McKay's Modern Dictionary defines 'oldermann' as 'master of a corporation' and 'losoldermann' as 'master-pilot'. So master in this context seems best, or at least better than 'elder'. (Sorry. As a newbie I'm not sure if this explanation belongs in the discussion block or in the explanation block so I'm doing both.) I'll go through this chapter and change or add this translation to other occurrences of 'oldermannen'.