'gestahöfðingi' . Chief of Guests seems to be a bit of a euphemism.
MM & HP: "The leader of the King's Spies". They have a note:
"The
King's Spies 'gestasveit' were certain members of the kings
retinue
whose function was to look after the internal security of the
kingdom.
They roamed the country seeking signs of incipient rebellion
and
getting rid of trouble-makers - a sort of medieval F.B.I."
>
Vel er þar til fengið
MM & HP: "That is generous."
>
Farist þér nú vel.
> Go (you) now well.' (Farewell, Have a good
journey!)
More literally maybe: "may it go (turn out) well for/with
you."
> Gautlandi hinu eystra
MM & HP: "East Gotaland",
i.e. modern Swedish 'Östergötland' , part of
the southern Swedish
mainland, rather than the eastern part of the
Baltic island of Gotland. I
suppose there's a few possibilities for
anglicising the name while avoiding
ambiguity; another would be just
to half translate the Old Norse version:
East Gautland.
> í Leginum
ON lögr (MnIc. lögur), dat.sg.
legi + the definite article. "The
Water" = Lake Mälaren near Stockholm (not
Vänern, which is further
east) [ http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ M%C3%A4laren
]. Declined like
'völlr' "plain, field", dat.sg. 'velli'.
> úr
Jamtalandi
Modern Swedish district of Jämtland.
>
Stokkssund
Swedish 'Stocksund'.