Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
WILLIAMS AND NORGATE’S LIST.
glittery.E ugene
’
s The Student’ s Comparative G rammar of the
Fren ch Language, with an Historical Sketch of theFormation of French . For the u se of Pu blic Schoo ls .Wi th E xerc i ses . By G . E UGENE- FASNACHT, FrenchMaster,Wes tm inster S choo l . 11th E di tion , thorou ghlyrevi sed . Square crown 8vo . c lo th 53
O r, G ramm ar, 3s E xercises , 2s 6d .
T he appearance o f a G rammar like this is in itself a sign that greatadvan ce is being made in the teaching of modern as well as of ancientlanguages T he rules and observations are. all scientifically clas sifieda nd explained.
”— Educat/iona l M es .
“ In itself this is in many ways the most satisfactory G rammar for
beginn ers that we have as yet seen .—Athen<ewm .
Eugene’
s French Method. E lem entary Fren ch Lesson s .E asy R u les and E xerc i ses prepara tory to the
Stu den t ’ s Com para t ive Fren ch G ramm ar. By thesam e Au thor. 7th E dit ion . Crown 8vo . c lo th 1s 6dCertainly deserves to rank among thebestof ourE lementary French
Exercise-books.
”— Educa tion a l T imes .
T o those who begin to study French , I may recommend,as thebest
book of the kind with which I am acquainted , ‘ Eugéne’
s E lementar yLessons 4m French.
’-Dr.Breymam ,Lectw er of the French.n m e
an d Literature, Owens College, Man chester.
The Student’s G raduated French Reader, for th e u se of
Pu blic S cho o ls . I . Firs t Y ear. Anecdo tes , Tales,H istorica l P ieces . E di ted wi th No tes an d a Com pleteVo cabu lary by LE ON DE LBO S , M .A., o f K ing ’ s Co llege,Lon don . Crown 8vo . c lo th 23
T he Student’ s Second French Reader. By the sam e .Crown 8vo . c lo th 28
Lemaistre (J French for Beginners . Lessons Sys tema tic ,Prac t ica l an d E tym o log ica l . By J . LEMAIST R E . T o
precede E u gen e ’ s M etho d and the variou s E lemen ta ryFren ch Books . Crown 8vo . 2s 6d
Little Eugene’
s French R eader. For Beginn ers . Aneodo tes and Tales . E dited , with Notcs and a com plete
Vo cabu lary ,by Leon Delbo s
,M .A. Crown 8vo . c lo th ,
13 6d
Roget (F . F .) Introduction to O ld French . H isto ry ,G ramm ar, C lu
'
estomathy ,G lo ssary . C lo th 6:
Tarver. Col loquial French , fo r S cho o l and Private U se.
By 11 . Tarver, B.- és-L.
,la te o f E to n Co llege. 328 pp .
Crown 8vc . clo th 5,
Williams and Norgate’
s S choolBooks an d M ap s .
Victor Hugo . Les Miserables . Les Prin c ipaux E piso des .E dited
,w ith L ife an d No tes , by J . Bo
'
ielle, S eniorFrench Ma ster
,Du lw ich Co llege . 2 vo ls . Crown 8vo .
c lo th each 33 6dNotreDame de Paris . Ado pted for the u seo f S choo ls
an d Co l leges. ByJ . SeniorFren ch Mas ter,Du lw i ch Co l lege . 2 vo l s . Crown 8vo . c lo th each 33
Foa (Mad . E ugen . ) Con tes H istoriques, w i th idioma t i cNo tes by G . A . NEVEU . Seco n d E dit ion . C lo th 28
Krueger (IL) Short but Comprehensive French G rammar.5 th E di t ion . 180 pp . l2m o . clo th 2s
Delbos (L.) French Acc idence and Minor Syntax. 2n d
E di t ion . Crown 8vo . c lo th ls 6d
Student’s French Composition on an entirely new
plan . Crown 8vo . c lo th 3s 6d
Strouwelle (Prof. A .) Treatise on French G enders. l2m o .
c lo th l s 6d
Schmi dt (Dr. H.) Petit Vocabulaire. A sy stema ti cal lyarran ged Fren ch Vo cabu lary . C lo th . ls
Ahn’
s French Vocabu lary and Dialogues, for E nglishS cho o ls . 2nd E di tion . l2m o . c lo th l s 6d
Roussy . Cours de Vers ions . Pieces for transla tion in toFren ch
,with No tes . Crown 8vo . c lo th 2s 6d
Vinet (A .) Chrestomathie Franca i se ou Choix de Morceau xt irés des m e i lleu rs E crivain s Francais . 1lth E di t io n .
358 pp . c lo th 3e 6d
Williams (T. S.) and J. Lafont. French CommercialC orrespon den ce . A Co l lection of Mo dern Mercanti leLe t ters in Fren ch an d E n gl ish , with their trans la t io non o ppo si te pages . 2n d E di tion . 12m o . c lo t h 4 s 6d
French Classics for Engl ish Schools . E d ited wi th In trodu c t io n an d No te s by LEON DE LBO S , M .A .
,o f Kin g ’ s
Co llege . Crown 8vo . c lo th1. Rac ine. Les P la id eurs 18 6d
2 . Corne i lle. Horac e ls 6d
3. Cornei l le. C inna ls 6d
4 . Mol iere. Bou rgeo i s G enti lhomm e 18 6d
5 . Cornei l le. Le Cid ls 6d
6. Mol iere , Les Préci euses R i dicu les . 13 6d
7 ; Chateaubriand . Vo yage en Am ériqu e 13 6d
8 . De Mai stre . Les Prisonn iers du Caucase, an d le
Lépreu x d ’
A oste l s 6d
9. La Fontaine ’ s Select Fables . 18 601
(T o be con tin ued .)
Williams and Norgate’
s S choolBooks and M ap s
Fleury’
s Histo ire de -France, racon tée a la. Jenn es se, editedfor the u se of English Pu pils , w i th G ramm a t ica l No tes
,
by Beljam e. 3rd E di tion . 12m o . c lo th boards 38 6d
Mandrou French Poetry for English Schools. 2n d
E di t ion . 12m o . c lo th 2s
firem an .
Weisse ’s Complete Practical G rammar of the G ermanLanguage, w i th E xerc ises in Conversa t ions , Letters ,&c. 4 th E di t ion . 12m o . clo th 63
New Conversat ional Exerc ises in G erm an Com
po si t ion ,2n d E d i t ion . l2m o . clo th (Key , 53) 3s 6d
Schlatter’ s G erman Class Book. A Co urse of In stru c tionbased on Becker’ s Sy stem , an d so arran ged as to
exh ib i t the Self- developm en t of the Langu age, an d i tsA ffin ities w i th the E ng li sh . By Fr. Schlu t ter
, R o ya lM il i tary Academ y , Woo lw ich . 4 th E d i t ion . l2m o .
c lo th (Key 53) 5s
Mol ler (A .) A G erman Reading Book. A Com panion to
Schla t ter’ s G erm an C lass Bo ok . Wi th a com pleteVo cabu lary . 150 pp . 12m o . c lo th 2s
Ravensberg (A . v.) Practi cal G rammar of the G ermanLangu age . Conversa tion a l E xerc ises , D ia logu es an d
Idiom a tic E xpressions . Third E dition . 12m o . c lo th(Key , 23) 5s
Rose’
s Engl ish into G erman . A Selec tion o f Anec
do tes , Stories , &c. , w i th co piou s No tes . 2n d E di tion .
C lo th (Key , 58) 4 s 6d
G erman R eader, Pro se an d Po etry , w i th cepiou s
No tes fo r Beginners . 2n d E di t ion . Crown 8vo . c lo th 3sSonnenschein and Stallybrass. F irstG erman Reading Book.
Easy Po em s wi th in terl in ear Tra n s la tion s, No tes , e tc .
4 th E di tio n . 121110 . clo th 4 s Gd
Ahn'
s G erman Me thod by R ose. A New E di t ion o f the
gen u ine Bo ok,w i th a S u pplemen t co n s is tin g o f
,M o dols
o f Co njuga tions , a Table o f all R egu lar D isso nan tan dIrregu lar Verbs , R u les o n the Prepo s i tio n s , dw . 85 0 .
By A . V . R o se. 2 Co urses in 1 vo l. Clo th 33 6d
G erman Method by Rose, &c. Firs t Co u rse . Clo th 28
Apel’
s Short and Pract i cal G erman G rammar for Beginners,w i th co pio us E xamples an d E xerc ises . 2nd E d itio n .
12mo . clo th 2s Gd
For Co ntinuation see the end o f the Vo lume.
ELEMENTARY GRAMMAR
OF THE
OLD NO RSE O R
ICELANDIC LANGUAGE.
BY T HE
REV . G E O R G E BA Y LDO N.
WI L L IAMS AND N O R G A T E ,
1 4 , HENRIETTA STREET ,COVENT GARDEN , LONDON ;
AND 2 0 , SOUTH FREDERICK STREET , EDINBURGH.
18 7 0 .
i
PR E FA C E .
The varied and vigorou s l iteratu re o f anc ient Scandinaviawill amply repay the student fo r the labour which he can
bestow upon it , an d to faci l i tate his acqu is ition of the languagein which i t i s embodied i s the o bject o f this l i ttle work .
With this view,I have a imed at the utmo st brevity co n
si stent with completenes s and preci sio n , avo id ing all tho seelaborate detai ls which can only interest the advan ced s cho lar.
S tating m erely tho se ru les which mu st necessarily be mastered ,I have endeavo ured through simplic ity o f arrangem ent and a
practical system to present the gen eral stru cture of the Icelaudie tongue befo re the learner’ s eye
, so that with ord inaryappl ication it will be easi ly comprehended ; parti cu larly byhim who po ssesses the advantage of an acquaintan ce w ithsome of i ts cognate branches . Wherever ru les are lai d down ,they are so enforced by analogou s examples selected fromstandard au thorities
,with a co rrect translat ion o f th e pas
sages , as to show bo th the pr0 per application of them,and
the right meaning o f the senten ces .The earl iest po etry and histori cal sagas of the North
furnish exhaustless sources o f inte llectual pleasure to theantiqu arian and philo logist . The traditions of Iceland , car
IV PREFACE .
ried into that island by em igrants from the S candinavianpenin su la soon after its discovery
,an d imperishably pre
served by them in written do cumen ts,are so clo sely con
n ec’
ted w ith the h istory of Northern E u rope as to ren der a
kn owledge of it in complete w ithout them . M any o f the skaldstravelled in foreign lands before the twelfth cen tury , an d as
they were n obles and warriors,they were received by the
kings,to whom they were o ften related
,as friends an d coun
oil lets ; thu s on their return to theirn ative land they broughtwith them m u ch h i storical matter which
,sin ce the R oman
characters had been introdu ced with the Christian rel igion ,was comm itted to writing . T he valu e o f some o f these do cuments to E ngl ish h istory is con s iderable ,
and besides co n
firm ing o r adding to ou r sto ck of facts du ring its darkestp eriod ,
they afford u s very interesting views of the state o f
so ciety ,an d o f the manners and m ode o f l iving o f the age in
which they were compo sed .
A fter the departure o f the R oman legions from th iscou ntry
,the Ju tes , Saxons , and A ngles , who o ccupied re
spectively Ju tland in Denmark,the district between the E lbe
an d the R yder,
an d A n glen in the sou th—east part o f theDu chy o f Slesvik
,su ccessively obtained settlem ents in Bri
ta in . T he language which resu lted from th i s blen ded co lon izatio n
,marked however by strong dialectic variatio n s , i s
gen erally styled A nglo - Saxon,which term was first intro
duced by A sser,in his L ife o f A lfred . The resemblance
between it and the O ld No rse, as is to be expected , is striking
,since bo th are the o ffspring o f that prim itive to ngu e,
the G o thi c,spoken by the ancestors o f all the Teu tonic tribes .
For instance,the A nglo - Saxo n letter (it i s commo n to bo th
Icelandic and E ngli sh , tho ugh unknown to mo st o f the all ieddialects . T he article
,no u n
,adjective and pronoun are al ike
declinablc in Anglo - Saxo n and O ld No rse , having differentfo rms fo r the three genders
,for the fo ur cases and for the
PREFACE .
singu lar and plu ra l numbers ; besides which the prono u no f the first an d s econd persons has a du al , o r form exclus ively appropriated to the number two . T he adjective hastwo fo rm s o f inflection ; the one emplo yed when the adjectiveis u sed w itho u t a determ inative ,
the other when it i s preceded by an article or a pro no u n agree ing al so w ith the no un .
These form s are called , respectively , the indefinite and definite. T he verbs have fo ur m oods ; the indicative , sub
junctive ,imperative and infinitive ,
and but two tenses the
present and the past . In both languages the definite articlepartakes very strongly o f its o riginal character o f a demonstrative pronoun . The no uns have three genders , and the
mascu l ine an d fem in ine are o ften applied to objects incapableof sex .
Furthermore,Icelandic , from its clo se relationship to
A nglo - Saxo n ,fu rnishes m ore abundant analogies for the
illu stration o f obscure E ngl ish etymo lo gical and s yntacticalform s than any other o f the kindred tongues .
