Krónu þáttr miðju sumars [Tale of Midsummer Crown], UPDATED NOVEMBER 30!!!!

Hej!


As promised earlier today, here is the first part of a new þáttr about a tournament.  In it, I´m using verses that you've seen before, with some needed modifications.  The whole tale is about four paragraphs and six verses long and will be published over the next few weeks. Look for updates. 


In writing this þáttr, I have gone a different route, attempting to write the prose without using any translation tools, except a dictionary and grammar. I've used  the on-line Cleasby-Vigfusson and Michael Barnes's A New Introduction to Old Norse.  Of course, all of the writing and errors are mine. Please. comment and suggest how my clumsy prose can be improved. 


UPDATED - November 30. The new section is red-lettered.

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Krónu þáttr miðju-sumars

Maðr er nefndr Isenulfr, sonr Thorhalls. Orrostur mørg børðusk hann ok er konung máttugr. Hann gékk at eiga Rosalindis, einn kona tignar Frankis. Réðu þeir í samt nítján vetra, en kynsæll ekki þeir. Svá at konung-ríkit arfuna hafa, Isenulfr kvað at orði einn burt-reið mikla. Sigrmagnaðinn taka arf at krónu aptir Isenulf ok Rosalinidis. Isenulfr konung gørða orð til allra herjar -  "Kóma allt til boðit at miðju sumri ok gangu á hólm mín!"

Svá segir skald-gamli:


Hvélinn skein á hólar

himins enda-lauss dimmir -

Stýri gildr bauð skatna

stafar malregns djarfr
Ildest.
Sverð-taka jarn-fastr

ok ýtar fresknastr rítar;

forú át mó fleins flug

finnar erfingi þínna.


*****
Margir menn kómu til konungs-bús á Midju-sumars vaku. þeir váru heilsat af báðra Isenulf ok Rosalindis. Bóð mikil er haldin. Nóttina var dá-samligr ok sérhverr váru plagaðusk með mann-doma. Konung gaf þeimall gull-hring vér skulum marka áf burt-reidinn.  Talði þeim hann burtreiðar-løginn.  Burt-reiðainn skyldi vera berjaði með vapnum eggum-vølr. Striðs-mennin ok dómandír skydi gripa á loturin. Alla striðsmenn látum at burt-reiðdarinn ok festat á hlýða.  Næsta morgin, fyrðarinir géngu á hasel-vøll burdeiga. Kvenna kusu nafn ok øttu. Burdeigaðu fyrðar til midju-dag. Skininn var sól ok dagr var heitr.

Svá segir skald-gamli:

Blaka merki bik-svart
bor'a með gull ok vørar
Kallarir hrósat hringa
hrað-mæltr sírar glaðligr.
Fram-leitat þjórar from-fuss
frýði gjórdar-vitr prýddr -
Kallad her-blástr koll-hufs
á kró litr-járn gnýs-odda.

The Tale of Mid-Summer Crown

There was a man named Eisenwulf son of Thorhall. He had fought many battles and had become a great king. He was married to Rosalindis, a noble woman from France.  Together, they had ruled for nineteen winters, but they had not been blessed with children. In order that the kingdom would have an heir, Isenwulf decreed that a great tourney be held. The victor would be the heir to the crown after Isenwulf and Rosalinda. King Isenwulf sent words to all warriors: "All come to the Midsummer feast and meet my challenge!"

As the old skald says:

(The wheel of heaven shone on

endless dusky hills.

Mighty ruler you summoned

metal-rain staves bold.

Iron-fast sword-takers elder

and bold shield-impellers come

to the spear flight moor

to find your heir.)

*****



Many men came to the royal-house on Mid-summer's eve. They were warmly greeted by both Eisenwulf and Rosalindis. They held a sumptuous feast. The night was glorious and everyone was treated with great generosity.  The king gave each fighter a gold ring to mark him for the tournament. He told them the rules. The tournament would be fought with blunt-edged weapons. The fighters and judges would decide each bout.  All the fighters swore that they would follow the rules.


The next morning, the warriors met on the hazel-field. The Queen drew and matched names. The fighters battled until the mid-day. The sun shone and the day was hot.


As the old skald says:


(pitch black banners broidered
with gold and fur flew
Heralds quick of speech
praised cheerful ring-saplings.
Eager honor seeking young bulls
challenged adorned white belts -
war-trumpets called iron-skull-caps
to the sword-pint pen.)

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Of course, when translating the SCA into Old Icelandic, some liberties get taken, and I apologize here and now to Their Majesties, Isenwulf and Rosalinda, for fictionalizing slightly. I hope I do not offend.

LOVE IT?  HATE IT?

Leave comments below, please.

Two verses for Haakonar saga eki

Here are two verses I have written for the Haakonar saga eiki.  They are written in kviðuháttr, the same meter as the Sonatorrek, which was written by Egil Skalgrimsson.

The first describes Boris kol-skeggr coming home from  a tavern:

gjögrað kol-skeggr

þremr skautum -

hlæja skipa ok

syngur stúlkna.

skella-hlægja

ok vísa hlóa

staggers black-beard

three-sheets -

they laugh of the ship 

and sing of girls.

