Just another small pointer:

--- "AThompson" <athompso@...> wrote:

> Þó hafa húsfreyjur þótt góðar austur hér að ekki hafi staðið
> í mannráðum.
> Yet house-wives have seemed good here that none have
> been-engaged in plots-against-a-man's-life
> I found this speech very difficult to understand ...

You might find it easier to comprehend by reordering slightly:

"Húsfreyjur hafa þótt góðar austur hér, þó að ekki hafi staðið
í mannráðum" - i.e.

"Housewives have been thought (to be) good here in the
east, even though (they) haven't plotted men's deaths."

I know it doesn't sound like proper English idiom, but
the force is:

"Until now women in these parts have been considered to
be perfectly adequate without plotting murder!"

Desperate housewives of the Meandering River Plains .....


Hope this helped a bit,
E.