Thanks for your help, LN!!
Grace
> Þykja mér ill vera orðtök vondra manna."
> Seems to me to be evil speech of a difficult man."
pl. vondra manna "of bad men". 'vondra' = older spelling: vándra
"bad, wicked", rather than 'vandra' "difficult". MM & HP elaborate
slightly: "I tell you this because I hate such spiteful talk." I
wondered if this might be proverbial, if there was some saying like
"evil is the speech of wicked men" (like the circular logic of 'ekki
má feigum forða' "nothing can save a doomed man") -- but I don't see
it listed in the Proverbs Concordance.
> en það eitt skalt þú vinna héðan í frá er þú vilt.
> "but (for?) that one you shall work henceforth where you wish."
The numeral 'einn' is being used here in the sense "only", neuter to
agree with 'það': "But henceforth you shall do only such work as you
wish to." 'vinna' "to do, to perform, to work at, etc."
> sverðinu Ölvisnaut
'nautr' = "gift". See Ch. 30: 'Ölvir hafði gefið Gunnari sverð gott.'
Swords are often named after a former owner like this, whether the
weapon was literally a gift, given willingly, as in this case, or
taken from a defeated enemy.
> en þó lét hærra atgeirinn
See Zoega 'láta' (11) "to sound, to make a sound".
> Það mun eigi engra tíðinda vita.
Lit. "That will (most likely) not betoken no events-of-note." I.e.
That must mean something serious is going to happen. See Zoega 'vita'
(6). Same verb as 'to know', but with this specialised meaning with
the genitive "to signal, betoken, bode." MM & HP "That promises big
events."
> ríður eftir slíkt er hann mátti'
MM & HP "...as hard as he could."
> Akratungu
> Tongue Field
Or rather "Fields' Tongue", "Tongue of Fields".
LN
Fred and Grace Hatton
Hawley Pa