At 11:34:00 AM on Monday, September 6, 2010, rob13567 wrote:

> Fara nú menn í milli þeirra er voru beggja vinir og bera
> sættarorð af Höskulds hendi til Hrúts en Hrútur tók því
> vel, kvaðst að vísu vilja semja við Höskuld, kvaðst þess
> löngu hafa verið búinn að þeir semdu sína frændsemi eftir
> því sem vera ætti ef Höskuldur vildi honum rétts unna.

> Men now go between them who were friends of both and
> convey words-of-peace from Hoskuld's hands to Hrut's, and
> Hrut received that well, stated-for-himself (he) certainly
> want(ed) to treat with Hoskuld, stated-for-himself of-that
> long-ago (he) has been ready that they should restore
> their relationship to a proper footing if Hoskuld wanted
> (to) grant him his due. (Z. semja 4 – at þeir semdi sína
> frændsemi eptir því sem vera ætti, that they should
> restore their relationship to a proper footing)

> Men now go between them and were friends of both and
> carried words of reconciliation on Hoskuld's behalf to
> Hrut and Hrut received it well, said he certainly wanted
> to treat with (semja Z 2) Hoskuld, said of himself to have
> been ready for this for a long time that they restore
> their relationship (semja Z 4) after it as to be entitled?
> if Hoskuld wanted to do right by him.

> Men (persons) now go (in the extended sense of mediate)
> between them, who were friends of both and carried
> words-of-mediation from Höskuldr´s hand (ie on behalf of
> Höskuldr) to Hrútr but (and) Hrútr received that well,
> declared-for-himself certainly to want to settle with
> Höskuldr, declared-of-himself for a long time to have been
> willing for that, that they mend their kinship in line
> with (after) that which was-obliged (eiga, Z3) to be (? to
> a proper footing), if Höskuldr wanted to grant him (the)
> right (his due).

Since 'due' is a possible translation of <réttr>, I'd
probably go with 'grant him [his] due', as Rob did. <Ætti>
is an impersonal past subjunctive that here means 'ought',
so <eptir því sem vera ætti> is 'according as [it] ought to
be'. See CV s.v. <eiga> (A.II.1), specifically the examples
at the top of the second column on p. 118.

> Hrútur kvaðst og Höskuldi vilja unna sóma fyrir afbrigð
> þau er hann hafði gert af sinni hendi.

> Hrut stated-for-himself also to-Hoskuld (to) want (to)
> grant honor for those transgressions which he (i.e., Hrut)
> had done with his hands.

> Hrut said he also wanted to do honour for those
> transgressions which he had done on his behalf.

> Hrútr declared-of-himself also to want to bestow honour to
> Höskuldr for those transgressions which he had done on his
> behalf (for his own part).

Zoëga's gloss for <sómi> is incomplete: it can also mean
'compensation', and does here. Hrút wants to recompense
Höskuld for the wrongs that he, Hrút, had done Höskuld.

> Eru nú þessi mál sett og samið í milli þeirra bræðra
> Höskulds og Hrúts.

> This agreement was now made and (it was) settled between
> them, (the) brothers Hoskuld and Hrut.

> Now these cases are settled and reconciled between those
> brothers, Hoskuld and Hrut.

> These matters ae now settled and settled between those
> brothers, Höskuldr and Hrútr.

I'd say 'settled and put right between' or the like.

> Hrútur gætir nú bús síns og gerist mikill maður fyrir sér.

> Hrut now takes-care-of his farm and became a powerful man.
> (Z. fyrir 13 – mikill f. sér, strong, powerful)

> Hrut takes care of his farm now and makes a great man of
> himself.

> Hrútr attends now to his farm and becomes a great
> (important) man of himself (in his own right).

Rob's got this one: <mikill fyrir sér> is an idiom, 'of
great importance or power'.

> Þar er nú þjóðgata.

> A high road is now there. (Zoega has "high road," which
> apparently in American English means a main road.)

It's not an American usage; it's an old British usage.

> There is now a high road.
> There is now a high-road (public thoroughfare).

And as Alan indicates, it's quite literally a public
thoroughfare: <þjóðgata> 'people-road'.

> Aðra konu átti Hrútur þá er Þorbjörg hét.

> Then Hrut had another wife who was-named Thorbjorg.

> Hrut had another wife then who was called Thorbjorg.

> Hrútr had (in marriage) a second wife (woman), that-one
> who was called Þorbjörg.

<Þá> is ambiguous, and I can't offhand rule out the 'now'
interpretation, but I'm inclined to read it as Alan did, as
if it were punctuated <Aðra konu átti Hrútur, þá er Þorbjörg
hét>.

> Svo segja menn að Hrútur væri svo á þingi eitt sumar að
> fjórtán synir hans væru með honum.

> So say men that Hrut were so, at (the) Thing one summer
> that fourteen of his sones were with him.

> So say people that Hrut were so at (the) Thing one summer
> that fourteen sons of his were with him.

> Men (persons) so say, that Hrútr was at (the) Thing one
> summer such that fourteen sons of his were with him.

Rob & Grace: The subjunctive <væri> doesn't carry over into
English in this context. Its function here is to indicate
some uncertainty on the speaker's part, because this is
hearsay. English 'It is said' probably has about the same
force.

> Þorleikur gerir bú á þeim bæ er heitir á Kambsnesi og
> leysir Höskuldur út fé hans.

> Thoreik builds a farm at the farms which are-called
> Combs-ness and Hoskuld pays out his money.

> Thorleik makes a home in that farm which is called at
> Comb's Ness and Hoskuld pays out his money.

> Þorleikr builds a house at that farm which is called (at)
> Kambsnes (Comb’s-Ness) and Höskuldr pays out his money
> (?).

I think that Grace has correctly interpreted <gerir bú>;
Þorleik is simply taking over the farm where Hrút lived for
three years before moving to Hrútsstaðir. Þorleik is
Höskuld's son, so this arrangement is apparently part of the
reconciliation between Höskuld and Hrút. That's also how I
interpret the last clause: Höskuld (finally) pays out to
Hrút his (Hrút's) share of the estate.

> Hafði hann þá umsýslu ekki minnur en Höskuldur.

> He had then not less aid than Hoskuld. (Whatever that
> means….)

> He had then no less a manager than Hoskuld.

> He had that (then?) an occupation (position, ie his
> authority in managing the farm) not less than Höskuldr.

Alan's interpretation is right (with 'then'), but CV is a
little more helpful than Zoëga here: it offers 'management'
as one of the glosses for <umsýsla>. 'He had then
management no less than Höskuld'.

> Dætra Höskulds er hér eigi getið mjög.
> (It) is not spoken-of much Hoskuld's daughters.
> Hoskuld's daughters are here not mentioned more.
> (The) daughters of Höskuldr are not mentioned much.

Höskuld's daughters are not mentioned much *here*.

> Þó eru menn frá þeim komnir.
> Although men/people were descended from them.
> Still people are descended from them.
> Still persons are come (descended) from them.

'Nevertheless' would be my first choice. Both it and
'still' work, but either needs to be followed by a comma:
'Nevertheless, people are descended from them', with an
implication (I think) that the number of descendants is
significant.

Brian