He laughs at jokes

and verses bellows

In the second, Boris "addresses" the king, loudly and drunkenly, while standing in fromt of the king's great house:

"Konung heyrðu

slarkarí kol-skeggr -

frið-maðr máttkir

drótinn mildi.

óvinnar þinn

ék mun upp-ræta

sem blað-rauði

rô Þorrs rífa aptr"

King, hear 

drunkard black-beard

Might ally of

generous lord -

enemies thine

I will up-root

as the red-leaved

Thor´s yard-arm I tore up.

===============================================

One kenning here:

rô Þorrs > Thor´s yard arm > TREE.

They don't loo like much yet, but they will work better when placed in a þáttr. I promise!

Haakonr saga eiki, Chapter One

At long last, you have before the first chapter of Haakonr saga eiki (The Saga of Haakon-oak), as Hakon oak-tall would likely have been called in ON.  Of course, it starts with a bit of family history.  This brief chapter has no poetry in it, but it is in Old Icelandic, at least as good as I can get.  If you see errors that I should correct, please drop me a line at fridrikrinngamli@gmail.com or fridrikr@thescorre.org, or simply post your correction in a comment.  This struggling neophyte in Old Icelandic would appreciate any help he can get.

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Kapituli fyrsti -- Inn sonnar Þorvalds

Þorvaldr hét maðr, sonr Dagar.  Þorvaldr var maðr sterkr ok auð-angraðr.  Enn er hannvar á unga aldri, lá hann í vikingu ok herjaði.  Hann gerðist enn auð-kýfingr ok goðí.  Hann var giptask á Þorarna Þorarinsdottir.

Þorvaldr átti þrír sonar, hétum Dalr, Boris, ok Hakonr.  Dalr var lág-vaxinn ok sterkr.  Hann var fyrsti soninn ok kallaðr Dalr bola-kalfr.  Inn annar sonr hét Boris.  Hann var höfði hærri a Dalr ok mið-digr.  Han var kallaðr Boris bjór-tunna.  Inn þriðji hét Haakon.  Hann var mestr ok sterkast.  Hann var kallaðr Haakonr eiki.

Þorvaldstadir at svartárdalr var ból-staðdr Þorvalds ok var auðigr með sauði ok fé ok hesti.  Ok sonnar Þorvalds átt enn bjarn-hunn kallað   tanngnjóstr þat þeir glímaðum.

Chapter one -- the sons of Thorvald

Thorvald was the name of a man, the son of Dag.  Thorvald was a strong man and easily angered.  When he was a young man, he went viking and raided.  He became a heaper up of riches and a chieftain.  He was married to Thorarna Thorarin´s daughter.

Thorvald had three sons named Dale, Boris, and Haakon.   Dale was short, but strong. He was the first son ok was called   Dale bull-calf.  The second son was named Boris.  He was a he was a head taller than Dale and stout waited.  He was called Boris beer-barrel.   The third son was named Haakon.  He was the tallest and strongest.  He was called Haakon-oak.

Thorvaldstead in the Black River valley was Thorvalds home-stead  and it was rich with sheep and cattle and horses.  Thorvald´s sons also owned a young-bear called  “gnaw-tooth” which they wrestled.

THE NEW PROJECT

Ok.  I promised that I'd give you the first part of THE NEW PROJECT™ as soon as I finished it.  Well, given that nothing is ever truly finished, here it is.  This is an attempt at writing a piece of a prose saga, a þættr (short story), if you like.  It is very loosely based on the early days of the four shires in Western New York and Pennsylvania, or the Western Regions: the Debateable Lands, Thescorre, the Rhydderich Hael, and Myrkfaellin.  Please note that I said very loosely.  Thus its names: Fylkis saga vestrmarki  "The Saga of the Shires of the West-Marches".  The notion is that we find most OI verse interpolated and inserted into prose passages.  So, this is an attempt to shows what that would look like.  Actually, in a manuscript, it would look like this: GKS 1009 folio 5r with the verse written like prose.

My two greatest fears are: first, I got the vocabulary wrong.  Idiomatic language can be rough.  Second, and greatest, that I completely got the grammar wrong.  If you read OI and can help me with gentle commentary and correction, I'll greatly appreciate and gratefully accept it.

So, here you go, first in my attempt at OI; then, in English.

Fylkis saga vestrmarki  Chapter One (Fyrstr Kapital )

Langt síðan, það bar til að það var strííð á meðai inn fykis vestrmarkar ok reyfarar. Inn máttkar fyrðar af Hrafn-heim ok fylkingar Hala-stjarna ok is-drekki her-lið gnáttu með inn kussarar.  Hræs lanar hlaðit.  Úlfar hákku ok hrafnar háfu sam-drykkja.  Fengu úsigr fylkis-folk.   Válandi fólka heyrði megin konungr austan-verðr.  Sín drottning syrgði af angist þeirra.  Sendi inn konungr sín goðr riddari leggja á grið ok frið.  Þannig var það að Friðrekr mattkar siglað til vestrmark. Svá inn gamli segir:

1. Friðrek ræsir fremð inn

frið-skjöldri gráskegg vissin

haf-skip siglir  hlyðir 

humra til Austur rumlend.

