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(Key, 2s)
AN
ELEMENTARY GRAMMAR
OF THE
OLD NORSE OR
ICELANDIC LANGUAGE.
BY THE
REV.
GEORGE BAYLDON.
HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON; 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH.
1870.
PREFACE.
i he
will
bestow upon
in
and
language
which
this
it
is
embodied
,
little
work.
With
view
have aimed
and precision
avoiding
all
those
particularly by him who possesses the advantage of an acquaintance with some of its cognate branches. Wherever rules are laid down,
will be easily
comprehended
as to
them
and
the right
meaning
earliest
The
furnish
exhaustless
The
IV
ried
into that
Preface.
island
discovery
knowledge of
it
Many
of the skalds
and as
whom
Roman
was committed
ments
firming
to
to writing.
The value
of
some
,
of these docu-
English
histor}' is considerable
darkest
period
society
in
Roman
,
the Jutes
Saxons
and Angles
who
occupied re-
spectively Jutland in
Denmark, the
district
and Anglen
,
Duchy
tain,
of Slesvik
nization
The language which resulted from this blended colomarked however by strong dialectic variations is
,
,
first
intro-
duced by Asser
The resemblance
is strik-
between
it
be expected,
letter
common
to
both
allied
unknown
to
most of the
The
article,
declinable in
having different
,
and
for the
Preface.
singular and plural
of the first
v
.
numbers
besides which
,
the pronoun
or form exclu-
number two.
the
two forms of
is
inflection
a
used without
determinative
four
moods
,
the
indicative
sub,
junctive
the
original character of a
demon-
pronoun.
Furthermore
Icelandic
from
its
close relationship to
for the
Anglo-Saxon,
illustrafion
furnishes
but
says
Marsh
the
in his Lectures
guage
" that
g^eat
value
of Icelandic
become known
to the other
flexibility of the
language which
a thorough
want of
knowledge
writers
,
in
English
and American
of
grammatical
attainment'
more
frequently
than
any other
Avhatever".
The
wegians
,
piratical
by
whom
,
shores of Britain
Norman Conquest.
superstitions
,
Along with
their peculiar
which have
left their
impress up
VI
to the
Preface.
present time chiefly on the northern dialects of the
English peasantry.
Many
Scan-
The
num-
ProTincialisms.
VIII
Preface.
in
it
some proficiency
his
mother- tongue.
or induce the
student to enter a comparatively unexplored region of interesting lore, the author will have gained his principal aim.
INDEX.
PAKT
ORTHOGRAPHY
I.
I.
Page
1
4
9
10
PART
ETYMOLOGY
The Article H. The Noun
I.
II.
13
13
U
15
2nd
18
3rd
4th
5th 6th
20
22 23
26
27
7th 8th
28
31
Article
III.
Anomalous Nouns Declension of Nouns with the Inflection of Proper Nouns Of the Adjective
Comparison of Adjectives
35
36
39
45 48 48
54
IV.
X
VI. Verbs
Index.
Pagi?
58
1st Class.
"
First Conjugation
62
64 65 66 68
Second
Third
do do
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
do do do
do.
69
Seventh
70
71
2nd
Class. First
do
Second
do
73 74
Passive Voice
Reflective
75
76
Particles
VII. Uninflected
Anomalous Words.
80
80
81
VIII. Adverbs
IX. Prepositions
X. Conjunctions
XI. Interjections
XII. Formation of
81
82
Words
82
Xm.
Prefixes
83 85
86
PART
SYNTAX
I.
III.
90
Of Nouns,
Adjectives,
and Pronouns
90
97
II.
On
Of
m. On
IV.
100
107
PART
I.
IV.
108 109
Ill
PROSODY
Alliteration
n.
m.
IV.
V.
Assonances
Rhyme
Of the
different kinds of Verse
Ill
112
ERRATA.
Page 5 9
Line
.
11,
for Is read
19 27 28 35 38
.29, .12,
.
22,
10, 17,
19,
7,
44 49 50
53 55 55 56 61 63 64 68 68 68 70 77 89
Ice.
there
r.
these.
Sv6r5
s^<;orrf r.
Sv6r9r stoarJ.
flar r. ttoer.
h'tinn.
/.
.37,
.
okkaru
varu
r.
okkarn.
r.
9,
varn.
n6kkur-u
11 r. 13.
nokkur-n.
30, 11,
15,
fovtymen tuttugast
embuinn
frysum
r. r.
forty men.
r.
em
tuttugasti. buinn.
5, --
.35,
. .
hoggvin
rikr
r.
r.
hoggvinn.
t^raSr r. |)ra8r.
rikr.
98
101 101 113
8,-89 .31, in
. .
.
32, 24,
12,
iss r. fss.
.
no.
PART
I.
ORTHOGRAPHY.
CHAPTER
The
a,
r,
I.
b,
8,
c,
t,
6,
V,
e,
f,
g,
z,
h, >,
i,
j,
re.
k,
1,
m,
n,
o,
oe,
p,
q,
u,
X,
y,
5,
The vowels
are
o,
i,
a,
ae,
e,
i,
o,
ce,
u,
y.
Of
these,
a, e,
o, u,
i,
o,
u,
y,
6;
e,
1,
6,
u, y,
ae.
a a
is
pronounced
oa in broad; or a in ivaiin.
i
o
ae
mn.
)i
e b
i
i
in
bill.
ee in bee.
o 6
03
in not.
o in fore, or rather broader.
a in paper.
iew in
vietv.
\
English-Icelandic
Gramm.
1.
Okthogeaphy.
u
y y
a,
d,
i,
is
in pill,
ee in peel.
o,
oe,
6,
u,
y,
\i,
ae,
e,
fe,
y,
soft.
This
fat,
letter
when
Like oa
Like
i
(English
a).
in broad,
or a in
warm.
It
In answers to the Danish aa and the Swedish a. words where d follows v (for instance, vapn weapon, var spring, van hope) the Icelanders often use o.
Ex., Orn eagle. vowel change of a which belongs to that class of vowels capable of being softened It or modified by a change of their original sounds. is the Danish short o, and Swedish fi, and sounds much It was introduced at a comas the French eu in peic. paratively late period into the Old Norse uli)habet the diphthong ati being written for it in ancient manuor u in girdle,
first,
murder, stm.
This
scripts.
jSJ
I. Ex., xii li/etitne. Its sound might be represented by the letters aj which the IceIn Norlanders would pronounce like the German ei. it as in modern Danish way on the other hand In the ancient writings sounds like our a in paper. both modes alternate the former however has most In most and it is perhaps the oldest. in its favour
,
cases
ee is
E
fe
Like
Like
e in met.
Ex., elska
Ex., mfcr
to love.
e in there.
to
This letter is often me. Besides determining the this accent serves to pre-
1.
many words.
For
and
vel guile.
placed,
(v.),
(modern;
lek leaks
|
hn/ell
fletta
The
I
used ea;
g.
i
nea
hill.
instead of e
sometimes
e.
Like
in
With
,
this letter e is
especially in the
endings of words, as, lande for landi landmmn, misser The vowel y is frequently used instead of i, e. g., mykill for mikill much or great; but this variation occurs chiefly in the definite form (hinn
mykli the great) Like ee in bee. Ex., visa song. In the noun-termination i which has the genitive inya, and therefore stands instead of ji, this vowel is pronounced by the modern Icelanders like yee; e. g. vili, pronounced vilji (vilyee). Sometimes the termination of a proper noun in -in, when it takes the place of -yn, is pronounced like yin, e. g., SkoSin like Sk58yin, T06in like TOSyin. Like o in not, when short. Ex., hopp hop, leap. When long and unaccented somewhat like 00 in pool. Ex.
,
This vowel takes a deep sound fore. Ex., r6 paper. Ex., oexl [CE Like a
in
rest.
in.
hola cave.
increase.
frequently be-
comes a vowel-change of
.]
U Y
Ex., kul airing. Its pronunciation ieiv in view. resembles that of the French u in du, and the German O is often used for u, but mostly in the il in Hilte. endings of words, e. g., hferSS for heruS district. Like 00 in rood. Ex., h\is house. Formerly u and v were interchangeable letters as in English but they are now used separately. \j\ke i in pill. Ex., lyng ling, heath. In consequence of its sound it alternates with i in many instances. It is related in pronunciation to y, as t is to i. The most
;
Like
constantly
make
a distinction
1*
4
between y and
, or
I.
Orthography.
Y is in most cases only a modified y. more rarely o. In certain words, principally particles, y and / are interchanged; for instance, I'yrir and
for, yfir
firir
and
ifir
over.
Like
ee in peel.
changes
6, li, y,
as a species of diphthong,
Agreeably
eye.
au
is
pronounced
like oy in hoy.
Ex., auga
having a broader sound than our word eye. It is pronounced much in the same way as the pronoun 1 in several of our provincial
eu,
German
dialects
in the North
It is
still
The
obtains in Norway,
ei
is
is &i.
,
pronounced very close rather like never as the German ei in Stein, Bein.
ei is
ei
in weight;
but
In Old Swedish
sounded
like
e.
CHAPTER
The consonants
b, c, d, t,
f,
II.
CONSONANTS.
are
1,
g, h, j, k,
m,
n, p, q,
r,
b,
t,
p, v, x, z.
They
als,
are pronounced,
gutturUnguals, and labials. Some are distinguished by the name of liquids, because and flow into they readily unite with the mute consonants their sounds.
throat, tongue,
lips, into
,
the
by which they
and
The following
is
their classification
j.
]>,
Gutturals: g, k,
Linguals
Labials
:
d,
b,
1,
t,
f,
C,
s.
p,
v.
r.
Liquids:
m,
n,
The
letters
c,
fj,
x,
2.
Consonants.
The
not belong to any of the articulating organs in particular. The consonants c, s, z are also called sibilants, from the hissing nature of their sounds.
B C
pronounced as in English. often found in the oldest manuscripts as in AngloSaxon instead of h, and is therefore sounded like that letter. There is no instance in which k may not be used
is is
, ,
in its place.
is
pronounced as in English.
(called in Islandic
, 6
never occurs
efi) has a strongly rolling sound, and beginning of words. It is an aspirated or weak c? or dh, and always sounds soft, as th in thus, bathe. Ex., gjorSi did. It is never doubled, but is changed
at the
beginning of a syllable and before s as oisi arrogance : at the end of a word it is pronounced like hard v, e.g., haf sea, when it is often written v, which is likewise the case in the Faroese language stevni, stevndi, stevnt. It has also the hard sound before r (ur) as hafr he-goat, and between all vowels in the middle of a word, e. g. hafa to have. Before I, n, 6, t, at the end of a syllable this sound of v passes over to b ox bb ; e.g., afl (pron. abl.) strength, nafn (nabbn) name. If another consonant, especially d or t, follow after fn, the sound becomes mn; e. g., nefna to name, is pronounced nabbna, but nefndi named, like nSmndi, and nefnt named (past part.) as namnt. This pronunciation is general when d follows but if the succeeding consonant be t or s, it is often sounded as fFt, fFs, e. g., jafnt, til jafns (jafft, jaffs). Where/ is to be pronounced hard in the middle of a word, it is doubled, e. g., offra to offer, in distinction from ofra to swing, which is read ovra.
is
sounded
in English
is
sounded
e,
i,
as in
y,
English before
ce,
a,
before
ce,
6,
ey,
ei,
Danish gj, or English gu in guard, with a slight aftersound oi J; as, gefa to give, gaefi might give, geir spear. If a vowel go before and a soft one or j come after it sounds like g consonant, e.g., bogi a bow, agi chastisement,
,
iaegja to
smooth,
boyi,
ayi.
6
faiya
,
I.
Orthography.
vowel
ten gh,
it
At the end of syllables after a long was aspirated in former times, and therefore writas logh law, vegh weigh. Its sound must thus have
boayindi)
.
it is
Norwegian pronunciation,
;
g.,
drag,
pronounced dra, dug, da. If another consonant follow gn, especially d or t, the sound becomes ngti for instance, lygna to grow calm, is heard nearly like liggna, but the imperfect lygndi is pronounced lingndi or lingdi, and lygnt like lingnt or lingt but should s follow the sound resembles ggs\ e. g., til gagns (gaggs) for gain.
;
H is always aspirated
fore y, V, I, n, r; e. g., hjarta heart, hverfa to turn, hla8a It is occasionally interto load, hnQttr. bowl , hringr nny.
e.
g., knifr
and hnifr
kjnye,
and
only
sounded
like the
German y
i,
or
oury consonant.
It is
and should therefore be entirely rejected in most cases, and supplanted by it. In old manuscripts, moreover, we find e where y is now used; e. g.,
a short or consonantal
earl
jarl earl,
sedlfr
sjdlf
sel/'.
before a consonant is pronounced at the end of a syllable and the vowels a, o and u, as in English. It is also generally written for ch, e. g., kristr, kor, and is often used instead of ^,- e. g., kvikr living. It is likewise doubled in and hj place of ck; e. g., plokka or plocka to phick. before e, i, y, ce, ce, 6, ey, ei are sounded soft like the Danish kj with a slight after-sound o{ j resembling c in the English words care, cure. It is never pronounced like ch in church, which is the case with the Swedish soft k. In the plural of substantives in andl derived from verbs in ga or ka (without^"), g or k preceding e has its hard sound; e. from eiga to otvn comes cigandi owner, ])lural eigendr g.
,
(pronounced
eigftndr)
elskandi
lover,
nounced
elskJlndr).
scare before a, o, u,
L.as a single
it
letter, is
When
double,
])ronounced by the Icelanders and West Norwegians, as well as by the Faroose, like dl: e. y.. knlla pronounced
is
kadla)
to
call;
consequently
it
is
sonutimcs
interc
hanged
2.
Consonants.
with dl;
midst.
e.
g.,
But
in cases
miS in the where d, t, or s follows, e. g., felldi o/" all, and also in compound words and
/
derivatives
g.,
where each
e.
Hal-land Holland, mikil-latr highminded, II is sounded as in English. Rl has a rolling sound much like that of the hard II heard almost as rdl e. g., jarl earl. In certain districts of South Norway, especially West Tellemarken and Saetersdal, II is pronounced like dd; gull (properly gudl) gold, in Saetersdal gudd. e. g., In many parts of Norway I is not heard before a mute consonant with a long vowel before it; e. g., kdlf (pronounced kaav) calf, lilf (liv) wolf, folk (fok) folk. This pronunciation prevails in Tellemarken and Saetersdal.
til-lag contribution,
,
M
N,
sounds as
single,
in English.
:
sounds as in English double, it is pronounced after a, c, i, ei, 6, ti, ce and oe as dn; e. g., steinn (steidn) But if nn belong to the following syllable or if a stone. simple vowel precede it, the sound is the same as in English ey-nni to the island, kanna e. g., d-nni to the river, to examine, brenna to burn. Rn has a rolling sound, somewhat like rdn making the antecedent vowel very hard and sharp e. g., horn (hordn) horn.
. ;
eftir)
Before t like f; e. g., eptir (pronounced consequently ft has been latterly much used in place of pt. In many districts of Norway and in the Faroe p is entirely assimilated with the succeeding t,
after
:
,
as in English.
where
eptir
is
is
of genuine
No word
beginning with
Q
R
be met with in its ordinary place before v and used with k, but in the Old Norse alphabet it is a superfluous letter.
is to
,
to alternate
mostly sounded as in English. For its pronunciation / and n see remarks \inder those letters. answers to three forms in the ancient language; namely, to r pure, to s, which is also found written in the oldest manuscripts, and occurs in the Gothic: e. g., vesa or vera to be (AngloSaxon wesan) heysa or heyra to hear , meisi or meiri more, and lastly, in the beginning of words, to vr e. g., rita to torite , originally vrita, reiSi icraih, formerly vreiSi,
is
before
8
rangr icrong
,
I.
Orthography.
anciently vrangr. These forms occur in Old but have disappeared in Norsk where on the other hand, we sometimes find in r a fixed sound of v signified by added, rueiSi for reiSi, ruangr for rangr. This form of V has again appeared in the written tongue and
Swedish
partly in the
modern pronunciation.
,
When
the r alone
forms a kind of syllable by itself, e. g., in most nominaendings in the masculine in genitives singular and nominatives and accusatives plural in the feminine, and in the second and third ]3ersons singular in the present indiit is pronounced by cative of the irregular conjugations the Icelanders and Faroese as ur , e. g., ma6ur for ma6r, merkur for merkr. In former times stendur for stendr in Norway, it seems to have been sounded arbitrarily goSer mostly er : hence we often find written maSer and also as ar (maSar, konungar) S has always the hard sound of ss in miss. It interchanges with Is in some words, as gisl gils, beisl beils. T as in English. Tns is pronounced at the end of words likes. as 6 is an (called in Icelandic Thorn] is an aspirated t [th] ]? It is pronounced like the Greek &, and aspirated d [dh] the English t/i in think, e.g., Jjeinkja to think, except in pronouns or particles which are attracted like enclitics to the foregoing word; e. g., i aefi ]?inni in thy dags, er|?'at (for Jjij at), where it has the sound of S, dependent, however on the preceding, letter. This consonant is only and is consequently found at the beginning of a word never doubled. V sounds as in English. It is partly a consonantal u, and bears the same relation to this vowel as y to i; partly an independent consonant which is to be regarded as a softening of / occurring in cognate words either in the lanThis diflerence, guage itself, or in the other dialects. which is etymologically important, does not concern the
tive
,
,
pronunciation.
X
Z
as in English.
is to be mostly regarded as an etymological sign which sometimes rejjresents st, ds or ts; thus we find both beraz and berant, ccbiitr and oeztr, besir and beztr, kvafist, kvazt and kvaz. Properly, it is only used instead of fm and ts, and is then always sounded like .v.
3.
Accentuation.
CHAPTER m.
ACCENTUATION.
In a word of more than one syllable , a greater stress is and in naturally placed on one syllable than on another a combination of words, one word is pronounced with greater
,
words hestar, Ijtiga, and Gnd are uttered with greater In the sentences hann force than those which follow them. stokk yfir garSinn he sprang over the fence; eg talaSi leingi a greater stress is laid vi6 hann / talked a long time ivith him on the words gartitin, leingi, than on those with which they are connected. This is called the grammatical accent: but In the latter empJmsis is essentially different from accent. case the speaker lays stress on some particular word or sylbut which, lable which in itself may be of less importance Take the for certain reasons, he wishes to render emphatic. eg examples cited above: hann st5kk &c., he sprang, &c. talaSi, &c., /spoke, &c. The first syllable always takes the chief tone whether the words be long or short, compound or simple. In dissyllabic words the final syllable is consequently short, e. g., brenna
force than another.
For
instance, in the
ijndvegi,
the syllables
hest, Ijug
In trisyllabics the penultimate has a. stronger tone to burn. than the last; e. g., kallaSi called, felagi fellow. But when
the
labic
last
,
member
of a
compound
or derivative
is
monosylPolysyle.
e.g.,
labic
g.,
g., amoti against, dmilli between, form an exception to the rule that the chief tone always rests on the first syllable but there are properly only compounds of two words which are better
Some
prepositions,
e.
to
gegnum
consequently,
compounds
meSalauki
g.,
motganga
enmity,
or ur final
er
is
sound of ur or
e.
regarded as a short syllable which is It has a faint g., maSr man, g66r good.
10
I.
Orthography.
