At 1:23:17 PM on Thursday, January 7, 2010, Fred and Grace
Hatton wrote:

> Þar var á kona sú er hét Esja, ekkja

> There was onboard that woman who was called Esja, widowed

It doesn't change the sense, but <ekkja> is actually 'a
widow'.

> Allir þessir menn voru kallaðir skírðir en þó var það
> margra manna mál að Esja væri forn í brögðum.

> All these people were termed baptized but still it (was)
> said by many people that Esja were inclined to (witch?)
> crafty ways.

I'm not sure why you put <was> in parentheses, since it
really is present (as <var>) in the ON. In fact, if you
want to be very literal, <þat var margra manna mál at> can
be translated 'it was many people's speech that' and still
make sense. On the other hand, being so literal as to
translate <væri> with the English subjunctive 'were' doesn't
really work: even conservative English can't use a
subjunctive in this context. <Vera forn í brögðum> is
literally 'to be old in tricks/craft', but as the context
suggests (and you suspected), the reference is specifically
to witchcraft. (See CV s.v. <bragð> (II.3.beta).) All in
all, I'd probably go with something like 'All of these
people were nominally baptized, but still it was said by
many people that Esja was old in witchcraft'.

> Þá var skógi vaxið allt Kjalarnes svo að þar aðeins var
> rjóður er menn ruddu til bæja eða vega.

> Then all Kjalarnes was grown up with forest so that there
> was only a clearing when men cleared for farms or ways.

Here <er> complements the earlier <þar>, so it's 'where' --
not that this changes the sense all that much.

> Braut mikil var rudd eftir holtunum frá Hofi.

> A great road was cleared of woods from Hof.

I think that <eptir holtunum> is more along the lines of
'along the woods'.

> Og er þeir komu út á holtið þá mælti Helgi:

> And when they came out to? the forest, then Helgi spoke,

'To' seems right; perhaps this was the end of the cleared
road?

> "Hér við eg Andríður," sagði hann, "gefa þér

> "Andrid, here I will (typo?)," said he, "give you

Yes; at least it's <vil> in the version that I have.

> jörð og að þú reisir hér bæ.

> ground and that you build a house here.

Although it could be either, since <ei> doesn't undergo
i-umlaut, I'm inclined to think that <reisir> here is a past
subjunctive rather than a past indicative, and that <at> is
the subordinating conjunction 'in order that, for that
purpose' (Zoëga s.v. <at> conj. (3)): 'I will give you
ground in order that you build a farmstead here'.

> Mér þykir sem þeir synir mínir vilji að þér sitjið nær."

> (It) seems to me as (though) they, my sons, wanted that
> you settle near by."

<Vilji> is a present subjunctive: 'It seems to me that my
sons would like that you settle nearby'.

> Eftir það reisti Andríður bæ í brautinni og kallaði
> Brautarholt

> After that Andrid built a farm in the road and called (it)
> Woods Road

Backwards: the second element of the compound is modified by
the first, so it's literally 'road's wood' -- something like
'Road Holt' or 'Roadholt' more or less fits English patterns
and keeps some of the flavor.

> Hún var fríð sýnum og auðig að fé.

> She was fair (another typo? að missing? ) of face and rich
> in wealth.

This one's okay; in fact, Zoëga s.v. <fríðr> even has
specifically <fríðr sýnum> (and again s.v. <sýn>). Here
<sýnum> is a dative of respect: she was 'fair [in respect
of] appearance'.

> Þetta sumar var og heitið Þorgrími Helgasyni Arndísi
> dóttur Þórðar Skeggjasonar af Skeggjastöðum

> Also that summer Arndis, daughter of Thord Skeggjason of
> Skeggja stead was promised to Thorgrim Helgi's son

If you want to translate fully, as you did with Thorgrim,
that's 'Thord Skeggi's son of Skeggi's Stead'.

> Eftir boðið fór Þuríður í Brautarholt og tók við búi fyrir
> innan stokk.

> After the wedding

More particularly, the wedding feast, I think.

> Thurid went to Woods Road and took along household
> (belongings or people?) for inside the house.

<Fyrir innan> followed by an accusative is simply 'inside',
and you want Zoëga s.v. <stokkr> (11): 'inside a
trunk/chest'. (So it's definitely belongings!)

> Var það brátt auðsætt að hún var mikill skörungur.

> It was soon clear that she was very outstanding.

Since <skörungr> is a noun, it's technically 'a very
outstanding person'.

> Þau höfðu mart ganganda fjár og gekk allt nær sjálfala úti
> í skóginum um nesið.

> They (the couple) had much livestock and (the animals)
> went (subsisted) almost entirely maintaining themselves
> out in the forest about the headland.

I went digging in CV s.vv. <ganga>, <sjálfala>: in this
context <ganga> is 'to graze', and <sjálfala> means that
they were doing so without a shepherd.

> Þetta haust var honum vant kvígu þrevetrar myrkrar.

> That fall a dark colored, three-year-old cow went missing
> to him.

Or simply 'he was missing a dark three-year-old heifer'.
The excessively literal version would be 'was missing to
him'.

> Hún hét Mús.

> She was called Mus.

I.e., 'Mouse'.

> Þessi kvíga fannst þrem vetrum síðar á nesi því er liggur

> This cow was found three years later on the headland, that
> which lies

It's a minor change, but I take <því> to modify <nesi>: 'on
that/the headland that lies'.

> Því kölluðu þeir það Músarnes.

> For this reason they called it Mus' headland.

Or 'Mouse's Ness'.

Brian