Studia Islandica - 01.06.1994, Page 118
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öðrum, ok hon ein er svá kvenna, at mér þykki þér fullkosta. Nú er
þat hugboð mitt, en eigi vil ek þess spá, at vér frændr ok Laugamenn
berim eigi allsendis gæfu til um vár skipti. (112)
More than one commentator has pointed out the
predilection of the saga writers for negative constructions
and various reasons have been suggested for their frequen-
cy. Negatives are, for example, regularly used to draw the
reader’s attention to the alternative possibility, to provide
ambiguity, or to introduce syntactical and semantic com-
plexity and thus heighten the timbre of the dialogue.
Die Verneinung erweist sich als ein besonders geeignetes Mittel zur
Ausdrucksgestaltung. Dies liegt in ihrem Wesen begrúndet. Die
Negation ist ein komplizierteres Gebilde als die ihr entsprechende
affirmative Aussage. ... Damit eine Verneinung zustande kommen
kann, mu6 erst das, was verneint werden soll, als möglicher
Gedanke vorgestellt werden. (Netter 1935:175)
Negatives are regularly used to draw the reader’s atten-
tion to the alternative, as Netter suggests. In using rather
devious means to leave a sizeable inheritance to his illegit-
imate son Óláfr, by substituting an equal weight of gold for
the intended amount in silver, Höskuldr expresses a slight-
ly cryptical wish for his son’s future good fortune:
ok gaf Óláfi, syni sínum, ok þar með giptu sína ok þeira frænda;
kvazk eigi fyrir því þetta mæla, at eigi vissi hann, at hon hafði þar
staðar numit. (72)
Most of the translators are reduced to long circumlocu-
tions and even additions, in order to try and convey at least
the denotative meaning of successive negative construc-
tions, as in Press’s version:
and gave them to Olaf, his son, and therewith his good luck and that
of the family, saying he did not speak in this way because he did not
know well enough that the luck had already come to him. (P 81)