,
Words of foreign origin of which few however have been adopted into the Old Norse as a rule are pronounced and accented according to the sound and tone peculiar to them in their native tongues; e. g., pistill from epistoh , postuli
,
apostulus.
e.
g.,
tempra temspitali,
is
often rejected;
vowel before a simple consonant becomes somewhat lengthened, whether the consonant be hard or soft, as: ek or
eg, set, las. When the short sound is expressed, the consonant is doubled, as: egg, sett, hlass. Vowels are sounded short when a consonant is added, as lOgSum a short one. l5g has a long ketja kef e
vil
i
vildi
All consonants which follow a vowel belong to the syllable mold-igr, skip-in-u. Hence the containing it, as: ask-a words are rendered short at the end of a line in poetry. / and V, which belong to the vowel following them form exceptions, as: spyr-jum, d5gg-va. The letter r is mostly read
,
,
with the next vowel, as ham-rar hammers. Proper names, as SigurSr, Noregr, were always written with capital letters but gu8 God, djOfull devil, konungr king. jarl earl, and such like, with small initials.
:
;
CHAPTER
,
lY.
VOWEL -CHANGE.
Besides the proper endings a change of vowel within itself frequently takes ])lace, corresponding with the German umlaut and this modification of vowels constitutes an important element in the declension and derivation of words. Compare
the word
,
Ant(lo-Saxon.
English.
sing.
f6t
plur.
Ui
foot feet
Icelandic.
fotr
foetr.
,
,
The vowels are divided into two classes namely the A-class which contains a, a, e, i, d, a, ei (and/o, jd, ja,j(i.
: : :
4.
Vowel-Change.
o,
11
u,
e,
t)
y,
6,
u, y,
au,
ey {and JO,
A
1
is
ff
changed
in the chief syllable before endings in u, as
:
into
saga,
s6gu;
in the chief syllable of
polysyllables,
the others
taking
as
u, as
bakari,
bSkurum
in neutr. plur. of
:
haf, hOf
glaS, gl56
hagr, h8g.
1
and
r,
as
taka, tek.
drap, drapum.
4. into
u in the imp. 1st pers. plur. of verbs in the ist conj., as: braun, brunnum.
is
E
1.
changed
the 1st and
2nd
conj.,
as:
bell, ball.
2. into
3. into
i,
{,
4. into a in the
as: vir3a from ver8. monosyl. imp. 1st pers. sing, of verbs in 1st
5. into 6
in the
and 2nd conj., as: bregS, bra; fregn, fra. monosyl. imp. 1st pers. sing, of verbs in 3rd
as:
conj.,
I
is
dreg, dro.
changed
1st pers. sing, of verbs in the
as:
:
finn, fann.
is
changed
1. into e in
2nd
pum, drepinn;
2. into o in the past part, of verbs in the 1st conj.,
as: sta-
3. into ae
and
r,
)?raBt5ir.
. .
: : :
12
I.
Orthography.
O
1
is
changed
which contain a , as
sakar
saka
from sok
2. into e
/and
as:
berki,
merkr
3. into y, in derivatives,
Ei
1. into i
is
in the
biSum
from
heitr,
2. into
in derivatives.,
is
as:
i,
hiti
Ja
as:
changed into
as:
bjarnar, birni;
djOrf, dirfast.
and
\n\.o
j6,
djarf, djorf.
J5
is
changed into
as:
i,
as:
Of the 0-class
1. into y,
O
of rare occurrence.
son, synir;
2. into
e,
This change
is
U
1
is
changed
in the past part, of verbs in the 1st
into o
conj.,
2. into y,
as:
O
1.
is
changed
{(),
into
2. into
a y
is
as:
klo, klaer;
as:
fylki
in derivatives,
from
f61k.
U
into y,
h\iS.
Au
1.
changed
as:
as:
laus, leysa;
into ey,
2. inXo u,
lauk,
lukum
as:
y,
3. into o, in derivatives,
Jo
J\i
is
is
y,
Ndt
is
as
batt, bandt.
:
Ngk
sprang.
sprakk,
Nr
Lr
is
is
synn, synr.
heill,
heilr.
as:
is
rejected before
y,
and r
at the
beginning of words,
is formed varp, which in the different parts changed into orpinn, urptim and yrpi. Bewhich used to be written vreiti, the fore the word rcitii consonant v is likewise dropt.
as,
from vcrpa
is
of the verb
II.
Etymology.
1.
Inflected Words.
13
PART
II.
ETYMOLOGY.
CHAPTER
I.
INFLECTED WORDS.
The parts of speech which are subject to inflection or terminational change are, articles, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, by declension, and verbs by conjugation.
THE ARTICLE.
The
indefinite article a or an,
is
thus declined
14 I
n. Etymology.
2.
The Noun.
15
The names
feminine
of the duties
All substantives in a are feminine, e.g., g&ta. patA, haka chin; except herra master {German Herr), and sira sire, and some proper names, which are masculine, as Sturla, as well as the neuter nouns comprised in the seventh declension.
are feminine
step
;
Most monosyllabic substantives whose root-vowel is ff e.g., grof a ditch, v6k an ice-hole, skor a stairthough some neuters must be excepted; e. g., IjOr life;
strength,
\i^\ hale
troll oyre,
kjor cAojce,
un, a,
f>,
kvOld we/y.
ska, sla,
citta,
Words ending
most
in ung,
ing,
and
All monosyllabic nouns having the vowel a but not ending in r, I, n, or s, are neuter, e. g., malt malt, land lag a layer. country, haf sea
,
DECLENSION OF NOUNS.
The number
of declensions is eight.
First Declension.
This contains all masculine nouns in -/, -n, the nominative, and -s in the genitive singular.
Sing. nam. -r, gen. -s
dat.
ace.
-1,
~r,
-s,
in
-n, -s
Plur. nom.
gen.
dat.
ace.
-ar, -ir
-a
-um
-a, -i.
Plur.
notn. hestar liorses gen. hesta of horses dat. hestum to horses ace. hesta horses.
Singular.
A hammer. A thorn. N. hamarr jjyrnir Cr. hamars {^yrnis D. hamri f)yrni A. hamar Wrni
]
engill
sveinn
sveins sveini svein
bdss bass
basi
bas
16
II.
Etymology.
Plural.
hammers.
thorns.
hamrar
G. hamra
I).
t)yrnar
homrum
A. hamra
2.
The Noun.
17
Akr
Jield.
otter.
Sigr victory.
Aldr age.
Like
]>yrnir
Lfettir lightness.
Einir juniper-tree.
Elrir elder-tree. Hellir mountain-cave. Hersir baron.
Like
Dalr
t?ff/e.
/ivalr
Hagr
condition.
Stafr <a^.
Like
AH
eel.
BiSill wooer.
JokuU
Sto^ull milking-place
SoSuU
DjofuU
devil.
Karl fellow.
Kyrtill kirtle. Skutill spear. Spegill mirror.
Fugl Hasl
Heell
bird.
Ase/.
/(ee/.
Irell <Ara//.
StoU
seat.
I*umall thumb.
Stu9ill prop.
Ongull angle.
i
IguU hedgehog.
Some
of the above
nouns
except
when they
stand
Botn ground.
Like sveinn are declined Hrafn raven. Hreinn reindeer. Daun stench. Ofn oven. Dunn down. Like bdss
Ass ridge ace. Fors or ioss waterfall.
,
I
Hals neck.
Hnauss
clod.
Nouns whose
Air awl.
sing.
plur.
nom.
in -tV;
Dynr
din.
SmiSr
Svanr
S7nith.
Hamr
shape.
Hugr mind.
Rafr Sagr
halibut.
Stafr s/ajf.
stvan.
^a7.
which do not take r in the nominative singular, as ]?j6nn servant, are alike in the nominative and
siibstantives
Some
r, s after
a diphthong,
hnauss clod of
earth.
Dissyllabic nouns,
2
which
Englisb-leelandic Gramra.
18
II.
Etymology.
final syllable
,
are contracted in
whose
aptann
aptni aptnar.
eve.
jotni
lyklar jotnar
Some nouns which form the plural in -ir, insert^ before but this j before i the inflections which begin with a vowel is expressed by a long i, as hylr abyss, plur. hylir, gen. hylja, After g and k the accent is omitted, ace. hyli. dat. hyljum
; ,
plur. dreugir, drengja, drengjum sekkr sack, plur. sekkir, sekkja, sekkjum, sekki.
as drengr boy,
drengi
Second Declension.
All masculine nouns which end in -r or -n in the nominative and in -ar in the genitive singular are of this
,
declension.
Sing. nam. root gen. -ar
dat.
ace. -i
Plur. nom.
gen.
dat.
-ir
-a
-um
root.
Paradigms:
Singular.
A custom.
y.
G.
Bi8r sidar
sidi
back.
A mode.
hattr hattar
hatti
valley.
A
kili
keel.
hryggr
hryggi
lirygg
vollr vallar
kjolr kjalar
D.
A.
vein
sid
hatt
v6U
kjal
Plural.
N. nbii O. siSa D. sidum A. sidu
hryggir
hsettir
hnggja
hrygKjum
hryggju
inflected
hatta
vellir valla
kilir
hattum
hiittu
vollum
vijllu
Like 5r are
Burfir burden.
Kvistr branch.
*LifJr Joint. Litr colour.
Matr meat.
Saudr aheep
Sta()r stead.
Vifir
wood.
Vinr friend.
Drykkr
*Klgr
drink.
Bekkr
brook.
liter
farm.
elk.
2.
The Noun.
I
19
Veggr
wall.
*Stekkr sheep-pen.
Sylgr gulp. Vefr weh.
Sekkr
sack.
Like
hdttr
\
Drattr drawing.
Slattr
mowing.
{)ra8r thread.
Mattr might.
j
{lattr episode.
Like
Bolhball.
Kottr
cat.
Vondr wand.
VorSr ward.
trostr thrush.
|
Borkr bark.
Goltr hog.
1
Mulr moth.
SvorcS sword.
Knorr
trading-vessel.]
Like
FjorSr
k/dlr
|
frith.
Hjort hart.
Mjo8r mead.
Skjoldr shield.
Nouns which
nominative singular
Singular.
bear.
N. bj6rn
20
n. Etymology.
Plural.
N. bragir
G. braga
Z).
belgir belgja
brOgum
brasri
belgjum
belsri.
A.
and of irayr
:
in the plural
e.
g., bii-
skapr hotiseJwld, skilnaSr separatmi; but the former are rarely to be met with in the plural the latter termination -na^r often undergoes a vowel-change of u ; for instance fognutJr (fagnaSr) Jot/, as if a u were omitted before r, the sign of the masculine.
,
Third Declension.
Masculine substantives which have the nominative termination in -hi, and that of the genitive in -a, are of this
declension.
Sing. nom. -i -a ffen. dat. -a ace. -a
-um
-a.
Paradigm
floti.
Singular.
A
D.
A.
fleet.
N. fliti G. Acta
flota
flota
Plural.
N.
G.
flotar
flota
flota.
D. flotum
A.
Bani 'no
'
Iraki sptt.
Brui5gumi bridegroom.
Bui' dweller.
Daudi
death.
2.
The Noun.
I
21
Sveiti stoeat. Tfmi time.
Mani moon.
Orri heath-cock.
Skuggi shade.
Slebi sledge.
Poki bag.
Piiki (johlin.
Speni
stick.
jo^?^?'.
whose
7i
chief vowel
is a,
change a into
as
:
dat.
ondum
anda
to spirits
ace.
spirits.
Hjarni
Jaki
s^-m//.
Nafli navel.
Bakki
Hali
hill.
ice-floe.
Drafli milk-cheese.
tail.
cocZ;.
Kappi champion.
Kjarni kernel.
Nagli Ska&i
wa//,
sowf/j.
Hani
Magi maw.
-ingi,
,
and some
others,
as
\Plur.nom. hei8ingjar heathe^i Sing. nom. heiSiugi a heathen gen. heiQingja of heathen gen. heiSingja of a heathen dat. heiSingjum to heatJten dat. hei9ingja to a Jieathen ace. heiSingja a heathen ace. heidingja heathen.
I
I I
In the same
HofSingi chieftain. Leysingi freedman.
Participial
plural,
way
|
are declined
I
Frelsingi freedman.
I
Ra?ningi robber.
Illvirki evil-doer.
Eyskeggi
islander.
|
Vilji will.
substantives
in
-andi deviate
and are inflected with r. a, nm, r, where stands for ir, and produces a vowel-change, as
:
elskanda
iu
a lover
elskendum (-ondum)
lovers
to
elskanda a lover
are inflected
|
Thus
Domandi judge.
Eigandi owner. Hallandi slope.
Lesandi reader.
j
Sjaandi eye-witness.
22
II.
Etymology.
in the antepenultimate
into n,
which have a Trisyllabic nouns and the penultimate, change the first
,
into
ti
before
um
plur.
is
a occurs in the penultimate only, it felogum, or into u as, leikari juggler, dat. plur. leikurum. All present participles active are declined like elskandi when they are used substantively they are mostly found in the plural. Even those which have a neuter signification are masculine, if they
bekurum.
When
changed into A
possess this form, and take the inflections proper to that gender under this declension they are seldom used otherwise
;
of
(speech
Fourth Declension.
This declension includes
Sing. nom. -a gen, -u
dat.
all
-u
2.
The Noun.
spider.
23
Sysla district. Tita kind of sparroio. Vika week. Visa verse. Va'ta wet. t'oka foy.
I*ufa knoll.
Hulda
veil,
Kapa
Kista
cloak.
Kelda fountain.
Kisa puss.
chest.
Mugga
mist.
Kraka
crow.
circle.
Kringla
Krukka
jar.
Like gata
Aska
Bjalla
ashes.
hell.
Hla3a barn.
Blanda mixture.
Tala speech.
Haka
liook.
Vagga
cradle.
Harpa haip.
Ekkja
Eskja
icidow.
j
ash.
Rekkja
in -ja
bed.
Nouns ending
lilja lily,
not take n in the gen. plur., as: brynja cuirass, iex'yei. ferry, smiSja smithy, which are the same in the gen. plur.
Some nouns
ness, ioxiQlux
li'kur like-
perstiasion. Bienna. burmng, vera iy, and other infinitives in a, used substantively, are of this declension.
Fifth Declension.
Feminine nouns which have various terminations in the nominative singular, and which end in -ar or -ir in the nominative plural, are of this declension.
Sing. noyn. root gen. -ar dat. root, -u, or -i
ace.
-um
-ar, -ir.
root, -i
d,
Paradigms: eign, bru3r, vor, drottning, egg, or, heiSi, andvarpan, fjoSur, alin.
24
n. Etymology.
Singular.
A property.
N.
G.
bride.
lip.
D.
A.
Plural.
N.
G.
eignir
brudir
j
varir
eigna
bruSa
I
vara
D.
A.
eignum
eignir
briiSum
briiSir
vorum
varir.
Like
Alpt swan.
eiffn
are declined
\
Grein branch
Skirn baptism.
Ambatt female
Ast
love.
slave
Skuld
debt.
2)arish.
Sokn
Au8n Baun
Borg
desert.
Sorg sorrow.
Sott sickness.
bean.
fortress.
Hu8
hide.
Lausn redemption.
Lei9 way.
Stund
fiour.
Breidd breadth.
Ti'd time.
Ym
cloth.
Da3
Vag Van
weight. hope.
FerS journey.
Gaupn
Gipt
Jist.
gift.
the above examples it will be seen that when neither a nor G constitutes the root- vowel, no modification takes place.
From
Like
Mr
are declined
I
Holl
hall.
|
\
Sok
Vorn
\
cause.
| \
Qgn
cJuiff'.
Vomb womb.
defence.
Ord ploughing.
Qx
|
|
aa:e.
S5gn saying.
l*6kk thanks.
0x1 shoulder.
No substantive under this declension has uniformly preserved the M of the dative singular, except a few which insert j or V, and all in ing and ung, and even in these it is sometimes dropt. The wrm. and ace. plur. termination -ar is used in all derivatives in ing and ung as, drottning queen, hOrinung
woe, and in all those primitives which insert y or r as, mey maid. Or arrow, as well as in monosyllables ending in a vowel however practice only can determine which substantives of this declension take ar or ir in those cases.
,
2.
The Noun.
Singular.
25
A
N. G.
queen.
A ridge
egg
eggjar
D.
A.
An arrow, or orvar
oru
5r
heath. heidi
A river.
a ar a a
heiSar
heiSi heiSi
egg egg
Plural.
N. drottningar Q. drottninga D. drottningum A. drottningar
|
|
eggjar eggja
eggjum
eggjar
hei8ar heida
it
da
heidum
hei8ar
4m
ar.
Like
Hyrning
corner.
Messing
Hormung
misery.
Sigling sailing.
of\
\
Mey
Nyt
maid.
qain.
death.
II
sole
of the foot.
\
I*y s)te-thrall.
Klyf bundle.
I
Dogg
dew.
I
St69 place.
trong crowd.
Like hei^i
Ermi
sleeve.
Her5r
HIi9
shoulder.
bath.
side.
Laug
Gja chasm.
\
Ra
roe.
Skra parchment.
\
Nouns of more than one syllable having the nominative ending of -td or nr, are contracted before the inflections which begin with a vowel as, gSndul amazwi, fjoSur feather. Derivatives in an have also another form in un, both of which
are regular.
Singular.
sigh.
A feather,
fjodur
ljac)rar
An
alin
ell.
'
alnar
alin alin
fjo5ur
j
yoSur
26
II.
Etymology.
Plural.
X.
G.
andvarpanir
,
i
^ai5rir
i
alnir
andvarpana
andvarpanir
is
fjai)ra
alna
D. andvorpunum
A.
;
fjoSrum
IjaSrir
alnum
iilnir.
Andvarpan
or send forth.
to cast
Like this noun are declined dyrkan cultivation, and skemtdn or skemtun amusement. A few of those substantives which insert^ are used only in the plural as, menjar toke^is, signs. Some nouns in i form their nominative and accusative plural in ir as, gleSi cheerfulness elli age and do not take ar in the genitive singular but are indeclinable throughout that number.
, ,
,
Sixth Declension.
Feminine nouns
follow this declension.
Sing. nom. root gen. -ar, -r dat. root ace. root
Plur.
,
in
r,
gen. -a
-um
ace. -r.
Paradigms
A grate.
N. grind
tooth.
grindar
D. grind
A. grind
2.
The Noun.
27
Like hot
G168 embers.
\
Hnot
nut.
Rot
root.
Like mfirk
Eik
o/v-.
I
Mjolk milk.
Steik s^ea^.
Like
spihig
\
Siong pole.
last
Saeng bed.
Tong
sea-weed.
two paradigms (mork and spong), nouns of this declension which terminate in y or k, commonly form the genitive singular in r, like the nominative bok book, on the other hand, always has the genitive plural
will
As
be seen in the
Those substantives whose nominative singular is d or t, mostly have the genitive in -ar, as strond, ffen. strandar, r6t, pen. rotar, whilst those in y or k usually form the genitive in pen. sing. the same way as the nominative plural, as stong and nom. plur. stengr, mork, gen. sing, and nom. plur. merkr. Most nouns in this declension which have fi in the root-syllable, can also follow the fifth declension.
,
in a
bruar.
/)/t<r.
Flo
Jiea.
Fru
{gen. sing,
and
woman.
hide.
Ha
K16
Kra
Lja
R6
TA
Trii
I'ro
[no plur.)
(gen. sing,
tar)
(no plur.)
faith.
a kind of box.
Seventh Declension.
All neuter nouns which have the nominative-ending -a
are of this declension.
