*Much* easier than vísur!

> Þykir mér þú miklu til hætta hversu ferðin tekst en að
> eiga við heljarmann slíkan sem Grímur er.

> It seems to me you risk much how the journey is taken and
> to fight with such an accursed fellow as Grimr is. (Z.
> eiga 10 - e. við e-n, to have to do with, fight with)

> It seems to me you risk much how the journey develops,
> than to deal with an accursed fellow such as Grim is.

> (It) seems to me you risk much how the-journey
> (enterprise) takes-place if (en, Z1?) (you) fight with an
> accursed-fellow such as Grímr is.

I can't see any way to avoid the conclusion that <hætta> is
the infinitive, so this must be 'You seem to me to risk
much'.

> "Það þykir mér engi frami," segir Þorkell, "að draga
> fjölmenni að einum manni en það vildi eg að þú léðir mér
> sverðið Sköfnung og vænti eg þá að eg skuli bera af
> einhleypingi einum þótt hann sé vel að sér búinn.

> "It seems to me no distinction," says Thorkell, "to drag
> many people to one man, but I wanted that, that you lend
> me the sword "Shin-bone" and I would expect then that I
> should surpass one single person without hearth or home
> although he be (subjunctive) himself well prepared.

> “It doesn’t seem to me courageous,” says Thorkell, “to
> drag many men to a single man but I would want that you
> lend me the sword, Skofnung, and I anticipate then that I
> shall carry (it) off (against) one single person although
> he be well prepared.”

> „That seems to me no courage (or distinction, frami, Z1 or
> Z2),“ says Þorkell „to drag a crowd-of-people after one
> man (person), but I would-want that you lent (ljá) me
> the-sword Sköfnung and I expect that, that I should
> surpass, (overcome, lit: bear off) a lone vagabond, even
> if he should-be well prepared within himself.“

I'm with Rob and Grace on <þá> 'then': he's saying that
'then' -- i.e., after receiving the sword -- he'd certainly
expect to come out on top.

> En með því að þú þykist þetta gera fyrir mínar sakir þá
> skal þér eigi þessa varna er þú beiðir því að eg ætla
> Sköfnung vel niður kominn þótt þú berir hann.

> And because you think this judges my charges then you
> shall not deny this when you ask for that, that I
> foreordain Shin-bone come well down although you carry him
> (i.e., the sword).

> In case you think to do this for my sake then (I) shall
> not deny you this when you ask because I expect Skofnung
> under good care though you carry it.

> But with that that (ie because) you bethink-yourself to
> be-doing this for my sake(s), then (I) shall not deny you
> this which you request because I expect Sköfnung (to have)
> come down well (gotten the job done) even though you
> should-be carrying it. (Hmm, HH&MP render this a bit
> differently, presumably based on an interpretation of þótt
> that I can´t see)

They (and I) also read <vel niðr kominn> a bit differently:
I take it to be kin to <koma niðr í góðan stað> 'to fall
into good hands' (CV s.v. <niðr>). Pace MM&HP, my best
guess is 'in good hands even though you bear it', perhaps
with an implication that his expectation that the sword is
in good hands might seem a bit surprising in view of his
earlier objections to the whole enterprise.

> Eiður kvaðst það helst ætla að Grímur ætti bæli norður á
> Tvídægru við Fiskivötn.

> Eidr said for himself that, that Grimr most intended to
> have a lair north of Tfidaegru by Fish-water.

> Eid said he rather expected that Grim had a lair north at
> Tvidaegra by Fishing waters.

> Eiðr declared-of-himself to expect that most-of-all that
> Grímr had (his) lair north on Tvídægra (Two ?) by
> Fiskivötn (Fishing Waters).

<Tvídœgra> 'two days' time'. The 1896 Altnordische
Saga-Bibliothek edition (ed. Kr. Kålund) has a note
explaining that Tvídœgra is the highland northeast of
Borgarfjörðr that connects the southwestern part of the
Icelandic northern quarter with the Faxafjörðr region; the
numerous lakes there are collectively known as Fiskivötn.
In the 1900 Altnordische Saga-Bibliothek edition of 'Grettis
saga Ásmundarsonar' (ed. R.C. Boer) I found the following
(my translation from the German):

There is a trail from Iceland's north coast over Tvídœgra
to the southwestern part of the country. Tvídœgra lies
between Miðfjörðr and Borgarfjörðr and gets its name from
the two days' journey needed to pass over it. (Barði
Guðmundarson, among others, needed that long when he set
out to avenge his brother.) Þorkel krafla and his
companions [in this saga] cover the distance in *one* day,
admittedly with difficulty; in the evening they reach
Fljótstunga, between two tributaries of the Hvítá, which
empties into Borgarfjörðr.

> Nú kemur Þorkell til skálans og sér hann þá hvar maður
> situr við vatnið við einn lækjarós og dró fiska.

> Thorkell now comes to the hut and he then sees where a man
> sits beside the water by a waterfall and caught fish
> (i.e., he was fishing). (Z. draga 1 - draga fisk, to
> catch, pull up fish with a line)

> Now Thorkell comes to the hut and he sees then where a man
> sits by the water by a brook outlet? and netted fish.

> Now Þorkell comes to (the) hut and he sees then where a
> person (man) sits by the-water by a certain
> mouth-of-a-rivulet and draws (lures, catches) fishes .

So far as I can tell, <draga fiska> is simply 'to fish',
with an implication 'with a line'.

Brian