Gripla - 2021, Síða 81

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transcription is consistent with the diplomatic edition principle of ignor-
ing orthographic differences that have no consequences in interpreting the
text. Yet it has the disadvantage of making the text look more familiar to
us than it really is.
The Translation
The translation tries to be as literal as possible while still being rendered
in smooth English. The line between “literal” and “smooth” is not a clear
one, yet it is clear that a literal word-for-word translation would make the
text more opaque to an English reader than it really is, while an overly
polished translation would make the text read much like a modern primer
in arithmetic.29
The text refers to each of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 as a stafr, which we
have translated as “character.” As numbers, each of 2 through 9 is referred
to either as a fingr or a figura, which we render as “digit.” A multiple of 10
is called a liðr, which we render here as “article.” The words fingr and liðr
are literally “finger” and “joint,” and are themselves literal translations of
the Latin digitus and articulus. These words are indicative of the ancient
form of calculating with fingers.30
In some places we have translated leiða as “to multiply,” which, al-
though not literal, is indicted by the context and seems to be a direct
transla tion of ducere in the Latin versions. The text refers to subtraction
in two ways, initially as afdráttr, a literal translation of the Latin subtrahere
(“to draw off”), but most frequently as taka af. We have translated the
latter as “take away”; although it is a less formal way to say “subtract” in
English, it is literally correct and maintains the distinction between taka af
and afdráttr. Moreover, it is analogous to the use of the Latin demere (“to
take away” or “subtract”) in the Carmen de Algorismo.
The Algorismus calls the symbol for nothing, , a cifra. The various
versions of the Indian calculus refer to this symbol in numerous ways.
For example, in his commentary on the Algorisumus Vulgaris of John
29 The algorithms for performing the operations of arithmetic in the Algorismus are, except
for some details of implementation, essentially those still taught in primary schools today.
30 See, for example, Menso Folkerts, “Early Texts on Hindu-Arabic Calculation.” Science in
Context 14, nos. 1-2 (2002): 13.
ALGORISMUS IN GKS 1812 4TO