Sing. nom. -a gen, -a -a dat. -a ace.
I
Plur. nom. -u
gen
dat. ace.
-na
-um
-u.
28
II.
Etymology.
Paradigms: eyra,
hjarta.
Singular.
An
iV.
ear.
G.
D.
A.
Plural.
N.
G. A.
eyru eyrna
eyru
| |
hjortu hj ortna
D. eyrum
hjortum
hjortu.
is
The
radical a of the
noun
changed into
fi
before in-
flections in w,
Auga
key.
lung.
Nyra
kidney.
Eighth Declension.
that
Monosyllabic neuter nouns and those of this gender end in consonants, or in -i, have the following inflections
,
:
-um
root
root
|
2.
The Noun.
29
Gull <7oW.
Leer
^/n'^A.
Har
Hesl Hjol
/taiV.
Haust autumn.
hazel-tree.
toheel,
/eo/;.
My
Net
^na^
ne^.
yoA;e.
Hlaup
Ok
height.
Bio (5 blood.
H1J69 sound.
Blom
Jiotver.
Hof
heathen temple.
/cap.
Blot sacrifice.
Holt wooded
Bly /eaJ.
Blys ^orcA.
Hopp
Bo3
o^e?'.
B61 farm.
Bori) board, table. Brau5 bread.
Ryk
</<.
Sa(5 s^eti.
Salt salt.
Bref
/e^^er.
Hub
house.
{sacra-
Brjost breast.
Husl housel
.
Jam
Kaup
Ki8
iron.
J61 Christmas.
Kal cabbage.
p>urchase.
AjV^.
Sinn ^*wj. Skald ^we<. Skaut Ajr<. Skin sheen. Skip s/j). Skrin shrine. Skiim darkness.
Slit reN<.
f/S^.
Spiot spear.
Stal s^ee/. Sti j>rt^/*. Stig steep. Stri6 strife.
Dust
Jo.
Dyr
El
animal.
Eir copper.
Sund
sound.
Eik venom.
shotcer.
sto^/
Fen marsh.
Fjos
leather.
/or
Leir cfey.
Ll'f /i/e.
Tar Tin
^;ar.
^n.
Trog
Troll
trotigh.
o^j'e.
Lik corpse.
Lim
/j'me.
Gam
?/rM.
Log flame.
Lopt
aV.
Like
5rtr are
declined
Afl strength.
Agn
irti#.
Gafl gable.
Ax
e?"
o/ con*.
Fang
Fax
grasp.
Far journey.
maiie.
Fjall mountain.
Haf
sea.
30
II.
Etymology.
Tal speech. Tjald tent. Val choice.
Happ
luck.
Lamb
Land
lamb. land.
Vatn water.
human shape.
Substantives in
i
Sing. nom. kvaeSi a song. gen. kvas8is of a song dat. kvfeSi to a song ace. kvaeSi a song
Plur. nom. kv8e8i songs gen. kvae8a of songs dat. kvsebum to songs ace. kvjeSi songs.
Thus
Belli belt.
are declined
Fylki
district.
Enni forehead.
Eski Ey9i
ash-tree.
desert.
GercJi hedge.
Gildi banquet.
Fidrildi butterfly.
Skseri shears.
In some nouns of this declension j or t- is inserted before the oblique cases which begin with a vowel, but nevery before
1,
u.
Thus
Singular.
i s
2,
The Noun.
31
fore the inflections a and urn, as well as nouns with consonantal endings which have simple vowels as,
Sing. nom. riki a kmfjdom gen. n'kis of a hinydom
dut.
ucc.
I
riki to a
kuu/dom
| j
Plur. nom. n'ki kinijiloius gen. rikja of Jdngdoms rfkjum to kingduvis dut.
ucc.
riki a kingdom.
riki
kingdoms.
Thus
Ber berry
are declined
Ker
Klif
drinkiiKi-ciq).
c/jjf.
Kif n6.
Egg
''.W-
Skegg heard.
Stef burden [of a song)
fi,
Gil clift.
Nef
Mose.
insert v before
as
solvi to a
seaweed
sol a seaweed.
Plur. nom. sol seaweeds gen. solva of seatveeds dat. s5lum to seatceeds ace. s5l seaweeds.
Thus
Frjo or
inflected.
are declined
\
Fjor life-strength.
Mjol meal.
hrse corpse,
Smjor
butter.
01
ale.
frB seed,
and
lae
deceit,
are similarly
The noun frseSi knowkdge is feminine in the singular number, and is indeclinable like ajfi life; but in the plural it is neuter, and is declined like kvaeSi. Some nouns of this declension occur both with and
without the nominative-ending -i as
rensl or
ANOMALOUS NOUNS.
First Declension.
Singular.
God. G.
blast.
dag.
s
A
spa'ni
chip.
An ounce. A kettle.
eyrir
D. A.GuS
blast-r
ar,-rar,-rs
blffisti
dag-r
degi
spannwrsponn
spanns
blast
dag
spann
ketil-1
s
is
katli
ketil
32
II.
Etymology.
Plural.
N. Gu3ir, -ar
G.
2>.
A.
um
ir,
blastar, -rar
dagar
um
-ar
dSgum
ma9r manns
i
spapnir
spana
um
a
a um kdtlum
aur-ar
I
katlar
la
daga
katla.
A shoe.
N. sko-r
G.
8
Singular. A man.
Jingcr. fing-r
rs, -rar
ri
^r
D.
A.
Plural.
JV.
sko-r,
a,
G.
sku-ar a
a
I 1
menn manna
fing-rar ra
D.
A.
m
,
monnum
menn
rum
rar.
wind.
2.
The Noun.
33
Like vindr are declined skogr a icood, grautr groats, and some other words which follow the inflections of si^r (2nd declension) in the singular, and oi hestr (1st declension) in the
plural.
Sscr sea is declined like sneer,
dottir
follows
Sing. nam. systir gen. systur
dat. ace,
systr-um
Third Declension,
Singular. yeoman. N. bondi contracted for boandi, biiandi G. bonda D. bonda A. bonda
^L fiend, foe.
fjandi row^r.
/or fjaandi
tjanda tjanda
Qanda
fiandr, fjendr
Plural.
N. bondr, boindr G. bonda, boenda, boanda, buanda, buenda
fjanda
D. bondum
A. boendr
fjandum
tjandr, tjendi*.
34
II.
Etymology.
Sixth Declension.
Singular.
A hand.
2.
The Xoux.
35
Some names
of relatives,
which include two or more persons in one name are conseif the two persons are of quently used only in the plural different genders they take the neuter hjon mmi and ivonian, married people systkin brother and sister feSgin father and daughter ; moeSgin mother and son ; i'eSgar father and son mceSgur mother and daughter.
:
horse.
FIFTH DECLENS.
Sing.
The property.
Sing. hestr-inn
Plur.
N. hestar-nir G. hesta-nna D. hestu-num
A. hesta-na
Plur.
D. eign-inni
A. eign-ina
Z).
eignu-num
A. eignir-nar
grate.
SECOND DECLENS
Sing.
The custom.
Plur.
N.
J).
N. si9r-inn
G. si8ar-ins D. sidi-num A. si9-inn
si8ir-nir
G. si8a-nna
siSu-num A. siOu-na
The fleet.
Sing. Plur. N. grindr-nar N. grind-in <7.grindar-innar G. grinda-nna D. grind-inni H. grindu-num A. grind-ina A. grindr-nar
THIRD DECLENSION.
Sing.
SEVENTH DECLENSION.
Sing.
iV'.
Tlieear.
Plur.
]:s.
Plur.
X. eyru-n G. eyrna-nna D. eyru-num A. eyru-n
Thetcord.
N.
floti-nn
flotar-nir
eyra-t
G. flota-ns D. flota-num
A. flota-nn
A. eyra-t
EIGHTH DECLENSION.
Sing.
ord-it
Plur.
N. tungur-nar G. tungna-nna
!iV.
I
Plur. N. or9-in
G. or9a-nna
D. tungu-num
A. tungur-nar
it
D. orSu-num
A.
or(!)-in.
The neuter
occurs in
some books
all
form
i6,
espe-
and in
cases of
Modern
3*
Icelandic.
36
n. Etymology.
The aspirate h appears to be of later origin ; the oldest manuscripts have inn, in, it, or even enn, en, et. When three n-eridings come together one is rejected as, with the article, brynnar for bnin eyebrow, plur. brynn brynn-nar MaSr man adds to the nom. plur. -ir and to the ace. -i, thus, menn -ir -nir, menn -i -na. FaSir and broSir insert s After liquids in the gen. sing., as, f66urs-ins, br66urs-ins. dat. sing, salnum, hvalnum. t is dropped, as salr, hvalr, Nouns which end in a diphthongic vowel reject the i of
;
the article
as
,
when
,
in other cases
,
it
syllables
,
ey-nni
a-nni
ku-nni
a-na,
kii-na.
The
stantives
;
genitive
is
sub-
generally contracted
but it is definitely appended, as fni looman, gen. fnir, fniar-innar yet a river, and form dr-innar seraer ewe and kyr cow are exceptions
:
Names
of persons.
To
this class
hamarr. In -ir as ]>yrnir, e. g., Haonir, Hamdir. In -all, -ill, -nil like common nouns of the same termination as, Hagalls, gen. Hagals, dat. Hagli, Keginn, Regni, Egill, Egli. Ketill in compounds mostly becomes -kell, and Hallkatli and Hallin the dative both jiorkatli and |)orkeli
,
keli occur.
Masculines ending in -undr, -utr, -urtr, -t;i!6r, -rfftr, -llr, -an, -on, -un are inflected like ni^r, namely, with -dative -i as, SigurCr, gen. SigurfSur, the genitive in -nr dat. .Sigurt5i, Onundr, Onundar, Onundi, ArnviSar, ArnviSi, Gu8r0&ar, Gu8r08i. NiSa^r, NiSaftar, Niftufti, Ullr, Ullar, Ulli, Heimdallr, Hcimdallar, Heimdalli, Hdlfdan, Hdlfdanar,
-atr,
,
2.
The Noun.
Hakoni
,
37
Hdlfdani,
Hakon
Hakonar,
AuSun,
in
Aut5unar,
Au6uni
Ni'SuSr,
of vowel-change
HeimdoUr.
instead of -ur^r the original -var^r occurs
Where
gen. -s
is
the
as,
used as, HallvarSr, HallvarSs. All masculines in -i follow the third declension
chiefly
Feminines in
vatives therefrom
-r,
-nn and -dis are inflected mostly like Hildr, Ger6r and all deriSigri8r SigriSar SigriSi Sigri5i
Jorun Jorunar
Joruni Joruni
A.
AuM
All those ending in -dis are declined in the same manner, although the word dis itself has its cases like eign.
Many polysyllabic feminines have the genitive in -ar, but the dative and accusative in -ti as,
N. GuQriin ar Gh u J) A. u
Signy
jar
Oluf
ar
Rannveig
ar
ju ju
u u
u
u.
Monosyllabic feminines form the dative and accusative like the nominative as, Hlff, gen. Hlffar, dat. and ace. Hlif most of these insert j in the genitive; Frigg, Sif, Hel,
gen. -jar.
as,'
Bera,
Embla, Katla, {)6rhalla. Some few names of men have a feminine form as, Sturla, Sturlu, Uraekja, Uraekju. SkaSi on the other hand, which is a female name, is inflected \i^e floti (3rd declension).
From
the
names
of
men
those of
women
are chiefly
formed by adding a
fern.
to the
Ketill
root-form as
I'orkell
I'ororn
Hrafn
Hrefna.
Katla
I'orkatla
is
torarna
used as a masculine proper noun, to it being found the latter is also used as a corresponding feminine name, both singly and in compounds, as
a feminine
When
an appellative
word answering
masc.
fern.
Bjorn Bera
Hallbjorn Hallbera.
38
n. Etymology.
Foreign names take either a form which can be inflected according to the examples above adduced, e. g Mikjall, Mikjals Lafranz gen. Lafranz dat. Lafranzi or retain their native form in this case they are inflected either as Icelandic names, e.g. Magnus, Magnuss, orMagnusar, Gregorius, Gregoriusar, Elias, Eliasar, Aron Arons or declined like Latin napaes as Christophorus Christophori Julianus,
.
Juliani.
2. Names of places. Many nouns of this class are appellatives, and can be inflected like common nouns as, berg, hof,
therestaSr,
fore
heimr, fit, and compounded as Forberg, [)6rshof, S61heimr. Several are used in the plural, as -staSir (FaxstaSir), -vellir (MoSruvellir) -heimar (Solheimar) Fitjar, a Fitjum. Some words appear no longer as appellatives e. g. 16, gen. loar beach; vin gen. vinjar plur. vinjar pasture; \>ve\t gen. ])\eitar fragment but as names, for instance, Loar, dat. Lom, Vinjar, dat. Vinjum. In composition, deviations from the rules of inflection sometimes take place thus many form in Lu are indeclinable vin sometimes takes vinar for vinjar as Bj8rg\'inar for Bj6rgvinjar. "When vin in composition immediately follows a consonant, it becomes gn, ynar or yvjar : thus Bjorgyn, BjSrgynjar, SkoSyn, Sko6ynar, and in such cases the absorbed v efiects a vowel-change, thus, Ta5vin, T08yn, Sandvin, Sondyn. When rjofir (a cleared space) is used as the name of a
vollr,
,
, ,
,
place
it
f)j6st61i'sruS
AusuruS
,
yet
may be preserved
,
as
Bernrj6?r
Hristar-
Aga
Odda
Frosta
Few names
as, Maer-in,
of places appear without the definite article Vangr-inn, SkiSan. dat. Ski(5unni, Vcllir-nir.
3.
Of the Adjective.
III.
39
CHAPTER
The
adjective has two forms
,
OF THE ADJECTIVE.
the indefinite as
is
,
,
svartr
black,
and
the definite as
hinn
with the
40
Thus
hagr
active.
II.
Etymology.
are declined
I
gjarn greedy.
krankr
ill.
rangr wrong.
appended
Adjectives take the definite endings when the article to the noun as, svarti hestrinn, svarta hestinn.
The masculine
sign -r
is
,
lost
when
the root
is
rr,
ss,
fn, gn, hn, rn, as, J?urr dry hvass sharp, jafn even, skyggn clear-sighted, froekn hold, gjarn tvilUng, greedy.
glo6
(from glaSr glad) The neuter form has in the nominative singular t, with which 6 and n are assimilated to tt, for instance goc3r gott
,
good,
sannr
satt true.
Polysyllabic words
in inn,
much, litill little, form their neuters in it; if the root end with a double consonant the latter is made single before t as,
lauss laust,
saell saelt.
\ii\\\ Utile, \^^xBsloose,
st^W happy.
3.
Of the Adjective.
41
42
n. Etymology.
3.
Of the Adjective.
43
termination mn, n is frequently dropt as, ]?ykkum, gloggum, yet we also find gloggvum, &c. Some monosyllabic nouns whose characteristic letter is 6, often insert/" before the final letter as, mjor, mjofr, frjor, frjofr, sljor, sljoh dull. Har can both admit and dispense with, the inserted v, and even reject the vowels of the inflections in a and u as, havum, ham, hdva, ha. In forms in I, n, r, where the masculine sign r is dropt, the vowel-rejection takes place in the same cases as in substantives of this form; thus, gamall, dat. gOmlum, ace. gamIan, in the feminine gender gamla ow>. lilur. masc. gamlir, and so on: likewise galinn, golnum, galnir. similar conV before the dative
,
, -ngr for heilOgum, helgum holy. Likewise 5fugr Ofgr, ofugrar ofgrar backward; the abbreviated form however is generally used only where the inflection-ending begins with a vowel. ,
words in -agr
;
-igr
heilagrar helgrar
Paradigms: gamall
oZc?;
galinn
j7/y.
Indefinite.
Masc.
Sing. Fem.
Sing.
Neut.
Masc.
K. gamal-1 G. gamal-s
gomul
galin-n
galin-s|
Fem. galin
Neut. galit
gold-um
galin-n
galin-nar galin-ni
galin-s
gold-u
galit
gamal-t
Plur.
gaml-ar gamal-la
gomul
gamal-la
gald-ir
gilin-na
gald-ar galin-na
galin
galin-na
gold-um
gald-a
gold-um
gald-ar
gold-um
galin
Definite.
Sing.
Sing.
1-1
Plur.
goml-u.
gold-u.
Plur.
J^agall silent.
44
II.
Etymology.
skilinn parted.
vakinn wakened.
valinn chosen.
vaninn wont.
taminn tamed.
Those words which form the neuter in it. also dissyllabic as well as mikill and litill, have the accusative singular masculine in inn, as, for example, galinn, litinn ace. galinn, not galnan, mikinn not miklan, litlan
adjectives in inn,
,
(see above)
In
all its
abbreviated forms,
mikill,
as,
stance, litlum,
for in,
often
changes
to
n^^klan,
myklum.
The endings -rar, -ri, and -ra drop their r after r with a preceding consonant, since double r after a consonant could not be pronounced thus, fagr/ajV;
:
3.
Of the Adjective.
45
2,
Comparison of Adjectives.
of the comparative degree -ri,
The terminations
i
and of combined Avith the root by the vowel and is dropt the the former effects a vowel-change
,
;
latter is retained;
and
-art,
Paradigms
with
change.
lagr
fegri
-ri,
-str,
without
spakastr
tvisest
fair
stor
fairer
stoerri
spakari wiser
gjoflari
gjofull
liberal
gjoflastr
great
lagr
loiv
greater
laegri loiver
greatest
laegstr
heppinn
lucky
lowest
ungr young
j)rongr narrotv
yngri
younger
|)rengri
yngstr youngest
|)rengstr
konung-
more
heppnari
narrotver
djupr deep
dypri
deejjer
narrowest dypstr
deejiest
ligari gastr ligr more royal most royal royal kringlottr kringlotkringlottari
tastr
round
rounder
roundest.
small, does not undergo a vowel-change and superlative which are nijorri, mjostr.
Some
adjectives are
deep djupr, djupari and dypri, djupastr and dypstr dear dyrr dyrari and dyrri dyrastr and dyrstr new nyr, nyari and nyrri, nyastr and nystr hlack dokkr dokkvari and dekkri dokkvastr and dekkstr fair fagr fagrari and fegri fagrastr and fegrstr liberal gjofull, gjoflari and gjofuUi, gjoflastr and gjofulstr.
,
, ,
, ,
The
latter
form
is
Some
superlative
adjectives take
as,
ssell
in the comparative
sselli
,
happy,
saelastr
hreinni, hreinastr.
tive, as:
Diphthongal vowel roots double the r of the comparahar kiff/i, haerri, haestr nyr new, nyrri, nystr; far
;
few,
fcerri, faestr.
The
inflection of comparatives
however formed
is
in-
46
II.
3.
Of the Adjective.
47
48
H. Etymology.
4.
Of Pronouns,
Plural.
49
per, er ye or
you
D. OSS
to
us
A. OSS MS
With
distinction of gender
Masc.
7j
Fern.
N. hann G. bans
hiin,
hon
she
q/"
him
to
him
The
plural
is
supplied by the
demonstrative pronoun sa, sii, ]7at. Ek is frequently combined in one form with the word immediately preceding as, fsek, emk, aetlak, which are the 1st pers. sing. pres. ind. of the verbs fa to get, vera to be,
and
setla to think.
