This Week's Requests (for 11/20 and 11/27) (Patreon)

Well, if I had to be stranded somewhere for 48 hours during my Thanksgiving travels, it might as well have been Laramie.

In the meantime, I've completed the last two rounds of translation requests, for last week and this week. As discussed in this post from earlier this month, we will no longer be offering these monthly translation requests as a Patreon perk. Instead, I plan to focus on offering bonuses that require less busywork from me and benefit more people--like the series of Patreon-exclusive Crowdcast interviews that I think have been great successes. 

Our next Crowdcast--giving you a chance to interact with and ask questions of the top minds in the field of Old Norse studies right now--features Professor Natalie Van Deusen at the University of Alberta. Professor Van Deusen is an expert in Old Norse paleography  as well as the representation of women in Old Icelandic sagas and medieval Christian literature. See more at: https://ualberta.academia.edu/NatalieVanDeusen

Videos since my last update have included a look at how I've handled translating one of your most often requested words, an announcement of the official release of The Wanderer's Hávamál: [Youtube] [Vimeo], and my more-or-less annual update of my answers to viewers' FAQs: [Youtube] [Vimeo].

Unfortunately the full roll-out of The Wanderer's Hávamál on Amazon is still delayed for reasons I'm unsure of. I sure don't look forward to the one-star reviews this is going to get the book because people are frustrated with the shipping, but they're almost guaranteed after all this.

For now, thank you for your support, and all the best from a lone outpost in the middle of a sea of sage and snow,

Jackson Crawford

*

Now for the last batch of translation requests:

—> Federico DiGiovanni "Today is the last day that you will draw breath!" (m) and "Who's next?" (as in a challenge to another opponent) in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

ᛁ ᛏᛅᚴ ᛁᛋ ᛋᛅ ᛋᛁᚦᛅᛋᛏᛁ ᛏᛅᚴᛦ ᚦᚬᛋ ᚦᚢ ᛅᛏᛅᛦ
Í dag es sá síðasti dagr þá’s þú andar.
Today is the last day you breathe.
(I am not aware of a specific counterpart to the English expression “draw breath”)

ᚼᚢᛅᛦ ᛁᛋ ᚾᚬᛋᛏᛦ
Hverr es næstr?
Who is next?

—> Michael Halfdan Nielsen requests "Not a leader, not a follower, but all his own" in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

ᚼᛅᚠᚦᛁᚴᛁ ᚾᛁ ᛚᛁᚦᛁ ᛁᚾ ᛅᛚᛏ ᛋᛁᚾ ᛅᛁᚴᛁᚾ
Hǫfðingi né liði, en allt sinn eiginn.
Leader nor follower, but wholly his own.
Rephrased slightly for normal Old Norse syntax, where the first part would be phrased as (option) né (option)—compare Hávamál, st. 139.

—> Richard Kristiansen requests "Tanngrisnir" and "Tanngnjóstr" in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

ᛏᛅᚾᚴᚱᛁᛋᚾᛁᛦ
Tanngrísnir

ᛏᛅᚾᚴᚾᛁᚢᛋᛏᛦ
Tanngnjóstr

—> Jay Soesbee requests “a warrior father and his sons live for the fight but first for each other” in Old Norse (Younger Futhark optional)

ᛏᚱᛁᚴᛁᛚᛁᚴᛦ ᚠᛅᚦᛁᚱ ᛅᚢᚴ ᛋᚢᚾᛁᛦ ᚼᛅᚾᛋ ᛚᛁᚠᛅ ᚠᚢᚱᛁᛦ ᚢᚱᚢᛋᛏᚢ ᛁᚾ ᚠᚢᚱᛋᛏ ᚼᚢᛅᛦ ᚠᚢᚱᛁᛦ ᛅᚾᛅᚾ
Drengiligr faðir ok synir hans lifa fyrir orrustu, en fyrst hverr fyrir annan.
A ‘drengr’ father and his sons live for the fight, but first for each other.
(I’ve used something from the “drengr” vocabulary for “warrior,” since Old Norse tends to phrase similar thoughts as about the “drengr” rather than about the professional “warrior” and can only awkwardly express the latter. See: https://youtu.be/p8o1Z_pwi0I )