"
It i s butrecen tly ” ,
says M arsh in his Lectu res on the E nglish Language ,
" that the great va lu e o f Ice landic philo logy hasbecom e known to the o ther bran ches o f the G o th ic sto ck
,and
one fam il iar with the treasu res o f that remarkable l iterature,
an d the wealth , power, an d flex ib il ity o f the language wh ichcontain s it , sees o ccasio n to regret the want o f a thoroughknow ledge o f it in E ngl ish and Am erican grammatica lwriters
,more frequ ently than o f any o ther atta inm ent
whateverT he incurs ions which the p irati ca l Danes and Nor
wegians ,by whom Iceland was co lonized
,made upo n the
shores o f Britain , supply our histo ry w ith m any importantincidents during the two centu ries imm ediately preceding theNorman Conqu est . A long with their pecu l iar cus toms an d
superstit ions , these sea—kin gs in tro du ced several words andphrases into o ur language which have left their im press up
v1 PREFACE .
to the presen t time ch iefly on the n orthern dialects o f the
E nglish peasan try . Many provincial ism s are thu s retainedby them the etym ology
.
of wh ich can be traced to a S candinavian origin . T he fo llow ing
,selected from a large num
ber, w il l su fficiently illu strate this statem ent.
Provincialisms . English . Icelandic.
near
a cro ss beambrook
barleyclothkindlingmountainto remove
waterfallfrogenclo sure (yard)half sillycleftto yearncucko oto dig
to plunderbird- cherrycoughmeadowkittento playbarn
air
heather
dungfist
goblinwro ng
backto tear in pieces
PREFACE . VII
Provincialisms .
In the m idland northern dis tricts of E ngland where theDanes and Norwegians mo stly settled
,a cons iderable number
of places with nam es o f Scandinavian des cent, are to be found ,su eli as
O ld Norse
Whi tby , mean ing, white village byr,
A thorough stu dy o f S candinavian literature wou ld elucidate m any po ints in our early historywhich are now o bscure
,
particu larly that portion of it compri sed in the A nglo—Saxonperio d ; an d since the Icelandic language i s so clo sely akinto Anglo - Saxon , the parent o f o ur own ,
i t seem s evident that
f ern land bveit,
north village porp ,
Angles’
islan d ey,
naze of Catuibh runs ,
(its ancient Gaelic name)
largewood fiat ,
longfield to ft,mounta inf arm garfir,
p ine bay vikr,
southern f ort virki ,
first , a f arm,then ,
a town .
detached p iece ofla nd .
cluster of houses .
island.
promontory .
wood .
field near af a rm .
en closure , yard .
bay .
f ortress .
PREFACE .
som e proficiency in i t shou ld be sought by every edu catedE ngl ishman who w ishes to po ssess a complete kn owledge o f
his m other- tongu e . Shou ld the presen t work in any way
prove an aux il iary in so u sefu l a pursu it , or in du ce the
stu den t to enter a comparatively u nexplored region o f in teresting lore
,the au thor w i ll have gained his principal aim .
IND E X .
PAR T I.
ORTHOGRAPHYI . Letters and Pronun ciationII . Conson antsIII . A ccentuationIV . Vowel - change
ETYMOLOGYThe ArticleT heNoun
Declen sion o fNouns lst
2nd
3rd
4 th
5th
6th
7th
8th
Anomalous Noun sDeclen sion o fNouns with the ArticleInflection o f ProperNoun s
III . Of the A'djective
Comparison of AdjectivesAnomalous AdjectivesOf Pron ounsTheNumerals and their Inflections
x INDEX .
VI . Verbs1st Class . First Conjugation
Second do .
Third do .
Fourth do .
Fifth do .
Sixth do .
Seventh do .
2nd Class . First do .
Second do .
Passive Vo iceR eflectiveAnomalou s
Un inflectedWords . ParticlesAdverbsPrepo sitionsConjunctionsInterjeetion sFormation ofWordsPrefixes .
Affixes
Compo sition
PART I II .
SYNTAXI . OfNoun s , Adjectives , and PronounsII . O n the VerbsIII. O n the ParticlesIV . Of E llipses
PART IV
I . PR OSODYII . AlliterationIII. Assonances
,
IV . R hymeV. Of the different kinds o f Verse
E R R A T A .
Line[ 1 f or Is read Ice.
29 there r. these.
12, v rfisword r. Svorfir award.
22,
flar r. floer.
10,
hj6rtna r. hj artna .
17,
cigu ar- nar r. c ignir- nar.
19 , form r. form s .
7, litinn r. litian .
37, okkaru r. okkarn .
9, varu r . varn .
22, nokkur- u r . nokkur- n .
12,
11 r. 13.
24, f ortymen r. f orty men .
16, tuttugast r. tuttugasti.
30,
embdinn r. embd mn .
5, bra r . bra.
l l, lang r . long .
15 , frys um r. frysirn .
16, frysufi r . frysifi.
17, frysu r. frysi.
35, hug
gvin r. hoggvinn .
16, bra r r . bradr.
32, rihr r. rihr.
24, allter r. allt er.
8,
89 r. 84 .
12, iss r . iss .
31, in r. no .
2 I . ORTHOGRAPHY .
u is pronounced l ike 0 0 in 7'
0 0d .
y i in p ill.y ee in p eel.
a,a,o,o,u, a ,
are called hard vowels,an d 6
,as
,e,e,
1,1, ca
,y,y,so ft .
Sou nd and Power of Vowels .
This letter , as no ticed above , is pro n ounced like a inf at, when short . E xamp le ,
askr ask- tree: when longand u n accented
,l ike a in f at/rein Em
,saga a tale. O n
the Farce it has frequ en tly a sou nd appro aching to (i(E ngl ish a) .
L ike 0 a in bread , or a in warm . E x .,hals neck. It
answers to the Dan ish aa and the Swedish 5 . Inwords where (i fo l lows v (for instance ,
vapn weap on ,
var sp ring ,van Iiop a) the Icelanders o ften u se 0 .
Like i or u in girdle, first, murder, s un . E x . ,orn eagle.
Th is le tter i s mo stly o n ly a vowel change of a wh ichbelongs to that class o f vowels capable o f be ing so ftenedor m o dified by a change o f their o riginal sounds . Itis the Dan ish sho rt a ,
and Swedish (5, and so u nds mu ch
as the Fren ch ea in p ea . It was in trodu ced at a com
paratively late p eriod into the O ld No rse alphabet , thediphthong an being wri tten for i t in ancient manuscripts .L ike the E ngl ish long i. Ban , zefi llfelfme. Its so undm ight be represen ted by the letters aj ,
wh ich the Icelanders wou ld pronoun ce l ike the G erm an et
’
. In No r
way ,o n the o ther hand ,
as in m o dern Dan ish,it
sounds like o ur a in p aper. In the anc ient wri tingsbo th m odes al ternate ; the former however
,has m o st
in its favo ur,and i t is perhaps the o ldest . In mo st
cases w i s o n ly a m odified vowel .L ike e in met. E x elska to love.
L ike (3 in Mere.
°E z .,mer to me. This letter is o ften
wri tten with a grave accent . Besides determ in ing the
pronu nc iation o f the vowel , this accent serves to pre
1 . LETTERS AND PRO NUNCIATION . 3
vent confu s ion in the m eaning o f many words . For
instance :velwell, and vel guile . let dissuadea, and let let.
her army ,and her here. setti pla ced , and s
'
etti seventh
el
nfeeds , and Cl ha ilstorm . (m odern sjotti).
fe f ell and fell
flfell lek leaks and lek p layed .
fletta to cleave, and etta to p laz'
l.
The ancient Faro ese manu scripts , instead o f 23, sometimes
u sed ea ; e. g . u se e.
L ike i in bill. E x . ,vi ss certain . With th is letter 0 i s
o ften interchanged in old writin gs , e spec ially i n the
end ings o f wo rds , as , lande fo r landi landsma n , m is serfor m iss ir lo ss . The vowel g i s frequ en tly u s ed insteado f i, e. g . ,
mykill for mikill mac/z or great ; bu t th isvariatio n o ccurs chiefly in the defini te form (hinnmykli (be great) .L ike ee in bee. E x . ,
visa song . In the n o un~term ina
t ion i which has the genitive inj a , and therefore sta ndsinstead o f j z
'
, th is vowe l i s pronoun ced by the mo dernIcelanders l ike gee; e. g . vil i , prono un ced vilj i (vilyee).Sometimes th e term inatio n o f a proper nou n in - r
'
n ,
when it takes the place o f -
gn , i s pro nou n ced l ike gin ,
e. g . ,Skooin l ike Sk66yin , Tob in l ike T ooyin .
O L ike 0 in not, when short . E L , h 0 pp Imp , hop . ! Vhenlong and unaccented , som ewhat l ike 0 0 in p oo l. Eon ,
ho la cave.
O This vowel takes a deep sound,rather broader than 0
in f ore. E ra ,ré rest.
0
[(E L ike a in p ap er . Ema ,(3 x1 increase. It frequ ently be
com es a vowel—change o f é .]U L ike iew in view . E on ,
kul at'
m'
ng . Its pronu n ciatio nresembles that of the Fren ch u i n da
, an d the G erm anii in Hide. O i s o ften u sed for u , bu t m o stly in theendings of words , e. g . ,
heroo for heru ‘
6 district.
U L ike 0 0 in road . E ra ,hus bo use
,Formerly u and 0
were interchangeable let ters as in E ngl ish ; bu t theyare n ow u sed separately .
Y L ike i in p ill. E on , lyng ling, heatb . In consequ enceof i ts sound it alternates with z
' in many instan ces . Itis related in pronun ciation to 57 , as i i s to i. T he m o s tvalu able an cient M ss . constantly m ake a distin ct ion
1 s
4 I . ORTHOGRAPHY .
between g an d y'
. Y i s in m o st cases only a m o difiedit
,o r m ore rarely.o . In certa in wo rds
, prin cipally particles . g an d i are interchanged ; for in stan ce, fyrir an d
firir for, yfir an d ifir over .
Y L ike cc in p eel. E x .,m yri moor .
T he lengthened vowels a,e,i,6,u
,y,a n d the vowel
changes as an d oe m ay be regarded as a spec ies o f diphtho ng ,
at least as respects the pron u n ciatio n . A greeably to o rtho
graphy , o n , eg an d ez'
are proper diphtho ngs .
au is pron ou nced l ike og in boy . E sta , auga eye.
ey , a m odified au approaches the G erman eu,having a broader
sou n d than o u r wo rd eye. It is pron ou nced mu ch in the
same way as the pro n ou n I in several o f ou r provin ciald ialects in the North Stafi'
ordshire,for instan ce. It i s
o ften interchan ged w ith ez'
. T he o lder sound,wh ich sti l l
obta ins in Norway,is o f.
ci i s pron ou n ced very clo se,rather l ike ei in wag/it; bu t
never as the G erman ez'
in S tein,Been. In O ld Swedish
ei is sou nded l ike e.
CHAPTE R II .
CONSONANTS .
The con sonants are :b )
c?d)67f)g’h,j)k,l)m
)n, p ,q ’ r, 8 ) t) I) , v
? X )! ‘
They are divided,acco rding to the o rgan s by which they
are pro no un ced , the thro at,to ngu e , and l ips
,into gu ttu r
als,l ingu al s , an d labials .Some are distingu ished by the n am e o f l iqu ids
,becau se
they readily u n ite w ith the mu te con so nants , and flow in totheir so u nds .
T he fo llowing is their classificationG utturals : g , k ,
j .
L ingu als : d , t , j) , 6 ,s .
Lab ial s : b, p , f, v.
L iqu ids : l m , n , r.
T he letters 0 , g, a ,m u st be classed as hard mutes .
2 . CONS O NAN'
I‘
S . 5
The sp irant it,be ing fo rmed by the breath merely , do es
no t belong to any o f the articu lating organs in particu lar.
T he conson ants e,s, z are also called sib ilants
,from
the hiss ing nature of the ir sou nds .
B i s pronounced as in E nglish .
C is o ften fo und in the o ldest m anu scripts , as i n A ngloSaxo n
,in stead o f It , an d is therefore so u nded l ike that
letter. There i s no instance in which I: m ay n ot be u sedin its place .
D is pronounced as in E nglish .
D,6 (called in Islandic ad ) has a stron gly ro l l ing sound , an d
never o ccurs at th e beginning o f words . It i s an aspiratedor weak d or db
,and always so u nds so ft
, as (It in this,bat/re. Em , gjoroi did . It i s never doubled
,but i s changed
into dd,as : glee
, gladdi, ryb ,ru dd i.
F is sou nded at the beginn in g o f a syllable and befo re a as
in E nglish ; e. g . ,fotr f oo t, o fsi arrogance : at the end o f
a wo rd it is pron o unced l ike hard 0 , e. g . , haf sea , whenit is o ften wri tten wh ich i s l ikewise the ease i n the Faroese language : elevai
,stevndz
'
,stevnt. It has also the hard
sound before r (ur) as hafr lie—goa t, and betw een all vowel sin the m iddle o f a word
,e. g . hafa to Juice. Before I, n ,
6, t
,at the end of a syllable th is sound o f v pas ses over
to b or 66 ; e. g . , ail (pro n . abl. ) strength ,nafn (nabbu )
name. If ano ther consonant,espec ially d or t, fo llow after
fn , the sound becom es ma ; e. g .,nefua to name ,
i s pronounced nabbna
, but n efndi named , l ike namudi,an d nefnt
named (past part . ) as n amnt. Th i s pro nu nciation isgeneral when d fo llow s ; but if the su cceeding co nso nantbe t or s, i t i s o ften so unded as fl
‘
t,fl
‘
s,e. g . , jafnt , til
jafns (jafft, jaffa) . Where f i s to be pronou nced hard inthe m iddle of a word
,i t i s do u bled
, e. g . , ofi‘
ra to of er,in distinction from ofra to swing, which is read ovra .