\)u
in composition
becomes
tii
or du according to
the
is is
mundu
t it
must thou.
written as,
Should
tt
compounded
see thou,
veitstu ybr veitst J)u knoivest thoii. with imperatives the accent is dropt as,
When
sjaSu
2.
Possessive Pronouns.
noun
minn
{)inn
mitt m'me
f)itt
(o/'^tco).
thine
oitr (q/"<i<;o)
vdr
sinn
sin
(do.) or,
They
Singular.
50
II.
Etymology.
,
As mtnn are inflected J?inn and sinn declined ykkarr and ySarr.
Varr
is
thus inflected
Masc.
Singular.
Fern.
A'ar
Neut.
N. varr
G. vars
varrar
varri
vart vars
D. varum
A. varu
varu
vart
vara
Plural.
N.
varir
G. varr
varar vdrra
ykx varra
D. varum
varum
varar
varum
var.
No
possessive
,
is
tives hans
hennar ,
formed from hann, hiin: but the geniand in the plural \>eirra (from '^at) only
are used.
The
bana
to
pronoun
is
sometimes used
with
my fist,
Jjfer til
3.
Demonstrative Pronouus.
in
number,
this;
viz.
sd,
she,
it,
article.
4.
Of Pronouns.
51
si
added
show
that
it
thus several obsolete forms are to be found, which was at one time customary only to decline ]>err without inflection, thus; \>ersi for J^essi j^eimsi
;
J?essu,
J^annsi/or ]?enna.
article,
For the
inflections of
,
p. 11,
hann hun is sometimes used as an Besides these article with proper names as, hann SigurSr, h\in J)uridr.
jective
Samr, sOm, samt (he same, is declined like a regular adbut /linn is often prefixed as, hin sama. fetn.,' hit
;
sama
netiter.
The
following,
slikr,
slik,
slikt
]?vilikr,
)>vilik,
]?vi-
arly inflected.
4.
Interrogative Pronouns.
who
defective
it
want
the feminine and the plural, but the nominative and accusative
many)
y.
(hvar)
G. hvess
D. hveim
A. (hvann) In usual discourse, hvai
hvi as an adjective.
Nent.
is
Hvdrr who
'ace.
masc.
52
Hverr
icJw [of
II.
Etymology.
?
many)
masc,
Masc.
in the
modern tongue.
Plur.
Nnnt.
Sing.
Fem.
Masc.
Fem.
Neut.
N. hver-r
J>.
hver
A. hverj-an
hver-ir
hver-ra
hverj-ar hver-ra
hveij-um
hverj-a
hverj-um
hverj-ar
a
"what kind of?" is expressed by of the neuter hvi ivhat and likr like, thus Plur. Sing.
idea,
i
The
compound
Masc.
N. hviHk-r
G*.
hvflik-s
hA-ilik-an
D. hviUk-um
A.
Neut.
Masc.
hvili'k-ir
hvih'k-t hvilik-s
hvih'k-ra
hvih'k-a
Neut.
hvih'k hvflik-ra
hvih'k.
hvih'k-u hvih'k-t
5.
Relative Pronouns.
there arc no relative pronouns, but
hviliJcr
Properlj' speaking,
S(i,
su,
])at,
or
,
more
sd er
to
the
who ])dX sem that which. Er and sem likewise answer German "so" who, which, ilmt.
6.
Indefinite Pronouns.
Hvdrtveggi
citimr
of two,
both,
and
is
thus declined
Singular.
Masc.
Fem.
Neut.
N. hv4r-tveggi
G. hvdrs-tveggja
hvir-tveggi hvdrrar-tveggju
hvdrri-tveggy'u|
hvdr-tveggja
D. hvdrum-tveggja
A. hvdrn-tveggja
hvdru-tveggju hv&ra-tveggju
hv&ru-tveggja
hvdr-tveggja
Plural.
N, hvdrir-tveggja
G. hvdrra-tveggja
h\'irra-tveggju
,
i>.
hvArum-lveggia
/
^
h^'drum-tveggjuni A. hvdra-tveggju
hvdr-tveggju
h\-dr-tveggi
4.
Of Pronouns.
annartveggi one of hco.
,
53
In the same
way
,
is inflected
Annarr-hvdrr each other, every other is doubly declined Hvarr-annan one as fern, onnur-hvdr neut. annat-hvdrt. another [of two) and hverr-annan one another [of many) are
,
Einn-hver, einhver, eitthvert every one, each. Hverr-einn, hverteitt, hvateitt every, each. Sum-hverr somebody, anybody, some one, any one. Sinn-hvdrr, sinhvar, sitthvart, sitthvat each his own, each one's. More usual is sinnhverr, sinhver, sitthvert as: ]?eir Hta sinn i hverja att each looks to his men side.
Sferhverr, serhver, serhvert, sferhvat each.
NOkkurr some one, any, whose various forms in the nekkurr, nominative are nakkvarr nekkvarr nekkverr is nokkvarr nokkvorr nokkverr nokkverr and nokkurr thus declined
, , ,
,
Sing.
Masc.
Pluk.
Neut.
Fom.
Masc.
Fein.
Neat,
iVlnokkur-r
nokkur
nokkut
Cndkkur-s nokkur-rar nokkur-.s [tliroiiyhout] JO.nokkur-um nokkur-ri nokkur-u nokkur-um [throughout) ^.n6kkur-u nokkur nokkut nokkur-a nokkur-ar nokkur.
Hvarigr, hvarig, hvdrigt, or hvarugr, hvarug, hvarugt, neither [of the tico) and is used in connection with annarr as, hvarigr tni8i 06rum neither believed the other.
nokkur-ir nokkur-ra
nokkur-ar nokkur
means
From
from
viti
dat. hvi
occasion,
Hverrsem
or
gular,
very irre-
Plur.
Neut. Masc.
Masc.
Fem.
a()rar
[do.)
Neut.
N. annarr G. annars
onnur
annarrar annarri
a9i*a
annat annars
o()ru
aSrir
onnur
oDrum A. annan
1).
annarra oc)rum
acira
{throughout)
annat
aorar
onnur.
Engi none, no one, is a compound of einn, ein, eitt the negative particle -gi^ -hi, and is thus declined
and
54
5.
Of Numerals.
80 90 100 110 120
attatiu
niuti'u
,
55
19 nitjan
hundraS tfutiu hundraS ok ti'u ellifutiu hundraS ok tuttugu, stort hundraS 200 tvo hundra9
,
1000 fusund.
is
An
dat. J?rjatigi
monnum
to thirty
men.
or
-tigi.
For declension
Tveir,
Masc. iV. tveir
Z).
])rix,
Fein.
of einn,
see p. 11.
and
tvo
fjorir are
Masc.
thus declined:
Masc.
i
Neut.
tva^r
[do.)
G.t\eggia(t/iroitgIwut)
tveim
Fem.
Neut.
fjoi-ir
j
^orar fjogur
(throughout)
[do.)
fiogurra
norum
1
A. tva
tvaer
tvo
f)rja
fjrjar
|)rju
yora
fjorar fjogur.
The remainder,
able
;
up
to
hundraS
ti
ten),
ing
it
in the genitive, as
fjorir
tigir
manna
Ijogurra tiga
fjorum
tigum
tigu
^ora
fortgmen
of
to
HundraS
is
hundraS
s
i
hundraSa
dat.
ace.
hundruSum
ace.
J?\i8und is feminine,
Sing. nom. {n'lsund gen Jjusundar
dat. ace.
(u)
and
is
I
thus declined
Plur. nom. |)usundir gen. J)U8unda
dat.
um
ir.
,
ace.
I
The neuter )7iishundra8 plur. J?iishundru3 used, meaning a thousand, properly, 1200.
,
is
also
As
as the decimal
mode
of numeration
as
opposed
to the small
56
II.
Etymology.
hundred (100) which was sometimes expressed by tiutigir; so that hdlft hundrafi formerly counted for 60.
Ba6ir
both,
which resembles
Masc.
Fern.
tveir,
and
is
numeral ad-
baSir
baSar
ithrougJiout)
[do.)
bfe9i
G. beggja
D. baoum
A. ba8a
ba9ar
beeSi.
:
The
|?usund
niu 1869.
2.
Ordinal Numbers.
11th
18^/i
The first
of
third
fjoroi,
Qoroa, fjorOa
hmti
setti
\9th 2Qth
'iOth
tuttugast
f)ritugasti
sjaundi
atti
(attundi)
niundi
ti'undi
ellifti
nth nth
IZth 14<A \bth 16<A
tolfti
f)rettandi
fjortandi
nmtandi
sextdndi
is
hundraSasti
ok tiundi ok tuttugasti
tvo hundraSasti
|)usundasti.
lOOO^A
J?ri8i.
The
collective
fimt
tippr
8Jaund
tylft
ticelve
seven
,
are used solely for a space of five or seven days; both are feminine words as well as tylft. There are several temporals as from nott night, come einnmtt one night old, naetrgamalt night old and from vetr winter, year vetrgamalt winter old, year old, tvaevett (tvo
,
winters old.
To
\>rintBtHngr
To
designate
30,
containing
58
n. Etymology.
CHAPTER
VERBS.
YI.
and necessarily imverb active expresses an action an agent, and an object acted upon as at elska to love; ek elska Gu / hve God. A verb passive which is formed by the addition of st expresses the receiving of an action or z to the active and and an agent by necessarily implies an object acted upon which it is acted upon as at elskast to be loved; Gu elskast
,
plies
af
the auxiliary verbs ver^a and vera with the past participle of the principal verb as;
var5 em var
still
ek ver5 borinn
em
is
also used for the present, var for the preterite tense:
Ex. var hann har31iga freistad he teas sorely tempted; var skipt lidinu i tva staSi the army teas divided into two sections.
A verb
sit
but neuter expresses neither action nor passion em I am, ek sef I sleep, ek
,
I sit.
a verb ex})resses an action in which the agent and is acted upon by himself it is said to be in the at skammast sin to he ashamed of one's self. reflective form as The termination sk, which is now also written st or z, was originally simply a contraction of the reflective pronoun sik, corresponding to our self, or more exactly, to the French reflective se, so that at kallast was equivalent to to call one's or the French s'appcler. It gradually a8s\imed a passive self force, and there are a few instances of its employment as such by classic writers in the best ages of Old-Norse literature. Those verbs which have a passive form with an active meaning as at Oftlast to obtain are called deponent verbs they are only few in number.
acts
,
, ;
When
When an action is conceived without a definite subject from which it proceeds, the verb is called impersonal, and is used only in the tliird personal singiilar, the place of the
6.
Verbs.
59
J>at it
subject being supplied by the neuter personal pronoun |?at snjoar it snoivs. as
;
All verbs are arranged in two classes answering to the and weak forms of the German grammarians. The former consists in a change of the radical vowel in the prethe latter admits of the adterite tense and past participle
strong
;
example
sunginn sung
syngja
to sing
Preterite.
Past part.
song sang
stal
stole
stela
Weak.
kalla
to steal
to call
nomenclature is founded is, The principle on which that the power of varying a word by change of its more unwithout external aid in the way of essential constituents composition or addition of syllables, implies ascertain vitality, organic strength not possessed by roots a certain innate
this
, ,
capable of variation only by the incorporation or addition of foreign elements. The weak inflection is the regular, the
strong, the irregular, form of the older grammarians, and the latter is the more ancient of the two modes of inflection
therefore the
old
and
neiv
modes.
,
small number of verbs have an anomalous, or, more a mode of that is properly speaking a mixed conjugation conjugation consisting of a combination of the strong and weak. The first class has seven conjugations whose preterite indicative is always monosyllabic, having a consonantal end. ,
is
inflected in
The second
indicative
dr, d,
t.
is
class has two conjugations whose preterite always unchanged the past participle ends in
;
in
which every
included.
There are four moods in each conjugation, the indicative, but only two tenses, the present and preterite, can be expressed by inflection. The other tenses are formed by means of auxiliary verbs.
;
60
In the
II-
Etymology.
first three of the moods above-named there are the two numbers, singular and plural, and the usual persons, the personal pronoun being placed before the Aerb, since the dif-
is fre-
quently undefined.
The
participles are,
and the
The
past. The infinitive always contains the root-vowel. present and preterite tense, as well as the past parti-
The
verSa
to
At hafa
to have.
Indicative Mood.
Present Tense.
Sing.
I
ek
\>u.
hefi,
/ have.,
ver hofum,
fer hafiS,
jieir
Plur. we
fiave,
hefir,
hann
you have,
thei/
hafa,
have.
Preterite.
ek haf3i,
|)u haf3ir,
I
lie
lutd,
ver hof9um,
[ler
we
had,
thou hadst,
hann
haf9i,
had;
Conjunctive Mood.
Present Tense.
Sing. / inay have,
thou niayest Juioe, he may have;
I
ek
|)u
hafi,
vfer
j)fer
hafim,
hafi9,
Plur. we may
they
have, have.
hafir,
hafi,
hann
ek
[)eir hafi,
\
may
Preterite,
hefSi, hefdi,
/
Ite
might have,
vfer
hefSim,
t>u hef3ir,
})er hef(M(5,
|)eir hefilli,
hann
might Jiave;
Impebative Mood,
Sing.
hafSu,
hafifl,
Infinitive Mood.
I
have
let
tJiou;
Plur. hofum,
us have,
\
have ye.
at hafa, to have. Pres. part, hafandi, having, Past part, haft, had.
,
Hafa is often used with a past participle agreeing like an adjective, in gender and case with the object, e. g., er J)eir hOfSu feldan hOlSingja liSsins tvhen they had struck down It is also used with the supine i)as8ive tJie chiefs of the people.
as
;
er J>eir
hOfSu vi6talast
wlien
tlity
had spoken
togetJier.
6.
Verbs.
to be.
61
At vera
Indicative Mood.
Present Tense.
Sing.
Plur.
ver erum, \>eT eru9,
{)eir
ek em,
\iu ert,
atii,
we
you
are,
are,
hann
ek
er,
eru,
they are.
var,
var,
I was,
thou wast, he was
f)u vart,
hann
ver varum, we were, you tcere, J)er varuS, |)eir varu, they were.
Conjunctive Mood.
Present Tens.e.
Sing.
I
ek
se,
[)u ser,
hann
ek
vseri,
se,
ver s^im,
|)er sfeiQ,
[leir sei,
Plur. we may
you
they
be,
be,
\
may may
be,
be.
Preterite.
ver va}rim,
\)er va^riS,
fieir vseri,
{)u vajrir,
hann
veeri,
veri,
let
Infinitive Mood.
be.
at vera, to be.
be ye,
let
them
be.
a definite time, as
Vera, with at and the infinitive of other verbs, signifies ek em at skrifa I am just going to write. thoroughly past time which we denote by laying an
:
emphasis on the auxiliary verb is expressed periphrastically in Icelandic by the phrase ek embtiinn, followed by the infinitive with at as ek em buinn at skrifa / have (already)
,
written.
At verSa
Indicative Mood.
Present. / become. ek verS,
{ju ver8r,
to
become.
Conjunctive Mood.
Present. I'^nay become.
S.
Preterite.
Preterite.
I became.
ek var8,
var 3, hann varS ver ur8um, fier ur9u9, f)eir ur8u.
})u
ek
yr8i,
j)u yrSir,
var8,
hann ver3r
ver ver8um,
ver9i9, fjeir verSa.
t>er
hann yroi
P. ver yrSim, \>hx yr9i8,
|)eir yrSi.
ur8u8, ur3u.
62
II.
Etymology.
Infinitive Mood.
at verSa to become.
Impkativ Mood.
verS-Su do thou become Pres. part. ver9andi becomiuff-
FIRST CLASS.
Sign -Forms.
1.
Infinitive.
4.
2.
1
3.
pers.
5. Past part.
First Conjugation.
Vowel of the
Characteristics.
pret. a, plur. u.
The
root:
endings generally double, or liquids connected with mutes rarely double mutes. Vowel of the infinitive e (seldom j'a) t before mi (except brenna, renna) nd and ng ; y before ngv, 6 before ggv, kkv, yet the pres. of sliiggva is slyng. Past part, has o; but u before nn nd, ng. Strong f- vowel-changed words have 6' for a in the pret. sing. ind. In the preterite tense, as well as in the 2 pers. sing, of the imperative where the root-termination likewise appears, d after / becomes t after both d and g are changed into their corresponding thin letters t and k, with assimi;
lation of n.
At brenna
Indicative Mood.
Present. I burn.
Preterite.
to
hum.
Conjunctive Mood.
Present.
Preterite.
Active Voice.
/ burned.
Sing.
I may
|)u
burn.
1 might burn.
Sing.
Sing.
ek brenn,
t)u
ek brann,
j)u
Sing. ek brenni,
brennir,
ek brynni,
})u
brennr,
brannt,
PL.
brynnir,
hann brennr;
PL.
v^r brennum, r brennid, eir brenna.
hann brann
vl'r
fer
hann brenni
PL.
v5r brennira, )er brennid, )eir brenni.
hann brynni
PL.
vfer
|)fer
brunnura,
brynnim,
brynnii),
eir
brunnud, brunnu.
jieir
brynni.
Imi'eeative Mood.
brenn-du, do
burn, brennum, let tu burn, brennid, do ye burn.
t/u/u
Infinitive Mood. brenna to burn. Pres. part, brennandi burning, PustjMrt. brunninn burned.
at
a.
Verbs.
{i'6
To
this conjugation
64
11.
Etymology.
Second Conjugation.
Vowel
Characteristics.
of 'the pret. a,
plur. d.
:
Simple root-vowel vowel of the infinitive e (originally /) In some words a root -consonant accompanying j has preserved the original vowel i, and in others the original ve, u has passed over to o. The past part, has the vowel e, unless the root-consonant is a liquid, or the original vowel has been ve , for in such cases it becomes o. The pret. sing, in words with the root-consonant ff should properly become aff; but here ff falls away, and the vowel becomes lang a, as in vega, pret. va, &c.
.
At gefa
Indicative Mood.
Present.
Preterite.
to give.
Conjunctive Mood.
Present.
Preterite.
I give.
S.
/ gave.
S.
/ may
S.
give.
I might
S.
give.
ek
gef,
ek
gaf,
ek
gefi",
ek
ga?fi,
{)u gefr,
p\i gaft,
{ju gefir,
^li gaefir,
hann gefr
P. ver gefum,
f)er gefi8,
{)eir
hann gaf;
P. ver gafum,
tier
\>eli
hann
P.
vfer
gefi
hann
gaefi
gefim,
P. v^r g!Pfim,
|)er ga>fi9,
|)eir gtefi.
gafu9,
gafu.
f)er gefi8,
{)eir gefi.
gefa.
Impeeative Mood.
gef-8u, do thou ^ive, gefum, let us give,
gefiS,
Infinitive Mood.
at gefa to give.
do ye give.
To
66
n. Etymology.
Impekatite Mood.
far-du, do thon journey
Infinitive Mood.
at fara to journey. *" -'" '' Pres. part, -*res. part farandi journeying, Past part. far in n journeyed. t part,
forum,
fari8,
To
(j.
Vekbs.
to seize.
67
Conjunctive Mood.
Present.
Preterite.
I seize.
ek grip,
t)u gripr,
/ seized.
S.
I may
S.
seize.
I might
S.
seize.
ek greip,
|)u
ek
gripi,
ek
gripi,
greipt,
\>u gripir,
{)u gripir,
hann gripr;
ver gripum,
|)er gripiS,
hann greip;
P. ver gripum, {)er gripuS, J)eir gripu.
hann
gripi
hann
gripi;
t)eir gripa.
