Hey there, Alan,

Mind if I chip in?

> 495 .... Hafði hann
> ...  He had
>
> þat í hug sér at leiða smámönnum at soekja mál á hendr honum.
> that in his mind to cause tiredness in (discourage) insignificant men to prosecute cases against him.

leiða "to make loath", make them reluctant to, make them think twice about prosecuting a case against him, yes: discourage them.  But I don't think there's any literal suggestion of causing tiredness in the sense of exhaustion.

leiðast e-t "to loathe, to tire of (in the sense of: get fed up with), to become discontented with".

e-m leiðist e-t "one is fed up of".  (Impersonal.  Verb in 3rd person sg., logical subject in dative.)

> En þess var nú eigi kostr. Þar var fyrir sá
> But in that (there) was now not a choice. There, in front (of him) was that

"But there wasn't [any] chance of that now."  The genitive is used for what there is a choice or chance of.

> mannfjölði, at Hrafnkell komsk hvergi nær. Var honum þrøngt
> great crowd of men, so that Hrankel made his way nowhere near. He (dative, impersonal) was pushed

komsk hvergi nær "didn't manage to get [succeed in coming] anywhere near", "couldn't get anywhere near".  I think the middle voice here gives it that sense of managing to reach a desired goal, destination, state, or object--compare: komask undan "get away"; komask út "get out"; komask at "get at, obtain"; komask á foetr "get to one's feet"; komask við "to be able".

> sköruligum sköruligr: (adj) dat sg bold

And more generally "impressive, outstanding", having the qualities of a skörungr, which Fritzner defines as "skörungr , m . Person der udmærker sig ved at holde sig frem, hvor der er Anledning til at vise sine Evner og udrette noget derved ", which I think means: someone who distinguishes themselves and holds fast (stays the course?) where there is an opportunity to show what they're made of (demonstrate their abilities/qualities), and thereby achieve something.

Llama Nom