G i s sou nded as in E ngl ish befo re a , o , u and au . G and g;'
before e, i, g, cc
, ca, ey ,ei
,are sou n ded so ft l ike the
Dan ish gj , o r E n glish gu in gua rd, with a slight aftersou n d of j ; as
, gefa to give, gzefi m ight give, geir sp ear . Ifa vowe l go before , and a so ft on e or j come after
,i t
sou nds l ike g conson ant , e. g . bogi a bow, agi enasalsemcnt,fzegja to smooth
, bagindi troubles (pronou n ced boyi , ayi ,
6 I . ORTHOGRAPHY .
fa iya , boayin di) . A t the end o f syllables after a longvowel it was aspirated in fo rmer tim es
,an d therefore writ
ten gb, as : logh law,vegh weiglz. Its so und mu st thu s have
been very feeble, as in th i s case it i s alm o st en tirely om itted in the present Norwegian pronu nciation ,
e. g . , drag,
pro n oun ced dra , dag, da . If an o ther co n son an t fo llow gn ,espec ially d or t , the sound becom es ngn ; for instan ce ,
lygna to grow calm ,is heard nearly l ike liggn a , bu t the
imperfect lygn di i s pronoun ced lingndi or l ingdi , and lygnt
l ike lingn t o r lingt ; but shou ld 8 fo llow ,the sou nd re
sembles ggs ; e. g . ,til gagu s (gaggs) f or gain .
H i s always asp irated ,an d has a hard an d strong sound be
forej , v, l, n,r ; e. g .
,hj arta kearl, hverfa to turn ,
hlabato load ,
hnottr. bowl , hringr ring . It is o ccasionally interchanged w ith k before n ; e. g . , kn ifr an d hn ifr knlfe, an d
some m ore wo rds .J i s so unded l ike the G ermanj or our g conson ant. It i s only
a short or conson an tal z',an d shou ld therefo re be en tirely
rej ected in mo st cases,and supplan ted by it. In o ld ma
nuscripts , m oreover,we find e wherej is now u sed ; e. g .
,
earl jarl earl,sealfr sjalf self .
K i s pronou nced at the end o f a syllable,before a consonant
an d the vowel s a, o an d a
,as in E ngl i sh . It is al so ge
n erally written fo r ck,e. g .
,kristr, ké r, and is o ften u sed
instead o f g ; e. g . , kvikr living . It is l ikew ise doubled inplace o f ck ; e. g .
, plokka or plocka to p luck. K and kjbefore e, i, g, (e
,09, eg, ei are sou n ded soft l ike the
Danish 19°
w ith a sl ight after- sou n d o f j ,resembling c in
th e E ngl ish wo rds care, care. It i s never pron ou nced l ikeck in allure/a, which is the case w ith the Swedish so ft k. In
the p lural o f substan tives in andr' derived from verbs in ga
o r ka (w itho utj ) g or k preceding e has its hard sou nd ; e.
g . from eiga to own com es eigan d i owner , plural eigendr(pro no u n ced eigendr) , elskan di lover, p lu r. elskendr (pron ounced elskendr) . S ic has the sound of so in our wo rdscare before a , o , u
, and o f 811 before 6 , i i n ro o t- syllables .
L , as a single letter, i s sounded as in E ngl ish . When double,
it i s pro no un ced by the Icelanders an d West Norwegian s ,as well as by the Faro ese ,
l ike (ll: 6 . g . , kalla (pro nouncedkadla) to call ; consequen tly it is sometim es interchanged
2 . CONSONANTS . 7
w ith dl; e. g .,em il l i or am idli between . from m ib in the
midst. But in cases where d , t, or 8 fo llows , 6 . g . , felldi
f elled , allt all, alls of all, and also in compound words andderivatives where each I belo ngs to a separate syllable , e.
g . ,t il- lag con tribution , Hal- land Hoda nd , m iki l- latr high
minded , ll i s so un ded as in E ngl i sh . R l has a ro ll ing sou ndmu ch l ike that o f the hard ll heard almo st as rdl
, e. g . ,
j arl earl. In certain districts o f Sou th No rway , 4 mpecia11yWest T ellemarken an d Saatersdal, ll i s pro n o unced like dd ;e. g . ,
gu l l (properly :
gudl) gold , in S tetersdal gudd . Inm any parts o f Norway 1 i s n ot heard before a mu te co n
sonant w ith a long vowel before i t : e. g . ,kalf (pro noun ced
kaav) calf, ulf (uv) wolf, folk (fok) f olk. Th is pro nunciation preva ils in T ellemarken an d Smtersdal.
M sou nds as in E ngl ish .
,single
,sou nds as in E nglish : double , it is pro no un ced
after d,e, i, ei, 6, d , as an d (B as dn ; e. g . , steinn (steidn)
stone. But if nn belong to the fo llow ing syllable o r if a
simple vowel precede it,the so u nd is the same as in E ng
l ish ; e. g .,a- nn i to the river
,ey
- n n i to the island, kanna
to examine, brenna to burn . R n has a ro ll ing sound , som ewhat l ike rda
,m aking the antecedent vowel very hard
and sharp ; e. g .,horn (hordn ) horn .
P as in E ngl i sh . Before t l ike f ; e. g . , eptir (pronouncedeftir) af ter : co n sequently f t has been latterly m u ch u sedin place of p t. In many districts o f Norway an d in theFaro e
, p i s en tirely ass im i lated w i th the su cceeding I,
where ep tir is pronou nced attir. No word beginning w ithp is o f gen u ine Norse origin .
Q i s to be met with in its ordinary p lace befo re v, an d u sed
to alternate w ith k, bu t in the O ld Norse alphabet it i s a
superflu ou s letter.
B i s m o stly so u n ded as in E ngl ish . Fo r i ts pronun c iatio nbefore I and n see rem arks u nder tho se letters . R answersto three form s in the an cient language ; namely , to r pure ,to s, whi ch is a lso fou n d written in the o ldest m anu scripts ,and o ccurs in the G o thic : e. g .
,vesa or vera to be (A nglo
Saxon wesen) , heysa or beyra to hear,meisi or meiri
more, and lastly , in the beginning o f words,to er , e. g .
rita to wri ,te originally vrita ,rei
‘
b i wrath, formerly vreibi,
8 I . O R THO G RAPIIY .
rangr wrong ,anciently vrangr . These form s o ccu r in Old
Swedish bu t have disappeared in Norsk,where
,o n the
other hand , we som etim es fin d in r a fixed so u nd of v sig
n ified by it added , ru ei6 i for rei6 i,ru angr for rangr. Th is
form of v has again appeared in the written tongu e,an d
partly in the m odern pro n u n ciation . When the r aloneform s a k in d o f syllab le by itself , e. g .
,in m o st n om in a
tive en dings in the m ascu l ine , in gen itives s ingu lar an d
nom inatives an d accu satives p lural in the fem in in e, and inthe seco n d an d third perso n s s ingu lar in the present in dicative o f the irregu lar conjugation s , it is pronoun ced bythe Icelan ders and Faro ese as ar
, e. g . ,m a6 ur for ma6 r
,
sten du r for sten dr ,m erku r for merkr . In former times
i t seem s to have been so u n ded arbitrarily ; in Norway ,m o stly er : hence we o ften fin d written m a6 er
, go6 er ;
an d also as ar (ma6 ar, ko n ungar) .
S has always the hard so un d of 33 in miss . It in terchangesw ith ls in some words
,as : gisl gi ls , bei sl beils .
T as in E nglish . Tns i s pron o u n ced at the end o f words l ikes .
1? (called in Icelan dic Thorn ) is an asp irated t (th) , as 6 is anasp irated (1 (db) It is pron ou nced like the G reek 0 , and
the E nglish th in think,e. g . , beinkja to think, except in
prono un s or particles wh ich are attracted l ike en cl itics tothe forego ing word ; e. g . ,
a aefi bin n i in [by days ,erb
'
at(for bi
'
r at), where i t has the sou n d o f 6 , depen den t , however , on the preceding ,
letter . Th is con sonan t i s onlyfo un d at the begin n in g o f a word
,an d i s co n sequ ently
never dou bled .
V sounds as in E nglish . It i s partly a consonan tal u ,and
bears the sam e relatio n to this vowel as j to i ; partly an
indepen dent conson ant , wh ich is to be regarded as a so ften ing o f f o ccu rring in cognate words , either in the language i tself , or i n the o ther dialects . Th is d ifferen ce,wh ich i s etym o logically important , does not co n cern thepron un ciation .
X as in E ngl ish .
! i s to be mo stly regarded as an etymo logical s ign whichsometimes represents st, de or ts ; thu s we find both berazand berast, m6str and oezlr, bestr an d beztr , kvab st, kvazt
an d kenz . Properly , i t is on ly u sed instead o f 6 s and ts,
and i s then always so unded l ike 3 .
10 I . ORTHOGRAPHY .
Wo rds o f foreign origin ,o f wh ich few however have
been adopted into the O ld Norse as a ru le are pronou n cedan d accented according to the sou nd an d tone pecu l iar to themin their native tongu es ; e. g . , pistill from ep i
'
stola , po stu l iap ostulus .
Foreign wo rds are o ften contracted, e. g . ,
tempra temp ero l ina lz'nea ; regla regula .
The firs t u naccen ted syllable i s o ften rej ected ; sp ital i ,po stu l i , b iskup ep iscop us .
A vowel befo re a s imple consonan t becom es somewhatlengthened , whether the conso n ant be hard o r soft , as : ék o r
ég ,set , 1518 . When the short sou nd is expressed the con
sonan t i s doubled , as : egg , sett , hlass .
Vowels are sou n ded short when a con sonan t is added . as :
log has a long 6 logoum a short o nekef e keljaVil i Vildl
A ll con sonants wh ich fo llow a vowel belong to the syllablecon ta ining i t , as : ask- a
,mo ld- igr ,
skip- in - u . Hence thewords are ren dered short at the en d o f a l in e in po etry .
J and c, wh ich belong to the vowel fo llow ing them formexception s , as : spyr—jum ,
dhgg- va . T he letter r is m o stly readw ith the next vowel , as : ham - rar hammers .
Proper n ames , as S igu rfir, Noregr, were always writtenw ith capital letters ; but guiS G od
,djofull devil, konu ngr hing ,
j arl earl, an d su ch l ike ,w ith sm al l in itials .
C H A P T E R IV.
VOWEL—CHANG E .
Besides the proper endings , a change o f vowel w ith inthe wo rd itself frequ ently takes p lace ,
corresponding w ith theG erman umlaut , and th is m o dification o f vowels constitu tesan importan t e lement in the declen s ion and derivation o f
wo rds . Com pare :Anglo- Saxon . English . German . Icelandic.
s ing. fé t fo o t fuss fotr
p lur. fet feet ffisse foetr.
T he vowel s are divided in to two classes,namely
,the
A - class which contain s a , a, c, i, d, (e, of (and j a, j d, j cc, j o
'
,
4 . VOWEL- CHANGE . 11
e, and the O - class which compri ses 0 , u, g, 6, d , y , o u
,
eg (and fé, j d ) .
A is changed1 . into a in the chief syllable befo re endings in u
,as : saga ,
sogu ;in the chief syllable o f po lysyllables , the otherstaking u
,as : bakari
,bOkurum ;
in neu tr. plur. o f nou n s w i th co nso nantal endin gs,
as : haf, hé f ; land , 16n d ;in neutr. plur. o f adjectives with consonanta l endings
as : glee, glen ;
in fem . s ing . o f adjectives with co nso nanta l endings ,as : hagr, hOg .
2 . into (3 in derivatives,as : lenda from land , nefna from nafn ;
before the en dings z'
and r , as : dagr, degi , fafiir, febr ;in the mono syllabic pres . l st pers . s ing . o f verbs inthe 3rd co nj .
,as : taka
,tek .
3. into a in the imp . l st pers . plur. o f verbs in the 2nd co nj . ,
as : drap , drapum .
4 . into u in the imp . l st pers . plur. o f verbs in the lst conj .,
as : brau n,brunnum .
E i s changed1 . into a in the m ono syllabic im p . 1st pers . s ing . of verbs in
the l st an d 2nd co nj ., as : hell
,bal l .
2 . in to i, as : regna,rign ir.
3 . into i, in derivatives , as : vir6a from vero .
4 . into d in the m o no syl. imp . l st pers . s in g . of verbs in 1stand 2nd conj .
,as : bregfi,
bra ; tregu ,fra.
5 . into 0' in the m ono syl. imp . lst pers . sing . o f verbs in 3rd
conj . ,as : dreg
,dro.
I i s changedinto a in the m o nosyl. imp . l st pers . sing . o f verbs in the
l st conj . , as : finn ,fann .
A is changed1 . into e in th e past part . o f verbs in the 2nd co nj .
,as : dra
pum ,drepinn ;
2 . into 0 in the past part . of verbs in the lst co nj . ,as : sta
lum,stolinn ;
3 . into as befo re the endings i and r,as : larder, bm fii, breei
’iir.
12
I
O
8 8 3
1
2
I . ORTHOGRAPHY .