P. ver gripim,
t)er gripi5,
j)eir
gnpi.
Imperative Mood.
gripum,
grip-8u, do thou seize; let us seize,
Infinitive Mood.
at gripa, to seize. Pres. part, gripandi, seizing. Past part, gripinn, seized.
gripiS, do
ye
seize.
To
to
this conjugation
68
II.
Etymology.
Fifth Conjugation.
Vowel of ihe pret. au (o), plur. u. Characteristics. Vowel of the infinitive jo before t, 6, ti in liita, Mka, and sometimes s, st; hut j'u before y, ff, k, p Verbs, whose root is stiff a for the more common form sj'iiga.
juff,
form the
16
^^ Jiang;
e.g. S7n6
sniatig
smugum, Jlugum,
; flo lugiim.
At
Present.
frjosa to freeze.
Indicative Mood.
Preterite.
Conjunctive Mood.
Present.
Preterite.
I freeze.
.
Ifroze.
S.
I may freeze.
S.
I might freeze
S.
ek
frys,
ek
fraus,
ek
frjosi,
ek fry si,
j)u fry sir,
f)u fryst,
t)u fraust,
{)u frjosir,
hann
.
frys
hann
fraus
hann
frjosi;
hann
frysi;
ver frjosum,
J)er frjosiS,
{)eir frjosa.
P. ver frjosum,
|jer frj6si9,
|)eir frjosi.
Imperative Mood.
do thou freeze frjosum, let us freeze, frjosiS, do ye freeze.
frj6.s-tu,
Infinitive Mood.
at frjosa, to freeze. Pres. jjart. frjosandi, freezing. Past part, frosinn, frozen.
To
to bid
-
this conjugation
inf.
pres.
past part.
bj68a
brjota
drjiipa fljuga
fljota
by3
bryt
drj-p
bau9
braut draup
flaug, flo
flaut
bu5um
brutum
bo3inn
brotinn
dropinii floginn
flotinn
break drop
drupum
flugum
flutum
-fly - flow
-
flyg
flyt
drift
fjiika
spurt
pour
obtain
gj68a gi6ta
hlj6ta
hammer
sneeze
knot
hnyS hnys
hnyt hry3
hr;t
kj6Ha
kljufa
ky
klyf
hruSum hro3inn hrauS hraut hrutum hrotinn kaus, kjOra kusum, ku- kosinn,
rum
-
korinii
klauf
klufum
kloHnn
kropinn lostmn
logiiin
crcev
Htrike
lie
kriupa
Ij
kryp
Ivst
kraup
lau8t
lauu;, 16
krupum
hiKtum
iuguni
(jMta
nhut
liika
lauk
hikum
lokinii
70
to tceep
-
advise
7nix
attire
90 hold
hang
fall
saei'ifice
Seventh Conjugation.
Vowel
Characteristics.
plur.yo.
ceding, partly through a long vowel with a single consonant, partly by reason of position after a short vowel.
6.
Vebbs.
71
SECOND CLASS.
Sign- Forms.
Infinitive-ending -a, pret. sing, -da or -di, pret. plur.
-dum, part.
-c?r.
is
either i or a: this
causes the division of verbs of this class (which answers to the German designation of weak verbs) into two conjugations.
First Conjugation.
With
:
connecting vowel
i.
The connecting vowel i always becomes y before another vowel ify come together a simple { takes their place. There are two divisions of this conjugation according as the root- vowel is short or long. The i changed intoy, is preserved in those verbs whose root-syllable is short as temja
,
to tame,
vekja
to
wake, hylja
and in fact in those which but whose root ends in^ and k as vigja
to hide,
:
steikja
to roast,
byggja
to dwell.
I,
In the pret. and the past part, d remains unaltered m, n in short-syllabled words.
First Division.
after
Short root-vowel.
Verbs of
this division
have no
final
At
Indicative Mood.
Present.
telja to reckon.
Conjunctive Mood.
Present. I may reckon.
S.
Preterite.
Preterite.
I reckon.
S.
/ reckoned.
S.
I
S.
might reckon.
ek
\)\x
tel,
ek
taldi,
ek
])\x
teli,
ek
\)\i
teldi,
telr,
|)u taldir,
telir,
teldir,
hann
telr;
hann
taldi;
hann
teli;
hann
teldi;
P. ver telium,
t)er telifi
|)eir telja.
P. ver telim,
\)kx teli8,
P. ver teldim,
f)er teldii), i)eir teldi.
jjeir teli.
Impebative Mood.
tel-du, do thou reckon; teljum, let us reckon, teli5, do ye reckon.
Infinitive Mood.
at telja, to reckon. Pi'es. part, teljandi reckoning. Past part, taldr talii^r, talinn),
reckoned.
::
72
n. Etymology.
Thus
-
are conjugated
j
to choose velia
to
-
dwell dvelja
|
to
-
gladden gle3ja
tchet hvetja
heat lemja
stnite
berja
At
Ijodicative
Present.
hylja to hide.
Mood.
Preterite.
Conjxjnctite Mood.
Present.
I hide.
ek hyl,
\>\x
I hid.
S.
I may
.
hide.
ek huldi,
|iu
ek
hyli,
hylr,
huldir,
\)u hylir,
I might
hann hylr;
ver hyljum,
t)er hyliS,
{)eir
hann huldi
P. ver huldum,
|)er
{)eir
.
hann
hyli;
hann hyldi
P. ver hyldim,
\>er
f)eir
ver hylim,
\)ev hyliS,
hylja.
hulduQ, huldu.
|)eir hyli.
hyldi9, hyldi.
Imperative Mood.
hyl-du, do thou hide;
iNFiiaTivE Mood.
at hylja, to hide.
Pres. part, hyljandi, hiding. Past part, huldr (huliSr, hulinn) hidden.
Thus
to
-
are conjugated
I
to
-
groan stynja
shut to lykja
to
-
roar rymja
root out ryflja.
rush on pysja
Second Division.
Verbs of
this division
Long
root-vowel.
t
in the pres.,
but
none
At doema
Indicative Mood.
Present. I Judge. 8, ek doemi, dtemir,
Preterite.
to
judge.
Conjunctive Mood.
Present.
Preterite.
Ijudged.
S.
Imayjudi/e. S. ek doemi,
f)u
I might Judge.
S.
ek doemdi,
j)u
dcemir,
doemdir,
hann dcemi;
vfer
P.v6rdcemdum, P.
I
doemim,
doemiS, doemi.
hannd(emdi P. verdcemdim,
\)br
{)eir
\)br
t)eir
dcemdii),
\)eit
diema.
doemdu.
dcemdi.
Impkrativk Mood.
dtrm-du, do thtm judge;
at
Infinitive Mood.
dwrna,
to Judge.
dKmum,
6.
Verbs.
73
Thus
to
-
are conjugated
to follow fyl^'a
-
to fetch
-
heimta
weaken veikja
think t)einkja
notice
geyma
- ff('P<i
-
gapa
fell fella
drown drekkja
build byggja.
The connecting vowel a occurs in the preterite tense, and falls away but when ti takes place in the inflections,
; :
changed into u, as
inf.
pret. sing.
pret.plur.
past part.
to love
-
call
elska kalla
elskaSi kalla^i
elsku9um
elskadr
kallaSr.
koUuSum
to love.
At elska
In^DICATIVE
Present.
MoOD.
Preterite.
CONJUNCTIVK MoOD.
Present. Present.
/
S
f)u
love.
S.
/ loved.
ek elskaSi,
{)u
I may
S.
love.
ek elska,
elskar,
ek
elski,
elska9ir,
\>u elski r,
elskaflir,
hann elskar;
P. ver elskum,
t)er elskiQ,
{)eir
hann elskaSi
P.vferelskuSum, t)er elskuSud,
l)eirelskuciu.
hann
elski;
hann elskadi
P. verelskaSim, ]i'ev elskadiS,
|)eir
P. ver elskim,
^fer elski3,
{)eir elski.
elska.
elskaSi.
InrERATivE
elskum,
elskic),
let
Mood
Infinitive Mood.
at elska, to love.
us love,
love.
do ye
At
Indicative Mood.
Present.
kalla to
call.
Conjunctite Mood.
Present.
Preterite.
Preterite.
I call.
S.
I calledS.
/ may
S.
call.
Imiyht
S.
ciHl.
ek
[)u
kalla,
kallar,
ek
jjii
kallaSi,
ek
kalli,
ek kallaSi,
{ju kallaftir,
kalla6ir,
jju kallir,
hannkallaSi;
hann
kalli;
P.verk6llu9um,
{)erkollu(lluci,
j[)eir
P. ver kallim,
l^er kalli9,
J)eir kalli.
kalla.
koUuflu.
Imperative Mood.
kalla-9u, do thou call; kollum, let us call, kalliS, do ye call.
Infinitive Mood.
at kalla to call. Pres. part, kallandi, calliny. Past part. kallaQr, called.
74
II.
Ettmology.
6r
is
The
past participle in
indef. kallaSr def. kallaSi,
regularly declined,
kallat kallada.
k6llu6, kalla9a
:
to
-
aim
sella
to gatlier safna
-
cast kasta
prove sanna
asleep sofna think hugsa.
threaten hota
- -fall -
bake baka
write rita
sound hlj69a
PASSIVE VOICE.
st is
is verj* simple and regular added in all cases, but before this, r, t, d, and 6 are dropt, which last letter however takes z for s. At teljast to be reck- At dcemast to be At kallast to be called,
The formation
of the passive
oned.
I
judged.
\
Indicative Mood.
Present.
lam reckoned.
ek
telst,
.
I am judged.
ek doemist,
{)u
t)u telst,
doemist,
hann
telst
.
hann doemist;
ver doemumst, {)er doemizt, {)eir dcemast.
Preterite.
hann
kallast;
ver teljumst,
|)er telizt,
{leir
ver koUumst,
t^er kallizt,
j)eir
teljast.
kallast.
I was
S.
reckoned.
ek
})u
taldist,
I was
ek
called. kalladist,
kallaciist;
taldist,
doemdist,
jju kallaDist,
hann
|)er
t)eir
taldist;
,
hann doemdist;
ver doemdumst,
f)er
jieir
hann
jier
P. ver toldumst,
tolduzt, toldust.
ver k6llu()umst,
doemduzt
doemdust.
koUu^uzt,
beir koUuiJust.
Conjunctive Mood.
Present.
I may
S.
be reckoned.
I
I may
S.
{)u
be judged.
'
I may
S.
he called.
ek
t)u
telist,
ek doemist,
doemist,
ek
()u
kallist,
kallist,
telist,
hann
telist;
,
hann doemist;
ver doemimst, j)l'r doemizt, peir doemist.
hann
{)er
kallist;
P. ver telimst^
})It telizt,
[tcir
P. ver kallimst,
kallizt.
telist.
beir kallist.
b.
Verbs
75
Preterite.
I might
S.
be reckoned. S.
I might
j>u
be Judged.
I might
ek
be called.
ek
teldist,
ek doemdist,
doemdist,
kallaSist,
f)u teldist,
t)u kallaSist,
hann
teldist;
hann doemdist;
P. ver doemdimst, jier doemdizt, |)eir doemdist.
hann
kallaSist;
P. ver teldimst,
f)er teldizt,
j)eir teldist.
ver kallaSimst,
j)er kalla&izt,
|)eir kalla8ist.
Impekative Mood.
telstu, be thou reck-
oned; teljumst,
kallastu called
be
let
thou
koUumst,
called,
kallizt, be
us be
called.
Judged,
doemizt, be ye Judged.
ye
Infinitive Mood.
at teljast, to be reck-
oned.
Pres. participle.
teljandist, being reckI
oned.
doemandist, Judged.
being
Past participle.
talizt,
been reckoned.
REFLECTIVE VERBS.
form, which
is often expressed by the reflective thus constructed. To the verb active is appended the reflective pronoun sik (one's self), in the Istpers. sing, niik (myself) the vowel being rejected hence the 1 st pars, sing, ends in -mk, the others have -sk. The 1st pers. sing, adds -mk to the root of the verb
The
passive voice
is
through the connecting vowel n, as from elska elsk-u-mk from falla f6ll-u-mk from bera bar-u-mk sjamk 7 look about
;
me,
-r of inflection is dropt before -sk, as: 2. 3. pres. doemi-sk /or dcemir-sk, skyt-skybr skytr-sk. The 1st pers. pi. is either formed like the 1st pers. sing., or it appends -sk to the ending 7n, thus, doemumk and doemumsk, skjotumk and skjotumsk.
sing,
76
II.
Etymology.
reflective verbs are thus
con-
atfallask, tofalldovon.
at skjotask, io shrink.
at foeSask, to be nourished.
Indicative Mood.
Present.
I fall
S.
dotcn.
I
I shrink.
S.
ek fOllumk,
{)u fellsk,
skjotumk,
{)u
S.
1 am nourished. ek fceSumk,
{)u fce5isk,
skytsk,
hann
fcedisk
foeS-
umk,
{)er falliSsk,
umk,
{)er fceciiSsk,
j[)eir
{)eir fallask.
skjotiSsk, skjotask.
foeSask.
Preterite.
I
S.
fell
down.
S.
t)u
/ shrank.
ek skutumk,
skautsk,
S.
ek lellumk,
{)u fellsk,
hann
ffeUsk;
fell-
hann skautsk;
P.
vfer
hann foeddisk
P. ver fellumsk,
umk,
|)er
t)eir
umk,
Jier
{jeir
:
fellu3sk, fellusk.
Saell
foedduSsk, foeddusk.
happy he tvho ok atbonum verf>ask, brothers xcill fight, and become each others slayer; ondin fcefiisk ok sef)sk [sezk] af guSligum malum the soul is mmrished and satisfied with godly words ; ver hra^umsk enn efsta dom, toe fear the extreme sentence ; hugr misgeranda snysk i Srvilnan the mind of ill-doers inclines to despair kona pin hefir gipsk Ipeim manni er hon kaus sfer thy wife is married to the man whom she chose.
er sA er stenzk freistni
Examples
munu
berjask,
.ANOMALOUS VERBS.
Verbs having the characteristics of either
inf.
class
U) write,
ri'ta
worship,
mix,
6.
Verbs.
77
II.
Verbs which have the characteristics of both conand which possess other ir,
78
II.
Etymology,
Indicative Mood.
Preterite.
CoNJtmcTivE Mood.
Preterite.
I
S.
ek
dtta,
atti;
|)u 4ttix,
/
S.
niight
own.
P. ver aettim,
ek
aetti,
{)u aettir,
^hx
aettiS,
hann
hann
setti
j^eir aetti.
Fast part,
attr, oioned.
Thus
are conjugated
to be able, or, to
do knega,
mega.
At kunna
Indicative Mood.
Present.
to
he able.
Conjunctive Mood.
Present.
I can,
S.
or,
am
P.
able.
S.
I may
ek kunni,
i[ju
be able.
ek kann,
{)u
verkunnum,
kunnuQ, |)eir kunna.
jjer
P.
vfer
kunnim,
kunniO, kunni.
kant,
;
kunnir,
;
fier
jieir
hann kann
hann kunni
Preterite.
Preterite.
I could,
S.
I might
S.
be able.
ek kunna,
\)VL
kunnir,
ek kynni,
{)u
P.
;
vfer
kynnim,
kynniS, kynni.
able.
kynnir,
f)er
{leir
hann kunni;
Pre>i. part,
kunnu.
able.
hann kynni
kunnandi, being
is
Thus
conjugated
at
to love,
unna.
At
Indicative Mood.
Present.
|)urfa to need.
Conjunctive Mood.
Present.
I need.
S.
I may
S.
need.
ek
t)arl',
P. ver [lurfum,
\ikT |)urfu8,
j)eir [)urfu.
ek
{)urfi,
P.
vfer jiurfim,
|)u ^arft,
\)u j)urfir,
|ier |iurfic),
;
hann
f)arf.
hann
j)urfi
j)eir |)urfi.
Preterite.
Preterite.
/ did
S,
ek
t)urfta
|)urftir
/ might
S.
ek
[lyrt'ti,
tu ann
jjurftui),
i)n hyrflir,
j)yrltl(\
[mrfti
[rnxv jiurftu.
hann
j)yjtti;
t)eir jjyrfti.
Past part.
|)urft, tieeded.
Skulu
a/iall,
ought,
and
munu
will,
would, irreg.
ini'.
0.
Verbs.
79
Indicative Mood.
Present.
S.
ek
[)u
skal,
skalt,
hann skal
S.
P.
ver
|3er
munum,
munu5, munu.
hann mun
man
Preterite.
{jeir
S.
P. ver skyldum,
mundum,
&c.
wanting.
Conjunctive Mood.
Present.
S.
ek skuli,
|)u
skyli,
P. ver skulim,
J5er .skuliQ,
|)eir skull.
S.
ek muni, myni,
|)u
P. ver
|)er
j^eir
munim,
munid, muni.
raunir, mynir,
P.
vfer
The
At
Indicative Mood.
Present.
S.
vita to know.
Conjunctive Mood.
Present.
ek
\)\i
veit,
/ may know.
S.
ek
viti,
P. ver vitim,
\)er vitic),
{)eir viti.
veitst,
vituQ,
|3u vitir,
hann
veit;
{)eir vitu.
hann
viti;
Preterite.
Preterite.
I knew.
S.
I might
vissum, &c.
S.
knoto.
ek
ek
vissi,
&c. P. vervi88im,&c^
Past part,
is
vitat,
known.
con-
[sometimes) hap-
hann skammast
sin
lie
is
asha-
pens,
med of himself,
80
ek forSask
foes,
II.
Etymology.
mik mer
i-ekr
I escape from my
I am
I am
it
gale,
uggir
afraid off
to
vill til it
happens
me,
tekst varla at
]?rumar dagar
tokst
honum
it
]y6 it
last,
thunders,
it
CHAPTER
Words which
this
YII.
UNINFLECTED WORDS.
PARTICLES.
are mostly uninflected are classed under
CHAPTER YHL
ADVERBS.
1
Of Place
f)ar there,
f)a5ra thither,
hvert whither,
he8ra
hither,
inn within,
f ram forth,
innan
u-ithin, inside,
forward,
2.
Of Time:
fyrr before, snemma soon, lengi lonq,
nu
note,
lately,
heSanfrd hereafter,
8f5la late,
timiliga early,
ddan
fid
then,
sjaldan seldom,
stundum sometimes.
3.
vel well,
Of Manner:
ilia
ill,
hverneg how,
svdleidis thus.
Rjam
wilUnaly,
in that
svA
so,
panneg
way,
4g(Ptliga excellently.
8.
Adverbs.
81
Of Interrogation
hversu
5
hoio,
hvartill lohiiher,
.
Of Affirmation
ja yes,
vissulega certainly,
.
6
nei no,
Of Negation
CHAPTER
The
til
IX.
:
PREPOSITIONS.
prepositions mostly used are the following
af of, ixk from, ur out of,
to,
um
i
about,
an
icithout,
a on,
in,
auk
besides,
amilli bettceen,
fyrir for,
undir under,
meS
with,
mot
against,
a8
at,
yfir over,
CHAPTER
The conjunctions most
ok and,
bee&i both,
X.
CONJUNCTIONS.
in use are the following
utan besides,
ef
r,
bat,
sem
ne ne neither nor,
{)vi
as,
sva so,
ella e/se,
annaShvart
t)vi
nema
af
|)vi
t/"
?iot,
except,
a9 because,
\)6tt
though.
tohen,
alls er
as, ivhereas
since,
ivhen,
ye^, although,
as,
|)ar eci
that,
English-Icelandic
Gramm.
