At 12:47:30 PM on Thursday, November 18, 2010, Fred & Grace
Hatton wrote:

> ÞAT ES UPPHAF AT ÞESSI SÖGU, at Jabbi konungr inn digri
> réð fyr Danmörk, ok Falfaðinn konungr eldingaflug fyr
> Noregi; ófriðr mikill vas í milli þeira.

> It is (in the) beginning of this saga, that King Jabba the
> stout ruled over Denmark and King Palpatine lightning
> flash over Norway, great hostility was between them.

I don't think that there's any need for the parenthetical
'in the': what follows *is* the beginning of the saga.

> Jabba konungi líkaði vel sjá skattr, ok hann gaf
> Hólmgöngu-Hana øxi mikla, ok vas sú øx snaghyrnd ok
> gullbúin, upp skellt skaftit með silfri, ok vas sú inn
> virðilegsti gripr.

> King Jabba appreciated that tribute well and he gave Duel
> Han a great axe and that axe was snag-cornered and
> ornamented with gold, up ?? the shaft with silver, and
> that was the most imposing valuable thing.

It's in both Zoëga and CV, but you have to look for it as
the compound <uppskelldr> 'mounted'. Here it's in the
neuter nom. sing. to match <skaptit>: 'the shaft mounted
with silver'. It's essentially from 'Egils saga
Skallagrímsonar', Ch. 38: <Exin var snaghyrnd ok mikil ok
gullbúin, uppskelt skaftit með silfri, ok var þat hinn
virðiligsti gripr>.

Brian