# Icelandic: Guðmundur mælti



## chaya

I have just received an email from an unknown sender in an unknown language.  I do not wish to reply as it is may be a scam.  However, I am curious to know what language this is...if indeed it is one.  Also perhaps someone can translate. ( If it is offensive or obscene than please don't bother and I shall just bin it.)   As follows:
Gumundur miti: "Vilji r nokku hrassektir gera ea utanferir?It looks to me as if it might be a Nordic language.


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## Ander

It looks like (and may well be) Icelandic.


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## chaya

Thank you Ander.  Does anyone know what it means?  
Chaya


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## Spectre scolaire

chaya said:
			
		

> Gumundur miti: "Vilji r nokku hrassektir gera ea utanferir?It looks to me as if it might be a Nordic language.


 It _is_ Icelandic, but the sentence is corrupted. I am not sure what Guðmundur actually says.
 ​


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## Spectre scolaire

This seems to be the main part of it:

vilit ér nokkut héraðsektir göra eða utanferðir​​


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## butra

This is Icelandic for sure but the Icelandic special characters are missing and 
in the word “miti” there is also a misspelling. The correct version is:

Guðmundur mælti: Viljið þér nokkuð héraðssektir gera eða utanferðir?

This is from one of the most famous ancient Icelandic sagas “Brennu-Njáls saga”, often called "Njála", most likely written in the 13th century but the author is unknown. 

In this version modern spelling is used and the meaning of the words as a whole is roughly:

Guðmundur said: Will you be calling for a fine or banishment?

So, I can’t se how this could be regarded as offensive or obscene. If you don’t make any sense of this now this email must have bin sent by mistake.

Ps. Please comment on my English. I’m learning.


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## chaya

TO ANDER, SPECTRE SCOLAIRE, BUTRA-  I am glad that the message was not offensive or trying to sell me something!  Actually this email has been sent to 4 persons all with the same surname  as myself which made me suspicious. As there are so many mis-spellings could it be from a native Icelander?  It is very strange .I still don't know why it was sent to me.  As a former teacher, I am glad to correct your English BUTRA:
1.  'FOR SURE' is an American usage. ' SURELY ICELANDIC' is better.
2.  (typo) BEEN not 'bin'.  
With best wishes and thanks to all.


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## Spectre scolaire

butra said:
			
		

> Guðmundur mælti: Viljið þér nokkuð héraðssektir gera eða utanferðir?


 It’s a disgrace how these computer programs ignore letters and diacritical signs that do not belong to Anglo-Saxon graphic habits... “Pure” Latin alphabet, OK, but Latin also used the ligature *æ*! 

Of course, “[Þá] mælti Guðmundur”! Once we are in the middle of Njál’s saga together with a native Icelander -- this is not [Modern] Icelandic, but *Old Norse*. Admittedly, Old Norse may be called “Old Icelandic” in Iceland, I wouldn’t question such a convention – or perhaps I would.  I am interested in the difference between our restored sentence and its equivalent in _Modern_ Icelandic.

If there is no difference, well –- there would be no point in calling it _Old_ Icelandic. “Old Norse”, on the other hand, would definitely be quite different from even the most archaic Norwegian dialect. 

Some of the more striking differences between _Old Norse_ (sic ) and Icelandic would be in the phonetic domain – even if morphological differencies may also be of relative importance. To limit my question, I am only inquiring about the sentence we are dealing with.
 ​


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## Outsider

"Guðmundur said: Will you be calling for a fine or banishment?"

Could it be advertising for insurance or something?


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## Spectre scolaire

Outsider said:
			
		

> Could it be advertising for insurance or something?


 ​

I suggest you read posting #6:


			
				butra said:
			
		

> This is from one of the most famous ancient Icelandic sagas “Brennu-Njáls saga”, often called "Njála", most likely written in the 13th century but the author is unknown.


 ​


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## chaya

There was no advertising matter attached to this mystery message!

Chaya.


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## butra

In reply to Spectre scolaire´s comments I want to say that I’m not being patriotic when I claim that this sentence we were analyzing is Icelandic. According to scholars the writing of Njála takes place at the time when Icelandic is about to be regarded as a language and not a dialect. Not only educated Icelanders understand Njála with modern spelling, every Icelander does. On the contrary I believe only scholars in Norway that have studied Old Norse understand this work. 
Despite all this the sentence we are dealing with is Modern Icelandic. It happens to be almost identical to the sentence in Njála except for some minor spelling differences. But when do things get old and for how long do things stay young. This sentence is Old Icelandic in the sense that this is a sentence originally written 700 years ago at the time when people begin regarding Icelandic as a language and not a dialect.


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