82
n. Etymology.
CHAPTER XL
Some of 01 Ho
I
the most
are
I
and
the like.
CHAPTER
The formation
or Composition.
XII.
FORMATION OF WORDS.
of words takes place through Derivation In the former case it occurs through alteration of the inflection change of vowel, or sj'llabic addition in the latter case it arises from the junction of two or more separate words whose union forms a new one. The original form of a word, and from which its derivations and inflections spring is called the root. All roots are root by itself has no distinct meaning, but monosyllabic. contains an idea which, in being developed, becomes the main idea of a family of kindred words. root appears first in the form of a verb, because the first stage in the process of development is the idea of action or condition. All verbs,
,
:
therefore
By
derivation
,
to
word receives and which is inserted between the root and the inflection whereby the original idea is developed.
,
Root.
to
Derivative. Inflection.
j
count
telja
tel
hew
hdggva
kaldr
hoeg
kal
a a
r
cold
d
in
heaven
himinn
is
him
n.
i
Derivation
of M into
,
into^, and
cc tel-j-a,
is,
mixed
that
The
vocalic Derivation.
In the vocalic derivation i {J) produces a vowel-change, and although itself dropt, is hereby known. E.xamples byrSr [dat. ^- ace. byrSi) burden <bB{ madnesB, from uiV raging, brd(5r maty, XiTVeiti pasaion, from bur or carryiny,
:
akr
Jield,
festr ropo,
from
i&iirjirtn.
13.
Prefixes.
83
The consonantal
,
Derivation.
Every consonant-derivation appears originally to have been mixed and when the vowel is lacking in Icelandic it is often found in the cognate Teutonic tongues, as
,
:
Icelandic.
Icelandic.
moon
field
charal fokal
wakeful finger
akr vakr
fingr
; ;
84
II.
Etymology.
:
-fa8ir forefather; -mali fyrir) preface; -raS supply; -s^kx foresight; -streymis with the stream; -tolur persuasions ; -vindis tcith the wind. It also conveys a notion of something dangerous or un-
pleasant,
to
as in jEn^. forlorn
to
forbaenir curses;
-daema
to
condemn; -msela
It intensifies
sion.
the
meaning of verbs,
-hrjeddr
as
forsma
scorn.
Gagn-
much frightened ;
-saer
-laetSr
learned;
-mseli contradiction;
transparent;
-sta8a
beiiig opposite.
Mis- has
a negative meaning,
and
or deterioration: -dau^i when 07ie of two dies before the other; -grip mistake; -idiin. uneven ; -kaup bad purchase; -lika to dislike; -litr pied; -skilningr
difference,
misunderstanding ; -]?yrma
to ill-treat.
Sam-
(from
saman
the
together)
-borgarmaSr
;
co-citizen
-borinn
bom of
same parents
-fagna to rejoice with one; -fe8ra having the same father ; -nafni having the same name as another ; - Jjykki occurrence. Si- continual, uninterrtipted : -byrSr /yw^ alongside (of ships) -felldr continuous; -mdll always prating. This word
;
si
ok
ae
ever
and
aye.
senn
Sundr-
difficulty: -breytiligr hard to manage; -fyndr bad to find; -faera bad travelling; -gaetr difficult to get; -naemr duU-ivitted; -tryggr distrustful. U- or 6- is a negative particle, mostly used before adjectives, and answers to the Eng. un: -fri"?r discord; -hof ex-missandi cess; -kunnr unknmvn; -mak uneasiness;
Tor- implies
indispensable
-sjaldan often.
,
fault
-faerr unable
-g& carelessness
-If-
erlendis abroad ;
-viti foolish.
. .
14.
Affixes.
85
CHAPTER
AFFIXES.
as,
XIY.
gjarna lo'dlingly (from gjarn) \W.z.hadly (illr), and vi3a loidelij (vi8r) It likewise forms many indeclinable
,
.
adjectives, as afsinna
mad, landflotta
,
exiled.
-aldi
as
glopaldi simpleton
shows a state or quality as: gamalt old; sanns5gult truthful. -an is an adverbial termination, as a6an lately, meSan meantvhile. It mostly means motion from a place, as he6an
-alt, -ilt, -ult, -It
:
hence.
-ari
is
as
skrifari writer,
'
though
-at,
to a place
:
-dagi
bardagi
skildagi contract.
broSemi
fatherhood, liierni tcay of living -fraedi answers to Eng. lore: fornfraeSi antiquities, gu^fraeSi
theology, malfrseSi
-ill
:
grammar
:
ispeech-lore)
forms diminutives ble5ill leaflet, kistill a small chest. -ing, a feminine termination drottning queen, kerling crone. -ingi, used of persons erfingi ?ieir, heiSingi heathen. -ingr, used of natives of countries which end in ey, as Faereyingr a Faroese, Orkneyingr an Orkneyan. -la, a feminine diminutive corresponding with -ill, -ull:
:
signifies
disposition
or
rettlatr
lauslaeti frivolity,
-leitr refers
hvitleitr tvhitish,
rau61eitr ruddy.
-leysi
sakleysi (Provincial
Eng. sackhetju-
e.
-ligr
means
like
(Eng.
-ly, like):
h6f6ingligr;?rmc<>;y,
ligr hero-like.
86
n. Etymology.
baeklingr a little book, yrmlingr a forms patronymics, as Knytlingr (from Kn\itr Canute) Ynglingr (from Yngvi) -na forms the ending of many inceptive verbs blikna to turn pale, bitna to grow hot, kolna to cool. It also intensifies the meaning of adverbs hernajW^ here, nuna jtist now. -na6r or -nu6r bunaSr appurtenances, mdnuSr month. -neyti feUoicship, from nouns in -nautr f6runeyti felUnv.
icormlmg.
It also
,
-ni forms feminine substantives from adjectives in -inn: forvitni curiosity, hlySni obedience.
-6ttr implies
an outward form
dropottr
m form
,
of drops,
kringlottr spherical.
-ra haltra to halt, hli^ra to yield. -roenn denotes a district: austTcenn from the east fjallrcenn from the fells. Hence some feminine substantives, as norroena the north wind, the Norse language. -sa: glepsa to snatch at, hramsa to seize.
:
-si bersi bear, gassi goose, ofsi pride. This ending is rare. -ska signifies a quality iolska. silhness maslska. talkative72ess -skr terminates many proper adjectives: enskr English, gauzkr
:
:
kynsl strange event. geymsla care, vigsla consecration. -ta renders transitive: lykta to shut, neita. to deny , skemta
-si
:
beisl
bit,
hermsl
sorroiv,
-sla
foezla maintenance,
to Joke.
-und
tegund
species,
-usta or -osta: fullusta satisfaction, J?j6nusta service. -ver8r (Eng. wards) austanvertSr eastward, utanver^r outward. -ynja forms a few feminine nouns: apynja she-ape, dsynja
:
CHAPTER XV.
COMPOSITION.
Composition means the forming of one word out of two or more, with or without change of form in either. Of these,
the last
is
the
first
serves to
15.
Composition.
87
define
it
more
closely, as:
In words framed by composition, each of the constituents and still retain, an independent significance, as in steam-boat in which instance each of the for example words has just the same sense as when employed by itself, though in order to complete the meaning of the compound something must be understood. In the majority of compound
may
possess,
words, the component parts are not all separately significant, but the word consists of a principal radical, the sense of which is reversed, extended, limited, or otherwise qualified, by combining with it a particle or other determinative, not of
itself
act.
Composition of Nouns.
Nominal composition is either proper or improper. It is proper when the first word rejects all inflection and its root alone is joined to the following, as: bogmaSr bowman, jar6hus underground house cell mjoSdrekka mead vessel, eldh\is breiv-house , bloSfall Jlow of blood. In such cases the constituents cannot be separated, but must necessarily be included under one idea. Nominal composition is improper, when its first member is placed in the genitive, as: konungsmaSr kings man, hjartarhorn hartshorn, sonardotth graiiddaughter, konnriki female rule, eyrnaverkr earache, ennisbreiSr having a broad forehead, herSabreiSr broad-s/iouldered ; where the two members could also be written separately and regarded as two words. Sometimes the mode in which the compound is framed considerably aff'ects its signification thus, konnngmsi^r a rogal person , is much the same as konungr, but konungsmaSr on the contrary,
, ,
man who
is in
which are indeclinable in the singular, are sometimes connected with the following member by s, as fraendsemis-talr genealogical enumeration, hraesnis-ligr hypocritical, xigleSis-klaeSi mourningclothes. These compounds resemble the German Liebesbrief. and stand
first
Feminines in
in composition
88
II.
Etymology.
Composition of Adjectives.
as
Here the first adjective mostly takes the same changes the same member in compound substantives. Many adjectives are composed of two others, the last
:
being always the chief word, as sannheilagr truly holy, storgjofull open-handed, lauslyndr^cA^e. The last part of some
a substantive which takes an adjectival form of the composition as ]?rihofSa6r threeheaded, langorSr zforc^y, rangeygfiT sqtmit-eyed, f&grhasr^T fairis
compounds
in consequence
hatred,
skammlifr short-lived.
adjective is placed last in the following
:
The
and similar
to
compounds smekkgoSr
run
halslangr
long-neched ,
sviradigr
thick-necked,
ivtth snoiv-shoes .
Thus
last, as: fotbrotinn hrokei\-legged , sottbitinn natural death, r}-3genginn rust-eaten, jarnsleginn iron-shod.
Composition of Verbs.
Adverbs and prepositions
with verbs, as
to take
:
are frequently
compounded
aftaka
to
up , fraskilja
separate,
equal correctness taka of, upp, reka ut, skilja frd. When a substantive is compounded with a verb the latter constitutes the last part of the composition, as kross:
handhOggva to cut off the hand f6tfara to measure by the step liflata to put to death, l6gtaka to accept as law, auglysa to make plain var^veiia to keep gttard f6ttro5a
festa
to
crucify,
to
When
pound
first
part of the
compound
its
which connects it as kennima3r priest, laerifaSir teacher, laerisveinn disciple, rennismiSr turner, sendiboSi messenger, spennitcing
, :
being supplied by the vowel i with the remaining member of the com-
pincers.
the followsannfoera
to
ranglysa
to
to
state incorrectly,
perstmde, kunngOra
announce.
15.
Composition.
89
Words
1
chiefly
used as Compounds.
are used
As
otv7i
the
,
first
compound member
Einka-
jirivilege,
proper, peculiar: einkagripr costly jewel, -leyfi -mal secret discourse, -vinr conjidential friend.
This word must not be confounded with einga single. a feminine substantive in the genitive, but is used only in genitives plural in composition to give the following member the signification of something special. Endr- again: -hot reform, -gj'dld rejmgment, -lausn redemption. Fa- few : -kunnig ignorant, -mennr having feio folk, -vizka
It is
deficient tmdcrstanding
Fer- or fjor- four: -ialdr fourfold , -hymdx four-cornered -nsettingr four dags old. Frum -original: -h\xr'&T frst-born, -getinn frst-begotten, -m66ir original parent, -rit original icriting. This word is the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon frum beginning. Full- full: -dimmr quite dark, -gamall very old, -hugi
courageous.
G68- good
Hofu6Ill-
-fuss benevolent,
-menni
a brave
iveather.
high-2iriesi.
bad:
-f\is8 malicious,
Of- much of: -at gluttony, -gamall much too old, -mikill too great, -seinn too late. Ofr- shows a high degree: -efli superior force, -mata exceediyigly.
Sma-
small, forms diminutives -konungr j^^tty king, -kvikendi small cattle, -mey little girl, -sveinn little boy. Stor- great, forms augmentatives -auSigr very rich -eign
: :
ill,
sisters,
has an intensive meaning -gata high-road, -konungr chief-sovereign, -skald chief bard.
2.
As
the last
is
-borg, which
often
Athenu-
90
-doemi
:
n. Etymology.
biskupsdcemi
bishoprick,
einvaldsdoemi
monarchy,
liertogadoemi dukedom.
-efni one
who
will
become something
:
konungsefni crown-
fegjarn covetous, holgjarn fond of flatmetnaSargjarn ambitious, namgjarn studious, ^raetuAermiV, ]?j6nustukona Aanrf-
gjarn/o7?f? of strife.
-korn forms diminutives hopkorn a small heap , karlkorn a little man, piltkorn a little boy, ritkorn a small writing. -land, often appended to the name of a country Indialand,
:
Polinaland, Prussaland.
-lauss,
a negative,
spiritless,
huglauss
argument-
iceaponless.
-list art:
skdldskaparlist
poetic art,
Jjraetulist
ative skill.
-mat5r
man
man.
:
glet5ima8r a
lively
-menni goSmenni a brave man, illmenni a iorf man , litilmenni an insigniflcant man mikilmenni a famous man. This word occurs only in composition. -vfss shows quality daunviss keen-scented, hvatviss headlong,
,
:
PART
III.
SYNTAX.
CHAPTER
In Icelandic
in
,
I.
an adjective agrees
number, gender, and case with the substantive which it qualifies. Even in substantives which with a masculine or
,
neuter form, have a feminine signification, and with a feminine or neuter form have a masculine one there is no exception to this rule as the adjective in these cases takes the grammatical, not the real, gender. Thus, hitt fagra vff [nettt.) the
, ,
1.
91
flag(5it
/airwoman,
Ijota ineut.)
the
little
dog,
gott
[netit.)
hann var
neuter nouns with a feminine signinames of women as, svarri, svanni, sprund, flj66. Of neuters with a masculine signification are most compound words in menni, as: ungmenni, mikilmenni, aiarmenni. Yet when the person thus signified is mentioned
fication are poetical
immediately afterwards, it is in the natural gender, as sa ek t?a hina miklu hetju {fem.)\ hann var fri8r synum then I saw that great champion ; he was of fair countenance : roedda ek vifJ fegrstan svanna {rruisc.)\ hon er kvenna kurteisust I spoke to the fairest tvoman ; she is the most courteous of tvomen Haraldr konTitles mostly follow the proper name, as ungr King Harald, SigurSr jarl Earl Sigur^r. Asvaldr hertogi Duke Oswald, Otto keisari hinn mikli the emperor Otto the Great, Ari prestr Priest Ari, Kristina drottning Queen
: ;
Chrisfitm
Herra and Sira [Sir) Frii Madame {Madam) Fruken and Jungfrvi (3Iiss), however, precede the name. Herra lord, master, applies to kings, bishops, and knights Sira is used only of priests, a title answering to our word sire, that is, Father, which mode of addressing their clergy is still common amongst the Scandinavian peasantry, and formerly prevailed in England, as we meet with "Sir Parson'* in old writings. When substantives which denote some member of a person show that the action which the sentence describes,
, , ,
;
concerns more the person than the particular person takes the dative, e. g., hann fell fram a
member
foetr
,
the
he fell forward at the kings feet. the action refers to the bodily parts themselves the genitive is used, as: )?vaer hann foetr konungs he tcashes the king feet.
s
In the same
manner the
used instead of the possessive, e. g., leysti af fotum ser he loosed the fetters from his feet, not iotum sinum, as the release was not confined to the feet but afiected the whole body. When an adjective or pronoun refers to two substantives one of which is masculine, the other feminine, it takes the neuter e. g., ]?at kveld gekk hann at bruSlaupi met5 Bryn,
is
92
in. Syntax.
hildi, en er \>ait {neui.) komu i sseing, ])A dro hann sverSit fram or slic5rum ok lag8i i milium J>eirra t/iat evening he iveclded Brynhildur ] but ichen they got into bed, he drew his sword out of the sheath, and placed it between them: vit (Loki ok Freyja) skolum aka tvau {net/t.) ice two [Loki and Freiija) shall drive mselti hvdrt vi8 annat [neut.) they spoke to one another (of a man and woman) ef bondi maelir at kona skal barn sitt at"
:
einu fe sek mOrkum af beggja )?eirra fe, if a peasant says that his ivife must ivean her child and he is so much henpecked that she tvill
,
ok hefir hann kvanriki sva mikit, at hon vill orSum bans lata, ])k er hon sek morkum 3 at' sinu en ef hann gar eigi heldr en hon, Jja eru ])au bceti
is
she finable in 3
it
money; but
if he cares
no more about
marks of the money of both : enn er ])au (Grimr ok Lopthaena) voru buin, ok byr gaf, heldu ]?au tveim skipum austr me6 landi, but when they [Grimr and LopthtBna) ivere ready, and a fair breeze sprung up, they steered their
they both subject to a mulct in
two ships eastwards along the coast. From the same reason the substantives feSgin fat/ier and daughter, mccSgin mother and son, systkin brother and sister are
neuter, as each
word
names are connected by the conjunction ok, the personal pronoun is usually added, especially when the names so joined form the subject of the sentence, e. g., Bjorgolfr and f>au BjSrgolfr ok HildiriSr attu 2 sonu Hildiri^r had 2 sojis ; eptir ])ai foru j^eir SigurSr ok Heginn k Gnytahei5i afterwards Sigur'&r and Heginn ivent to Gnyta
several proper
,
When
heath.
B(3rn
,
j^eirra
Gu8ny
as
at
:
tfmr
is
children icere
Gunnarr, &c.
all
however,
\>sX
often omitted
eitt
when
GuSrun gengu til vatns hadda sina once it chanced that Brynhildr and Gudriin went to the river to wash their hair (not )?; Brynhildr
var
sinn at Brynhildr ok
bleikja
ok Guf)rtln)
The conjunction and is frequently omitted before a proper noun precetled by a personal pronoun when the latter takes the dual or plural number in the same case as the proper noun, as: geri ek hin )7ri5ju manngjOld fyrir fjOrrdQ vift ykkr \^6ri I adjudge the third fine for the plot against thee
,
and
Thorir.
If
y8r
\)6ri
1.
93
have been you and Thortr. Eyjolfr var opt vi8 skip um suok attu \>eir Hreitivarr mart saman i viniengi, Eyjolfr ivas often on his ship in summer time, and he and Hreif>varr tvere bosom friends. Nii er Jiorolfr )7ar i allmiklum kaerleikum af konungi ok-bd8ir peir Bdrtr, noiv is Thorolfr much in the king's favour , and both he and Bdrdr ; vinatta okkar Hdkonar konungs stendr grunnt, King Hdkon's friendship and mine is not well-grounded ; Ipau Kveldulfr attu 2 sonu, Kveldulfr and his The context alone often determines which xoife had two sons. persons are signified by the pronoun, for \>au Kveldulfr could also mean Kveldulfr and the other women, or, Kveldulfr and Thus nu ri6a J^eir |)rainn otan frd the other men and tvomen. Dal now ride Thrdi^m and the others (seven persons are here alluded to) down from Dal. When the proper noun stands the possessive is placed instead of the geniin the genitive tive of the personal pronoun in the 1st and 2nd person in
marit,
,
:
it
relates, as:
sam-
me and Thrandr
fundr varr Bagla the meeting between me and the Bagla folk. Before proper nouns hann or hon is often placed superfluously, as hann Olafr i. e. Olafr. If no person be named to whom the pronoun can refer, ]>eir in the plural agreeing in case with a proper noun in the singular forms an idiom exactly expressing the Greek olniQi with a noun*, as: Jjeir SigurSr log8u fram, Sigurdr and he set forivard ; ]?eim Hakoni byrjaSi seint Hakon and he got a fair ivind late. The definite article hinn, hin, hit is also written inn, in, it, enn, en, et, and can be used postpositively (see p. 14). In modern Icelandic sd, sti, pat is used instead of hinn as an in Old Norse it is demonstrative article thus sa g68i konungr must not be translated "the good king", but "this", or "that good king", and properly should be expressed sa hinn goSi konungr. word may take the article both before
:
and
after
it
as
sdttu J^ann
?
didst thou
see that
great
man
,
mann ?
