> Þau Sveinbjörn ok Steinunn áttu tvá sonu ok fimm dætr.

> They, Sveinbjorn and Steinunn had two sons and five
> daughters.

> They, Sveinbjorn and Steinunn had two sons and five
> daughters.

> They, Sveinbjörn and Steinunn, had two sons and five
> daughters.

Sveinbjörn and Steinunn had two sons and five daughters.

> Herdís hét dóttir þeira, er átti Hallr prestr ok
> lögsögumaðr, sonr Gizurar lögsögumanns.

> Herdis was the name of one of their daughters, and Hallr
> married a priest and lawyer, a son of lawyer Gizurar's.

> Herdis was the name of a daughter, who was married to
> Hallr, ?? and law speaker, son of Gizur the law speaker.

> Their daughter was-called Herdís, whom Hallr, [the] priest
> and lawspeaker (nominative), [and] son of Gizurr [the]
> lawspeaker, married (lit: had [in marriage]).

Their daughter whom Hall, priest and lawspeaker [and] son of
Gizur the lawspeaker, married was called Herdís.

Note that the subject of <átti> is Hall, not Herdís: he has
(marries) her, not she him. It’s the same for each of them:
the man is the subject, the woman the object. A translation
a bit more in line with the ON word order might be:

A daughter of theirs was called Herdís, whom Hall, priest
and lawspeaker, son of Gizur <lögsögumaðr>, had [in
marriage].

> Helga hét önnur dóttir þeira.

> Helga was the name of another of their daughters.

> Helga was the name of their second daughter.

> Their second daughter was-called Helga.

Their second daughter called Helga.

> Hana átti Brandr Þórisson ok Helgu Jónsdóttur austan frá
> Svínafelli.

> She married Brandr, son of Thoris and Helga (daughter of
> Jon), fron the east beyond Svinafell.

> She married Brandr Thorisson, and Helga Jons daughter ??,
> east of Svinafell..

> Brandr, son of Thórir (nominative) married (lit: had [in
> marriage]) her and Helga, daughter of Jón, from-the-east
> beyond (<frá>, Z4) Svinafell (Mountain of Swine).
> (presumably not both at the same time)

Brand, son of Þóri and of Helga Jonsdóttir east of
Svínafell, married her.

Landnámabók confirms that Þóri, Brand’s father, married
Helga Jónsdóttir, and the editor of the edition that I have
says that Brand was a member of the Svínfellingar through
his mother.

> Guðrún hét in þriðja dóttir þeira.

> Gudrun was the name of their third daughter.

> Gudrun was the name of their third daughter.

> The third daughter of them was-called Guðrún.

Their third daughter was called Guðrún.

> Hana átti Sámr prestr Símonarson.

> She married priest Samr, son of Simon.

> She married Samr, the priest, son of Simon.

> Samr [the] priest, son of Símon, (nominative) married
> (lit: had [in marriage]) her.

Sám prestr [‘priest’] Símonarson married her.

> Halla hét in fjórða.

> Halla was the name of the fourth.

> Halla was the name of the fourth.

> The fourth was-called Halla.

The fourth was called Halla.

> Hana átti Þórðr Arason.

> She married Thordr, son of Ara.

> She married Thordr Ari’s son.

> Þórðr, son of Ari (nominative), married (lit: had [in
> marriage]) her. .

Þórð Arason married her.

> Birna hét in fimmta.

> Birna was the name of the fifth.

> Birna was the name of the fifth.

> The fifth was-called Birna.

The fifth was called Birna.

> Markús hét sonr Sveinbjarnar inn ellri, en Hrafn inn
> yngri.

> Markus was the name of the elder son of the Sveinbjarns,
> and Hrafn the younger.

> Markus was the name of Sveinbjorn, the elder’s son, and
> Hrafn the younger.

> The elder son (all nominative) of Sveinbjörn was called
> Markús, but (and) the younger (son) Hrafn.

The elder son of Sveinbjörn was called Markús, and the
younger, Hrafn.

<Inn ellri> is nominative, so it must go with nominative
<sonr>, not with genitive <Sveinbjarnar>.

> Markús var mikill maðr vexti ok ramr at afli.

> Markus was a man large in size and strong in body.
> (Apparently, "ramr" = "rammr"?)

> Markus was a well-grown man and strong in power.

> Markús was large man in stature and strong (presumably
> <ramr>  = <rammr>) in [physical] strength.

Markús was a man of large size and physically strong.