O i s changedinto a before en dings which contain a ,
as : sakar,saka
from sok ;
into e befo re the en dings z'
and r : as : berki,merkr ;
into g, in derivatives , as : smyrja from smjor .
E i is changed :into i in the m on o syl. imp . 1st pers . plur. o f verbs in th e
4 th conj . , as : beio,bifium ;
into i in derivatives as : hiti from heitr.
Ja is changed into i , as : bjarnar ,b irni ; and into j o,
djarf, djorf .Jo i s changed in to i, as : djdrf, dirfast.
Of the O —class o f vowel s are changed , 0 :
into g, as : son,synir ; o f
, yfir ;
into e,as : hn o t , hnetr. This change i s of rare o ccurren ce .
U i s changedinto 0 in the past part . o f verbs in the lst an d 5th conj .
,
burgum , bo rginn ,hru tum
,hrotinn ;
in to y, as : gu fS, gyoja .
O i s changedinto a; as : klo, klaar ;
into g in derivatives , as : fylki from folk .
U i s changed :into y
,as : mus
,mys , an d in derivatives . as : hyos from hu6 .
1 .
2 .
3 .
V
A u is changedin to eg, as : lau s
,leysa ;
into u,as : lauk
,lukum ;
into 0 in derivatives , as : drO pi from draup .
Jo i s changed in to y , as : brjota ,bryt.
Ju is changed into y , as : ljuga , lygi.t i s assim ilated in short words to tt, as : batt
, bandt.
Ngk i s assim ilated in short words to Mr, as : sprakk ,
Nr i s assim ilated in short words to nn,as : synn
,synr.
Lr is assim ilated in short words to ll, as : heill,hez
'
lr .
i s rej ected before 0 , u , g ,an d r at the beginning o f words ,
as,from vcrp a is fo rm ed varp ,
wh ich in the different partso f the verb is changed in to orp z
'
nn , arp am and grp i. Be
fore the wo rd m m, which u sed to be wri tten vrcz'fii, theconsonant v i s l ikew ise dropt .
II . E TYMOLOGY . 1. INFLE CTED Wo ans . 13
PAR T II .
E T Y M O LO G Y .
CHAPTE R L
I N F L E C T E D W O R D S .
The parts o f speech which are su bject to inflection orterm inatio nal chan ge are
,articles
,nouns , adjectives , pro
nouns,by declension
,and verbs by co nju gatio n .
T HE A R TICLEThe indefinite article a or an , or the numeral one
,has
three gen ders , an d fo u r cases , and i s thu s decl ined :SINGULAR . PLURAL .
Masc. Fem . Neut. Fem . Neat.
Nom . ein n ein s itt einar ein
G en . ein s einnar ein s einna einna
D at. einum einni einu einum einumA cc. einn eina eitt einar ein
U sed in the plural number ,this w ord has m o stly the sense
o f some.
The definite article the i s thu s decl ined :SING . PLUR .
Masc. Fem . Neat. Masc. Fem . Neat.
Nom . hinn hin hitt hin ir hinar hin
G en . hins hinnar hins hinna hin na hin na
Dat. hinum hinn i hinu hinum hinum hinum
A ce. hinn hina hitt hina hinar hin .
Th is word is also u sed as a dem on strative pronou n in thesignification o f tha t. When
.
appended to a su bstan tive it co nstitutes its definite inflected form ,
as : m aor— inn the man.
eik—in the oak,dyr
—it the animal; bu t h i s then always leftou t
,and on e t in the neuter.
The vowel i itself i s dropt when the word ends in a
s imple vowel,as : indefin ite tunga ,
definite tungan (n ot tungain or tungz
'
n) but if the no un term inate in a co nsonant,then
i i s reta ined,except in the nom inative plural mascu lin e
,an d
nom inative and accu sat ive plu ral fem in ine .
14 II . E TYM OLOGY .
A ppended to nouns it takes the fo llow ing end ingsSING . PLUR .
Masc. Fem. Neut. Masc. Fem. Neat.
Nom .- inn - in - it or iii - nir - nar - in
G en .- ins - inner - nnar) - in s nna - nna - nna
D at. —num - inn i - nn i) - nu num - num - num
A ce.
- inn —ina —na) - it or iii na - nar - in .
In the dative p lural the m at the en d o f the nou n i s om ittedwhen the article is added for the sake o f eupho ny as , flotanum for flotum - num . T he defin ite article i s placed beforeadjectives in the defin ite inflected form ,
as : hinn goiSi thegood .
CHAPTER II .
T HE NOUN.
Nou ns,or Substan tives
,have three genders , M ascu l ine
,
Fem inine,and Neuter
,an d two numbers , S ingu lar an d Plu
ral, with four cases in each ,
Nom inative , G en i tive ,Dative ,
and A ccu sative .
It is impo ssible to give infal l ible ru les for gender,but
the follow ing remarks may be o f u se.
M ascu l ines comm on ly end in z'
, r, l, n,or 3, though all
n ouns with these term inations arenotn ecessarily o f that gender.
T he nam es o f the du ties an d emp loymen ts o f men are
m ascu l in e, e. g . ,konu ngrhing, hoti
’
j ingi chz'
eftain , prestrp rz'
est,
brwll thra ll.Words en ding in do
'
mr,
ungr , z
'
ngr , lei/tr, shap r,nafir
, art an d andi are mascu l in e .
Compou nd words reta in the gender of their last part ,which is also the case w ith the names o f countries and towns ;e. g . , Noregr (Norvegr) Norway ,
an d M ikligarfir Constan
tinop le are mascu l ine,their last m embers vegr an d garfir being
so ; Danmork Denmark , Svibj é d Sweden ,and Slesvik are
fem inine,as mo
‘
rh, bj dd, and vile are o f th is gen der ; an d byz
kaland G ermany ,as well as Sviariki Sweden ,
are neu ter s in cethey term inate in neu ter no u n s .
The gender o f Icelan dic substantives may l ikewise be ascertained to som e ex tent by that o f nouns in the cognate langu ages .
2 . THE NOUN . 15
The names o f the du ties and emp loym ents of women arefem in ine as ,
drottn ing queen ,lj é sa midwife, ambatt she- stave.
A ll su bstantives in a are fem in ine,e. g . , gata p ath, haka
chin ; except herra master (G erman Herr) , and s ira sire,an d
som e proper names,which are mascu l ine
,as Sturla
,as well
as the n eu ter n ou n s comprised in the seventh declen sio n .
M o st m ono syllabic substantives who se ro o t- vowel i s 6are fem inine ; e. g . , grof a ditch, vdk an ice- ho le, alter a stair
step ; though some neu ters mu st be excepted ; e. g . , tjor lifestrength , bdl hale, trol l ogre ,
kjbr cho ice ,kveld evening .
Words ending in ung , ing ,an
,a
'
,6,ska , sla , dtta ,
and
mo st in an,m
'
,are fem in ine .
A ll m o n o syllab ic no uns having the vowel a,bu t not
ending in r,l, n ,
o r s , are neuter, e. g . ,m alt malt , land
country ,haf sea lag a layer .
DE CLENSIO N O F NO UNS .
The number o f declensions is e ight.
FIR ST DECLEN S ION.
This conta ins all m ascu l ine nouns in - l,
- n,
- r,
- s,in
the nom inat ive,and - s in the genitive singu lar.
SING . nom .- r
,—l, - n
,- s PLUR . nom .
- ar,
- ir
gen .- s gen .
—a
dat. - i, or the root. dat. - um
ace. the ro ot. ace.—a,
- i.
Paradigm s : hestr, hamarr, byrn ir, hvalr , engill, svein n ,
bass .SING . nom . hestr a horse PLUB. nom . bestar horses
gen . bests of a ho rse gen . hesta of horsesdat. hesti to a horse dat. hestum to horsesace. best a horse. ace. hesta horses .
SINGULAR .
A hammer. A thorn . A whale. A n angel. A swam. A stall.N. hamarr byrnir hvalr engill sveinn bas sG . hamars byrnis hvals engils svein s bas sD . hamri byrni hval sugli sveini basiA . hamar byrni hval engil svein has
16 II . E rrn onocr .
PLURALhammers . thorns . wha les . swaz
’
ns . stalls .
JV. hamrar hyrnar hvalir sveinar basar
byrna hvala sveina hasa
D . homrum byrnum hvolum sveinum hasum
A . hamra byrna hvali SVeina basa .
L ike hestr are decl in edHaukr hawk.
Almr elm . Heggr bar .d—che1ryArft inheritan ce. Heimr home.
Armr arm . Herr host.
A skr ash .
Aurr sandy bottom .
Batr boat.
Baugr rang .
Bj érr beaver.
Bran dr sword.
Broddr goad.
Brunnr well.Bukkr buck.
Démr doom .
Draugr spectre.
Draumr dream .
Dukr cloth.
Dvergr dwaafE idt oath.
E ldrfire.
Fadmr f athom .
Faldr head- dress .
Fiskr fish.
Flokkr fl ock.
Fnj O skr thrushForkr fork.
Froskr f rog .
G addr sp ike.
G ammr vulture.
G ardr f arm - house.
G aukr cuckoo .
G aumr heed.
G eirr sp ear.
G lu
ugrgr
pwindow .
stone.
Halmr straw .
Hampr hemp .
Haugr heap .
Some o f the above nouns term inate in the p lur. nom . in - ar
o r - i
'
r indifferently .
Hn i’
ikr mountain - top .
Héfr hoof .
l
iélmr islan d.
I re r arish.
Hririg'
s
piny .
Hrlitr ram .
Hundr dog .
Hungr hanger.
Hvelpr whelp .
Hverr warm sp ring.
Kalfr calf .
Kettlingr kitten .
KKKKnutt knot.
Kélfr arrow .
Konungr king .
KopprKrakr raven .
Krékr hook.
Kr lingr eri le.
Latilgr leek.
PP
Leikr game.
Lidr j o int.Lj é str eel- spear.
Lokkr lack of hair.
LuDr tram ct.
Magr brot er- ia - law .
Malmr meta l.
M unnr month.
Naddr sp ike.
O rmr snake worm .
O str cheese.
Pantr p ledge.
Penn ingr m oney .
Plégr p lough.
Po ttr p ot.
Prestr p riest.
Pungr p arse.
R a tr raf ter.
Beli
r f ox .
R eyrr reed .
R okkr sp inningwheel.
R figr rye.
Salr hall.
Sandr sand.
Saumr seam .
Saurr mack.
Selr seal.
Skattr treasure.
Spikr sp ike.
Stakkr stack.
Stallr sta ll.
Stigr p ath .
Stokkr stick.
Stormr storm .
Straumr stream .
S tigr so agh (of wind) .Taumr rein .
T indr p eak
Toppr top .
Ufr spike.
Ulfr wolf .
Vilgr bay .
Vargr wolf .
Vikingr p irate.
Vindr windPollr thole (of oars) .
18 II . E TYM OLOGY .
have a simplevowel in their final syllable are co n tracted incases who se inflection begin s w ith a vowel as
,
lykill key . jotunn giant. d . morgun morn . aptann eve.
dat. l kli j otni ormorn i. aptn i
p lur. yklar j otn ar
Som e n o un s wh ich form the plural in - ir,in sertj before
the in flection s wh ich begin w ith a vowel ; bu t thi s j befo re ii s expressed by a lo ng i, as hylr abyss , p lur . hylir, gen . hylja ,
da t. hyljum acc. hyli . A fter g an d k the accen t i s om itted,
as drengr boy , p lur . drengir ,drengj a ,
drengjum ,drengi ;
sekkr sack, p lur . sekkir,sekkja , sekkjum ,
sekki .
SECOND DE CLEN S IO N .
A ll m asculine n ou n s wh ich end in - r or - n in the n o
m inative,an d in - ar in the gen itive singu lar ,
are o f th i sdeclens io n .
SING . n om . ro ot PLUR . nom .- ir
gen .- ar gen .
- a
dat. —i dat. —um
ace. ro ot. ace.
- u .
Paradigm s : s iiSr,hryggr, battr, vollr, kjolr.
SINGULAR .
A back. A mode.
hryggr battr
hryggj ar hatter
hryggi hattihrygg hatt
PLURAL .
sidir hryggir haettir
G . sifia bryggja hatta
D . sidum hryggj um hattum
A . sibu hryggj u hattu
L ike sibr are inflectedBurdr burden . Kvistr bran ch. Metr meat.
Feldt clo ak.
i‘ Lidr j o int. Saufir she
ip‘ E ngr m ind. Litr co lou r. Stabr stea
L ike hryggr are decl ined‘ Bellr bed . Byrr f a ir wind .
‘ Bekkr brook. IBwr f arm .
Dr kkr drink.
”E gr elk.
2 . T HE NOUN . 19
Friar peace.
a“ Stekkr sheep-
p en . Veggr wall.
R eykr smoke. Verkr pa in .
Sekkr web.
‘ Vaangr wing .
Tho se n ou n s whi ch are marked w ith an asterisk take a l so —s
in the gen . sing .
L ike hdttrDrzittr drawing . Slattr mowing . brabr thread .
Mattr m ight. battr ep isode.
L ike with are decl in edBollr° ba ll. Kdttr eat.
Berkr bark. M iilr moth.
G 61tr hog . Své rd sword.
Knorr trading- vessel.
L ike kje’
lr
Fjordr frith. Hjort hart. IMj odr mea d. Skj o ldr shield .
Nou n s which are w ithou t the mascu l ine s ign o f - r in the
nom in ative s ingu lar . remain the same in the nom in ative an d
accu sative o f that n umber as :
PLURAL .
