This Week's Requests (07/31) (Patreon)

What you see above is the "official" existence of The Wanderer's Hávamál. It now has an ISBN number and even a library catalog location (PT7236.A31 2019). We seem to be close to having the cover finalized (there are still details to work out) and just yesterday I got the very last proofs. I now have until next week to make any final small corrections or additions. Do you have a question about Hávamál, or a stanza of Hávamál, that you hope is answered in the book? Let me know, and though I might not be able to get it in there if it isn't in there already, I can at least get it into a planned series of videos on Hávamál that will coincide with the debut of the book.

By the way, the persistent rumor that authors write all their own "blurbs" is at least not entirely true. Someone at my publisher has written all the blurbs for my books, including this one (you'll never hear me call myself an "eminent scholar"). However, I do write my own bios, with input from my editor and others.

Because last week's requests were posted late, only one new video has appeared since: a light-hearted look at what some dog commands might be in Old Norse, a very Patreon-inspired topic.

Below are this week's translation requests. There is still a chance that requests will be late again during other weeks in August, as I might end up in remote country and/or doing some on-site consulting far away. As to the latter, you'll know what I was talking about in a year or so.

Thank you as always for another month of generous support, and all the best for August,

Jackson Crawford

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Key things to keep in mind about translation requests:

1. Send them to Stella at admin@jacksonwcrawford.com (remember the "w").
2. I'll respond to them in a weekly post on Wednesdays (or as near to that as I can).
3. Limit one request per month. Limit 18 words at $10 tier; 9 words at lower tiers.
4. Please don't ask Stella to "hold" part of a translation for later; just submit it piece by piece.
5. Old Norse is a gendered language. Please specify male, female, or both for any adjectives.
6. Old Norse can't be written in Elder Futhark. Nor can modern names be written in any Futhark.
7. Old Norse is a very concrete language. There may be no translation for some abstract words.
8. I reserve the right to refuse requests if I find the content embarrassing or objectionable.
9. I take no responsibility whatsoever for anything you or anyone else gets tattooed.

—> H. Nick Antolik requests “[The] mountains are calling and I (male) must go,” “We are what we repeatedly do,” and “The one (male) who rides alone” in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

ᚠᛁᛅᛚ  ᚴᛅᛚᛅ  ᛅᚢᚴ  ᛁᚴ  ᛋᚴᛅᛚ  ᚴᛅᚴᛅ
fjǫll kalla ok ek skal ganga
The mountains are calling and I must go.

My translation of this quotation is affected by Old Norse syntax and style; there is no progressive “are —ing” construction in Old Norse so the simple verb “call” is used. Note also that skal is related to English “shall” but has a sense much closer to “must” most of the time (compare archaic English “thou shalt not kill”). Ganga is related to English “go” but more specifically means “walk,” which seems appropriate to a John Muir quote.

ᚢᛁᛦ  ᛁᛦᚢᛘ  ᚦᛅᛏ  ᛁᛋ  ᚢᛁᛦ  ᚴᚢᚱᚢᛘ  ᚢᚠᛏ
vér erum þat es vér gørum opt
we are what we repeatedly do

Literally my rendering is, “We are that which we do often.”

ᛋᛅ  ᛁᛋ  ᚱᛁᚦᛦ  ᛅᛁᚾ
sá es ríðr einn
the one (male) who rides alone

This could also be a compound, and it occurs as such as a name of Thór:

ᛅᛁᚾᚱᛁᚦᛁ
einriði
alone-rider

—> Finley Clayton requests "Niðr ok norðr liggar Helvegr" in Younger Futhark, and a translation check on "Uppi ofan Valkyrja liggar Valhol" ("Up on(/via) Valkyries lies Valhalla") also in Younger Futhark

ᚾᛁᚦᛦ  ᛅᚢᚴ  ᚾᚢᚱᚦᚱ  ᛚᛁᚴᛦ  ᚼᛅᛚᚢᛁᚴᛦ
niðr ok norðr liggr Helvegr
down and north lies the Hel-road

Note that the verb here is liggr; there is no word or word-form *liggar in Old Norse.

For “up on/via Valkyries lies Valhǫll” I’d probably do this:

ᚢᛒᛁ  ᛘᛁᚦ  ᚢᛅᛚᚴᚢᛦᛁᚢᛘ  ᛚᛁᚴᛦ  ᚢᛅᛚᚼᛅᛚ
uppi með valkyrjum liggr Valhǫll

This is close to literally, “Up with (almost “by means of”) the Valkyries lies Valhǫll” but could also be read as “among the Valkyries.” It’s difficult to say something like “on” or “via” a living being without it sounding odd.

—> Daniel Sarata requests “trust" (the abstract concept) in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

ᛏᚱᚢᚴᚦ
tryggð
trust (especially in the sense of confidence in a promise; can also mean “promise”)

ᛏᚱᛅᚢᛋᛏ
traust
trust (in the sense of something said or done “in trust”)

This is one abstract concept that we actually have a solid Old Norse word for, so never fear.