> Kolfinnur eggjaði sína menn en hlífðist sjálfur við því að
> hann ætlaði sér afburð.
> Kolfinnr egged on his men but held back himself because he
> thought himself (to have) superiority.
> Kolfinn urged his men on but spared himself because he
> intended superiority? for himself (he wanted to be the one
> who gave the final blow?)
> Kolfinnr egged his men on but held-back himself because he
> expected superiority for themselves (?) (that they would
> win without him?).
CV has <hann ætlaði sér afburð> 'he meant to keep the odds
in his own hand'. In other (somewhat anachronistic!) words,
he was using his men as cannon-fodder.
> ... en hver sem hann kom höggum á þá þurfti eigi um að
> binda.
> ... and wherever came blows then it was no use concerning
> to bind. (?)
> ... but where ever he did receive blows on then there was
> no need to bind them.
> ... but whomsoever he attacked with blows, then (it)
> needed not to bind round (?).
I'm with Grace here: <hann> is the object of <á>, and the
wounds weren't so bad as to need immediate dressing.
> Búi mælti: "Þú hefir í leikandi einni haft og er það
> klækilegt að þora eigi að sækja að mér."
> Bui said: "You have in jest had one and that is cowardly
> to not dare to seek me."
> Bui spoke, “You have in jest by far had? and it is
> cowardly to not dare to attack me.”
> Búi spoke: You have had (?) in sport alone and that is
> cowardly to dare not to attack me.
I think that this is <hafa> in the sense 'win': he seems to
be saying that K. has won only in sporting contests and is
too cowardly to risk himself in the real thing.
> Hjóst þá allmjög skjöldur Búa.
> Bui's shild was then all cut-up.
> (He?) fought then very hard (against) Bui’s shield.
> (The) shield of Búi was then hacked very-much.
Grace: <skjöldur> can only be nominative, so it's marked as
the subject.
> Síðan veitti hann Kolfinni það slag að hann tók í sundur í
> miðju.
> Next he gave Kolfinnr that blow that he took apart in the
> middle.
> Afterwards he gave Kolfinn that blow that it took him
> apart at the waist.
> After that he delivered Kolfinnr that blow that took him
> apart in the middle.
Þat var hǫgg allmikit!
> Bað hann þá taka lík Kolfinns og sjá fyrir því.
> He asked then to take Kokfinn's body and see after it.
> He bade them take Kolfinn’s body and take care of it.
> He bade then to take then Kolfinnrs body and to take care
> of that.
Interesting that Old Norse has an idiom, <sjá fyrir e-m>,
that so very closely parallels English <to see to>.
> Hann bað hana taka klæði sín og fara með sér.
> He asked here (to) take his clothes (pack his bags?) and
> go with him.
> He bade her take her clothing and go with him.
> He bade her to take his (or her?) clothes and go with him.
Hers, I think.
Brian