mikil vexti "tall [in stature]", i.e. above average hight, rather than
fully grown, I think... MM & HP: "very tall".



langbrók "long-legged", literally "long trousers". I have a vague
memory of reading somewhere that women in saga-times wore a kind of
trousers. As an undergarment?



honum þótti sér óvíða fullkosta.
MM & HP: "Th. felt there was hardly anyone good enough for him."

'fullkosta e-m', indeclinable adjective, "perfectly matched for
someone, completely acceptable to marry".
'óvíða', "not widely, not in many places".

I think 'fullkosta' is being used in an impersonal way here, as if
neuter, literally: "he thought for-himself [it-to-be] not-widely
perfectly-matched." Or in more natural English: "he didn't think
there were many who were perfectly suited for him." I suspect MM & HP
are right in reading this as understatement.



Vilt þú biðja Hallgerðar langbrókar
Hennar vil eg biðja

"ask for" in each of these sentences. The person asked would be in
the accusative, the request itself is in the genitive.



Það mun ykkur eigi mjög hent
MM & HP: "It would not be very suitable for either of you." (A nice
way of expressing the dual in English, and avoiding the ambiguity of
"you" on its own.)



og mun mig eigi tjóa að letja.
MM & HP "there's no use attempting to dissuade me" (From the meaning,
it seems as if 'mig' ought to belong to the 'letja' clause, in spite
of its curious position. I wonder if there's anything in Faarlund's
Old Norse Syntax about this sort of thing...)



Síðan rétti Höskuldur fram höndina en Þorvaldur tók í

Alan wrote, "(Is this literally the shaking of hands on the deal as I
took it, or does it refere to Höskuld handing over his daughter and
Þorvald accepting her as Zoega glosses seem to suggest)"

I assumed it was literal, and MM & HP have "H. offered his hand, Th.
shook it."



Patricia wrote, "Well I'm sure this will end in tears , - for me
maybe I wish I might have done better"

I don't have any the statistics for this, but I've certainly met a lot
of examples in sagas where a father in this position does consult his
daughter (not that that doesn't often end in tears too!). Maybe
Höskuldur is the exception?