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Sonr Þorvalds sköruligr
stófni trjá né heldur ---
hagr ert þu á hjálm-Griður
hríð fleinþollarr gegn þer?
Fjall-skógs myrki fylkir
frá mér lundr þinn örugg
en hjálm-Griður mín heilla
hjakk fleinþollar blakka
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Stalwart son of Thorvaldr
stems of trees don´t stop you -
handy are you with battle-witch
while spear-firs attack you?
mountain forest dark king
your grove is safe from me
but my battle-witch lucky
hacks spear-firs black
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NOTES
Only two kennings here:
fleinþollarrr : spear firs : WARRIORS
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LOVE IT?????? HATE IT????????
Please, leave me comments below!
I really like your imagery and kennings, Friðríkr. There's still a lot of unevenness as far as what period of Icelandic you're using ("sonur" for instance has the Modern Icelandic ending -ur, but in the same line "sköruligr" has the Old Icelandic ending -r), and the noun cases aren't always quite right (for instance in the second line I'd have put "trees" in the genitive - "trjá"). Although on the second point I've watched you get a lot better over time.
ReplyDeleteWhat period of Norse/Icelandic do you mostly want to shoot for? Late Viking period (say around 1000)? Classical Literary Old Norse (1200-1400)? Modern Icelandic?
Also, as far as using cases go, have you seen this helpful little item? http://www.alarichall.org.uk/teaching/Alaric's%20magic%20sheet.pdf
Hi, Jackson, and many thanks for the comment. You have become my role-model and, in a sense, my goad. Your poetry flows so easily. I read it and despair of ever coming close to it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you asked which era I'm aiming for. I base my persona and the tales (which are adaptations of incidents my real-life friends have experienced into þættir) in the year 1250, so it's Classic Literary Old Norse for me.
Any other advice you ave for me, I'd greatly appreciate.
Thanks,
Tom/Fridrikr
You are far too kind! Although I'm not sure the poetry flows easily; swiftly, sometimes, but that faucet turns on and off, and sometimes it completely stops. I also don't have your flair for imagery.
ReplyDeleteWell, as far as grammar, one book that you may find very useful is Michael Barnes's, which is free online: http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/NION-1.pdf
If you would like, I can also e-mail you the grammar exercises I give my students, and I'll even "grade" you, if you would find that a useful exercise. I also have some handouts I can send you that you might find useful; e-mail me if you're interested and I can send them to you tomorrow from my office computer.
As to sticking to one period, here's 2 big pointers about keeping things looking 1250-ish:
-remember that the ending -ur on masculine nouns is Modern Icelandic; Old Icelandic masculine nouns just end in -r without a vowel in front of it
-the vowel ö is Modern Icelandic, and replaces two distinct vowels in Old Icelandic (ǫ and ø); if you're not sure which one belongs in a particular word, feel free to e-mail me
In general, feel completely free to e-mail me to ask or discuss anything. I don't consider it a waste of my time to help anybody who wants to learn Old Norse better!