Curious Queries – Interview II

[Matterhorn Fan]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

Matterhorn Fan - Icelandic/Norse folktales, what's the draw - what originally sparked your interest? How much Norse do you know, what's your favorite Norse phrase?

Good question, and even more difficult to answer now that it's been almost 2 years since I've read any of that stuff. From what I've read, I've come to the conclusion that I like the act of translating much more than I like the actual texts. But the texts themselves can be fun--some more than others. I remember very little Old Icelandic (Old Norse, if you're from Norway), but with a glossary I could translate just as well as before--I can't remember languages because I never speak them (English is the one exception), but they always come back pretty quickly.

My favorite OI phrase, as you know, is one that translates as "Sam was a dandy." Really it means he loved the finer things in life, but "dandy" was definition #1 for the word ("skartsmaðr") in the glossary I was using, and I got a good laugh out of it.