—> JLR requests "Eir", "Gna", "Fulla", "Skirnir", "Byggvir", "Beyla", "Nanna", "Forseti", "Nine Daughters" in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

ᛅᛁᛦ
Eir

ᚴᚾᚬ
Gná

ᚠᚢᛚᛅ
Fulla

ᛋᚴᛁᚱᚾᛁᛦ
Skírnir

ᛒᚢᚴᚢᛁᛦ
Byggvir

ᛒᛅᚢᛚᛅ
Beyla

ᚾᛅᚾᛅ
Nanna

ᚠᚢᚱᛋᛁᛏᛁ
Forseti

ᚾᛁᚢ ᛏᚢᛏᚱ
níu dǿtr
nine daughter

—> Alessandra Crerar requests something to the effect of "Vengeant-Magnús" or "Vengeance-Magnús," and "mute" or "muteness" (Specifically with regards to long term speaking impairment, rather than when someone is struck temporarily speechless) in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

For the first I might suggest,

ᚼᛅᚠᛏᛅᛦ ᛘᛅᚴᚾᚢᛋ
Hefndar-Magnúss
“Magnúss of Vengeance;” strikes me as a plausible enough nickname.

ᛘᚬᛚᛚᛅᚢᛋ
mállauss
mute (“speech-less”)

ᛘᚬᛚᛚᛅᚢᛋᛁ
málleysi
muteness (“speech-lessness”)

—> Fabienne Lässle requests "Erfahrungen sind der Wert des Lebens." ("Celui qui court deux lièvres à la fois, n'en prend aucun;" "The one who chases two rabbits/hares catches none") in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

ᛋᛅᛋ ᚢᛅᛁᚦᛁᛦ ᛏᚢᛅ ᚼᛅᛦᛅ ᚠᚬᛦ ᛁᚴᛁ
Sá’s veiðir tvá héra, fær engi.
The one who hunts two rabbits, catches none.
(That's more the translation of the French or English; the German doesn't seem that similar and I'd probably translate it:

ᚱᛅᚢᚾᛁᛦ    ᛁᛦᚢ   ᚢᛁᚱᚦᛚᛅᚢᚾ   ᛚᛁᚠᛋ
Raunir eru verðlaun lífs.
Erfahrungen sind der Wert des Lebens.

—> Gareth Snaith requests "This time is (or may be) the last time" (The sentiment is a reminder that you might not get another chance to do this thing or be in this place, with this person.) in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

ᚦᛁᛋᛁ ᛋᛏᚢᛏ ᛁᛋ ᛋᚢ ᛋᛁᚦᛅᛋᛏᛅ ᛋᛏᚢᛏ
Þessi stund es sú síðasta stund.
This time is the last time.

—> Randy Kruzan requests "Before (as in "in front of") of our ancestors and the gods, I take you as my wife|husband." in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

ᚠᚢᚱᛁᛦ ᚠᚢᚱᛅᛚᛏᛦᚢᛘ ᚢᛅᚱᚢᛘ ᛅᚢᚴ ᚬᛋᚢᛘ ᛁᚴ ᚴᚢᚬᚾᚴᚢᛘᛋᚴ ᚦᛁᛦ
Fyrir foreldrum várum ok ásum, ek kvángumsk þér.
Before our ancestors and the gods, I marry you (man to woman).

ᚠᚢᚱᛁᛦ ᚠᚢᚱᛅᛚᛏᛦᚢᛘ ᚢᛅᚱᚢᛘ ᛅᚢᚴ ᚬᛋᚢᛘ ᛁᚴ ᚴᛁᛒᛏᚢᛘᛋᚴ ᚦᛁᛦ
Fyrir forellrum várum ok ásum, ek giftumsk þér.
Before our ancestors and the gods, I marry you (woman to man).

There is no Old Norse wedding formula preserved, and only barely distinct words for “husband” and “wife” (typically you just say “my man/woman”) though here I use the distinct verbs that are present for “marry” when used of a man and “marry” when used of a woman. Although this is addressed to one person, I used the plural form of “our” rather than the “dual” because presumably in a wedding context, the “our” refers not just to the bride and groom but to the “our” of the whole assembled audience.

