Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1959, Side 143
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Puis escrient l’enseigne paenirae,
Kms has a similar translation:
ok biasa i luSra sina (p. 5203).
Apparently the translator thinks that escrier and enseigne mean, respec-
tively, “blow” and “trumpet”, but he seems to have had some difficulty
about Munjoie, for in some lines where the French are said to “cry Mun-
joie”, he translates:
ok gloddust vi3 or3 pau, ok glbddu svå H5 sitt (vv. 1234 and 1378, Kms pp. 50921
and 51127).
Another typical mistake is the rendering of ferir by hgggva, “strike
with a sword”, in a number of verses where it is obvious from the context
that it means “thrust (with a spear)”. Only when the spear is expressly
mentioned is the word ferir rendered leggja (e.g. in vv. 1246, cp. 1248,
and 1314-15). Sometimes the result of this misconception is quite absurd,
as in vv. 1197-1204, where Roland rides swiftly forth, strikes with his
sword through the enemy’s shield and hauberk, and throws him from his
horse. The reason for this kind of mistake is the translator’s unfamiliarity
with fighting on horseback, which was virtually unknown in Norway in
the 13th century.
A third French word which the translator did not know is porz
(d’Espaigne). He apparently took it to be the same word as porte, and
translated “gate” (of a castle or a city, borgarhlid), and thus we get the
strange version of vv. 1152 and 1766:
1152: As porz d’Espaigne en est passet Rollant (— en est entré
Rollant, V4 1079),
Kms: Til borgarhliBs af Spanie er kominn Rollant-----(p. 50811-12).
1766: Karles l’entent, ki est as porz passant.
Kms: En Jiå er hann heyrSi, )ia for hann ut af borgarveggnum (p. 518®).
In other cases he avoids the word by omitting the verse, or part of it, cp.
the omission of vv. 583, 1802. Again, the mistake can be explained if we
remember that the translator was probably familiar with mountain pas-
sages in Norway, where roads and paths lead across the mountain ridges,
or along valleys, but not through passes20.
20 M. Aebischer, Rol. Bor. pp. 164 and 196, cp. p. 32, has pointed out this mis-
take. Stengel, in his critical edition, note to v. 1768, has misunderstood the word
9 Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana, XIX