Both CV and de Vries show <ramr> and <rammr> as variants.

> Svá var handleggr hans digr meðal axlar ok ölnboga sem lær
> manns væri.

> So were his arms big between his shoulders (I must have
> the translation wrong here as arms aren't between
> shoulders!) and elbows a man's thigh would be.

> His arm was as thick between the shoulder and elbow as a
> man’s thigh.

> His arm was so thick between shoulder and elbow as [if]
> [it] were [the] thigh of a person (man).

His arm between shoulder and elbow [i.e., his upper arms]
was as big as a man’s thigh would be.

‘Thick’ also works fine. I can’t rule out Alan’s
interpretation of the syntax, which is arguably slightly
preferable semantically, but the other seems to me a better
fit for the syntax and doesn’t require assuming that the
subject of <væri> has been omitted.

> Hann var ungr til bókar settr ok síðan vígðr til prests.

> He was set to learn (at a) young (age) and then
> concecrated as priest. (Z. setja 11: s. e-n til bókar, to
> set one to learn)

> He was schooled to be a priest and afterwards ordained
> (Baetke) to the priesthood.

> He was put to school (lit: to books, see also <bók>, Z5)
> young and after-that ordained (<vígja til e-s>, Z2) a
> priest.

He was set young to learning and afterwards ordained a
priest.

> Á Eyri í Arnarfirði stendr steinn, sá er Markús bar
> þangat.

> At Eyri in Arn's-firth stands a stone, the one that Marku
> carred there.

> At Eryi in Arni’s firth stands a stone, that one which
> Markus brought there.

> At Eyri in Arnarfjörðr (Arni’s fjord) stands that stone
> which Markús carried thither.

At Eyr in Arnarfjörð stands a stone that Markús carried
thither.

> Í þeim steini váru klappaðir fjórir koppar.

> In that (isn't "þeim" plural?) stone were hammered four
> coppers ("pieces of copper").

> On that stone were chiseled four cup-shaped-holes(CV).

> Into that (<þeim> dative masc sg of <sá>) stone were hewn
> four cups (nom pl of <koppr>, cup-shaped holes, presumably
> as washing basins, see next line).

In that stone were hewn four cups [i.e., cup-shaped
depressions].

<Þeim> is the masc. dative singular of the distal
demonstrative pronoun (<sá>, <sú>, <þat>) as well as the
dative plural for all three genders.

> Síðan er hann hafðr til þváttsteins ok er svá höfugr, at
> varla megu fjórir karlar hefja.

> Next he used it for a washing stone, and it is so heavy
> that four men can scarcely lift it.

> Afterwards when he lifted a washing stone and is so heavy
> that scarcely four men could lift it.

> After-that it (ie the stone, masc) is used (<hafa>, Z4) as
> a washing stone, and is so heavy that four men can
> scarcely lift [it].

Afterwards it was used as a washing stone and is so heavy
that four men could hardly lift [it].

Here <hann> refers to the stone (masculine <steinn>), and
the first <er> is the verb, not the particle.

> En fyrir því at skömm eru áföll þessa heims, þá varð
> Markús eigi langlífr.

> But before becuase a shame were these visitations at home,
> then Markus was not long-lived. (???)

> But for it that shame was a judgement on this home, then
> Markus did not have a long life.

> But for that [reason] that [the] heavy-seas (<áfall>, Z1,
> ie trials and tribulations) of this world (<heimr>, Z2)
> are short (nom neut pl <skammr>), then Markús became (ie
> was) not long-lived.

According to Guðrún Helgadóttir, the editor of the 1987
edition that I have, <áföll> is incorrect, and the mss. and
other comparative evidence actually support <óf ǫll>. She
says:

The word <óf> has been taken to be a contraction of
<óhóf>, ‘immoderation, excess’, but is probably better
regarded as a lengthened, stressed form of <of>, n.
‘excess, immensity’ (cf. Fritzner, s.v.). A related form
of the adage is in _Málsháttakvæði_, 15/5 (perhaps by
Bishop Bjarni Kolbeinsson, cf. 2/36 n.): <skammæ þykkja
ófin ǫll>. The origin of the saying has been traced to
Martial, Epigrams, lib. vi, 29. 7: <immodicis brevis est
aetas et rara senectus>; see Hermann Pálsson, _Úr
hugmyndaheimi Hrafnkels sögu og Grettis sögu_, pp. 18-23.
In _Hrafns saga_ it is to be understood in the light of
the notion reflected by Martial in his poem: that the
young who are preternaturally endowed in some way (with
physique and strength in the case of Markús
Sveinbjarnarson) do not live long — often, it was thought,
becaue of the envy of the gods. Cf. also 13/28-30. On
this interpretation see P. Foote, ‘<Skǫmm er óhófs ævi>.
On Glaucia, Hrafkell and others’.