T he nom inative plural i s formed from the dative singu lar. as :
S ing . nom . sour a son Plur. nom . syn ir sons
gen . sonar of a son gen . sona 0‘
sons
dat. syni to a son dat. sonum to sons
ace. so n a son ace. sonu sons .
The accu sative plu ral always ends in —i wh en th is vowe ldo es no t term in ate the dative s ingu lar
, as :
SINGU LAR
20 II . E TYM OLOGY .
PLURAL
A ll derivatives in - skap r an d —na6 r fo llow the en dings o fsifSr in the singu lar ,
and o f bragr in the p lu ral ; e. g . ,bu
skapr household, skiln afir sep aration ; but the former are rarelyto be m et with in the p lural : the latter term ination - na
'
6 r
o ften undergo es a vowel - change o f n ; for in stan ce fognu‘
é r
(fagna’
cSr) j oy , as if a n were om i tted before r,the s ign o f the
mascu l in e .
TH IRD DECLENS ION .
M ascu l in e substantives wh ich have the nom inative term inat ion in —in ,
an d that of the gen itive in - a ,are of th i s
declension .
(ICC.
Paradigm flo ti .
L ike fioti are decl inedAuki addition . Dreki man - of -war
Ban i (noplan ) bane. Dropi drop .
Bauti f a len warrior. E ndi end .
Bogi carve. Fjdldi crowd.
Brubgumibridegroom . G ltlgi gallows .
Bfii' dweller. G eisli rag .
Daubl dea l/i . G obi p riest.
Hluti lot.
Ho sti cow/k.
Hrfiki sp it.
lkorn i squirrel.
Knefifi st.
Lj éri windowLogi fl ame.
2 . T HE NOUN. 2 1
Mani moon .
Orri heath-cock.
Poki bago lin .
R isi giant.Skali f arm - dicelling
Uz i takes ya'na in the gen . p lur .
D issyllab ic nou ns , who se ch ief vow el is a , change a intoa before the term ination in n in the dat. p lan ; as :
Sing. nom . andi a sp irit Plur. nom . andar rits
gen . ends of a sp irit gen. anda f isp iritsdat. ends to a sp irit dat. ondum to sp irits
ace. ands a sp irit ace. anda sp irits .
Like andi are declinedArfi heir. H '
arn i skull. Nafii navel.Bakki hill. Ja i ice-
hfjoe. Nagli
Drafii m ilk- cheese. Kappi 0 mp Skafii sea th.
Hali tail. K'
arn i kernel. Skratti wizard.
Hani cock. MJagi maw Stapi elifl
'
.
M ascu l in e nou ns ending in - ingi , an d some o thers,
wh ich are chiefly derivat ive words,take j in their obl ique
cases,as :
S ing . nom . heidingi a heathen Plur. nom . heibingjar heathengen . heibingj a of a heathen gen . heibingj a qf hea the ndat. heidingja to a heathen dat. heibingj um to heathenace. heibingj a a heathen ace. heidingj a heathen .
In the sam e way are decl inedFrelsingi f reedman . a ingi robber. lllvirki evil—deer.
Hefdingi chiefta in . E yskeggi islan der. Vilj i will.Leysingi f reedma n .
Participial substan tives in é andi deviate o n ly in the
plural , and are inflected w ith r,a , um
,r, where r pro perly
stands fo r ir, and pro du ces a vowel - change,as
S ing . nom . elskandi a lover Plur. no m. elskendr lovers
gen . elskanda of a lover gen . elskenda (- anda) o loversdat. elskanda to a lover do t. elskendum —6n um ) to
loversace. elskanda a lover ace. elskendr lovers .
Thu s are inflectedd andi j udge. Lesandi reader. Scekjandi
Sjaandi eye-witness . Verjandi warder.
22 II . E TYM OLOGY .
Trisyllabic n ou n s wh ich have a in the an tepenu ltimate
and the pen u ltim ate,change the first in to a
,an d the seco n d
in to a before um o f the dative p lu ral as ,bakari baker , dat.
p lnr . bOku rum . When a o ccu rs in the penu ltim ate on ly,it
i s changed in to a as,felagif ellow, dat. p lnr . felOgum ,
or in toa as , leikari Juggler, dat. p lur . leiku1 um . A ll presen t participles active are declin ed like elskandi when they are u seds ubstan tively : they are m o stly fo u n d in the p lural. E ven
tho se wh ich have a n eu ter s ign ificatio n are m ascu l in e , if theypo ssess th is form ,
an d take the inflectio n s proper to that gender u nder this declen s io n ; they are seldom u sed o therw i sethan in the S ingu lar as
,talan d i gift of speech .
FOURTH D ECL E N S ION .
Th i s declen s io n in clu des all fem in ine n o uns w ith n om inative an d gen itive term inatio n s in —a an d a respectively
S ing . nom .- a Plar. nom .
—ur
gen .- u gen .
—na
dat. - u dat. —l’
im
ace.- u ace.
—ur.
Paradigm s : tunga , gata ,l ina
,bylgja .
SINGULAR .
A tongue. A p ath. A line.
JV. tunga gata lin aG . tungu gotu linu
D . tungu gotu linu
A . tungu gotu linu
N . tungur
G . tungna
D . tungum
A . tungur
L ike tnnga are
Bytta sma ll tab.
Dimma darkness .
Dré a dirge.
Brekka drink.
D
D
Dyna f eather- bed .
PLURAL .
gOtur linur
gatna lina
gOtum linuni
gOtur linur
decl in edE dda grandmother. G ry’ ta pot.
Fifa cotton -
grass . Heilsa hea lth .
Furs fir—tree. Heim ska stup idity .
G fita riddle. Heita heat.
G edda ike. Hells. f lat- stone.
G ents. ass . Hesps ha sp .
G rime mask. H O la cave.
2 . THE NOUN . 23
Hulda veil. Ko ngurvéfa sp ider . sla d istrict.
Ka a cloak. Misa whey . T ta kin d ofKelila f ountain . Mugga mist. Vika week.
Kisa puss . Neepa tu r nip . Visa verse .Kista chest. Pika girl. t a wet.
Kraka crow . kre pa wa llet. PokaJog .
Kringla circle . Skriga slip (as of sn ow) . l’ lifa ‘
noll.
Krukka j ar.
Like gata
A ska ashes . Hlada barn .
B'
alla bell. Kaka thin cake .
Blanda m ixtu re . Karma can .
Haka book. Nadra viper .Harpa ha rp . Saga story .
L ike lina are inflected skepn a creaaire, an d tinnafl int.
These below are l ike bgw'
a in their inflection s .
Bryggja p ier . Fylgj a tutela ry sp irit. Skeggja axe
E kkja widow. Kirkja chu rch . Sk'
a fl u'
rror
E skJa ash R ekkja bed . Py Ja thought.
Nou n s ending in —j a where g or I: does n ot preced e , don ot take a in the gcn . p lur . ,
as : brynja cm'
rass . feij a f en-
y ,
lilja lily ,sm ifija smitlig , which are the sam e in the gen . p lur .
as the m m . sing .
Som e n oun s of this d eclen sion are u sed chiefly in the
plu ral as , até lur ignoraidings , gaatur ca re, attention , lflm r like
ness,fortOIur p ersuasion . Bren na burning ,
vera being , an d otherinfin itives in a ,
u sed substan tively , are o f this declens ion .
FIFT H DE CLENS IO N .
Femin in e n ou n s which have variou s term ination s in
the n om in ative s ingu lar , and which en d in - ar or - ir in the
n om in ative plu ral, are of this d eclen sion .
S ing . nom . root Plu r . n om .- ar,
- ir
gen .- ar gen .
- a
dat. root, —u ,or - i dat.
- um
acc. root, - i acc.
- ar,
- ir.
Paradigm s : eiga , bruor, v6r,drottning , egg, Gr, h ei6 i.
a,andvarpan , fjofiur, alin .
24 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
A prop erty .
G . signarD . eign
A . eign
Like sign are declin edAlpt swan . G rein bran ch.
Ambattf emale slave. G rund ground .
A st love . helm .
Aufin desert.Baun bean .
Borg ortress . Lausn redemption .
Breid breadth. Leib wag .
Bird booth. Lind linden—tree .Bygg
b settlement. Lind f ountain .
Byr r b urden . Pin sl torture .Dab deed . Seil rope.Dis goddess . S
'
én sight.
Ferd j ourney . S 61 bowl.G aupn fist. Sheib sp oon .
Gipt gift.
From the above examples it will be seen that“
when n either a
nor a con stitutes the root- vowel,no m odification takes place .
Like vo'r are declin edBj ork birch. Hell hall. Sok cau se . O gu chef .
G'
6r6r girth. 16rd ea rth. m b womb. Orbp lo ughing.
Hl'
brd h erd . Skomm shame . Vorn def en ce . Qx axe.
bfn haven . Sbgn say ing . Pekk thanks . 0 x1 shou lder .No substantive u nd er this declen s ion has u n iformly pre
served the u of the dative singular, except a few which in sertj o r v, an d all in ing and ung , an d even in these it is sometim es d ropt. T he nom . and acc. p lur . termination - ar is u sedin all d erivatives in ing and any as
,drottn ing q ueen , hbrmung
woe, and in all those prim itives which in sert j or v as , mey
ma id , Or arrow ,as well as in monosyllables ending in a vowel
however , practice only can determ in e which substantives o fthis declension take ar o r ir in those cases .
Skim baptism .
Skuld debt.Sokn p a ri .sh
Sorg sorrow .
Sétt sickness .
Stund hou r .T ia time .T iund tithe.
T ryVéfi
gga surety .
clo th.
Van hope .Vist f ood .
Pjéb p eop le .
26 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
N. andvarpan ir
G . an dvarpana
D . an dvorpunum
A . an dvarpan ir
A n dvarpan is derived from an d i breath, and verpa to casto r send f orth .
L ike this n ou n are declin ed dyrkan miltivation ,and
skemtan or skemtu n amusement.A few of those substantives which in sertj are u sed only
in the plu ral as , m enjer tokens , signs .
Som e n ou n s in i form their n om inative an d accu sativeplu ral in ir as
, gleb i cheerf ulness , elli age ,an d do n ot take
ar in the gen itive singu lar but are indeclinable throughou tthat n umber.
S IX TH DE CLENS ION .
Fem in in e n oun s,whose n om in ative plu ral en ds
follow this declen sion .
S ing . n om . root Plur . nom .—r
gen .
- ar ,- r gen .
- a
dat. root dat.- um
acc. root ace.
- r.
Paradigms : grind , tonn ,bé t
,mork
,spbng .
SING ULAR .
A grate. A tooth. A f ine . A wood . A clasp .
N. grind tdn n bét mork spongG . grinder tannar bétar merkr , markar spengr, spangar
D . grind té nu bét mork spongA . grind té nu b6t mork spong
PLURAL .
N. grindr tennr baetr merkr,markir spengr, spangir
G . grinda tanna béta marka spanga
D . grindum tbnnum bbtum markum spiingum
A . grindr tennr bactr merkr, markit spengr, spangir.
Like g rind are declin edErt p ea . G eit she-
goat. Hind hind . Kinn check.
Like to‘nnStrbnd strand . 6md duck. Ort teal.
2 . THE NOUN . 27
Like bo'tG lbb embers . Hn ot nut. R ot root.
Like markE ik oak. Mj élk m ilk. Steik steak. Vik s ma ll bag .
Like sp ong
R bng timbers of a ship . IStongpole. Saang bed . ITting sea -weed .
A s w ill be seen in the last two parad igm s (mbrk and
spbng) , n oun s of this d eclen s ion which te rm inate in g or k,
comm o n ly i'
orm the gen itive s ingu lar in r . like the n om inativeplu ral : bbk book, o n the other han d
,always has the gen itive
békar, p la r . baakr.
Those substantives whose n om in ative s ingular is d o r t,
m ostly have the gen itive in - ar,as strond , ge n. stran dar, ré t
,
gen . ré tar, Whilst those in g o r k u sually fo rm the gen itive inthe sam e way as the n om inative plu ral , as st g , gen . sing .
an d nom . p lu r . stengr, mark, gen . sing . an d nom . p lur . m erkr.
M ost n ou n s in this declen s ion which have 6 in the root- syllable , can also follow the fifth de clen sion.
Nou n s which term inate in a vowel are d eclin ed like bot,fo r in stan ce , lb p lover, gen . ldar
, p lnr . loer, 16m ,16a ; such are
Bru (gen bruar. plur . bryr or bru r) bridgeFlt
'
) n flar flea .
Fru (gen . sing and nom . p lu r . frur) woman .
Ha n n n
KlO l) n n n n cla w.
Krti n x n com er .Lja n newly mown grass .
R 6 (no p lur . ) iron -
p lateT a (gen . sing . tar) toe.
Trix (no p lu r . )h e n a kind of boas.
SEVENTH DECLENS ION .
A ll n euter n ou n s which have the n om in ative- end ingof this d eclen sion .
S ing . nom .- a Plu r . nom .
—u
gen .- a ge n
- na
dat. —a dat.
- um
use.- a (ICC .
- u .
28 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
Paradigm s eyra h_jarta .
SING ULAR
PLURAL .
N. eyru ortuG . cyrus brtnaD . eyrum 6rtum
A . eyru ortu .
T he radical a of the n oun is changed into a beforefiection s in u
,as in the above example .
