Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland Part I.pdf/104

XCVI The probable old form of lines 1 and 2 was:

Høyr þú, høyr þú ríðari,
 * ríð, ríð, renn!

(Hark you, horseman, ride, ride, run! : ride quickly!)

in line 1 is *ríðari,  ridar,, horseman. The twice repeated in line 2 must, on the other hand, be  , “ríð”! of the verb ríða, to ride., , tell her, (, see the variants), that   — — — —, something has been dropped here. The contents of the latter part of the verse is said to be: the dog has upset the copper-kettle into the fire, and the child has burnt itself. It is of this accident that the horseman is asked to carry tidings to. But there are only three detached words left: 1) [kētəl], which is ketill, kettle, with parallel form (in version a), meaning =  with “breaking” of e to ja in the stem; and , copper-kettle. 2) “,  [hɔᶇdəna, hɔᶇdə]” = the dog. 3) and  [bredən] from brenna,, to burn, with the change nn > dn, characteristic of Foula. This change does not, however, always appear; note , and not , in line 2 of this verse.

Fetlar versions.

A. From come some variants of this fairy-verse in a mixture, chiefly  with scraps of Norn preserved in between. The Fetlar version, most similar to the Foula form, is the following: Geng hame to [fɩvla], and tell  [dɩvla] at de [hȯᶇɩns] wis  [lopən] in a “tuilly” [tøli] and brunt de [bȯᶇɩns]; go home to, and tell   that the dogs were fighting and had "burnt the bairns",, had knocked over the children into the fire.

Here, as in the Foula versions, the dogs have caused the mischief.

B. A second Fetlar version is as follows:
 * Tri̇̄ra rāra gɔŋga,
 * tell du tɩvla,
 * at fɩvla is fa’en i’ de fire and is brunt [burnt] her.

The first line is corrupt Norn. The only intelligible word is, to go, ganga.

C. A third Fetlar version is:
 * Du at rides de rød
 * and rins de grey,
 * tell tūna [tuəna] tɩvla
 * at nūna nɩvla
 * is väᶅna väƫna [= fallinn í vatnit].