When
definite
an adjective follows a substantive used in the form either of the following modes of expression
The
French use nous autres in a similar way for instance nous autres Fran9ais, tee Frenchmen, conveying the idea "I and all other Frenchmen".
94
ni. Syntax.
may be
or,
riki,
(i.
e.,
konungr hinn
riki)
rich king.
Occasionally the article hinn is omitted, and the adjective used indefinitely along with the substantive especially with MikligarSr dalr mikli (for hinn mikli) proper nouns as Hakon Langavatn (hit langa vatn) (hinn mikli garSr) konungr goSi King Hdkon the Good, Saga Harallds har6ra6a the history of Haralldr Hartird^i.
,
The
is
is
made
has his
hat: but hami hefir f)eir toku sina hatta they took their [own]
hats; )?eir toku J^eirra hatta they took their [other persons'] hats.
pronouns
also
as
)jat
skalda mestr he teas the greatest of all bards; hverr |)eirra hefir gert ichich of them has done that? ; ek veit eigi hvart nokkurr vdrr mundi I knoiv not whether any of us ivill; J^a blotaSi
lif3i
hann, ok
years.
:
singular, as
hann ]>k enn tiu vetra then he sacrificed, and The adjectival partitive takes the neuter mart manna many men.
,
the genitives vdr, ykkar, yf>ar are governed by a partitive or pronoun the corresponding possessives vdrr, ykkarr, ytarr are used instead of them in apposition with the
When
the genitive, as
drepa
mun hann
einn
one of tis ; engi varr [nemo noster for ne9no nostrum) , none of us ; engum varum breeSrum to none of ns brothers, hverr varr Jriggja each of ns three.
he miist
kill
When the reciprocal pronoun sjdlfr in the genitive, connected with a possessive, expresses our otcn, the possessive always answers in case, gender, and number to sjdlfr and not to the word which governs it in the genitive, as: i sjalfs J>ins
kapellu,
to
in thy
:
own
sacristy
at sjiilfra
our
otvti tvill
soul.
The interrogative pronoun hvat (Germ, was ft'ir, Dan. hvadfor), what kind of, has generally the dative after it, more e. g. hon spurSi hvat manni hann var. rarely the genitive she asked what kitid of man he was; hvat j^rOng er j^at, what crmvd is that? j)re8tr spur8i, hvat sukki }>ar vjpri, the priest ? hvat manna, what kind oj asked, xchat was the rmc
,
mm
1,
95
dative is used without a preposition when a word denotes a means, instrument, or manner: hon var tropin hestafotum til bana, she was trodden under foot of horses to death; hann maelir feigum munni he speaks tvith a dying mouth ; var ]?at eiSum bundit that ivas confrmcd by oaths ; hann var8 )5vi feginn he was y lad of it; hon var fri8 synum she had a fair countenance; hann het sva 66ru nal'ni, he teas thits called by an:
The
1.
other
some comhon var miklu friSari en f)6ra, she teas much fairer than Thora ; halfum manuSi seinna half a month later ; tveim ortugum minna en eyrir two-thirds less than an ounce; Hemingr andaSist vetri si^ ar Heminyr died the winter after; arum eptir Noa fl69 the year after Noah's
2.
as a definitive with
:
parative
preposition or adverb
flood
3 where a word defines or intensifies the comparative hann var hverjum manni sterkari he was stronger than any man: hverri konu ie^xi fairer than any ivoman; dOkkalfar eru
.
when
,
the preposition at
is
\)vi)
as
menn voru
J?eir at
vaskari
they were
at
Erik kalla
no
men so much the braver ; engi mat5r mun meira konung Jjo at hann drepi einn bondason,
Erik a
kitig
man
5.
will call
sant's son:
or with a participle
being done;
at
when
it
answers
:
to the
Greek
gOrvu uppverandi solu, whilst the sun was shining ; yet at is sometimes omitted. In order to indicate length of time or distance, the subat Ipvi
stantive
dvaldist
]7eir
which defines either is placed in the accusative, as hann |>ar mOrg misseri he abode there many years;
to
; fara land veg, go by land, by sea; ]7ann veg that way ; marga lund many ways. Exception: hann for leiSar sinnar {gen.), he ivent on his way ; thus the Germ, er zog seines Weges. When in a phrase a substantive or pronoun is to stand
sjoleiSina
in a
the verb
dependent relation (either governed by a preposition or itself) it is sometimes introduced into a proposition which begins with '\)ar sem, par er, and becomes the subject
,
96
of
it
:
ni. Syntax.
hafSi erkibiskupinn ]?ar mikit at stySjast viS,
sem Jon
upon ivhere Jvn was, i. e., found firm support in him mun nii ekki )?urfa at aetla til ssemdar ]?ar sem hann er it cannot now avail to expect any
var, the archbishop
to rely
; ,
had much
i.
e.,
kom
]?at
ok
fram, er J)orsteinn var, this also happened ivhere Thorsteinn muntu |?ykkjast litlu til verja, ivas, it struck Thorsteinn also
little
Expressions such as vi^ or met) tolfta mann do not mean "with twelve men", but "myself the twelfth with eleven
others", or "with eleven others";
therefore
when we
find the
ordinal expressed in the same way as the cardinal number, namely by cyphers , e. g., viS XQ. mann, the vowel in mann
would
vi6 XII
menn
Genitives and possessives are mostly placed before their corresponding nouns when used emphatically; but otherwise gerSu )?at fyrir hennar sakar do that for as after them his brother had come her sake. BroSir bans var kominn dSr before; er ]7eir fundu Gunnhildi m63ur sina, when they found Gunnhildur their mother.
,
:
When
or rather
helps to modify
the
name
,
of the substance
;
must precede,
if
but
not a noun,
the
name
:
follow with the preposition af, as fyrir hundinn he threiv a bit of cake
dog
af barkar-
korntunnan kostar stykkjum )7eim from the pieces of bark 20 r. dr., a tun of rye costs 20 rix dollars; litiS af safi'rani
a
little
saffron.
indefinite and definite form of adjectives may be used interjectionally, as: karl minn goSr, my good fellow bamit gott, the good child! hVxsmoOir g6(5 good housewife! ek vilda, g68r drengr, at )?\i gengir inn i stofuna, I wish t/iee, J6n litli piltr litli, now, good lad, to go into the room. N\i But the sense becomes collective when little John, little boy. both the substantive and adjective are put in the definite fonn, as: g6(5a bamit, the good child, or, good children.
The
When
name
of
2.
On the Verbs.
:
97
hall'rar annarrar alnar langr, the measure in the genitive, as an ell and a half long, J?rjdtiu ara gamall thirty years old.
The
other, are
indefinite
the one
the
mostly expressed by the simple passive or reflective form of the verb as er ]?eir voru bxinir hlaupast J?eir at, wlien they were equipped, they ran one against the other ; Pyramus ok Tisbe ]?au unnust, Pyramus and Thisbe loved each other. Every other, every third year, is expressed in an inverted order, e.g., annat, }?ri8ja, ijorSa, hvert ar. This is the case likewise with the article, e. g., at hvila hinn sjOunda hvern hit tiunda hvert ar every to rest every seventh day ; dag
,
,
tenth year.
Hcilft
(the
,
Germ,
as
:
halb)
it
lessens by half
halft IjorSa
hundred) 350; half onnur alin one and a half; hann var ])b,x
there hardly a
hundraS [half the fourth m ell and a half; halfr annarr varla hdlfan annan dag he was
day and a half. Adjectives are formed from cardinal numerals with va,
:
as ]7ritugr consisting of thirty, thus, 30 years of age , J?rilugt skip a ship with ^0 pair of oars. When added to numerals indicative of age hdlft, as hag a diminutive power half Jjritugr just explained as 2o years old, the reason of which is, that the Icelanders 25, reckon by 1 [tugr) therefore hdlf J?ritugr is, 24 times 10 and so on throughout. See p. 57.
rious significations
]?ritugsaldr
CHAPTER
11.
ON THE VERBS.
In the position of the verb and the employment of the different tenses considerable freedom prevails: thus the verb
can be placed before the subject or after it, at discretion, as nu {ij6361fr til fundar viS Brand, now llijodolfr goes to meet Brandr ; segir hann ])k HuldarsQgn then he relates the tradition of Hulda ; svafu menn J?a af of nattina the men slept during that night. Likewise in narrative style the present and preterite are often interchanged and arbitrarily so in the same sentence as en er Sturla for til skips var litkominn HallvarSr Gullskor fami hann f)6r?> mag sinn a
ferr
, ,
English-Icelandic Gramra.
98
{)ingvelli
,
ni. Syntax.
segir
but
to
brother-in-latv at Thvngvalla;
haustit,
|?a tal sin i milli spyrr {)6r61fr eptir, &c. TJwrolfr and Eyvindr came home in the autumn ; Thorolfr went to his father s; father and son then talk together; Thorolfr asks
after, &c.
An
is
theii
Randver
took his
haick and plucked off its feathers ; hratt hon ])a. fram skipinu then she launched forth the ship. in a If the verb stand last
,
relative position
for instance
is
put immediately before the verb as Jormunrekr sa hauk ))ann, er hinn hafSi fjaSrarnar af plokkat, Jfimiunrekr satv the hawk lohose feathers had been plucked off; hann var a skipi Jjvi er hon haiSi fram hrundit he was on the ship tvhich she had
,
-anda, besides
its
usual
and thus corresponds with the Latin present and the future participle passive in -andum, -endum both in meaning and form, as allter segjanda sinum vin, every thing may he said to one's friend; varSveitandi eru bo6or3 GuSs God's commandments must be kept; varla er tn'ianda it is hardly credible ; knefalla me<5 upphald,
andi
hOndum
to
er jjiggjanda, this
fall on one's knees ivith uplifted hands ; Jjetta is to be received ; a deyanda degi, on the day
of
one's death.
,
The future is formed by the auxiliary verbs skal and more frequently mun (will) and the infinitive of the principal verb vit vArum foeddir & einni ndtt, ok mun skamt ver5a milli daut3a okkars we were born in one night, and it
still
,
:
tvill
munu
berjask brothers
The
perfect
and
jjluperfect are
verb hafa and the perfect participle of the principal verb in the neuter: hann haffti veitt i einu hOggi otr ok lax, he /uid
killed at one bhiv both otter
fikdg n(}kkurn
and salmon; Kgill haffii gengit yfir EgtU had gone over some wood. If there be an
2.
On the
Veebs.
99
object in the sentence the participle must take the gender and number of the object |?eir h6f8u felldan h5ft5ingja 118sins they had struck dmvn the chieftaim 0/ the people. See p. 60.
:
Some intransitive verbs use vera instead of ha/a ; er nOkkur stund var li8in, when some time had passed, and then the participle of course takes the gender and number of the subject. When ])u immediately follows a verb the suffix sk in reflective verbs may coalesce with \>tt and become stu: snustu
ira illu
,
turn thyself
at
from
,
evil;
upp
J?ii
at eigi laegistu,
J)a
er
hyggr upp
expectest
to
hefjask
that
be honoured;
thyself leader
of
the host;
with victuals.
Ek
g, as
:
is
and softens
;
its
k into
or
as
if
:
letters are
changed into
is
kk,
sometimes
for atla ek,
a of the inflection
resolved into
as
(etlig
nemik {pres.
conj.) for
nema
ek.
is
The
hafa,
let
a frequent form of
J?vi or landi farit no one fancy that King Olafr therefore has gone out of the country; satt hygg ek mik segja, methinks I speak the truth; ask veit ek standa, / know that an ash-tree stands (there) j^ik
;
expression
vaeni engi
kvazk
to
[i.
e.
kva3
thee.
sik)
hilmir hitta
he wanted
meet with
verbs which imply the setting of something in motion require the object in the dative, as: kasta (steini,
spjoti)
,
Many
verpa
to
throw {A^r
lag8i spjoti
the spear
/iru
,
horse),
or,
through him)
skjota
manninn
hann skaut
his sword)
,
drew
out (fnaesa
eitri)
bregma (hann brd sver^i he sa (sa korni to sow com), blasa, fnaesa to blow spyta (hann spytti upp mit5inum i kerin he
fyrir sik skildt)
sn\ia,
spat up the
mead
venda, skifta
to divide.
signify rule,
command,
,
leniency,
as
:
Gylfi
;
hann bau8 honum at lata skfrask at konum ok kirkjum at tyna lifinu koma
; ;
:
koma
100
ni. Syntax.
vandraeSi
bring one into peril;
einum
to
ek
kem
/ cannot
apply
it.
Those verbs which signify a want, desire, or possession mostly govern the genitive with accusative of the person, and genitive of the thing e.g., sakna ek mins malvinar, 1 miss my companion ; at spyrja einhvern raSs to ask one's advice at bi6ja hann friSar to ask for peace ; at afla fjar to obtain property ; hann fekk )?eirrar konu er f)6run het he got to wife
,
Mm
he icaited for a
The
or \>6tt
chiefly in
conjunctive is used when condition is implied, dependent sentences after conjunctions, as: p6 at although, ef if; likewise when a wish or desire is ex:
]>6
;
at
hann
vseri
,
eigi
kominn
though he
be so
;
may
not
en
lp6
sva vaeri
but though
it
vilda ek at
]>hr IserSit
The present mik I would that you taught me. or preterite conjunctive may be used without a conjunction when it can be translated by ?'n case, or if; e. g., vili hann ekki me5 goSu ])-d. komdu til min tvill he not came by fair
,
means, then do thou come to me; kaemi hann brottu, should he come whilst I am away.
meSan ek em
CHAPTER
1
III.
ON THE PARTICLES.
Interrogative Particles.
The
hvi why, tvherefore, hversu, hve, hvernin, hvernig, meaning how, hyditsi what kind of, as, hva^a ma8r xohat kind of man? The older tongue mostly employs hvat instead , with the
genitive plural
af
,
as hvat
manna
hvat
naer
mOnnum
hvaSan
;
tvhence,
etSa or and hvenaer when hvdrt or hvert wJiether hvdrt hvart sem e5a tvhether or ? Simple negation is expressed by 2. Negative Particles. ne or ne, the prefixes 6 or u, and the suffixes -gi, -at, -a. Ne or ne stands immediately before the word to which it belongs, and this must be a verb*, as: s61 \>&i ne vissi,
* Einn is the only word not a verl) before which ne is used} ne einn none (Old Enghsh ne ane) more frequently contracted into
neinn.
: :
3.
Particles.
101
the sun knew not where she* had her dwellne vissi hvat hann megins atti the moon knew nor may be expressed by Neither not what might he had. hvarki -ne, or ne -ne. If or 6, answering to English un, mis, appears as a prefix
hvar hon
ling;
sali atti,
j^at
mani
before substantives, adjectives, participles and adverbs, as: u-fuss or 6-fuss unwilling, 6-happ or \i-happ misfortune. See p. 89.
-gi to nouns -gi and -at are always affixed to words and adverbs, -at to verbs, as: Loptki |?at veit (Loptr eigi )?at Ulfgi hefir ok vel Loptr kneto it not, Ulfr has not also veit)
;
;
noted rightly ;
is no ice on the river. masculine nouns the noun-inflection -r is omitted, e. g., Loptki, Ulfgi; and when g comes into immediate contact with a liquid, it is changed into k, as Loptki, hittki.
as
fan-k-a
;
I found not, i. e., fann-ek-a (from finna to find) a-k-a / have not (from eiga to own) kvet5-k-a / sag not (from erumk-a kvaeSa) naut-k-a / enjoyed not (from njota) / am not. The pronoun is often repeated, as vil-k-at ek / will not; em-k-at ek / am not
;
;
1.
pronoun
is
softened into g, as
4.
-a
is
suffixed
:
and
if
kallar-a
as
ert
if it
however terminates
it,
:
thou art;
est
know\>u,
not
5.
pronoun
When
the con-
* In Norse, as well as
is
of the feminine,
and
the
moon
102
necting vowel
negation, as
6.
:
in. Syntax.
occurs in the verb
retained in the
er-a he
it
is
kvelj-at
as:
is
-a or -at
not;
is
7.
When
bita -t
thei/ bite
not;
to the
is
ends in -a, only t is added, as ending u, however, of the 3rd appended, as: letu-at (from Idta to
. :
or -t, as
-I
eigu-t, eru-t.
8.
When
the
biti
2nd
junctive, as
should he
The above cases concern only the ancient tongue; modern language eigi or ekki not is used. The phrase "notwithstanding" or "nevertheless"
pressed by
-a,
eigi at heldr.
in the
is
ex-
Adverbs are formed from adjectives by the termination gjama willingly, vi6a widely, ilia badly, gorva quite, heima at home
as
: :
-an, as
drj'dga.n frequently,
This ter-
mination
is
1.
Adverbs are also formed, from the nom. and ace. neutr. of adjectives, as: trautt mvV^ diffictdty, mest mostly 2. from substantives by the termination -is, as ileitis on the way, andsoelis opposite to the sun, and:
of equal birth annanveg otherwise , from vegr way, ]?annveg this wise, hvernveg AoMJ, imohatway: sometimes v is dropt, thus, Jjanneg, hverneg, or more usually, J?annig, hvernig; from the genitive case of substantives as loks at last, allskyns all kinds of, annarstaSar clsetvhere, allskostar in
fcEtis
as
all respects,
4.
from the dative case of substantives, as OSruvisi otherwise. Prepositions with the cases governed by them are used
::
3.
Particles.
sarins truly,
103
met5 Ollu
adverbially,
altogether, a
as
til
hlitar enough
til
braut away
a place
below,
above,
neSan^row
innan
|?dngat thither
frammi
before,
norSr northwards, suSr southwards, vestr westivards, austr hann gekk austr he went eastivards, hann var ]>k austr i landit he teas then in the east of the country, ni6r douneastwards as^
The addition of -na to adverbs intensifies the idea expressed in the primitive, as niina this very moment, herna in
:
this
very place,
\>2ir\ndi
same way
as
soon
skamt
fjarri
skemr
firn
skemst
first
far
often
opt
optar
optast
widely vi9a viSar viSast tiSast tiSar frequently titt seldom sjaldan sjaldnar sjaldnast.
Many
irregular
adjectives are
as adverbs
compared
yzt
regularly, as northerly norSr norSar norSast southerly su3r sunnar sySst easterly austr austar austast
westerly
vestr
without within
utar
innar
ofar
must
efst
up
beneath
vestar
vestast
mOri
:
ne6ar
ne9st.
are irregular
little
betr verr
bezt, verst,
litt
ramnr mmst,
heldr innar
;
much
mjok
Lengi
meirr
meat,
rather within
is
gjarna
helzl,
innst.
long,
lengr longer,
lengra,
and place. Of the prepositions, some govern either the genitive, dative or accusative others govern both the dative and
of place, lengst both of time
,
accusative.
in the genitive
an without, auk besides, and the compound or derived forms dmilli, ame3al amillim, milium, millim between;
sakir
sakir, fyrir sakar
|
>
by means
of,
for
vegna on
s6kum
104
account
m.
