> Sér hann, at þar mætti vel um búast, er nóg væri föng til.

> He sees, that there (the people) could well have camped
> out, where (there) would be enough provisions for (such a
> group of people).

> He sees that there (one) might well be comfortable were
> enough provisions (at hand).

He sees that [one] could camp well there when enough
provisions were available.

> Þessu næst hugleiðir hann, at menn mundu leggja þat sér
> til orðs, at hann skildi svá við sína menn, ok snýr því út
> aftr í hríðina ok ferr inn sama veg ok syndir í skerit ok
> kemr til manna sinna.

> This last he reflected on, that men would blame him for
> that, that he so parted with his men, and turns thus out
> back into the snow storm and goes the same way and swims
> to the rocks and comes to his men. (Z. leggja 14 - l. e-m
> e-t til ámælis, orðs, to blame one for a thing)

> Next he considers this, that men would talk about it to
> themselves that he should thus share? with his men, and
> turns back out into the storm and goes the same way and
> swims to the skerry and comes to his men.

Rob: See <næst> Z1 for <þessu næst> 'thereafter, thereupon'.
Grace: <skilja við e-n> 'to part with, put away' is in the
prepositions section s.v. <skilja>.

Thereupon he considers that folks would talk among
themselves about it, that he parted so with his men, and
so turns back out into the storm and goes the same way and
swims to the skerry and comes to his men.

> Eru þá sjau dauðir, en átján lifa, at fram komnir fyrir
> kulda sakir nema Úlfr einn.

> Seven were then dead, but 18 live, that come from the cold
> on account of but Ulfr alone.

> Then seven are dead, but eighteen live, that resulted on
> account of the cold except Ulf alone.

The construction of this sentence is a bit puzzling. It
seems fairly clear that <at fram komnir fyrir kulda sakir>
must belong with the first clause, but <nema Úlfr einn> is
still a problem. My best guess, of which I am not certain,
is that it belongs with the second clause:

Seven were then dead, which came about on account of [the]
cold, but eighteen live in addition to Úlf.

> Úlfr svarar: "Annars staðar þætti mér betra heldr en hér
> til lengdar."

> Ulfr answers: "Elsewhere seemed to me better rather than
> (to stay) here long." (Z. staðr 2 - annars staðar,
> elsewhere) (Z. lengd - til lengdar, long, for a long time)

> Ulf answers, “Another place seems rather better to me than
> (to stay) here longer.”

I love the typical understatement.

> "Vilið þér þá hlíta minni forsjá?" segir hann.
> "Did you want to trust my prevision?" he says.
> “Do you want to trust my foresight then?” says he.

Present tense: do.

> Þeir kváðust þat gjarna vilja.

> They said for themselves (that they) would willingly (do)
> that. (Is my guess correct that "þat" is used as an object
> here?)

Yes, referring to trusting J's foresight. Note that the
'for themselves' in the dictionary gloss is more an
explanation than a part of a proper translation: it just
means that what follows -- i.e., what they said -- refers to
them. Here, for instance, it supplies the understood
subject 'they'.

> They said they would gladly wish it.

I'd make it 'They said they would gladly [do] that'.

> Fleytti hann þá Úlfi stýrimanni til lands, ok eigi létti
> hann fyrri en hann hafði þeim öllum til lands komit.

> He then set Captain Ulf on land, and he didn't stop before
> he had brought them all to shore.

> He conveyed Captain Ulf then to land and he did not stop
> before he had brought all of them to land.

<Fleytti> is from <fleyta> 'to set afloat, launch; to lift
slightly from the ground': 'Then he floated captain Úlf to
shore, ...'. I imagine him dragging the men through the
water lifeguard-style.

> Gengr Jökull þá undan þeim til skálans, ok gerðu þeir þá
> stóran eld.

> Jokull then goes before them to the hut, and they made
> then a large fire.

> Jokull goes then before them to the hut and they make a
> great fire then.

Present tense: make.

> Eru þeir þá skjótt lífvænir kompánar hans.

> His companions were then soon in hope of saving their
> lives.

> They are then quickly hopeful of saving the lives of his
> companions.

They, his companions, were then speedily hopeful of
recovery.

