Proverbs and Proverbial Materials in Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings.

Editions used.   Vestfirðinga sögur. Gísla saga Súrssonar. Fóstbrœðra saga. Þáttr Þormóðar. Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings. Auðunar þáttr vestfirzka. Þorvarðar þáttr krákunefs.  Björn K. Þórólfsson og Guðni Jónsson gafu út.  Íslenzk fornrit. VI.  Reykjavík, 1943.
Others.
Translations used.   The Saga of Havard of Isafjord, tr. Fredrik J. Heinemann, The Complete Sagas of Icelanders, ed. Viðar Hreinsson. Reykjavík, 1997. 5 vols. Vol. V, pp. 311-347.
Others.

Editorial comment.

ÍF VI.   2. 294. Svá segja menn, at Óláfr Hávarðsson hafi haft bjarnyl, því at aldri var þat frost eða kulði, at Óláfr fœri klæði en eina brók ok skyrtu gyrða í brœkr.^1     1Ólafur Hávarðsson er nefndur bjarnylr í aðeins einu handriti Landnámu, Þórðarbók, og er það líklega eftir Hávarðar sögu. – Bjarnylr merkr bjarnarhiti, en það er gömul þjóðtrú, að björninn hafi mikinn líkamshita. "Um hann er það almenn sögn, að hann sé svo heitrar náttúru, að hann kenni aldrei kulda, og er sá eiginlegleiki hans kallaður bjarnylur. Þenna sama eiginleika er sagt, að sumir menn hafi, en það eru þeir einir, sem bornir eru á bjarndýrsfeldi, og er það talið víst, að þeim verði aldrei kalt" (Þjóðs. Jóns Árnasonar I, 608).
CSI V.   2. 314. People say that Olaf Havardsson had bear-warmth, because never was there such frost nor cold that Olaf put on more clothes than a pair of trousers and a shirt tucked into them.

ÍF VI.   2. 298. Þá mælti , "Þat er mitt ráð, at þú biðir Óláf, son minn, ok væri þat ungra manna at reyna sik svá á karlmennsku; myndi oss borðum slíkt gaman hafa þótt."
CSI V.   2. 317. Then Havard said, "You should ask my son Olaf, for it is up to young men to prove their manhood. Such a thing would have seemed a lart to us in the old days." 

ÍF VI.   3. 302. Þá mælti Vakr: "Hræddr hefir þú orðit, er þú lofar glóp þenna; mun þat hans fremð mest at fásk við aptrgöngumenn." Brandr svarar: "Hræddari myndir þú hafa verit, því at þú ert mestr í málinu sem refirnir í hölunum; muntu í engum hlut jafnask mega við hann."
CSI V.   3. 318. Then Vak spoke: "You must truly have been terrified if you praise that fool. His greatest renown seems to be wrestling with revenants." Brand answered, "You would have been even more afraid, for you wag your tongue as a fox waves his tail. In no thing can you match them."

ÍF VI.   4. 304. Fé Hávarðs bónda var mjök óspakt um sumarit, ok einn morgun snimma kom smalamaðr heim, ok spurði Óláfr, hversu fœri. "Svá ferr at," segir hann, "at vantar fjölða fjár; get ek ekki hvárttveggja gört at leita þess, er vantar, enda gæta hins, er fundit er."
CSI V.   4. 319. Havard's sheep were very restless during the summer, and one morning early a shepherd came home, and Olaf asked him how things were going. "Things are going like this," he said, "many sheep are missing. I cannot do two things at once, look for the ones that are missing, and tend those that have been found."

ÍF VI.   4. 306. Þórdís svarar: "Þat ætlaða ek, at ek mynda eiga tvá sonu vel hugaða; er þat satt, at mælt er, at mart leynisk lengi. Nú veit ek, at þú ert dóttir heldr en sonr, er þú þorir eigi at verja frændr þína. Skal nú ok raun til gera, at ek em vaskari dóttir en þú sonr."
CSI V.   4. 321. Thordis answered, "I thought I had two courageous sons. It is true what people say, much remains hidden. Now I see that you are a daughter rather than a son when you dare not defend your kinsmen. Now it will be put to the test whether I am a more courageous daughter than you are a son."