—> Alexandra Doroðyjardóttir requests "Landvaettir, please bless this moose hunt. Bless our people. Protect us and aid our success (victory). Thank you" (addressing both a male and female "us" audience) in ON and YF

ᛚᛅᛏᚢᛁᛏᛁᛦ ᚢᛁᚴᛁ ᚦᛁᛋᛅ ᛅᛚᚴᛁᛅᚢᛅᛁᚦᛁ ᚢᛁᚴᛁ ᛘᛅᚾᛦ ᚢᛅᚱᛅ ᚼᛚᛁᚠᛁ ᚢᛋ ᛅᚢᚴ ᛏᚢᚴᛁ ᚢᛋ ᚦᛅᚴᛁᛦ
Landvættir vígi þessa elgjaveiði, vígi menn vára, hlífi oss ok dugi oss. Þakkir.
Landvættir bless this moose-hunt, bless our people, protect us and avail us (probably the closest verb to “aid our success”). Thank you.

—> Simon Dickie requests "Cattle die, kinsmen die, and the sister of the great wolf awaits. I will not linger." in Old Norse

Deyr fé, deyja frændr, ok systir stóra úlfs bíðr. Ek mun eigi nara.
Cattle die, kinsmen die, and the sister of the great wolf awaits. I will not linger.

—> Aric Jorn requests “My name is Aric Jorn, and I sculpt myth” in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

ᛁᚴ ᚼᛅᛁᛏᛁ [ ] ᛅᚢᚴ ᛁᚴ ᛋᛘᛁᚦᛅ ᛘᚢᛏᛁᛦ ᛋᛅᚴᚾᛅ
Ek heiti [Aric Jorn], ok ek smíða myndir sagna.
I am named Aric Jorn, and I “smith pictures” of sagas/myths.

There is no distinct word for “sculpt”; a sculptor in Old Norse “smiths pictures.” There is also no distinct word for “myth” per se so I’ve used “saga.” If “I smith sagas” would be closer to your meaning, try:

ᛁᚴ ᚼᛅᛁᛏᛁ [ ] ᛅᚢᚴ ᛁᚴ ᛋᛘᛁᚦᛅ ᛋᛅᚴᚢᛦ
Ek heiti [Aric Jorn], ok ek smíða sǫgur.
I am named Aric Jorn, and I “smith” (craft, create, shape) sagas.

I have no idea how to write ‘Aric Jorn’ in Younger Futhark; just going by substitution of the closest graphemes you might try ᛅᚱᛁᚴ ᛁᚢᚱᚾ but I wash my hands of that type of thing.

—> Norman Thomas requests "All good things come to an end" in Old Norse only

Allir góðir hlutir taka enda.
All good things come to an end.

—> Drew Thompson requests "Torbjørnsen Løvdahl" in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

If what you’re looking for is the Old Norse form of these names, I’d give you:

ᚦᚢᚱᛒᛁᛅᚱᚾᛅᛦᛋᚢᚾ ᛚᛅᚢᚠᛏᛅᛚᛦ
Þorbjarnarson Laufdalr

Or if it’s to be used as a name in the Old Norse way, I’d probably say “Torbjørnsen from Løvdahl”:

ᚦᚢᚱᛒᛁᛅᚱᚾᛅᛦᛋᚢᚾ ᛅᚠ ᛚᛅᚢᚠᛏᛅᛚ
Þorbjarnarson af Laufdal

—> Clayton Schock requests "Truth, Loyalty, Honor, Glory" in Old Norse and Younger Futhark

ᛋᛅᚾᛚᛅᛁᚴᛁ
sannleiki
truth

ᚼᚢᛚᚢᛋᛏᛅ
hollusta
loyalty

ᛏᚱᛁᚴᛋᚴᛅᛒᛦ
drengskapr
honor (sort of; see: https://youtu.be/uZXAM8QCQ3s )

ᚢᚱᚦᛋᛏᛁᚱ
orðstírr
glory
(literally this is something like “word’s fame,” which is a genuine Old Norse concept close enough to “glory”)