> Loftr kom eftir jólin vestr á Mýrar í Dýrafjörð at ráði
> Sighvats Sturlusonar ok Eyjólfs Þorsteinssonar.

> Loftr came later at Yule west to Myrar in Dyrafiord at the
> advice of Sighvat Sturluson and Eyjolf Thorsteinson.

> Loptr came after the-Yule west to Mýrar to Dýrafjörðr
> according to (ie on) [the] advice of Sighvatr Sturla’s-son
> and Eyjólfr Þorsteinn’s-son.

After Yule [‘the Yule’] Lopt came west to Mýrar in Dýrafjörð
on the advice of Sighvat Sturluson and Eyjólf Þorsteinsson.

> Ok er Þorvaldr frá, at Loftr var kominn á Mýrar, safnaði
> hann liði ok fór á Mýrar með fjölmenni.

> And when Thorvaldr heard that Loftr had come to Myrar, the
> gathered a body of men and went to Myrar with many people.

> And when Þorvaldr heard that Loptr was (had) come to
> Mýrar, he gathered troops and journeyed to Mýrar with
> many-people.

And when Þorvald heard that Lopt had come to Mýrar, he
gathered troops and travelled to Mýrar with many people.

> Til þeirar farar spurðu vinir Lofts, ok söfnuðu þeir liði
> ok kómu á Mýrar, þá er Þorvaldr var kominn þar, ok leituðu
> um sáttir á milli þeira Þorvalds ok Lofts.

> Loft's friends found out about their journey, and they
> gathered a body of men and arrived at Myrar when Thorvaldr
> had come there, and they tried to effect peace between
> Thorvaldr and Loftr.

> [The] friends of Loptr heard-tiding of that (<þeirar> not
> <þeira>) journey, and they gathered troops and came to
> Mýrar, when Þorvaldr was (had) come there, and tried to
> get agreements between them, Þorvaldr and Loptr.

Lopt’s friends got wind of that journey, and they gathered
troops and came to Mýrar when Þorvald had come there and
tried to effect reconciliation [‘reconciliations’] between
Þorvald and Lopt.

> Ok fyrir því at Þorvaldr sá, at Loftr hafði þar fleiri
> fulltingsmenn, þá sættist hann við Loft ok fór í brott
> síðan.

> And previously because Thorvaldr saw that Loftr had there
> several helpers, then he came to terms with Loftr and then
> went away.

> And for that that (ie because) Þorvaldr saw, that Loptr
> had there more supporters, then he came-to-terms with
> Loptr and journeyed away after-that.

And because Þorvald saw that Lopt had more helpers there, he
came to terms with Lopt and travelled away afterwards.

> Ok er hann var í brott, treystist Loftr eigi at vera á
> Mýrum, því at honum þótti einskis örvænt fyrir Þorvaldi um
> tiltektir.

> And when he was away, Loftr didn't dare to stay at Myrar,
> because it seemed to him anything might be expected from
> Thorvaldr concerning his doings.

> And when he was away, Loptr dared not to be (ie stay) in
> Mýrar, because [it] seemed to him beyond expectation of
> nothing for Þorvaldr concerning what-[he]-undertakes-to-do
> (ie Þorvaldr was thought capable of anything, anything
> might be expected of him)

And when he was away, Lopt did not dare to stay at Mýrar,
because he thought anything possible [‘nothing beyond
expectation’] for Þorvald concerning [his] doings.

> Loftr fór þá til Hrafns á Eyri ok bað, at hann skyldi taka
> við honum, kvað Sighvat hafa sent honum orð til ásjá við
> sik, en í þann tíð var Sighvatr mikill vinr Hrafns.

> Loftr then went to Hrafn at Eyr and asked that he should
> receive him, said Sigvat has sent him word of aid with
> himself, and in that time Sighvatr was a great friend of
> Hrafn's.

