Seems there was a scarcity of good staff in those days.

You may have noticed that Hallgerð and Bergþóra were having a major impact on the job-market! And would you be keen to go an work for Njál, knowing what had happened to those who had gone before?

Precisely so Alan - I would have been a Craftswoman of those times - this-life I am very skilled with my needle and indeed I blamed this scarcity of good staff on the machinations of these two women.
I hate the thought - of my fate if my work for one was deemed better than that for another

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Perhaps, the paraphrase can be inserted in brackets after the literal translations, where needed to clarify the sense - particularly for the proverbs and colloquial expressions

Great idea Alan - personally I am finding it a trifle difficult to make way between being too colloquial and being too literal but what you have said would help

Your observations on the first para. on "going back" as opposed to "going home" I wish I had thought of that

Hallgerð's Kinsmen as you say - worse than useless - may I suggest - ruin - is ruinous a word

Gunnar kvað það vel vera og rétti fram höndina. Njáll nefndi sér (himself or themselves, do you think?) votta og sættust (3 pl, I think) að þessu

Thank you Alan 3 pl yes there's something else I wish I had noticed - to have witnesses to this is to benefit both parties

"Ærið bragð mun að því," segir Njáll.
’Sufficient opportunity (?)will (be) to that,’ says Njál

Yes - time enough for her to play her hand -

this bit

‘ you think-yourself to have fulfilled (the) your promise, but now my promises are after (remain to be fulfilled, still outstanding)
I thought Bergthora's words were more of a threat that much of most any other thing - I could picture a gleeful rubbing of palms

Thank you Alan - I have made notes from this on my copy and they will be useful in time to come

Kveðja

Patricia