Like ey ra are declin edAuga eye. Hnoba key . Nyra kidney .
Bj i'
iga sausage. Lunga lung.
E IG H T H DECLENS ION .
M on osyllabic n euter n oun s,
and those of this gen derthat end in con son ants , or in —i, have the following inflections
S ing . nom . root Plur . n om . rootgen .
- s gen .- a
dat. - i dat. - um
acc. root acc. rootParadigm s : orb
,barn
,sumar
,hofub
,kvzeb i, kne, kyn ,
riki,sol.
SING ULAR .
A child . A summer .barn sumarbarn s sumars
barni sumribarn sumar
PLURAL .
N. orb born sumur hé fubG . orbs barns sumra hOfbaD . orbum bbrnum sumrum hbfbumA . orb born sumur hiifub.
Only in those nou ns whose term inating syllable beginswith a vowel does contraction take place ,
as in the last two
examfles : this likewise applies to the other declen s ion s .
2 . THE NOUN .
Like orb are declin edAr yea r .Bal f uneral pile .Bein leg.
Bik pitch.
Blek ink.
Blik s lendour.
Blob lood .
Blém flower .Blot sacrgice.
Bly lead .
Blys torch.
B0 6 of er .B61 f arm .
Bord boa rd , table .Braud breadBréf letter .Brj é st breast.Brubkaup wedding.
Bu f a rm .
BygsDelgDiht poem .
Dj i'
ip dep th.
Drép murder .Drep battle .ril
Dupt dust.
Dust do .
Byr animal.
E rr copper .E ik venom .
E l shower .Fen ma rsh.
Fjé s stall f or cattle.
Fébr fodder .Folk f olk.
Fé str mainten ance .
Frost f rost.G arn ya rn .
G olfr f lo or .G rj (it stone.
Like barnAfl strength.
Agu bait.
Ax ear of corn .
Bak back.
Band bandage.Bann ban .
G ull old .
Har ir.
Haust autumn .
Hesl hazel—tree .H
'
él wheel.Hlaup leap .
Hlj éb sound .
Ho f heathen temp le .Holt. wooded height.Hopp leap .
Horn horn .
Hraun lava .
Hrim hou r-f rost.Hrogn sp awn .
Hro ss steed .
Hus house.Husl house! (sacra
Hvlsl whistling .
Jarn iron .
Jbl Christma s .
Kal cabbage .Kaup purchase.Kid kid .
Kitl tickling.
K'
ot flesh.
Klif clifi‘
.
Korn corn .
Ko t cottage .Kvold even ing .
Lan loan .
LaufLebrLeir cLif li iffyLik cor e
Lim lcmpe
s
.
Lin flax .
Ljé s light.
de clin edB
'
arg mounta in .
Blab leaf .
Fang grasp .
Far j ourney .
Fax mane .Fjall mountain .
G afl gable .G agn p rofit.
G ap op en ing .
Gjald p ay ment.G ras g rass .
Haf sea .
29
Laer thigh.
Mal measure , sp eech.
Mord mu rder.
My gna t.Net net.
0 k yoke.
R ab advice .Regn ra in .
R eip rop e.Rum roomRyk dust.Sad seed .
Salt salt.
Sar wound .
Se 1Sillr silver .Sinn time .Skald p oet.
Skaut shirt.
Skin sheen .
Ski chi
Skrln «hi-m .
Skum darkness .
Slit rent.
Sti path.
Stig steep .
Strib strife.Sund sound .
Sverb swordSvin swine .T ér tea r .T in tin .
Tro trough
T rbfiogre.T un en closure.Vépn weapon .
Vér sp ring.
Ping council.
30 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
Sax short sword .
Skap shape .
Skapt shaf t.Skard sherd .
N eute r n ou n s of m ore than o n e syllable term in ating inab , at or an are n o t contracted
,w ith the exception of gam an
j oke, as , h érab district,obal p rop erty , m ann likan image of
human shap e .
Substan tives in i do n ot adm it an other i in the dative as,
S ing. n om . kvwdi a song . Plur . nom . kveebi songs
gen . kvaébis of a song gen . kvaeba of songs
dat. kvaabi to a song dat. kvzebum to songs
acc. kvaebi a song acc. kvzebi songs .
Thu s are d eclin edBelti belt. Pylki district. Hveiti wheat.En ni f orehead . G erdi hedge . Keili
'
wedge.
Eski ash—tree. G ildi banquet. Klaebi clothes .
Eydi desert. Herti ha rrow .
F idrildi butterfly . HltPgi laughter .
In som e n ou n s o f this declen sion j or v is in serted beforethe obliqu e cas es which begin with a vowel
,bu t neve r j before
i,and seldom v before u . Thu s
SING ULAR .
A lineage .kyn
kyn s
kyn i
kyn
L ike km} are declin edlee. Klé loom -weight. I Spé j oke. Tris tree.
Like kynba rking . G rey ho un d . Hey hay . Nes cape.
S ubstan tives,whose root- letter is g or k, adm it o l
'
j be
2 . THE NOUN . 31
fore the inflection s a and am , as well as n oun s with co n sonantal endings which have simple vowels as
,
S ing . nom . riki a kingdom Plur. nom . riki kingdomsgen . rikis of a kingdom gen . n a of kingdoms(lat. riki to a kingdo m dat. ri um to kingdoms
acc. riki a kingdom . ace. ri kingdoms .
Thu s are declin edBer berry . Ker drinking- cup . R if rib.
Klif clifi’
. Skegg bea rd .
Nef n ose. Stetburde n (of a so ng).
Som e n ou ns w ith the d iphthongal vowel 6 , in sertv beforethe inflection s which begin with a vowel as
'
S ing . nom . 861 a seaweed Plur . nom . sol seaweedsgen . 3618 of a seaweed gen . solva of seaweedsdat. solvi to a seaweed do t. snlum to se aweedsacc. 861 a seaweed . ace. sol seaweeds .
Thu s are declin edFjor life- strength . Mjbl mea l. I Smj br butter . 0 1 ale.
Frjo or free secd,
‘
hrai corp se , and he deceit,are s imilarly
inflected .
T he n ou n frzebi knowledge is fem in in e in the singular
number,and is inde clinable like aafi life ; but in the plural it
is n euter,and is declin ed like kvaafii.
S om e n oun s of. this declension occur both with and
without the n om inative—ending - i as ;eng or engi meado w, fullting or fulltingi help ren sl or
ren sli drain, sinn or sinn i time.
ANO MALO US NO UNS .
FIRST DECLENS ION .
S ING ULAR .
G od. A blast. A day . A chip . A n ounce.
A kettle .N. G ub blast—r dag
—r spann or spbnn eyrir ketil- lG .
- s - ar,- rar
,-rs s spanns is - s
D .—1 bleesti degi spaen i
-iA .Gub blast dag spann
- i
32 II. ETYMOLOG Y.
PLURAL .
N. G uoir,—ar blé star, —rar dagar aur- ar katlar
G .- a a - a a - la
D .- um um degum um ketlum
A .- ir
,- ar 8. daga. a katla .
N. sk6—r, sku—arG . a
, a
D . m
A — a.
SECOND DECLENS ION .
SING ULAR .
A way . Snow .
veg—r sneer
,snj ér, snj6r
— ar,- s snaevar, snjavar, snj6ar, snj6s
— i snazvi, snaz, suja, snj 6 , snj 6 vinae
,suj e, a 6
PLURAL .
- ar,- ir snaevar, sn
jévar, sn
’Joar, a ovar fuetr
- a snaéva , a va, a oa f6ta- um snzevum , snjévum ,
snjém , snjéum ,— um
snj 6um- a snmva, snjéva, a oa
SING ULAR .
A nfizlke A brother .N. fa61r br6d—irG fear
, foour, fears ur,brte5r, br66urs
D . fOBurA .
34 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
SIX T H DE CLENS ION .
SING ULAR .
Nig A cow. A n ewe. A n egebrow .
n 6tt, n 6tt kyr eer brimnatt—armzetr kJ
'
fr fer brt'
in - ar
kt’
i é
PLURALN hendr n setr kJ
’
fr e'
fnn,brj/n ,
brj'
r
G . handa mitt- a,motta kua brim - a
D . hondum um,
- m - um
A . hendr nwtr kJ'
fr bry’
n n, bry‘n , e
'
r.
N. guess
G . gas—a
D .
-um
A . guess m iss
Like mu’
s is declin ed his a louse .
E IG HTH DECLENS ION .
SINGULAR .
A temp le.vb
A few n eu ter n oun s fem in in ethe plu ral n umber , as
Smo ULAn .
lim twigmund limetailf raud
PLURAL .
So und . The gods .
laeti regin ,reign
lat—a ragna—um regn um
liPtl regin ,rogn .
change the ir gender to the
2 . THE NOUN . 35
Som e names of relatives ,w ith diffe ren t term ination s ,
which in clu de two or m ore person s in o ne n am e are con soqu ently u sed only in the plu ral : if the two person s are ofdifferent gende rs they take the n euter
hjon man and woman , ma rried p eop lesystkin brother and sister ;fefigin f a ther and daughter ;m oefigin mother and son
fefigar f ather and son ;
mesogu r mother and da ughter
DECLENSIO N O F NO UNS WITH THE
A R T ICLE .
A n example in each de clen sion of a n oun with the articleappended , appears as fo llowsFIRST DECLENSION. The horse. FIFTH DECLENS . Thep rop ertg .
SING . PLUR . SING . PLUB.
N. hestr- inn N. hestar- nit s ign- In N. ciguar - nar
G . hesta- in s G . hesta - nna s ignar - innar G . eigna- nna
D . besti- num D . hestu - num D . eign- inn i D . eignu
- num
A . hest- inn A . hesta - n a A . eig n- ina A . eignir- nar
SECOND DECLENS . The custom .SIX TH DECLENSION. T he grate .
S ING . PLUR . S ING . PLUB.
N. sidr - inn N. sidir - n ir N. grind- in N. grindr
- nar
G . sidar- in s G . sida- nna G .grindar- innar G . grinds
- nna
D . sidi- num D . sidu - n um D . grind - inni D . grindu - nu in
A . aid- inn A . sidu - na A . grind - inn A . grindr- nar
THIRD DECLENSION. Thefl eet.SEVENTHDECLENSION. Theear .
SING . PLUR . SING . PLUB.
N. floti- n u N. flotar- n ir eyra - t N. eytu - n
G . flota- n s G . flota—nna eyra- na G . eyrna- nna
D . flota - num D . flotu - num eyra - nu D . eyru- num
A . flota - nn A . flo ta - na A . eyra - t A . eyru- n
FOURTH DECLENS . The tongue . EIGHTHDECLENSION. The word .
SING . PLUR . SING . PLUR .
N. tunga- n N. tungur - nar N. orb- it N. orb- in
G . tungu- nnar G . tungna
- nna G . ords - in s G . orda- nna
D . tungu-mmi D . tungu
- num D . ordi- nu D . orBu - num
A . tungu- na A . tungur - nar A . ore- it A . ord- ia .
T he n euter it occurs in som e books in the form 36 , especially after a radical t; and in all cases of Modern Icelandic .
3 §
36 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
T he aspirate h appears to be of later origin ; the oldestmanu scripts have inn , in , it, o r even enn , en , cl.
When three n - eridings com e togeth er on e is rej ected as,
bn’
In eyebrow , p lu r . brynn ; with the article , brg'
nnar for
bry'
nn - nar .
M aiSr m an adds to the n om . plu r . - ir and to the acc.
- i,
thu s , m en n —ir - n ir,m enn - i —na . Pab ir an d br66 ir in sert 3
in the gen . sing . as,fofiurs—in s
,br66 urs - in s . A fter liqu ids
i is d ropped , as salr,hyalt , dat. sing . saln um
,hvalnum .
Nou n s which en d in a diphthongic vowel rej ect the i ofthe article when in other cases it wou ld m ake two syllablesas , ey
- un i,a- u n i
,ku—nn i : in the accu sative ey
- n a,a- na
,
ku- na .
T he gen itive singular of mon osyllabic fem in in e sub
stantives is gen erally contracted when they are d eclin ed indefin itely ; but it is always lengthen ed wh en the article isappen ded ,
as : an woman , gen . fn’
Ir,fruar- inn ar ; yet a river,
a t ewe an d kyr cow are exception s ,an d form ar- inn ar
,aar
- inn ar,an d kyr- inmat .
INFLECT IO N O F PR O PER NO UNS .
1 . Nam es of person s .
Mas culin es in - r are gen erally declin ed like hestr ,fo r
in stan ce, pen , gen . bors , borgeirr, porgeirs . To this class
belong also tho sei n —arr,as
, G unnarr, Fjalarr, which in the
dative take - ari as, G un nari , Fjalari , not being contracted
like kama rr .
In - ir as bgrnir, e. g . , Haan ir,Hamdir.
