I have to agree with Xigung on the verb láta being more like German lassen
so to translate it into good English would be "to have something
done." German: die Haare schneiden lassen = have one's hair cut. Altho it
was almost 30 years ago, I was certified as a translator by the German
gov't. I'm a rank beginner with Old Norse, but that is the first thing I
thought of with láta.

On the indirect discourse (indirekte Rede) issue where the subjunctive is
used in Old Norse as well as in German, there is no implication of anything
incorrect - - that the words being relayed may not be reliable - - so the
use of "allegedly" would not be appropriate. It is merely an indication of
a change of speaker. Latin does the same thing, but uses the infinitive
instead of the subjunctive. English in addition to shrugging off
declensions has pretty much given the boot to the subjunctive.
Grace
Fred and Grace Hatton
Hawley, PA
hatton@...