<lífvænn> 'with hope of life, with hope of recovery'

> Þykkir honum þat þá á vanta, at þeir vissu ekki, hvar þeir
> váru komnir, ok þat þeir váru kostarlausir.

> He thinks then to lack that, that they didn't know, where
> they had come, and that they were cheerless.

> It seems to him then lacking that they knew not where they
> had landed and that they were without choices.

CV s.v. <kostr> has <kostarlauss> 'without provisions',
which makes excellent sense in context. <Þá> is the
accusative pronoun:

It seems to him that they lacked, [in] that they did not
know where they had come, and that they were without
provisions.

> Leið svá á kvöld.
> The evening passed.
> It passed thus to evening.

'So [the] evening passed away', or 'So the evening grew
late'.

> Jökull spyrr: "Hverr er sveina fúss til at vaka í nótt?"

> Jokull asks: "Which (of you) lads is willing to keep awake
> tonight?"

> Jokull asks, “Who is the willing young man to stay awake
> in (the) night.” (Who’ll keep the watch?)

Literally something like 'Who is of [you] lads willing ...'.

> Úlfr svarar: "Ek ætla af mér sé færleikrinn, eða viltu ek
> vaka?"

> Ulfr answers: "It seems to me (that I) see
> (færleikrinn??), or did you want me to stay awake?"

> Ulf answers, “I expect of myself to be able, or do you
> want me to stay awake?”

Rob: It's <fœrleikr> 'ability, strength'. <Vera af e-u> is
'to be off, out of'.

Úlf answers: 'I think that the strength is out of me, or
do you want me to stay awake?'

> Þá sá lítit af tungli ljóst, ok dró ýmist til eða frá.

> Then (he) saw little light from the moon, and sometimes
> clouds revealed and sometimes covered (the moon).

> Then (one) saw little moon light and (it) drew alternately
> to and fro.

This is impersonal <sjá>: 'Then was little moonlight to be
seen, and [clouds] sometimes covered and sometimes uncovered
[the moon]'. <Dregr frá> at least appears in the
prepositions section s.v. <draga>.

> Jökli varð reikat til sjávar ok með ströndinni.

> It became necessary for Jokull to walk to the sea and
> along the beach.

> Jokull became driven to the sea and along the beach.

<Reikat> is a past participle, not an infinitive, so no
necessity is involved. Notice that <Jökli> is dative: this
is an impersonal use of <verða>, literally something like
'To J. was wandered'. In English I'd make it simply 'Jökul
wandered to the sea and along the strand'.

> Hann sér, at mikit er rekit af gózi þeira.
> He sees, that much is drifted of their possessions.
> He sees that a great amount of their goods have washed up.

'Washed up' or 'washed ashore' looks good; 'drifted ashore'
seems a little too weak for the conditions that have been
described. One could probably even justify 'driven ashore'.

> Hann þykkist ok þá sjá einhver tvau kvikendi bera saman
> gózit í einn stað.

> He thought also then (to) see some two living people (?)
> take the same possessions to a certain place.

> He thinks also then to see some two beings carrying the
> goods together in one place.

Present tense: thinks. Although 'thinks to see' is possible
in English, idiomatically it's just 'He also thinks then
that he sees a certain two living creatures (<kvikvendi>)
carrying the goods together in one place'.

> Hann nemr staðar, hyggr at ok hlustar til ok heyrir þá
> þessar tvær syrpur talast við.

> He reaches (the) place, looks at and listens and then
> hears these two dirty women talking.

> He stands his ground, looks at and listens to and hears
> then these two dirty women talking.

<Nema staðar> is simply 'to stop'; the idiom can be found in
the entry for <staðr>. 'He stops, looks, and listens, and
then hears these two dirty-grey women talking.' (The 'grey'
bit is based on Fritzner.)

> Gnípa segir: "Eitthvat fór þar eftir sandinum."
> Gnipa says: "Each one went there along the sand."
> Gnipa says, “Something went there back in the sand.”

Gnípa says: 'Something went there along the sand.'

> "Eigi veit ek, hvat vera má," segir Geit.
> "I don't know, what it can be," says Geit.
> “I don’t know, what (it) can be,” says Geit.

Lovely names for lovely ladies: 'peak, jutting pinnacle' and
'she-goat'!

Brian