreymdi þat, at honum þótti maðr koma at sér, mikill
> ok svartr ok illiligr.

> He dreamed that it seemed a man arrived to him, large,
> black, and hideous.

> That was-dreamed by him, that [it] seemed to him a person
> (man) came upon him, tall and black (or baneful) and
> hideous.

He dreamed that it seemed to him that a man came upon him,
tall and black and hideous.

> Hann þóttist spyrja, hvat manna hann í væri.

> He thought to ask, what man he would be.

> He bethought himself to ask, what [race] of persons (men)
> he was in (ie belonged to).

It seemed to him that he asked what kind of man he was.

> Sá svaraði ok kvað vísu:

> He so answered and quoted verses:

> That-one (ie He) answered and recited a verse:

He [i.e., the visitant] replied and spoke a verse:

> Líðr gótt sumar gróðrar.
> Gandrekr þrumir. Landa
> heimr es með beztum blóma
> birtr. Nú es ráð at hirtask.
> Mjök es grimmliga glýjaðr,
> gapir hann á sjöt manna
> olmr und ægishjálmi,
> Ingólfr kominn hingat.

GPH thinks that the mss. better support a reading of
<Gandreyðr> ‘stick-fish’ and takes the second sentence to be
<Gandreyðr þrumir landa>, beginning the third with <heimr>.
<Gandreyðr landa> ‘stick-fish of lands’ is then a snake.
I’ve translated it on this basis. After that translation
I’ll offer translations of the second and third sentences as
they appear here.

> Líðr gróðrar gótt sumar.

> A summer passes well crops.

> A good summer of growth (gen sg) passes.

The good fertile summer passes.

> Gandreyðr þrumir landa.

Stick-fish of lands [i.e., snake] lies still.

GPH has some discussion of exactly what is implied by the
kenning <gandreyðr>; she suggests that <gand-> ‘stick’ may
be used to emphasize the sluggishness implied by <þrumir>
but mentions another conjecture or two.

> Heimr es birtr með beztum blóma.

The world is brightened with the best blossoms.

> Nú es ráð at hirtask.

> Now which ready to be chastised.

<Es> here is the old form of <er> ‘is’.

> Now [it] is a good-idea (lit a plan) to chastise
> one’s-self.

Now it is advisable to chastise oneself.

> Ingólfr es kominn hingat, mjök grimmiliga glýjaðr.

> Ingolfr which has come here, very grimly gleeful.

> Ingólfr is (<es> = <er>) come hither, very fiercely
> gleeful.

Ingólf has come hither, very fiercely gleeful.

> Hann gapir olmr und ægishjalmi [œgishjálmr] á sjöt manna.

> He gapes savage (olmr = ólmr?) under a helmet of terror to
> man's company:

> He gapes furious under [the] helmet-of-terror
> (<oegishjálmr>, not to be confused with the helmet of Ægir
> the giant) on [the] abode of people (men, mankind) (ie =
> Earth)

He gapes, savage under terror-helm, at men’s homes.

> Gandrekr þrumir.

> A gale-brought-about-by-witchcraft (<gandrekr>) persists
> (sits fast).

[The] wind is constant.

The Lexicon Poeticum glosses <gandrekr> as ‘wind’ without
explanation. It appears that <rekr> is being understood as
an agent noun ‘driver’ from <reka> ‘to drive’, analogous to
<brjótr> ‘one that breaks’ from <brjóta> ‘to break’, but the
precise significance of <gand-> isn’t clear. It might be
the stick ridden ridden by a witch (<renna göndum> ‘to ride
a witch-ride’). CV’s gloss appears to take <rekr> the same
way but make it metonymic for ‘wind’, with <gand-> simply
indicating a magical origin. I don’t know whether there
even is a single generally accepted interpretation.

> Landa heimr es með beztum blóma birtr.

> [The] region of lands (as distinct from the seas) is (<es>
> = <er>) illuminated (pp) with the best bloom (blossom, dat
> masc sg of <blómi>)

The world is brightened in finest bloom.

<Landa heimr> ‘home of lands’ would seem to be synonymous
with <heimr> in its sense ‘world’.

Note that these two sentences suggest very different states
of affairs; this seems to me a further point in favor of
HPG’s preference for the reading <gandreyðr>.

I didn’t bother with Version C this time.

> Þann draum hyggjum vér verit hafa fyrir þeim ófriði, er á
> Rauðasandi varð.

> We believe that dream to have been before the hostilities,
> which happened to the Raudasand.

> We believe that dream to have been for (ie to represent)
> that hostility, which happened at Rauðasandr (Red-Sand).

We think that dream to have been because of the hostilities
that were at Rauðasand.

> En fyrir því at lítit er nef várt, en breiðar fjaðrar, þá
> óx óþykkt með þeim Markúsi ok Inga, svá at eigi var óhætt.