> Loptr journeyed then to Hrafn at Eyrr, and asked, that he
> should receive him, declared Sighvatr to have sent him (ie
> Hrafn) word (ie a message) in respect of help towards
> himself (Loptr) (ie advocating Hrafn´s support for Loptr),
> but (and) at that time Sighvatr was a great friend of
> Hrafn.

Lopt then travelled to Hrafn’s [place] at Eyrr and asked
that he should take him in [and] said that Sighvat had sent
him [= Hrafn] a message in support of him [= Lopt], and at
that time Sighvat was a great friend of Hrafn’s.

> Nú fyrir því at Hrafni var leitt at kveða nei við þeim, er
> hans þurftu, þá varð þat, at hann tók við Lofti.

> Now previously because to Hrafn was disliked to reply to
> to them, when they stood in need of him, then it was that,
> that he received Loftr.

> Now for that that (ie because) [it] was disliked by Hrafn
> (ie Hrafn disliked, <leiðr>) to say no to those, who
> stood-in-need of him, then that came-to-pass, that he
> received Loptr.

Now because Hrafn was loath to answer ‘no’ to those who
needed him, it then came to pass that he received Lopt.

> Um þat sannar Guðbrandr:

> Concerning that Gudmandr asserts:

> About that Guðbrandr affirms:

Concerning that Guðbrand asserts:

> Betr vill ægis otra
> oft, tók Hrafn við Lofti,
> raun sannar þat, rennir
> rausngjarn hafa en aðrir.

> Better will the sea (otra?)
> often, Hrafn received Loftr,
> a true trial that, you would prevent
> has ambitious than others.

> better wants, of [the] sea of otters
> often, Hrafn received Loptr.
> Experience proves that, [the] runner (<rennir> Lex Poet)
> ambitious to have (win  <hafa>, Z8))  than others

GPH and Finnur Jónsson give the first word of the last line
as <rausngjarn>, emended from ms. forms like <rausgiarn> and
<raus giarn>; so far I’ve not found any ms. authority for
<ráðgjarn>, so I’ve made the substitution. She glosses it
‘munificent’, at least in this context; the Lex. Poet. makes
it more or less ‘eager to display one’s magnificence and
power’. Baetke has ‘generosity’ as one sense of <rausn>, so
GPH’s interpretation seems both possible and in keeping with
the event.

I see no way to translate this that even comes close to
preserving individual lines, let alone in the given order,
so I’m going to skip to the emended B version.

The B Version:

> Rausngjarn ægis otra rennir vill oft hafa betr en aðrir.

Munificent setter in motion of sea’s otters often wants to
do better than others.

<Rennir> appears to be an agent noun from the weak verb
<renna> ‘to set in motion’. The sea’s otters are ships, and
one who sets them in motion is a seafarer, here Hrafn.
<Hafa> here is Z10 ‘behave, do better’, combining with <betr
... en aðrir>.

> Raun sannar þat.

Experience proves that.

> Hrafn tók við Lofti.

Hrafn took in Lopt.

The original B Version with Alan’s translation:

> Ráðgjarn ægis otra rennir vill oft hafa betr en aðrir.
> Raun sannar þat. Hrafn tók við Lofti.

> [The] ambitious seafarer (lit: runner of the sea of
> otters, <rennir ægis otra>, (Lex. Poet.) wants often to
> win better (ie succeed more, <hafa betr>, Z8) than others.
> Experience proves that. Hrafn received Loptr.

If you take <rennir> to be ‘runner’, <rennir ægis otra> is
‘runner of the otters of the sea’: <ægis> is genitive.

And Version C with Alan’s translation:

> Hinn heilráði sæfari vill oft koma betur fram en aðrir.
> Reynslan sannar það. Hrafn tók við Lofti.

> The wise-counselling sea-farer will often come forward
> (emerge, succeed) better than others. The-experience
> proves that. Hrafn received Loptr.

