Re: Hrafns Saga 19E

> Sá atburðr varð undir virkinu, þar sem ljósit hafði sézt
> um vetrinn áðr.

> That incident took place below the stronghold, where the
> light had been seen during the year before.

> That event (or attack, <atburðr>, Z1 or 4) happened under
> the-stronghold, there where the-burning-light had
> been-seen the-winter before.

That event occurred below the stronghold, there where the
burning light had been seen the winter before.

> Þar var þá leir, er Hrafn var höggvinn, en um sumarit
> eftir var þar grænn völlr.

> Clay was then there, where Hrafn was beheaded, and during
> the next summer a green meadow was there.

> There was then mud, where Hrafn was beheaded, but during
> the-summer after a green field was there.

There was then clay where Hrafn was killed, and the next
summer a green meadow was there.

It could be either clay or mud; I chose clay because it
makes the contrast greater and because it appears to be the
modern meaning.

> Þorvaldr lét höggva fót undan Sturlu Bárðarsyni ok Þórði
> Vífilssyni.

> Thorvaldr had a foot cut off from under Sturli Bardarson
> and Thordr Vifilson.

> Þorvaldr caused to hew (smite) a leg (with foot attached)
> from-under Sturla Bárðr’s-son and Þórðr Vífill’s-son.

Þorvald had a leg [or possibly foot] cut from under Sturla
Bárðarson and Þórð Vífilsson.

> Þessir atburðir urðu annan dag viku í annarri viku
> langaföstu, átta nóttum eftir Matthíasmessu.

> These incidents took place another day of the week in the
> second week of Lent, 8 nights after St. Matthew's mass.

> These events happened on the second day of [the] week in
> [the] second week of Lent [lit: Long-Fast), eight nights
> after Matthíasmessa (St. Matthew’s Mass)

These events occurred on the second day of the week in the
second week of Lent, eight nights after St Matthew’s Day
[lit. Matthew’s mass, 24 February; the date in question is
therefore 4 March, which fell on a Monday in 1213].

> Þá rænti Þorvaldr bæinn á Eyri öllu lausafé, því er innan
> veggja var, vápnum ok klæðum, húsbúnaði, búsgagni ok mat.

> Then Thorvaldr robbed the farm at Eyri (of) all the
> movable property, that which was inside walls, weapons and
> clothes, house furniture, household utensiels and food.

> Then Þorvaldr plundered the-farm at Eyrr of all
> movable-property, that which was within [the] walls,
> weapons and clothes, house-furnishings, household-utensils
> and food.

Then Þorvald robbed the farm at Eyrr of all movable property
that was within the walls, weapons and clothes, household
furnishings, household utensils, and food.

> Í því ráni tóku þeir sólarstein góðan ok kyrtil brúnaðan
> með búnaði.

> In that robbery they took a good lodestone and a brown
> tunic with ornaments.

> In that plundering, they took a good lode-stone and a
> dark-coloured kirtle with ornaments (<búnaðr>, Z4 =
> <búningr>, Z4)

In that robbery they took a good sunstone and a dark brown
tunic with ornaments.

A lodestone is a naturally magnetized piece of magnetite.
Both the name <sólarsteinn> and what we know about
Scandinavian navigation suggest that a sunstone was more
probably a polarizing crystal like Iceland spar.

> Þá gripi hafði Guðmundr byskup átta ok gefit Hrafni.

> Bishop Gudmundr had owned those costly things and given to
> Hrafn.

> Bishop Guðmundr had owned those treasures (ie the
> ornaments) and given [them] to Hrafn.

Bishop Guðmund had owned those valuable objects and given
[them] to Hrafn.

> Þeir tóku ferju eina, er kirkjan átti, ok báru þar á þann
> fjárhlut, er þeir ræntu.

> They took a large boat, which the church owned, and
> carried there that property, which they plundered.

> They took a ferry-boat, one which the-church owned, and
> bore there-on that property, which they plundered.

They took a ferry boat that the church owned and carried
onto it the property that they stole.

> Ok er þeir váru á braut farnir með skipit ok fjárhlutinn,
> þá fundu heimamenn á Eyri sólarsteininn þar, er þeir höfðu
> eykinn búit, því at þeir höfðu honum í brott kastat ok
> kölluðu vera hégetil.