In - all, - ill, - ull like comm on n oun s of the sam e term in ation as , Hagalls , gen . Hagals , dat. Hagli, R egin n ,
Regn i,E gill. E gli. Ketill in compou nds m ostly becomes - kell, an d
in the dative both porkatli an d porkeli Hallkatli and Hall
keli occu r .Mas cu lines en ding in - andr, - u6r ,
- ur’
6 r, - vi6 r,- r0
“
6r,
—a6r, - llr, - an ,- on ,
—u n are inflected like sihr, nam ely , withthe gen itive in - ar ,
—dative - i as,S igu rfir , gen . S igurbar,
da t. S igurfii, O nundr, O nu ndar, O nundi, A rn vifiar, A rnvib i,
G ubrbbar,G ubrbb i. Nibaor, Nibaoar, Nibab i, Ullr , Ullur ,
Ulli,Heimdallr
,Heimdallar
,Heimdalli
,Halfdan ,
Hall'
danar,
2 . THE NOUN . 37
Halfdan i , Hakon ,Hakon ar , Hakon i , A uou n , A ubu nar,
A ubu n i ; of these as w ell as of appellatives in - na6 r a formof vowel—change is som etim es fou nd in the n om inative as
,
Nibufir, Heimdbllr.
Where in stead of —ur6 r the original w ar-fir occu rs the
gen .- s is chiefly u sed as
,Hallvarer
,Hallvarbs .
A ll m asculin es in - i follow the third de clen sion as,
Smo tri, Helgi, A tli.
Fem in in es in - r,
- nn and - dis are in flected m ostly likebru
’
br (in the 5th declen s ion) as , H ildr, G erb t and all derivatives therefromN. Andr Unnr or Udr Sigribr J6run ordisG . A ubar Unnar Sigribar J6ru n ar ordisar
D . Audi Unn i Sigridi J6run i ord isi
A . Audi Unn i Sigribi J6run i ordisi.
A ll thos e en d ing in —dis are declin ed in the sam e manner ,although the word dis itself has its cases like eign .
Many polysyllabic fem in in es have the gen itive in - ar,
but the dative an d accu sative in —u as,
N. Gudrun Signy.
em R annveigGP. — ar -
Jar ar - ar
D .
—u —Ju u - u
A .—u —
Ju- u - u .
Mon o syllab ic fem in in es form the dative and accu sativelike the n ominative as
,Hlif
, gen . Hlifar, da t. an d ace. Blit
m ost of these in sert j in the gen itive ; F rigg , S it,He]
,
gen .-
Jar .
A ll fem in in es in - a follow the 4 th declen sion as,
’
Be ra,
Embla,Katla
, pé rhalla .
Some few names of men have a fem in in e form as,Sturla ,
Sturlu,Uraakja , Uraakju . Skaei on the other han d
,which is
a female n ame,is infle cted like fl oti (3rd d e clen sion ).
From the nam es of m en those of w om en are chieflyform ed by adding a to the root- fo rm as
masc . Hallr Ketill l’ orkell P6retu Brainf em . Halls. Katla Porkatla P6rarna Hrefna.
When an appellative is u sed as a m ascu lin e proper n ou n ,
a fem in in e word an sw ering to it being fou nd ,the latter is
also u sed as a corresponding fem in in e n am e , both singly and
in compou nds , as :
masc . Bjorn Hallbjornf em . Bera Hallbera .
38 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
Foreign n am es take either a form which can be inflectedaccord ing to the examples above addu ced
,e. g . M ikjall , M ik
jals,Lafran z , gen . Lafran z
,(lat. Lafran zi
,or retain their
n ative form ; in th is case they are inflected e ither as Icelan dicn am es e. g . Magnus Magnuss , or M agm
’
rsar ,G regorius ,
G regoriusar, Elias , E liasar, A ron A ron s .
’ or declin ed likeLatin n ames as Christophoru s Christophori Julianu s ,
Julian i .
2 . Nam es of places .
Man y n ou n s of this class are appellatives , an d can therefore be infle cted like comm on n ou n s as
,berg ,
hot’
,staor
,
vollr,heimr
,fit, an d com pou n ded as Forberg , pé rsho f, 861
heimr. S everal are u sed in the plu ral, as - sta6 ir (Faxstabir)- vellir (M ooruvellir) , - heim ar (Sé lheim ar) , Fitjar , a Fitjum .
Som e words app ear n o longe r as appellatives ,e. g . 16 ,
gen. 16ar bea ch ; vin gen . vinjar , p lu r . vinjar p asture ; bveitgen . bveitarf ragment; but as n am es , for in stan ce , L6ar, dat.L6m
,Vinj ar, dat. Vinjum . In composition ,
d eviation s fromthe rules of inflection som etim es take place ; thu s m any fo rmin L6 are in declinable ; vin som etim es takes vin ar fo r vinjaras
, Bjorgvin ar for Bjorgvinjar. When vin in com positionimm ed iately follows a con sonant
,it be com es gn , gna r o r
g ig/or : thu s Bjorgyn ,Bjorgynjar, Skobyn ,
Skobynar, an d in
su ch cases the absorbed 1) effects a vowel—change , thu s T ab
vin,T 66yn , San dvin ,
Sen dyn .
When 7g’
o’
6 r (a cleared space) is u sed as the n am e of aplace , it often becom es rub as , pj é stolfsruo ,
A u surub ; yet
the original form m ay be preserved as,Bern rj66r ,
Hristar
rj66r .
T he form s G ula ,Aga , Odda ,
Frosta,and others are
indeclinable .
Few names of places appear w ithou t the defin ite articleas
,Maar- in
,Vangr
- inn,Ski
’
é an . (lat. Skibun n i, Vellir- n ir.
3. O F THE M useu m . 39
CHAPTER III .
or T HE ADJECTIVE .
T he adj e ctive has two forms,the indefin ite as
,svartr
hestr a black horse or hestrinn er seartr the horse is bla ck, and
the defin ite as,hinn svarti hestr the bla ck horse , w ith the
u sual cases in each .
I . T he Po sitive .
T he inflection s are these :INDEFINITE FORM .
M asc .Sing nom .
- r (l, n ,8 ) Root (with vowel
change of a)rat
ri
a
Plur . nom .- ir Ro ot !with vowel
change of u)—ra—um
Root (with vowelchange ofm.
DEFINITE FORM .
M asc . Fem .
S ing . nom .- i - a
gen .- a —u
dat. - a —u
acc.
- a - u
T he inflection s in the plu ral are - u .
T he defin ite form in the s ingu lar is thu s in fle cted likenoun s of the 3rd , 4 th ,
and 5th declen sion .
Paradigm hvatr guiclc.
INDEFINITE .
SING .
Fem . Neat.
N. hvat- r hvot hvat—tG hvat- s hvat—rar hvat—s
D . hvot- um hvat—ri hvot- u
A . hvat—an hvat- a hvat—t
PLUR .
N. hvat- ir hvat—ar hvotG . hvat- ra hvat- ra hvat—raD . hvot- um hvot- um hvot—um
A . hvat—a hvat—ar hvot
DEFINITE .
SING .
Fem
hvat—a hvat—a
hvot- u hvat- a
hvot- u hvat—a
hvot- u hvat- a
PLUB.
hvot- u throughout.
4 0 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
Thu s are declin edgjarn greedy . harbr hard . krankr ill. snar swift.hagr a ctive. hvass sha rp . rangt wrong . spakr wise .
A dj ectives take the defin ite en dings when the article isappen ded to the n oun as
,svarti hestrinn, sva rta hestinn .
T he m ascu lin e s ign —r is lost when the root is rr, ss,
fn , gn ,kn , rn
,as , bu rr dry ,
hvass sharp ,j afn even, skyggn
clear- sighted, froekn bold, gj arn willing, greedy .
T he fem in in e form has in the n om inative singu lar theroot with u - vowel- change on accou nt of the om ission of u in
the mas culin e term ination,as , svert (from svartr swart) , g166
(from glabr glad) .
T he n euter form has in the n om in ative singu lar t, withwhich 6 and n are assim ilated to tt, for in stan ce gobr , gottgood, sannr satt true .
Polysyllabic words in inn ,and the adj ectives m ikill
much, litill little, form their n euters in it; if the root end witha double con sonant the latter is made single before t as ,
lsu ss lau st, saall szelt.
Paradigm s : bI'
Iiun ready, litilllittle, lau ss loose, smllhappy .
INDEFIN ITE
litl—ar
DEFINITE .
SING .
N. bI'
In - i biIn- a
G . him - a bI'
In v u
D . blin - a btm- u
A . bI’
In - a ht'
in - u
PLUR .
bt'
In - u . litl- u .
4 2 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
PLUR . PLUB.
N. bla- ir bla—ar blé. trL'
i- ir tru—ar
G . blé—rra bla—rra blal rra tri'i - rra tri'i—rraD . bla—um bla—um bla—um tr i'i—um tru- um
A . bla- a bla- ar bla tr i'i
DEFINITE .
SING .
N. bla—i bla- a tru- iG . bla- a bla- u
D . bla—a blé - u
A . bla- a blé—u
PLUR . PLUR .
bla—u .
Thu s are d eclin edfrat s wif t-f ooted . grar grey . hlj
'
r lukewa rm . ny‘r new .
frj ér f ruitful. har high. mj or small. brar enduring.
S om e adj ectives which have a d istingu ishing radicalcon son ant insert j or as in the infle ction of n oun s sim il
arly characterized .
Paradigm s m ior middle, bykkr thick.
INDEFINITE .
DEFINITE .
SING . SING .
N m ifi—i m iO—ja m ib-
ja bykk—vi bykk- va bykk- va
G . m i(’
5- ja mid-
j u mifl-
j a bykk- va bykk- u bykk—va
D . m ib-
j a m id-
j u m ill- j a bykk—va , bykk- u bykk—vaA . mid- j a mifi- j u mid-
j a bykk- va bykk—u bykk- va
PLUR . PLUR .
L ike byklcr are declined all adj ectives with the rootvowel o as
,dékkrgloomy , gldggr evident, folt wan , rfiskr brisk ;
3. O F THE ADJECTIVE . 4 3
1) before the dative term ination um ,u is frequ ently dropt as ,
bykkum , gloggum , yet we also find glOggvum ,&c.
Som e m on osyllabic n ou n s whose characte ristic letter iso'
,often insertf before the fin al letter as
,mjé r, Injé fr, frjo
'
r,
frjé fr, sljor, sljofrdull. Heir can both adm it and dispen se w ith ,the in serted v
,and even rej ect the vowels of the inflection s
in a an d u as , havum ,ham
,hava
,ha.
In form s in l, n ,r,where the mascu lin e sign r is d ropt,
the vowel- rej ection takes place in the sam e cases as in sub
stan tives of this form ; thu s , gam all, dat. gOmlum ,
. acc. gam
lan , in the femin in e gen der gamla ,nom. p lur . mas c . gamlir,
an d so on : likewise galinn , golnam , galn ir. A sim ilar co ntraction often takes place in w ords in - agr ,
- igr ,- ugr , fo r
in stan ce,heilagr helgr ; heilagrar helgrar : heilagum , helgum
holy . Likew ise ofugr ofgr ,O fugrar ofgrar ba ckward ; the ah
breviated form,however
,is gen erally u sed only where the
inflectio n—ending begin s with a vowel.
Paradigms : gam all old ; galin a silly .
INDEFINITE .
S ING .
Fem . Neat.
gomul gamal- t
gamal- lar gam al—s
genial- Ii goml
- u
gain- la gamal
- t
PLUR .
gaml- ar gomul
gamal- la gam al- la
gOml- um
°
g0ml- um
gaml—ar gomul
DEFINITESING .
N. gaml- i gaml
- a geml- a gald
- iG . gaml
—a goml- u gaml
- a gald- a
D . gaml- a goml
- u gaml- a gald
- a
A . gaml- a goml
- u gaml—a gald
—a
PLUR .
goml—u . gold
- u .
Like gamall are de clin ed svipallfleeting , pagall silent.
SING .
gald- a gald
- a
gold- u gald
- a
gold- u gald
- a
gold- u gald
- a
PLUR .
4 4 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
Like galinn are in flecteddulinn hidden . skilinn parted . vakina wakened . van inn wont.
n akinn naked . tamian tamed . valinn chosen .
Those words which form the n euter in it,also dissyllabic
adj ectives in inn ,as w ell as mikill an d litill
,have the accu
sative singu lar mascu lin e in inn , as,for example , galia n ,
acc. galinn ,n ot galnan ,
m ikin n ,litina n ot m iklan
,litlan
(see above) .In all its abbreviated form s
, litill changes 5 to i , for instan ce , litlum ,
m ikill, u n der the sam e circum stan ces,often
changes i to y as,myklan ,
myklum .
T he en dings é rar, - ri,and - ra drop their r after r with
a preceding con sonant, sin ce double r after a con sonant cou ldn ot be pron oun ced : thu s , fagrf air :
IND EFINITEPLUR .
Masc. Neat. Masc Fem . Neat.
fagr- t N. fagr
- Ir fagr- ar fogr
ar fagr- s G . fagr
- a fag r- a fegt - a
D . fogr—um i fagr
- u D . fagr- um fogr- um fagr
- um
A . fagr- an fagr
- a fagr- t A . fagr
- a fagr- ar fogr.
fagr—u .
Thu s are inflectedbitr bitter . digr f at. magr meagre. vitt wise .dapt sad . lipr supp le . vakr lively .
S om e compound adj ectives which en d in a or i are in
declin able as , gagn - dreps soaked , sammzsora born of the samemother
, jafnaldra of eq ual age, draum stoli one who does not
dream ,heilvita- i sha rp—wilted, einmana—i without retinuc.
3 . O F THE ADJECTIVE . 4 5
2 . C omparison o f Adjectives .
T he term in ation s of the comparative degree —ri,an d of
the superlative —str are combin ed with the root by the vow eli or a ; the form er effe cts a vow el- change , an d is dropt ; thelatter is retain ed ; thu s - ri , - str o ccu r with a vowel- change ,and - ari, —astr w ithout it.