<Koma fram> is ‘appear, perform’: I’m pretty sure that the
intended sense is that he wants to make a better showing
than others by acting in a better fashion.

I don’t understand why <heilráður> ‘giving good advice’ was
chosen as a modern substitute for <ráðgjarn> ‘ambitious,
imperious’. The latter seems to derive from the sense
‘control, authority’ of <ráð>; perhaps there was another
sense, not mentioned in CV, Z, or Baetke, derived from
‘advice’, though that would seem to me to require an unusual
interpretation of <-gjarn>.

> Ok er Þorvaldr frá, at Hrafn hafði tekit við Lofti, þá
> mislíkaði honum við Hrafn sín tiltekja fyrir óþykktar
> sakir þeirar, er milli þeira Lofts váru.

> And when Thorvaldr heard that Hrafn had received Loftr,
> then he was himself displeased with Hrafn('s) misdoings
> for the sake of their discord, which was between Loftr and
> others.

> And when Þorvaldr heard, that Hrafn had received Loptr,
> then his (? See note below) actions displeased him towards
> Hrafn (ie Hrafn´s interference displeased him) for [the]
> causes of that discord which were (ie existed, agrees with
> <sakir>) between them, Loptr (and himself).

> Note: <sín tiltekja> has me stumped: <tiltekja> can only
> be nom fem sg and <sín> would, following the usual
> declining of possessive pronouns, theoretically be the nom
> fem sg of the reflexive possessive pronoun <sinn>, and
> thus agree with <tiltekja>, except that reflexive pronouns
> shouldn´t have a nominative form.

And when Þorvald learned that Hrafn had taken in Lopt, his
[= Hrafn’s] actions displeased him with Hrafn on account of
the ill will that was between Lopt and him.

The possessive reflexive pronoun does have a nominative
case: see CV s.v. <sinn>. It doesn’t always refer to the
subject of the sentence, so it isn’t always reflexive in the
strict sense.

> Eftir þat sendi Þorvaldr Hrafni orð, at hann skyldi koma
> til fundar við hann í Dýrafirði á þann bæ, er á Granda
> hét.

> After that Thorvaldr sent Hfran word that he should come
> to a meeting with him in Dyrafirth at the farm which was
> called "to Granda."

> After that Þorvald sent Hrafn word (a message), that he
> should come to a meeting with him in Dýrafjörðr at that
> farm, which was-called at Grandi.

After that Þorvald sent Hrafn word that he should come to a
meeting with him in Dýrafjörð at the farm that was called
‘at Grandi’ [‘isthmus; strip of beach above the water at ebb
tides, or on the edge of the snow’].

> Þangat kom Hrafn við inn þriðja mann fyrr en Þorvaldr ok
> beið hans inni.

> Hrafn came to that place with two men before Thorvaldr
> also asked him indoors.

> Thither came Hrafn with the third man (ie with two others)
> before Þorvaldr, and (Hrafn) waited for (<bíða>) him
> in-doors.

Hrafn got there with two men before Þorvald and waited for
him indoors.

> Ok er Þorvaldr kom, við marga menn, þá sendi hann orð
> Hrafni, at hann skyldi út ganga.

> And when Thorvaldr arrived with many men, then he sent
> Hrafn word that he should go out (of the area).

> And when Þorvaldr came, with many persons (men), then he
> sent word to Hrafn, that he should go (step) outside.

And when Þorvald arrived, with many men, he sent Hrafn word
that he should step outside.

> Þá gekk Hrafn út ok hans förunautar, Tómas Þórarinsson ok
> Sturla Bárðarson.

> Then Hrafn and his companions, Tomas Thorarinson and
> Sturla Bardarson, went out (of the area).

> Then Hrafn went (stepped) outside and his
> travelling-companions, Tómas Þórarinn’s-son and Sturla
> Bárðr’s-son.

Then Hrafn stepped outside with [‘and’] his companions,
Tómas Þórarinsson and Sturla Bárðarson.

Brian