> And when they were away with the ship and the property,
> then servants at Eyr found the lodestone there, when they
> had prepared a small ferry-boat, because they had thrown
> it away and they called is (?) flint. (Not sure I 100%
> understand what CV says under eikr: þar er þeir höfðu
> eykinn búit—ought to be read ‘eikjuna,’ vide eikja)

> And when they were (had) journeyed away with the-ship and
> the-property, then [the] household-folk at Eyrr found
> the-lodestone there, where they had made-ready
> the-ferry-boat (presumably <eykr> = <eikja>, where a
> ´beast of draught’ = ‘a ferry-boat’, the ‘draught’ in this
> case being ‘the depth of water needed for a boat to be
> able to float’  -otherwise probably simply a scribal
> error, see CV) because they had cast it away and called
> [it] to be (ie mistakenly regarded it as) flint
> (<hégeitill>).

And when they had travelled away with the ship and the
property, servants at Eyrr found the sunstone there where
they had readied the draft animal, because they had thrown
it away and said that it was [‘said it to be’] flint.

GPH discusses <eykinn> at some length. It is the masculine
accusative singular of <eykr> with suffixed definite
article, where <eykr> is ‘draft animal, beast of burden’,
commonly used of horses and oxen. The puzzle is why it is
in the singular here, since more than one draft animal would
surely be needed; she says that Fritzner suggested
explaining it as a collective noun. She notes some other
difficulties with the passage arising from different
versions in other mss. and sympathizes with Vígfusson’s
desire to see in the word some term for a ship; he suggested
emending it to <eikjuna>, i.e., <eikja> with the definite
article, though the word is not otherwise found in any
Icelandic context. However, she clearly prefers the actual
reading.

<Eykr> is distant kin to English <yoke>. On the one hand,
from PIE *yewg- ‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’ was
derived PIE *yówg-yo-s ‘draft animal’, whence (regularly)
PGmc. *jaukiją ‘draft animal’ and thence ON <eykr>. PIE
*yewg- also gave rise to a PIE neuter noun *yugóm ‘yoke’,
whence PGmc. *juką ‘yoke’ and English <yoke> and ON <ok>
‘yoke’.

> Svá ok kyrtilinn höfðu þeir eftir látit ok kölluðu vera
> vaðmálsslopp, ok eigi fengu þeir sét á búninginn.

> So also they had later called the tunic forsaken (?) and
> they called is a wadmal-gown, and they didn't get seen at
> the ornaments. (??)

> Also they had left (<láta>, Z3) the-kirtle behind
> (<eptir>, Z.iii.2) and called [it] to be (ie mistakenly
> regarded it as) a wadmal-gown (for a priest), and they
> were-not-able (fá + pp, Z7) to behold (ie they overlooked)
> the-ornaments.

Likewise they had left the tunic behind and said that it was
a loose overgarment of wadmal, and they were not able to
look at the attire [in such a way as to see it for what it
really was, I take it].

> Þenna atburð virðu menn svá, at því mætti þeir þessa gripi
> eigi í brott hafa, er Guðmundr byskup hafði átt.

> Men estimated this incident so: because they could not
> have this costly thing away, which Bishop Gudmundr had
> owned. (??)

> Persons (men) assigned a value to this occurrence (or
> gesture, <atburðr>, Z1 or 4) such, that for that (reason)
> they might not (ie would not be permitted to, <mega>, Z2)
> take (<hafa>, Z7) these treasures away, which Bishop
> Guðmundr had owned.

People evaluated this occurrence thus, that therefore they
could not take away this valuable thing that bishop Guðmund
had owned.

In other words, people thought that their failure to take
these objects was due to the fact that they had previously
been owned by the bishop: some of his holiness had somehow
rubbed off on them, so to speak.

> Þat vár it sama fór Þorvaldr eftir páska í annat sinn í
> Arnarfjörð ok rænti þá marga þingmenn Hrafns.

> That same spring, Thorvaldr went after Easter a second
> time to Arnarfiord and then robbed many of Hrafn's
> Thing-men.

