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October 14

Knyttr knutr

Could someone please translate the following Old Norse as faithfully as possible into English (long story short: The first Knut in history was apparently called thusly because he was a foundling found with a knot - that much I found out when I wrote de:Knut (Vorname) some years ago. But apparently it isn't clear where this "knot" was knotted - like a bandana around his head, or was it a piece of cloth knotted in the woods?):

þat var lagt vndir uidar rætr ok knyttr knutr mykill j enninu a silkidregli er þat hafde vm hofudit. þar var j ỏrtugar gull. barnnit var uafit j guduefiar pelle. þeir taka upp barnit ok hafa hæim med ser ok koma sua hæim er konungr sat yfir drykkiubordum ok hirdin ok saka sig vm þat er þeir hofdu æigi gad at fylgia konungi heim. en konungr kuazst æigi firir þetta mundu ræidr uera. ok nu sogdu þeir konunginum huat georzst hafde j forum þeirra. en hann beiddizst at sia suæininn ok let ser færa ok læitzst uel a sueininn ok mællti. sueinn sia mun vera storra manna ok betri fundinn en æigi. ok let sidan vatnne ausa ok nafnn gefa ok kallade Knut."

Thanks, --2A02:3033:700:E174:D497:BFFF:FE06:1B53 (talk) 18:56, 14 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This is part of the Jómsvíkinga saga, written in the Old Icelandic dialect of Old Norse. Given how conservative Icelandic is, translating it as if it is modern Icelandic should usually give one a fairly good idea. For the first sentence, Google translate produces, "[The child] was laid on the back of the head and a knot was tied on the forehead with a silk rug that covered the head." --Lambiam 07:48, 15 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The full text and its translation can be found here: The Saga of the Jomsvikings, but apparently from a different manuscript since the wording differs somewhat. As regards the naming of Knútr, the editor has added a footnote (p. 2):

The saga-writer understood Knútr to mean 'knot' and so an explanation is given for its origin, as so often in the sagas. But the name Chnuz occurs among the Alemanni, (Bac A. Deutsche Namenkunde II 342, 350) and the ON word may be a loan word from OHG.

Alansplodge (talk) 08:38, 15 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

What would the name mean, in that case? 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 17:28, 15 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]