> Knútr vildi eigi á hlýðast ok sagðist borgina brenna
> skyldu.

> Knútr wanted not to listen to (him) and said-of-himself
> (that he, Knútr) should burn the-stronghold (accusative).

The implied subject of <skyldu> is plural, so presumably
‘they’, i.e., Knút and his men.

> Meykonungrinn tók nú at hressast ok spurði Hörð eptir hvar
> at Knútr væri, en hann sagði hana þat öngu varða, ok
> kveðst ætla at henni mundi ekki verða mein at honum at svá
> búnu.

> The-maiden-king began now to recover-strength and asked
> Hörðr about where Knútr was, but he said that was of no
> business of hers (varða, Z3, lit: that she import nothing
> (of significance) to that), and declared-of-himself to
> expect that harm to her from him (knútr) would not happen,
> as matters stand.

I kept wondering why we have neut. dat. sing. <búnu> here; I
missed it before, but since doing my own translation I’ve
found adverbial <at svá búnu> ‘as yet, at present’ at the
end of <búinn> Z5; this seems a better fit to the context.

> Ok svá á mínar systr it sama, en þegar it fyrsta kveld er
> þér komut hér þekkti ek Sigrgarð, ok höfum við mjök ójafnt.

> And also on my sisters (plural) the same (ie likewise),
> but at-once on the first evening when you (plural) came
> here, I recognised Sigrgarðr, and we begin (hefja, Z3)
> very unequally (guessing: this time round, we start on a
> completely different footing?).

I was wondering what you’d make of this, but I don’t think
that <hefja> works: it should yield <hófum>, not <höfum>.
The latter is, on the other hand, the 1pl pres. act. of
<hafa>. (Not that I’d be shocked to find a non-standard
usage in this saga, mind you!)

> Gerir hann þá annat hvárt at hann selr þik mannsali.

> He then would-decide (göra, Z10) either (annarr
> hvárr…eða,, Z, adverbially) that he delivers you for
> person-payment (mann + sal) (offers you up for a ransom?
> or simply sells you as one would a slave?)

I have the impression that <göra> Z10 refers fairly
specifically to legal judgements; Z6 seems a better fit
here.

Brian