> That spring, the same (one), Þorvaldr journeyed after
> Easter a second time to Arnarfjörðr and plundered those
> many liegemen (‘Thing-men’) (as <marga> is weak, I think
> <þá> must be a dem. art.) of Hrafn.

After Easter that same spring Þorvald travelled a second
time to Arnarfjörð and robbed many of Hrafn’s assembly-men
then.

<Marga> is strong masc. acc. plural; <margu> would be weak.

> Pétr Bárðarson lét drepa þingmann Þorvalds, þann er
> Hermundr hét.

> Petr Bardarson had Thorvaldr's Thing-man killed, the one
> named Hermundr.

> Pétr Bárðr’s-son caused to kill that liegeman of Þorvaldr,
> who was-called Hermundr.

Pétr Bárðarson had an assembly-man of Þorvald’s killed, him
who was called Hermund.

> Sá hafði verit í andskotaflokki við Hrafn.

> That one had been in a band of enemies against Hrafn.

> That-one (ie He) had been in [the] band of adversaries
> against Hrafn.

He had been in the adversarial host against Hrafn.

> Þorvaldr sendi orð Kár munki Geirmundarsyni, at hann
> skyldi leita um sættir við frændr Hrafns.

> Thorvaldr sent word to friar Kar Giermundarson, that he
> should try to effect peace with Hrafn's relatives.

> Þorvaldr sent word to Kárr [the] monk Geirmundr’-son, that
> he should try-to-effect agreements with [the] kinsmen of
> Hrafn.

Þorvald sent word to Kár [the] monk Geirmundarson that he
should try to effect reconciliation with Hrafn’s kinsmen.

> Þá var settr sáttarfundr þessa málaferla at ráði Þórðar
> Sturlusonar ok Kárs munks á Þingeyri í Dýrafirði.

> Then was set a peace-meeting (about) this litigation at
> the advice of Thordar Sturluson and friar Kar at the Eyr
> assembly in Dyrafirth.

> Then was set a peace-meeting of these law-suits (gram
> plural) by [the] advice of Þórðr Sturla’s-son and Kárr
> [the] monk at Þingeyri (place-name, I was there briefly in
> 1999) in Dýrafjörðr.

Then a peace meeting for this litigation was set up with the
agreement of Þórð Sturluson and Kár [the] monk at Þingeyri
in Dýrafjörð.

It’s not clear to me whether <at ráði Þ. ok K.> refers to
<var settr>, or whether it refers to <á Þingeyri>. If it’s
the latter, then I agree that <at ráði> likely has its
modern sense, ‘on the advice (of)’. If it’s the former,
however, <ráð> Z5 seems at least as possible, Kár acting on
behalf of Þorvald and Þórð as arbitrator-to-be.

> Þá var sætzt á þessi mál á þann veg, at Þórðr Sturluson
> skyldi gera um þessi mál öll, þann veg sem hann vildi.

> Then this case was settled at that way: that Thordr
> Sturluson should do concerning this matter, that way as he
> wanted.

> Then [it] was come-to-terms in these cases (plural) in
> that way, that Þórðr Sturla’s-son should arbitrate in all
> these cases, that way as he wanted.

Then an agreement was reached in these cases in that way,
that Þórð Sturluson should arbitrate all of these cases
however [‘that way that’] he wanted.

> Tólf menn handsöluðu fyrir Þorvald fégjöld, svá sem Þórðr
> vildi gera, ok til þeirar sýknu Þorvalds, sem Þórðr vildi
> vera láta.

> Twelve men confirmed by shaking hands a fine for
> Thorvaldr, so as Thordr would want to make, and to their
> day on which lawsuits are permitted of Thorvaldr, as
> Thordr wanted to be set.

> Twelve persons (men) made-over-by-handshake fines (plural)
> for Þorvaldr, such as Þórðr wanted to assign, and to that
> acquittal (declaration of innocence, presumably variant of
>  <sykna>, Z1) of Þorvaldr, which Þórðr wanted to cause to
> be.

Twelve men made over (such) fines on behalf of Þorvald as
Þórð wished to fix, and towards Þorvald’s acquittal as Þórð
wished to have it be.

<Sýkna> must be Zoëga’s and CV’s <sykna>; GPH also has a
long vowel here. She has <slík> after <fégjöld>.

Brian