> My cryptic question with respect to að kaldahlátur þann was whether

þann was an article agree with kaldahlátur or a pronoun identifying
the thing being laughed at.

Agreeing with `kaldahlátur' I think. Thus: `hló að' "laughed at [it]"
+ `kaldahlátur þann' "with that sardonic laugh". If it was a pronoun
identifying the thing being laughed at, I'd have expected it to be
dative after `að'. Compare:

(1) a) hló að honum; b) hlæja að því
(2) a) hlæja við honum; b) hlæjandi við því; c) og hló kaldahlátur við

With `við', I found just one example of an accusative, `hlægir hug
minn við það', but the sense is metaphorical there, whereas those with
dative are literal.

> Regarding the cloth tear, MM/HP´s translation suggested to me that

they thought the main tear was crosswise whereas my interpretation was
that it was lengthwise. The paradigm nema e-n e-u involves accusative
and dative whereas this text is nema til e-s or nema e-s til, ie
either way a genitive. However I´m not convinced either way.

I see, so you were thinking "one end to the other"? Fair point about
the cases; we really need an example that matches more closely. I was
thinking of it as `til' in the sense "with respect/regard to": "it was
deprived [of a bit of itself] with respect to one of its ends."

> Við vant er eg um kominn fyrir tengdar sekir við Njál

`sekir', a typo for `sakir' I presume. `um', I think, is a
superfluous verbal particle which doesn't really add anything to the
meaning here; in this usage, it's just a relic of the old unstressed
verbal prefixes that occur in other Germanic languages, but had
disappeared in the prehistory of Old Norse. It's often used in this
way in poetry and is interchangeable with `of'. Here are parallel
examples from Hávamál, one with `um', one without.

(3) er ek var enn um kominn `when I had come back'
(4) at ek væra enn kominn `that I would have come back'

Compare Modern German `gekommen', or in the older Germanic language:

(5) GOTHIC: þaiei wesun ga-qumanai us allamma haimo Galeilaias `those
who had come together from all of the towns of Galilee'
(6) OLD ENGLISH: oð full getæl þære hæðena sind ge-cumen on innan
`till all of the gentiles have come in'

The prefix serves different functions in this instance in German,
Gothic and Old English, but such functions (and those of the other
unstressed verbal prefixes) were blurred in Old Norse after they
became an optional poetic extra represented by `um' (originally `umb'
= OE ymb-.

> Flosi hafði af þeim sannar sögur og skilur þá hvergi á og Runólf í Dal.
> Flosi had (got) from them (the) true story and Runólf in Dale then

diverged not at all on (it) also.

See Zoega `skilja' (impersonal), `þá skilja á um e-t' "they disagree
about a thing"; `ef skrár skilr á' "if the scrolls disagree". Thus:
"They (acc.), and Runolf-in-Dale (acc.), didn't disagree at all."
That's to say, they were in complete agreement with Runolf.

> með nokkuru móti
> with some way (comes to an end somehow)

Yes: somehow, in some way, one way or another, by some means...

> og er slíkum mönnum allvel farið
> and (it) is to such people very-well turned-out / acted (either?:

it has turned out very well for?/with? such people, see fara, Z7, or
such men have acted very well, see fara Z10)

I'm guessing one way or another he's praising his behaviour, but I'm
not sure of the most literal meaning, if it's possible to distinguish
between them here. I remember we had another example of `farið' +
dat. way back (some time in 2005?). I can't seem to locate it right
now, but if we could track it down, that might help... If I remember
rightly we were advised that, in that context at least, there wasn't a
meaningful difference, or it wasn't possible to distingush one.

> Sektir viljum vér að fram komi (should this be infinitive?) og mannráð

An `at' clause + subjunctive after `vilja' is normal when the subject
of the embedded clause differs from the subject of `vilja'. When the
subjects refer to the same person, either subjunctive or infinitive
can be used.

(7) vilda ek ok ekki heldr, at Björn brygði honum því, at hann þyrði
ekki at berjast `I would not want Bjorn to go accusing him of not
daring to fight'
(8) Þat vilda ek, at þú foerir eigi heim í kveld `I would like you not
to go home this evening'
(9) og vildi eg að þessi mál kæmir þú fyrir mig við föður hennar `and
I would like you to pursue this matter with her father on my behalf'


(10) Hitt vilda ek, at ek gæta hefnt Þórðar `I would like to be able
to avenge Thord'
(11) heldr vilda ek hans fylgi hafa en tíu annarra `I would rather
have his help than that of ten others'