ÍF VI.   7. 311. Þat var einhvern morgun, at Steinþórr gengr at Hávarði ok mælti: "Hví fórtu hingat, þar sem þú liggr hér sem arftökukarl eða ófœrr maðr?"^1     1arftökukarl – maðr: arfsölukarl á þingi 502.
CSI V.   7. 323. One morning Steinthor went to Havard and spoke: "Why did you come here to lie around like the heir to a fortune or a cripple?"

ÍF VI.   9. 319. En er hann heyrði ummæli hennar, spratt hann upp ór sænginni ok fram á bólfit ok kvað þá vísu: Vísa 3. Ákat hœgt – af hœgu/hljóð veiti mér sveitir –/enn í elli minni/ívegstafi segja,/síz vel hressa vissak/vápna Njörð at jörðu;/minn er sonr at sönnu,/snjallr aflstuðill, fallinn.
CSI V.   9. 328. And when he heard her speech, he leapt up out of the bed forward onto the floor and recited this verse: Verse 3. Old age mocks us most as we –/men, all of you there, then,/render me rapt esteem! –/relate our deeds of fame;/ now that Njord of weapons/kneels down on battle plain,/our son, our noble stave/and staff, is grim death's gain.

ÍF VI.   15. 341-2. Atli var manna minnstr ok vesalligastr, ok svá er sagt, at þar eptir væri skaplyndi hans, at hann var inn mesti vesalingr, en var þó stórra manna ok svá auðugr, at hann vissi varla aura sinna tal; hafði Þórdís verit gipt Atla til fjár.
CSI V.   15. 338. Atli was the tiniest and most miserable-looking of men and, so it was said, his appearance was in keeping with his temperament, in that he was a great miser, and yet he was of a good family and so rich that he scarcely knew the extent of his wealth.

ÍF VI.   15. 341-2. Atli var manna minnstr ok vesalligastr, ok svá er sagt, at þar eptir væri skaplyndi hans, at hann var inn mesti vesalingr, en var þó stórra manna ok svá auðugr, at hann vissi varla aura sinna tal; hafði Þórdís verit gipt Atla til fjár.
CSI V.   15. 338. Atli was the tiniest and most miserable-looking of men and, so it was said, his appearance was in keeping with his temperament, in that he was a great miser, and yet he was of a good family and so rich that he scarcely knew the extent of his wealth.

ÍF VI.   15. 342. Þá mælti Hávarðr: "Búnir erum vér, vóndi, at fara, hvert er þér vilið láta fara; viljum vér gjarna þér fylgja, hvárt sem er rífligt eða órifligt. En þat er eptir metnaðar míns, at ek vil eigi vera í þeiri ferð, er ek veit eigi, hvert ek skal fara."
CSI V.   15. 339. Then Havard spoke: "We are ready, sir, to go wherever you wish to have us go. We will gladly follow you, whether on a long or a short journey. But it is a matter of pride with me that I will go nowhere when I do not know where I am going."

ÍF VI.   19. 348. Hann hafði spurt þessi tíðendi ok víg brœðra sinna ok frænda ok þótti sér nær höggvit vera ok þóttisk eigi sitja mega hjá slíkum málum, þar sem mest kom til hans eptirmálit.
CSI V.   19. 342. He had heard the news, the killing of his brothers and kinsmen. He thought that the blows had landed very near to him and that he would not be able to sit idly by in such matters where the prosecution depended mainly on him.

ÍF VI.   21. 351. Þá mælti Atli: "Trolli líkr ertu, Þorgrímr, en eigi manni, er þik bíta engi járn."
CSI V.   21. 344. Then Atli spoke: "You are like a troll, Thorgrim, not like a man, for no iron bites you."

Return to
Concordance