The dative argument of 'skipa', in this
case 'sínum mönnum' signifies who is being installed.

Hi there llma,

"Nú Hrafnkell á Aðalbóli > skipar búi sínum mönnum."

Here "Bú" points to farming. He arranges or orders in the farming's
interest. "í þágu búsins" therefore "búið" appears in Dative
(Þágufalli) as "Búi".

"sínum mönnum" is Datvive as well but I reckon at least one
generation
ago, by many scholars of some Latin, "ablativus copiae" comes in
mind.

As "skipar" means literarily: ships or fills [some container: acc.
þolandi/þolfall: under pressure] with.

The "ablatvius" question: were likeness of some to be found in
Icelandic have been mentioned earlier.


Thanks Uoden
Dative has also been named "þiggjandi" as accepter,receiver.