Metendr leiða morgum

morðáls til villi-borgar;

öskranfossdœl ásetta

ískaldr reista dísasalr.

2. Siglt of uppdal stag lautr

sildar Traunda strauma.

Telgjaðr drekka til-eygðr

tingls-marr gulla þinga.

Barða höggorms byrskíð

bakað á fjördr blákald.

Mikil-sigr vannt á móti

merglauss þar reyfarar

Flyði á skipgengum höf til vesturs lendir reyfarar bautinn, meðan Friðrekr setja í brandr þorpar þeirra.  Frið-görvir drengi-ligr inn þrið-fylkis sam-einaði ok af þeirra fólk-tjaldum  ein fylkingarr-brodd flykaut.  Inn fylkis-fólk sinn gagni faginn ok báðu Frederick þeirra konung.  Svá skaldi segir:

3. Pruðr, vask með þér, þjóðann, 

þat haust frá komt austan; 

einn, stillir, mátt alla 

jǫrð hegna, svá fregnið; 

himin þóttisk þá heiðan 

hafa, es landa krafðir, 

ljos-bera, ok lifðir, 

landfolk tekit hǫndum.

Hann ferðaðist síðan fótgangandi ok á hestbaki.  Hann könnuðu hæðum oc dala,  eptir-leitan fyrir einn huldu-fanz af eldr-sǫgu.  Eptir marg-nátta, hann fundinn einn myrkfælsdala innan grœn-holt oc vatna-djúp.  Þar lifði folk all-froðu.  Þau hlýðusk á konunginn oc kom þat ásamt með þeim.  At þessu, svörðu hollustu-eiðr á Friðrek konung.   Fyrstr-konunginn var mönnum mikil öfuss á því.

Hann siglt sex í norðr, upp lœkar oc þjóðár, til haf inn-landi, oc skip-farað til sinn heim.  Loks heim, einn mikill fagnaðar-öl þeir fagnað þat allir ok sérhverir drekkað eitt öldr.  Friðrek var hjarta-prúðast konnunga.  Svá inn gamli segir:

4. Sal þin var upp sendir 

    seima til al-beimar.

    Veitir pella veizlan

    val-born kema hábarð.

    Hunangsbára hornar

    heðra drakk í gleði.

    Rota húfur roskinn

    risnu-maðr hávaði.

Translation:

Long ago, it happened that there was strife between the Western-forest shires and pirates.  The mighty firth of Raven-home, the Tail-Star army, and the Ice-Drake troops clashed with the Corsairs.  Corpses piled grew.  Wolves gorged and ravens caroused.  The shire-folk suffered. The mighty king of the Eastern Lands heard the people´s wailings.  His queen mourned for their anguish. The king sent his good knight to impose truce and peace.  Thus it was that might Frederick sailed to the West-march.  As the ancient skald says:

(Verse 1) Grizzled grey-beard Frederick the "Peace-Shield" advancer of honor, you sailed the warship from the lobster-slopes [OCEANS] to the Eastern lands.  You lead many testers of the battle eel [SWORD > WARRIORS] to the wild hills; you settled in the ice-cold valley of the roaring waterfall; you built a temple.

(Verse 2) You sailed the ox of the hollows of the herring [SHIP] Trundle across inland streams.  You carved the squint-eyed Dragons golden fleet (tingls-marr-þinga > SHIP-THING > FLEET).  You beat  the vipers breeze-skis [SHIPS] roasted them at the black-waved fjord.  You won a great victory against the marrowless pirates 

The beaten pirates fled far over the inland seas to the west, while the Frederick put fire to their villages.  The brave “peace-maker” brought the three shire-folk together and made an army of their folk-bands.  The people rejoiced in his victory and proclaimed him their king.  As the skald says:

(Verse 3) Brave king, I was with you that autumn when you came from the East; lord, you alone can secure the entire country; that was heard.  The countrymen thought they caught bright heaven with their hands when you claimed the lands, Light-bearer, and were alive.

He then traveled by foot and horseback exploring the hills and dales, searching for a hidden tribe that was rumored in ancient tales.  Among the deep lakes and the green woods, he soon discovered the dark fells dale, where a learned people lived.  These folk heard of the great King and swiftly swore their fealty to him alone.  Frederick, the first king of these lands, was gladdened by this.

He returned to his own home, sailing north on the rivers to the Inland Seas.  Finally home, they held a great joyful feast and all came.  Frederick was the most generous [Hjarta-prúðr  > Valiant hearted > Generous] of kings. As the old-one said:

(Verse 4) Dispenser of gold [GENEROUS MAN] your hall was open to all men.  The well-born came to feast at your high-table, giver of costly materials [GENEROUS MAN].  Horns of honey waves [MEAD] <they> drank here in joy.  Hospitable man you served ripe root-caps [MUSHROOMS].


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Finally, a tip of the hat to Jackson Crawford, who is my inspiration to madness.  His most recent posting, Gunnar Fire-Iron, Skáld of the Wild West, is a very good attempt at writing poetry in an ON form.  You should go read it.