Syntax.
of, utan without, beyond, innan within, also megin, used with compounds as, baSu megin on both sides {0/ anything)
i
the dative
Germ,
bei), \ir
mot,
a mot, moti against, towards, asamt together with : with some combinations, as lit af, upp frd, fram lir, d undan before, framhja by, over, gegn agai7ist, a hendr against {in opposition) til handa for,
over against,
i
;
for
the best.
The
um
it
with
all its
compounds, whether
,
stands
or last
as
umfram
or
fram um
gegnum
fram yfir over and above, fram undir witil, up to, and all those which are compounded from fyrir with an adverb of place in -an, as fyrir norSan to the north of, fyrir \itan bceinn outside the town. In ancient poetry um and of are occasionally found with the dative The following govern the dative and accusative according
through,
:
to their
meaning
i
a on, upon,
fyrir before,
in, to,
meS
undir under,
yfir over.
Those which signify rest at a place mostly take the dative, konungr var a skipi the king was on the ship, ])eix lagu i hSfninni they lay in the harbour, and those which denote motion to a place employ the accusative as hann gekk a skip
as
: :
he went
to the ship,
sigldu
J?eir
um
into the
harbour; but as they do not always refer to a place, the following definitions require attention. A takes the dative when used of a specified time, as 4 hverju dri every year, a hverri nottu every night, as well as in
:
when
as
:
it
means
irt
a figurative sense,
ek
he
em
lives
)>eirri tni I am of that faith, hann lifir d mdlaferlum by lawsuits, hiin hefir aCra meCferC d kvim she has
when
it
signifies
"on
this wise,
manner,
3.
Particles.
105
d a5ra siSuna
back; but
{of
if
at maela a danska tungu to hann la a bakit he lay on his 4 bakinu were said, it would mean upon the back
o7i
some one else) Likewise in the signification of "in upon, above" as renna d to run in upon at snara a in towards norraenn to translate into Norse.
.
A
sumrin
I
may be used
in
to periods of time,
as: a haustum,
sumrum
at
,
or d haustin,
autumn, summer.
when
it
means
in,
as
konungr
:
var
]>k
ekki
boenum
i i
mostly governs the accusative in determining time, as i annat sinn at another time. Moreover, J^eirri svipan, i ]>\i bili at that mometit, can be said.
I
Me3
ment, as:
means
or instru-
fettered tcith
chains of darkness
when
J)er at
it
vera methinks
tJie
as
gott Jjykkir
;
mer meS
tvith thee
me6
]?eim
when
it
su8r
meS
landi southwards
lit
al<mg the country; along with, as: sinni he went out along loith his loife;
hann gekk
meS konu
at,
by means of as
&c.,
Me8
regarded
foru
me9 mann
fettered man.
as
fjOtraSan
then
men
ivent
him with
at taka vi6
It
signification of against,
one.
when used
oi place,
to at,
with, as
vi6
hann / Sometimes
is
government
with
,
:
and their
to,
Eptir takes the dative when it means according as eptir J?eirri reglu according to this rule, eptir dnni they rode alo7ig the river.
along
J^eir
ri5u
106
III
Syntax.
It governs the accusative when it expresses relation of time or order as eptir miSjan dag after midday, ]?eir toku allan arf eptir fSdur sinn they succeeded to their father s in,
:
herxtance.
presence
Fyrir governs the dative when it means before, in the of, on account of, or when it betokens hindrance, as hann talari langt erendi fyrir liSinu he delivered a lengthy message to the people, ek gat ekki veri6 i friSi fyrir hinum / could not be at peace for him, latast fyrir einum to perish by one's men hand, hann ]?or5i ekki fyrir hundinum he dared not
:
for
the dogs.
It
when used of time, as: litlu fyrir when it means instead of, for, as
:
hann sendi mann fyrir sik he sent some one in his stead when it signifies by means of, by, as verSa sdluh61pinn fyrir truna to be saved by faith; when used of price, as hvat^
:
gafstu fyrir bcekrnar ivhat didst thou give for the boohs?
after
it
chairs
alia ])&
when it means under, subordinate to, dependetit upon, as sem undir hanum eru all that are under him, Jjat er
:
is
as
has the accusative in the signification oi aivay towards, undir s6larlag towards sunset, and away under, as undir
:
the island.
when
it
betokens
rest in
a place,
eldinum above
it
the fire
when
to rule
means
to
over a country.
It
when
it
means motion
:
to
a place,
yfir
as
hann
yfir nesit
mann hvern t/ie girl loved me more t/uin any one else. At or a8 is the only preposition which governs
cases.
It
the three
governs the genitive when used in the meaning of at with any one , at his Junise (the word husi or tlie like being understood) as )>eir gistu at Bjarnar they were Bjnrrit guetta. Formerly this preposition was used with the
the place of,
,
:
;
:
3.
Particles.
107
:
J?eir
when
it
means
to
a place, as
koma
at boe to
come
to
a farm
:
at
hann
vart5 at steini
brenna at osku to burn to ashes : before comparatives, as: vdru Jjeir at vaskari were they
;
a future
next autumn.
time, as
liSr at
at hausti
This preposition, when it governs the dative case, likewise forms many adverbial expressions.
It
it
means
.
behind, after
in
{one's death),
at
Thus
Runic in-
Many names
position a,
like, as
:
or
at,
sA.
hann
bjo
market-
CHAPTER
IV.
OF ELLIPSES.
Ellipses or omissions frequently occur in Old-Norse. In most cases they are easily supplied, as for instance, when the pronouns sd, sti, hann, hun or pat are omitted, the subject or object for which they are used having been already named siSan sneiS Karkr h6fu3 af jarli ok hljop i braut me6 (J^at), afterwards Karkr cut off thejarVs head, and ran off ivith {it) The 3rd pers. of the verb is often used without a subject, when this is unknown, or can be easily supplied, as. sva segir i Grimnismal, it is thus said in Grimnismdl. The word kostr choice, alternative, resource is often elided in sentences the meaning of which is clear, as: far eptir, Haleyingr, sa mun pbr hinn bezti (kostr) vera, pursue, Hulegingr, thy best alternative ok er sa (kostr) til at sigla undan, and the only choice is to sail away.
;
,
108
IV.
Prosody.
frequently dropt as well einn morginn vakti AstriSr Glum ok sagt5i at nauta fjoldi Sigmundar var kominn i tiin ok vildi brjota andvirki "en ek hefi eigi fraleik til at reka (hann) i braut, en verkmenn (eru) at vinnu", one viorning Astrifir awoke Glumr, and said, that a lot of Signmndrs cattle had got into the meadotv, and woicld throw down the cocks ; "but I am not nimble enough to drive (them) away, and the tvorkmen are at work". These ellipses take place especially after the words mun
vera
verf)a are
,
The verbs
and
as:
and skal in the future, as: ])i mun hann kominn (vera) til konungs, the7i will he have come to the king ]?ari skidu ok talin nofn J^eirra, therein shall their .names also (be) reckoned. Sometimes the ellipsis is more important, e. g., Glumr segir, sa ek gloggt hvat. titt var: (]7u ert) barn at aldri, en (hefir ]?6) vegit slika hetju sem {)orvaldr var, I saw clearly how the matter stood: (thou art) a child in age but (yet hast)
:
,
slain such
PART
IV.
PROSODY.
CHAPTER
,
I.
Old-Norse poetry is not regulated like that of ancient Greece and Rome by quantity, but by accentuation which cannot, however, be arbitrarily laid upon any syllable. In a word consisting of many syllables the accent must rest on in monosyllables it cannot that which usually has the tone fall on prepositions and conjunctions, except when it becomes
,
:
emphatic.
Icelandic
or8).
poems
vfsu-
These strophes are subdivided into halves (visuhelmingr) and each of these again into two parts (vi8ufj6r6ungr)
,
* Vfa like the German Weiae doing a thing: this wise, otherwise.
,
tcise <}(
; :
; ;
2.
Alliteration.
109
CHAPTER
Alliteration, or letter- rhyme,
11.
ALLITERATION.
is an essential characteristic Old-Norse poetry. Consonantal alliteration requires three words or accented syllables in a couplet to^have the same and two of these words to occur in initial letter (IjoSstafr) and the other in the latter. The in the former hemistich initial letter of the last which generally commences the line, and must always stand as near the beginning of it as possible, is called hGfuf)stafr (headstafF) or chief letter, being that which governs the others: the sub-letters have no fixed position. The initials of the words placed in the first line are called
of
st%if>lar
(props or stays)
,
of
because they support or give force to which they may be regarded as the
filled with the life-blood
thus
of doomed men.
Ijo^stafr or rhyme-letters
,
;
/yllisk
the chief
(stutSlar)
in /eigra
One or more particles or short words may be introduced into the beginning of the second hemistich only they must be unaccented, thus:
,
er a 6'autlandi (/engum
at G-'rafvilnis
morSi
here at
is
When
of the
the
sh,
hi)ftif)stafr
compound
above
consonant as
sp,
;
st,
the stutilar
must
consist, if possible,
same compounds,
letters
as
or
s/iorin
at s/ijoldunga hjaldri
of the kings.
Here
distich
:
: ; ;
110
IV. Prosody.
is
often omitted,
Ibid
the
all
^elgar kindir
gol
holy generations:
um Asum
crowed near
Ctullinkambi
JEsir
G^ullinkambi
[the golden-combed)
if
other,
and should,
pos-
be different
h'eath they possessed not sense they had not.
Here
d, a,
and
6
k,
/,
V,
and
when followed by
into the dx
number
of correspondent letters
ek man^otna
I remember
:
the giants
umborna
Here e, j, a rhyme with each other answers to vowels are extremely rare
svaf atta
I'fetr
examples in which
Freyja
slept not
Freyja
nights.
nottum
for eight
Here
and a correspond.
ulfr,
Sometimes we meet with verses in which such words as rangr, reitr, which in the earliest times began with v, have formed alliteration with words beginning with this
letter, as in
AtlaqviSa
|jeir
rfn
{v)
Hiina;
and
in
(
Baldrsdrauma
*
V\ rindr berr
FestrsOlum
When there is an unequal line, or a solitary member in a verse such as the third and sixth lines of the six-membered stanzas, it always contains two alliterated words, as in the following quotation from Vatj^nidnismal
,
or Ymis holdi var j6r8 umskopufl, en or Aeinuni hj6rg, himinn or hausi ins hrfmkalda jdtuns, en or veita j6r.
of Ymir's flesh
was shaped, of his hones the mountains; heaven of the skull of the hoar-frosty giant and of his sweat the sea.
the earth
3.
Assonances.
HI
CHAPTER m.
ASSONANCES.
Assonance,
poetry hending
,
or
line -rhyme,
is
is
called
in
,
and
half-assonance.
Whole-assonance or properly speaking consonance occurs when two syllables in the rhyme) same line have the vowels and the consonants immediately following them alike, as sum-xx (some) and gwm-ar (men) mer^-i (mark) and ster^-a (strong). Half-assonance [skothending imperfect rhyme) admits of different vowels followed by the same consonants, as, stV6um varS (I became) and [dat. plur. of stirSr stiff) and nor6an
,
{atialhending noble
fortJa
(to
guard)
The half-assonance
the
first
lyaMur mognuSr
{fer
aMri.
word-fast should the king be who will keep warriors to break thy plighted faith beseems thee not, mighty man!
,
All syllables which have an assonance must be accented all consonants may form part of an assonance except the flexional endings r and s after consonants accordingly
,
;
:
bjarts
important in determining the right orthography a word. For instance, as there is a whole-assonance in the line tiVarlaust ok 7ra it is clear that tir must rhyme with ir, and cannot be written with y, which has been incorrectly used by some writers.
Rhyme
and pronunciation of
CHAPTER
RHYME.
the
lY.
The terminating rhyme of the Icelanders is formed on same principle as that of the poetry of other nations. Final rhymes are single or compound, being either formed by the ultimate, as far, var, i, ])vi, or by both the ultimate
:
112
IV.
Prosody.
and penultimate together, as: auka, lauka, segja , \egja. There is no instance before the Reformation, in which the and the second with the first line is rhymed with the third only consecutive rhyming lines being met with prefourth
,
,
and hverit. varZ and ort) are adbecause they have the same final consonants, though their vowels are unlike.
as sparat
,
Such words
missible as half-rhymes
CHAPTER
The
chief classes,
called Fornyrf>alag,
V.
poems into three and Riinhenda.
rhyme.
The
first
and
final
The
Norse
,
original
it
versification in
Old-
which
common with
Anglo-Saxon,
the other
is
Teutonic languages
yrfialag
particularly the
Fornits
(old word-lay)
which
is
metre, having the greatest comjjlement* , and frequently only one auxiliary letter. All the poems of the Elder Edda are in narrative verse. It is divided into two kinds, \h.e Starka^arlag proper,
and Ljof^ahdttr
Starkaksarlag proper consists of strophes of eight
:
The
lables, or
lines connected
by alliteration each line has two long syltwo resting-points for the voice the rhyme-letters should be three, though one of the sub-letters is often wanting. The following stanza from the VOluspd off'ers an example
;
:
ek sa Baldri
Iforesmcfnr Balder, for that bloody victim, for that son of Odin
,
* Short precursory wordH which though independent of the structure of the verse , are necessarj' to the completion of the sensei constitute what may be called the complement [mdlfyUing verse-
filling).
5.
Verse.
the fate hid for him.
113
orlog folgin;
st65
umvaxinn
There stood growing above the valley a slender and very fair
mistletoe.
The want
On
:
3,
there
me 8 Asum?
me3 Alfum ?
Jotunheimr
What
tJie
allr
Bellows
Jutunheimr;
-(Esirru a {)ingi.
which should be thus intoned in reading: Hvat'r meS Asum? Hvat'r meS Alfum? Gnyr allr Jot'nheimr;
M^'xr a
{nngi.
Stynja dvergar
fyr) steindurum veggbergs visir. Vito er enn eS' hvat?
in verses 3
and
6.
The
is
contraction
many
syllables into
one
and
all
which
contrary to
and might be regarded as a corruption, did not the same discrepancy occur in less than seven times in the VOluspa, and always at the end of the strophe.
As a variation from the Starlabarlag proper there is the hnept or styft (shortened) Fornyrfialag, which has the first of the two lines either trisyllabic and all the three syllables
,
commonly
The following
an example
:
it
hyggju sta8
Gramm.
{)agnafundr
English-Icelandic
;: :
114
J)riggja niSja
or)
IV. Prosody.
arborinn Jotunheimurn.
draicnfrom
the breast.
Another kind of Fornyr^alag in frequent use is Ljofiahdttr, consisting of a six-lined strophe, whose 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th lines are constructed like the Starkaf>arlag proper, having two resting-points pauses or long syllables and connected by alliteration; but the 3rd and 6th line have three
,
,
pauses with a special alliteration each of these lines has 2 (very rarely 3) rhyme-letters different from those of the two preceding lines, as
:
olr ek var9 varS) ofrolvi at ins froSa Fjalars; |)\a er) oldr baztr,
at)
for
best is ale
aptr ofheimtir
sitt
hverr
ge3 gumi.
each
man
his wit.
The
ungr var'k for9um fdrk einn saman, jja) var3 ek villr vega;
au9igr {)6ttunisk er'k annan fann jnaSr er manns gaman
young
tcent
teas
I once;
then I thought myself happy when Ifound another: man is the sport of man.
The
er \iu
composed
J)at'r \)k
at)
ninum
spyrr
inum) reginkunnum
When
is
so constructed that
,
two half-rhymes occur in the first line of each couplet and two whole-rhymes in the second line, it is called Toglag\ for
instance in the following half-strophe
ok
\6
senxi
sona
and
then Canute
sleto,
flaemdi
KmUr
ofAbulbrahr.
5.
Verse.
115
2.
Drottkvae^i.
The metre usual in laudatory poems is called Drottkva^i (from drott chief, kvaeSi song) or "heroic verse", and was most commonly used by the skalds who lived after the 9th century. It has alliteration and assonance, and very rarely
admits the mdlfyUing. The chief letter must be the first in and the second rhyme in every line must ever}'^ second line The first strophe of the occur in the penultimate syllable. poem called Geisli the ray an eulogium on King Olair the will furnish an example of this Saint by Einarr Skularson kind of metre
, , ,
:
ets ma or8 ok bo?ir a/feraSanda hins snja//a vel er) froQr sa er getr gd9a guSs {)re/?/ang mer kewwa. gofugt Ijos boSar gmli gMn5fligr miskwrtwar ag^an byS ek t7rum
0/afi
brag
so/ar.
:
The following
,
is
eins
ma mer kenna
er getr goSa )7renning hins or6 ok boenir sd er vel fr68r snjalla allsraSanda gu5s. Ek by8 itrum Olafi agaetan brag. Gunnofligr geisli bo8ar gSfugt Ijos miskunnar solar; meaning "Likewise can I know words as well as prayers he is
, ;
very wise
who comprehends
God. I ofier to noble Olafr an excellent song. A most powerful beam betokens the beautiful light of the sun of mildness (Christ)". Assonances here occur in every line in the first line of each couplet there is a half- rhyme, in the second, a whole one. There are three resting-points in each line, and a complement only in the 3rd line, i. e. vel er.
;
When
kv(Bf)\,
a strophe, formed in other respects like the Drotthas eight long syllables in each line, it is called HrynIjo^u
henda, as
varp a lypting
utaxi
bifSisk gullit ra?<3a; fasdigr hneigfli furu gls/ri fj/ris garmr of skeiSar stt/ri; stjr8um helt um Stafangr nor8an
laJtSri;
M/)pi
elai gli'k
Dana
\eld\.
8*
116
IV. Prosody.
The order
of the words
;
is
as follows
;
gullit
rau6a bifSisk
;
fastligr
uppi gl68u elmars typpi boisterous sea-foam drifted on the red gilded mast is shaken; the strong wind around the rudder bent sideways Stafangr steered the rude prow the ship splendidly adorned northwards the breakers are broken before (the proceeding aloft shone the ship-masts like fire in the kingdom ship)
;
;
Stafangr helt
um
garmr of stirSum
glik eldi
veldi
of the Danes".
3.
Runhenda.
alliteration.
has
final
sists
rest.
Each strophe condetermining the metre of the This class of versification is subdivided into several
first
The
er sva: siklingr a old fiess ann orflrom |)4nn; jarla er austan ver skatna skyrstr Skiili dyrstr:
sli'kt
meaning
people
"Thus
it
it
;
is
call
good
of the princes
the the king possesses this fame is Skxili (come) from the
;
excellent".
Another instance furijishes four accentuated syllables figQfl' ^"^ "ic8 gulli glo9
Sotna ferS af r*si mjofi, rekka liPtr hann sveit at sin silfri skenkt it fagra vfn; greipum msptir gullin skAl, gumnum sendir Rfnar bul,
eigi hitta ii'flra mann, jarla bezlr en skjoldung
bann:
meaning, "The cheerful troop of men can receive with gold he let the crowd drink in his the mead from the king
:
5,
Verse.
in
silver
it)
;
117
;
(house)
jiresented
(the
the golden
to
hands
seize
the
;
men
one
sends the best of princes the fire of the Rhine (gold) meets not with a better man than this prince".
4.
Refrain or Burden.
more verses which are repeated in a certain dipoem constitute the refrain or burden (stef, vi<5kvae8i) which varies greatly in its application but mostly consists of two or more lines, separate from the strophe. Sometimes it occurs at the end of every strophe and forms
or
One
,
vision of the
a species of chorus.
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