It would then be something like this:

But because (<fyrir því at) all excesses [of talent or other
endowment] of this world are short, Markús was not
long-lived.

Alan’s would then most likely be the proper interpretation
of the version that we actually have in front of us.

> Hann fór einn vetr ór Arnarfirði um heiði til
> Tálknafjarðar ok þeir fjórir saman.

> He travelled one winter out of Anarfirth across a heath to
> Talknafjard, and the four together.

> He went one winter out of Arni’s firth over the moor to
> Talknafirth and together with three (others).

> He journeyed one winter out-of Anarfjörðr (Arni’s fjord)
> across [the] heath to Tálknafjörðr (Fjord of whale-bones),
> and they [were] four together.

One winter he travelled from Arnarfjörð across the heath to
Tálknafjörð [‘whalebone fjord’], and they [were] four
together.

> Ok á heiðinni gerði at þeim vánt veðr, svá at þeir fóru
> villt.

> And at the heath they got some bad weather, so that they
> went astray.

> And on the moor bad weather happened to them so that they
> went astray.

> And on the heath [the] weather became bad for them (lit:
> either (1) [the] weather (nom neut sg) acted (<göra>, Z6)
> bad for them or (2) an impersonal construction {common
> when wind or weather is involved}, [it] made (<göra>, Z1,
> Z12) [the] weather (neut acc sg) bad for them – not sure
> which but probably the latter), so that they went astray
> (lit: journeyed wildly, erringly).

And on the heath bad weather struck them, so that they went
astray.

> Ok er minnstar vánir váru, þá brast undir þeim einn
> hengiskafl, ok í þessi skriðu týndist Markús prestr ok
> annarr maðr með honum, en sá komst í brott heill ór
> skriðunni, er óknástr var.

> And when it was less bad (plural in OI), then failed under
> them a certain jutting heap of snow broke under then, and
> in this forward movement the priest Markus and another man
> with him perished, and so escaped sound out of the jutting
> heap of snow, which was the weakest.

> And when it was least expected, then a jutting heap of
> snow broke under them, and Markus priest perished in this
> avalanche and another man with him and that one came away
> safe out of the avalanche who was the weakest.

> And when [their] prospects (ie of finding their way)
> (<ván>, Z1) were least (ie at their lowest) (or, maybe,
> when they least expected a snow drift, as per Grace’s
> translation), then a certain over-hanging-steep-snow-drift
> broke under them, and in this avalanche (<skriða>) Markús
> [the] priest perished and another person (man) with him,
> but that-one (ie he, <sá>) who was weakest (<ú-knár>)
> made-his-way away hale (ie safe and sound) out-of
> the-avalanche.

And when it was least expected [‘when there were least
expectations’], a certain jutting heap of snow broke under
them, and in this avalanche perished Markús the priest and
another man with him, but he who was weakest came away whole
from the avalanche.

I found another instance of the opening clause that supports
this interpretation. At one point in _Fóstbrœðra saga_
Þorgeir and Þóri are exchanging somewhat heated words, and
then:

Ok er minnstar vánir váru, leggr Þorgeirr spjótinu til
Þóris.

> Sá hét Árni, ok Húnþjófr hét annarr maðr, er á brott
> komst.

> One was named Arni, and Hunthjorf was named the other man,
> who escaped.

> That one was named Arni and Hunthjolf was the name of
> another who escaped.

> That -one (ie he) was-called Árni, and [the] other person
> (man) who made-his-way away was-called Húnþjófr.

He [‘That one’] was called Árni, and another man who got
away was called Húnþjóf.

> Þessi atburðr varð þar, sem heitir Feitsdalr.

> This accident was there, where it is called Feitsdale.

> This event happened there where it is known as Feits dale.

> This event (or accident, <atburðr>, Z3), happened there,
> where [it] is-called Feitsdalr (Dale of fat?).

This event occurred at the place called Feitsdal.

Feitsdalr is now Feigsdalur. The form of the name suggests
that the valley was named after someone whose byname was
<feitr> ‘fat’; the weak form <feiti> is attested as a
byname.

Brian