I'm happy to accommodate other folks' schedules. Now that
I've turned in my grades, I'll have lots of time until the
new semester starts in mid-January, but I really ought to
get going again on 'Eyrbyggja saga' for the local þing
anyway.

Thanks to all of you for giving me an incentive to work on
my Old Norse more often; it's helped me a lot, especially
working on those curlier passages. Best wishes to all for
the holidays!

> Húsin voru auð um veturinn.
> The farm was empty during the winter.
> The house was empty during the winter.
> The farm-buildings were uninhabited during the-winter.

Rob & Grace: Note that <-in> is the neuter *plural*
nom./acc. article; singular would be <-it> ~ <-ið>.

> Um vorið eftir fór Ólafur þangað byggðum og lét áður saman
> reka fé sitt og var það mikill fjöldi orðinn því að engi
> maður var þá auðgari að kvikfé í Breiðafirði.

> During the next spring Olaf Olaf went to-that-place
> of-settlements (?) and caused before together to drive his
> livestock and that was a great multitude happened (?)
> because no man was then wealthier (in terms of livestock)
> in Broad-firth.

> During the next spring, Olaf went thither from the
> settlement and ahead of time had his livestock rounded up
> and it was become a great multitude because no man was
> then more wealthy in terms of livestock in Breida Fjord.

> During the-spring after, Ólafr journeyed thither for
> habitation (bygð) (ie to take up residence) and caused
> before(hand) to drive together (herd) his stock and that
> (ie the herd of stock) was (had) become a great multitude
> because no man was then richer (compar of auðigr) as
> regards live-stock in Breiðarfjörðr.

Zoëga s.v. <fara> (3) has <fara bygðum> 'to move, change
one's abode'. I suppose that in origin it's an example of
the dative of respect: 'to move concerning abodes'.

> Ólafur sendir nú orð föður sínum að hann stæði úti og sæi
> ferð hans þá er hann fór á þenna nýja bæ og hefði orðheill
> fyrir.

> Olaf now sends word to his father that he stand outside
> and see his journey then when he went to this new farm and
> had a-good-report previously.

> Olaf sends now word to his father that he stand outside
> and watch his journey then when he went to this new farm
> and have a good omen for it.

> Ólaf sends now word(s) to his father that he should-stand
> outside and should-see his (ie Ólafr’s) journey when he
> moved to this new farmstead and (he) should-bring (hafa,
> Z6) good-omen for (the benefit of it, fyrir, Z.ii.9).

Yes, <stæði>, earlier <stœði>, is past subj. of <standa>;
it's formed from the past <stóð> with i-umlaut.

> Höskuldur kvað svo vera skyldu.
> Hoskuld stated (that he) would so (do).
> Hoskuld said so (he) would do.
> Höskuldr declared (it) should be so.

Technically it's '[they] should be so': <skyldu> is 3rd
person plural. Presumably this is because Ólaf made more
than one request.

> Ólafur skipar nú til, lætur reka undan fram sauðfé það er
> skjarrast var.

> Olaf now arranges, causes (to) drive ahead of forward the
> sheep which were shyest.

> Olaf made ready now, has the sheep which were most timid
> driven.

> Ólafr now made ready (see skipa til e-s, Z6), causes to
> drive up at-the-front those sheep (grammatically singular)
> which were shyest.

Rob's right in reading <skipar> as present tense; <skipa>
belongs to Zoëga's first weak conjugation.

> Þá fór búsmali þar næst.
> Then there went milch-cows next.
> Then milk cows went next.
> Then milch-cattle (sheep?) went there next.

M&P take it to be both milch ewes and cows. I don't think
that this can be inferred from the word, which could apply
to either or both, but it's what I'd expect, given his
wealth.

> Var þá ferðarbroddurinn kominn á þenna bæ hinn nýja er
> Ólafur reið úr garði af Goddastöðum og var hvergi hlið í
> milli.

> The front of the host had then come to this, the new farm
> when Olaf rode out-of (the) yard of Goddastad, and was an
> interval between each one of them.

> Then the vanguard had come to that farm, the new one, when
> Olaf rode out of (the) field at Godda Stead and nowhere
> was a gap between.

> Then (ie at that point in time) was (had) the van (ie the
> front of the procession) arrived at this farmstead, the
> new (one) , when Ólafr rode out-of (the) yard from
> Goddastaðir (ie the old farmstead) and (there) was nowhere
> a gap (in the traffic) in between.

Despite appearance, <þenna bæ hinn nýja> functions simply as
'the new farm'; see Barnes, Section 3.9.2. (I like the
compound <ferðarbroddr> 'van(guard)': it's literally
'journey's spike'!)

> Þá mælti Höskuldur að Ólafur son hans skyldi þar velkominn
> og með tíma á þenna hinn nýja bólstað "og nær er það mínu
> hugboði að þetta gangi eftir að lengi sé hans nafn uppi."

> Then Hoskuld spoke that his son Olaf should there (be)
> welcome and with prosperity at this the new farm "and that
> is in-conformity-with my anticipation that this go later
> to long see his name up."

> Then Hoskuld said that Olaf, his son, would be well come
> (to the new place) and with good luck at the new abode
> “and near is it to my thinking that this go (on) after
> that long be his name raised up.”

> Then Ólafr spoke that Ólafr, his son, should (be) welcome
> and (be) with prosperity there in this the new homstead
> “and that is nearly my anticipation that this (ie the
> prosperity et al) should-go after (follow, come to pass,
> ganga eptir), (such) that for-a-long-time his name
> should-be up (ie live on, see vera uppi, under uppi).”

I agree with Rob and Grace that <nær> here is the
preposition, with object <mínu hugboði>, not the adverb
'nearly', and I think that Rob's made the better choice of
senses: 'that is in accordance with my anticipation'.

> Það var mjög jafnskjótt að húskarlar höfðu ofan tekið
> klyfjar af hrossum og þá reið Ólafur í garð.

> That was very as-soon-as that (the) servents had from
> above taken packs of the horses which Olaf rode to home.

> It was at the very same moment that servants had taken
> packs off (the) horses and then Olaf rode into the yard.

> That was at-the-very-same-moment that (the) menservants
> had taken down (the) packs from (the) horses and when
> Ólafr rode into (the) yard.

I'd go with Grace's 'and then' (the meaning, of course,
being that Ólaf rode in just as the servants had unloaded
the packs).

> Þetta þótti mönnum vel til fundið af þeim atburðum er þar
> höfðu orðið.

> This seemed to men a good idea of the events which (they)
> there had heard.

> That seemed well done to people regarding those events
> which had happened there.

> This seemed to people well brought-forward (nominated,
> chosen) from those events which had happened there.

'Brought forward' is certainly the general category of
meaning, and 'chosen' certainly works. I also see that
Fritzner gives 'invent, construct', especially in connection
with poetry, as another possible specific sense of <finna
til>; this would be another reasonable choice here.

> Faðir hans hélt honum mjög til virðingar.
> His father him much in esteem.
> His father held him in great honour.
> His father was-much-bent on (gaining) honour for him.

It's hard to say whether it's 'was much bent on' or 'was
greatly conducive to'. I'm inclined to think that it's
both, so I might go with something like 'helped him greatly
to [gain] honor'.

Brian