> But before because our nose is little, than a broad
> feather, then discord grew between Markus and Ingi, so
> that it was not without some danger. (Z. úhætt: eigi ú.,
> not without some danger)

> But (And) for that [reason] that our nose (head,
> “intelligence”?) is small, but (and) [our] feathers
> (spear-blades, “martial strength”?, plural) broad, then
> [the] discord between Markús and Ingi grew, so that [it]
> was not without-danger.

But because our beak is small but [our] wings [‘feathers’]
broad, discord grew between Markús and Ingi, so that there
was not safety.

The exact sense of the first clause, which appears in one
other work, is uncertain, but the general idea seems to be
that small causes can have large consequences. It has been
suggested that the reference is to an arrowhead, whose beak
(tip) is narrow, but whose ‘wings’ flare out.

> Markús var þingmaðr Jóns Loftssonar, Sæmundarsonar, en
> Ingi ok Guðlaugr váru þingmenn Hrafns Sveinbjarnarsonar.

> Markus was a thing-man of Jon, son of Loft, son of
> Sanundr, and Ingi and Gudlaugr were thing-men of Hrafn,
> son of Sveinbjarn.

> Markús was a Thing-person (man) (liegeman) of Jón
> Loptr’s-son, son of Sæmundr, but (and) Ingi and Guðlaugr
> were Thing-persons (men) of Hrafn Sveinbjörn’s-son..

Markús was a þingman of Jón Loftsson, son of Sæmund, but
Ingi and Guðlaug were þingmen of Hrafn Sveinbjarnarson.

> Markús var frændi Hrafns, manni firnari en systrungr.

> Markus was Hrafn's kinsman, a man of one degree further
> (of cousinship) and Hrafn's mother’s sister’s son (CV.
> firnari: one degree farther, of odd degrees of cousinship)

> Markús was a kinsman of Hrafn, one degree further to a
> person (man) than mother’s-sister’s-son (ie one degree
> further removed than male cousin).

Markús was Hrafn’s kinsman, one degree further removed than
mother’s sister’s son.

> Guðlaugr var ok skyldr Hrafni nökkut.

> Gudlaugr was also somewhat related to Hrafn.

> Guðlaugr was also related to Hrafn somewhat.

Guðlaug was also related to Hrafn in some degree.

> Þat var eitt haust, at Ingi fór á kynnisleit til Stakka
> til Guðlaugs, ok var þar nökkurar nætr.

> It was one fall, that Ingi went on a visit to Stakka to
> Gudlaugr, and he was there a few nights.

> That was one autumn, that Ingi journeyed on a visit to
> Stakkar (Hay-Stacks) to Guðlaugr, and was (ie stayed)
> there several nights.

It was one fall that Ingi went on a visit to Stakkar to
Guðlaug’s and stayed there several nights.

> En er Ingi skyldi heim fara, þá ræðst Guðlaugr í ferð með
> honum.

> When Ingi should go home, then Gudlaugr got ready for the
> journey with him.

> But (And) when Ingi should journey home, then Guðlaugr
> joined (<ráðast, Z16>) in [the] journey with him.

And when Ingi was to travel home, Guðlaug goes on the
journey with him.

> Í þeiri ferð váru synir Inga, Arnórr ok Magnús.

> In their journey were Ingi's sons, Arnorr and Magnus.

> In that journey were [the] sons of Ingi, Arnórr and
> Magnúss.

On that journey were Ingi’s sons, Arnór and Magnús.

> Ketill hét maðr, Árni ok Þormóðr, er í þeiri ferð váru.

> A man named Ketill, Arni, and Thormodr, who were in their
> journey.

> [There] was a person (man) called Ketill, Árni and
> Þormóðr, who were in that journey.

There was a man called Ketil [and others called] Árni and
Þormóð who were on that journey.

> Þeir fóru um tún í Saurbæ.

> They went across a home meadow in Saurbae.

> They journeyed across [the] home-meadow in Saurboer
> (Mud-farm)

They travelled across the home field in Saurbær.

> Ok er þeir váru komnir í túngarð, þá kom kona nökkur í
> stofu, sú er úti hafði verit, ok mælti: "Nú fara þeir Ingi
> hér í tún."

> And when they had come to the meadow fnece, then some
> woman arrived in (the) sitting room, the one who had been
> outside, and said: "Now Ingi and company goes here in the
> home meadow."

> And when they were (had) come to [the] home-meadow-fence,
> then some woman came into [the] sitting-room, that-one (ie
> she) who had been outside, and spoke: “Now they, Ingi [and
> co] journey here into [the] home-meadow.

And when they had arrived at the courtyard, a certain woman
came into the sitting room, she who had been outside, and
said: ‘Ingi and his companions are now travelling here into
the courtyard.’

I think that this is <túngarð> Z2; if the fence were meant,
I don’t think that the preposition <í> would have been used.

Brian