Paradigmw ith - ri
,- str
,and vow el w ith —ari
,- astr withou t
change . vowel- change .
fagr fegri fegrstr spakr spakari spakastr
f a ir f a irer f a irest wise wiser wisest
stor staerri stoerstr gj ofull gj éfiari gj ofiastrgreat 1 reater ( rea lest libera l more liberalm ost liberallagr tegri azgstr beppina heppnari heppnastr
low lower lowest lucky more lucky most luckyungr yagri yngstr konung ko nung konungli
1 oung ounger youngest ligr ligari gastrbrongr hrengri prengstr royal more roya l most royaln a rrow na rrower na rrowest kringlé ttr kringlét kringlét
dypri dypstr tari tastr
deepest round rounder roundest.
T he word mj or sma ll, does n o t u ndergo a vowel- changein the comparative an d superlative which are mj orri, mj dstr .
Som e adj ectives are compared w ith either form ,as :
deep dj i’
ipr , dj upari an d dypri ,dj upastr and dyps tr
dea r dyrr ,dyrari and d j
'
rri , dyrastr and dyrs trnew n r
,nyari and nyrri , nyastr and nystr
black Gkkr dokkvari and dekkri , dokkvastr and dekkstr
f air fagr ,fagrari and tegri , fagrastr and fegrstr
liberal gjcfull , gj ofiari and gj ofulli gj iiflastr and gj ofulstr.
T he latter form is the oldest an d the best.
Som e adj ectives take i in the comparativesuperlative as
, saall happy ,saalli sa lastr ;
hrein ni,hreinastr.
Diphthongal vowel roots double the r oftive , as : bar high,
haarri,haastr ; nyr new,
f ew,faarri
,fsestr.
T he inflection of comparatives howev
variable , whether they are u sed defin it
4 6 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
SING .
Masc. Fem . Nea t.
N. hvatari hvatari hvatara
G . hvatara hvatari hvataraD .
n n
A .
PLUR .
hvatari.
Som etim es the da t.p lur . en ds ln'
- um as,fieirum
,steerrum .
A ll participles presen t active in - andi, when u sed as
adj ectives,are declin ed like the comparatives ; occasion ally
the dat. p lur . en ds in - um with or withou t the vowel- change ,as : lifan dum mfinn um to living men.
T he superlative however fo rm ed ,is declin ed in the sam e
man n er as the positive ; thu s ,INDEFIN ITE
SING .
Masc. Fem . Neat.
N. hvatastr hvotust hvatastG . hvatasts hvatastrar hvatasts
D . hvotustum hvatastri hvotustuA . hvatastan hvatasta hvatast
PLUR .
t atastir hvatastar ht ust
G . hvatastra hvatastra hvatastra
D . hvotu stum hvé tustum hvotustum
A . hvatasta hvatastar hvotu st.
Of those words which express a relative position or si
tuation there can be n o adj ectival positives but only com
paratives an d superlatives , the root being a substantive, pre
position ,o r adverb
,as
northwards norbr
DEFINITE .
SING .
Masc. Fem . Neat.
hvatasti hvatasta hvatasta
hvatasta hvotustu hvatastal)
D
3. O F THE ADJE C'
I‘
IVE . 4 7
ofriaebrisibari
lefriiover
a serri
A dj ectives,which have n o comparative on accou nt of
their end ing , but the m ean ing of which adm its of degrees o fcompar ison express them augm entatively o r d im inutively bym ean s of the adverbs
,
meir more,
meat mo st, or heldr,helzt ;
mInnr less,
mInnst least, or SIdr,SIzt.
T he preterite participle in - inn u sed as an adjective,is
inflected like bI’Iinn ; those term inati ng in - dr ,- 6r
,- tr , like
hvatr, as follow sSING ULAR .
Masc. Fem. Neat. Masc. Fem . Neat.
N. vakia - n vakia vaki- t vakib- r vakiil vaki- t
G . vakia - s vakin - mar vakia - s vahid- s vakibrrar y akiO- s
D . voka - um vakia - ni vékn - u vokt—um vakifi- ri vckt- u
A . vakia—n vakn - a vaki- t vakt- eu vekt—a vaki—t
PLURAL .
Masc. Fem . Neat. Masc. Fem. Neat.
N. vakn - ir vahn—ar vakin yakt- ir vakt- ar vahidG . vakia - a s vakin - na vakia - us vahid—ta vakib- ra vakifi- ra
D . voka - um voka - um vokn - um vokt- um vokt—um k t- um
A . vaka - a vakn - ar vakin vakt- a vakt- ar vahid
II. ETYMOLOG Y .
PLURAL .
(Continaation .)Masc Fem . Neat.
N. vakt—Ir vakt—ar vokt
G . vakt- ra vakt—ra vakt—ra
D . vokt- um vokt- um vakt—um
A . vakt—a vakt—ar vokt.
Participial adj ectives in - a’
c5r are declin ed regularlyn o t drop the a .
ANOMAL OUS ADJE CT IVE S
Som e adj ectives form their comparative an d superlativeirregularly, or from an obsolete positive , as
gbbr good betri better beztr bestsharri skastr 9“
illr bad verri worse verstr worstvandr
m ikill much (great) meiri more m estr mostlitill little m inn i less m inn str least.
m argr mu ch d eiri more fiestr mostgamall old eldri older elstr oldest, eldest.
ellri elderdiminutive forms .
CHAPTER IV.
O F PRONOUNS .
These are divided into six classes,viz ; personal , po s
s essive,dem on strative
,in terrogative , relative
,an d in definite
p ron oun s .
1 . Person al Pron ou n s .
Without distin ction of gende rSINGULAR .
lst pers . 2nd pars . 3rd pers .
JV. ek or eg I bu tho uG . m in of me [Iin of thee s in of one
’
s se
D . mer to me her to thee ear to one’s 8A . mik me bik thee sik
, sig one’ s lf.
DUAL .
N. vib or vit we two bid or hit ye twoG . okkar of us two ykkar of y ou twoD . okkr to us two ykkr to you twoA . okkr us two ykkr you two
50 II. ETYMOLOGY .
A s minn are inflected binn an d sin n and as ohlcarr are
declin ed ykkarr and yfiarr .
Vérr is thu s inflected :
SING ULAR .
Fem .
var
varrervarrivara
PLURAL .
N varir varar var
G . varra varra varraD . varum varum varumA . vara varar var.
No possess ive is form ed from hann , mm; bu t the gen itives hans ,
hennar ,and in the plu ral beirra (from bat) only
are u sed .
T he dative of the personal pron oun is som etimes u sedin a possess ive sen se as me6 hnefa mer with myfist, ber tilban a to thy death, a hendi ser in his hand .
8 . Dem on strative Pron oun s .
These are three in number, viz . sa,su, bat he, she
, it,
that; bessi, bessi, betta , this ; hinn ,hin
,h itt that; the last
is also used as the defin ite article .
SING . PLUR .
Masc. Fem . Neat. Masc. Fem . Neat.N. as 811 bat beir pier bauG . pess beirrar bess beirra beirra beirreD . beim beirri bvi beim beim beimA . bann pa bat pa peer pau .
In stead of beim the older fo rm beima is often met with .
es,mi
, bat is likewise u sed as a defin ite article . For ed
and eu’
the old form zy'
d is ofte n employed .
SING . PLUR .
Masc. Fem . Neat. Masc. Fem. Neat.
N. bessi hessi betta hessir pessar bessiG . bessa liessarrar bessa pessarra liessarra hessarraD . essum bessarri bessu bessum possum bessumA . lienna pessa betta hessa bessar bess i.
This pron ou n was o riginally fo rmed from 3d ,whose
ancient form ber r in the nomin ative appears here again w ith
4 . O F PRONOUNS . 5 1
si added ; thu s several obsolete form s are to be found ,which
show that it was at one tim e cu stomary only to declin e berrand add si w ithout inflection , thu s ; bersi f or bessi ; beims if or hessum , bvisa f or bessu , ban ns if or henna .
For the inflection s of hin n see the article , p . 1 1 .
Besides these , hann ,hun
,is som etim es u s ed as an
article with proper n am es as,hann S igurbr, hI
’
In puridr.
Samr,sbm , samt the same
,is declin ed like a regu lar ad
jective ; but hinn is often prefixed as,hin sama
sama neuter .T he following , slikr
,slik
,slikt ; bvilikr, bvilik , bvi
likt ; bessligr, besslig, bessligt, all sign ifying such, are regul
arly inflected .
4 . In terrogative Pron ou n s .
These are,hvar
,hvarrwho (of two)? hverr who (of many)?
and hvilikr what hind of ?
T he pron ou n hear is defective ; n ot only do es it wan tthe femin in e and the plural, bu t the nom inative an d accu sativemascu lin e singu lar ; both form s are supplied by hverr who (ofm any)
Masc.
N. (hvar)G . hvess
D . hveim
A . (hvann )
In u sual discourse,heat is only a pronoun ,
as an adj ective .
Hvarr who (of two) takes hvorn for hooran in the sing .
'
acc. masc .
SING .
Masc. Fem . Neat.N. hvar- r hvar hvar—tG . hvar- s hvar—rar hvar- sD . hvar- um hvar—ri hvar- a o
f f I
A . hvar—n hvar- a hvar- t
52 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
Hverr who (of many) has heern for hverj an in the sing .
acc. m asc . , in the modern tongu e .
S ING . PLUR .
Masc. Fem . Neat. Masc. Fem . Neat.
.N. hver—r hver hver—t hver- ir hverj—ar hver
G . hver—s hver—rar hver- s hver- ra hver—ra hver- ra
D . hverj - um hver—ri hverj—u hvt - um hverj—um hverj - umA . hverj—an hverj - a hver- t hverj - a hverj - ar hver.
T he idea ,
“
what kin d of ? ” is expressed by a compoundof the n eu ter bvi what an d likr like, thu s
SING . PLUR .
Masc. Fem . Neat. Masc. Fem . Neat.
N hvilik- r hvilik hvilik- t hvilI'
k- ir hvilik—ar hvilik
G . hvi11’
k—s hvilik- rar hvilik- s hvilik- ra hvilik—ra hvilik- ra
D . hvilik- um hvilik- ri hvilik- u hvilik- um hvilik—um hvilik- um
A . hvilik- an hvih’
k- a hvilI'
k- t hvilik—a hvilik- ar hvilik.
5 . Relative Pron oun s .
Properly Speaking ,there are n o relative pron ou n s bu t
the in terrogatives hverr an d hvilikr are u sed in their stead,as
well as the demon strative sa', su, bat, either alon e‘
or m oreu su ally in conn ection with the particle er or sem as
,ea er
he who , bat sem thatwhich . E r an d sem likewise answer tothe G erman
“
so”who
,which
,that.
6 . In defin ite Pron oun s .
Hvartveggi either of two,both
,has a double inflection
,
and is thu s d eclin ed :
S INGULAR .
Masc. Fem . Neat.N. hvar—tveggi hvar- tveggi hvar- tveggj aG . hvars- tveggj a hvarrar- tveggj u
hvarri- tveggjuhvaru- tveggj u
A . hvarn - tveggja hvéra- tveggj u
PLURAL .
D . hvarum - tveggj a
N.hverir- tveggj aG . hvarra- tveggjahvarra- tveggj u
D . hvarum- tveggjahvtirum - tveggj um
A . hvars - tveggju hvar- tveggju hvér- tveggi .
4 . O F PRONOUNS . 53
In the sam e way is inflected ann artveggi one of two .
A nnarr—hvarr ea ch other , every other , is doubly declin edas
, fem . onnu r- hvar,neu t. ann at- hvart. Hverr- an nan one
another (of two) and hverr- annan one another (of ma ny ) are
likewise inflected independen tly of each other.
E inn - hver, einhver, eitthvert every one, ea ch .
Hverr- einn,hverteitt
,hvateitt every ,
ea ch .
Sum - hverr somebody , anybody ,some one, any one .
S inn—hvarr,sinhvar
,sitthvart, sitthvat each his ow n
, eachend s . More u sual is sinnhverr ,
sinhver ,eitthvert as : beir
lita sinn I’ hverja att ea ch looks to his own side .
Sérhverr,sarhver, serhvert, serhvat ea ch .
NGkkurr some one,
any ,whos e variou s form s in the
nom in ative are n akkvarr , nekkvarr,
nekkverr ,n ekkurr,
n okkvarr , n okkvorr,n okkverr ,
nGkkverr an d n okkurr ,is
thu s declin edSING . PLUR .
Masc. Fem . Neat. Mass . Fem . Neat.
N.n okkur- r nokkur nokkut nokkur- Ir nokkur- ar n ékkur
G .n6kkur—s nokkur—rar nokkur- s nokkur- ra (throughoutD .n6kkur- um n okkur- ri n Gkkur- u n Okkur- um (th roughout,A .n 6kkur—u nokkur nokkut nokkur- a nokkur- ar nokkur.
Hvarigr, hvarig , hvarigt, or hvarugr,hvarug ,
hvarugt,m ean s neither (of the two ) , and is u sed in conn ection w ith
annarr as,hvarigr trub i 66m m neither believed the other .
From the n eu ter hvat , dat. hvi , and gen . p hi-r . vitn a
from viti occasion,time (Fren ch f ois) is fo rm ed hvatvitna ,
dat. hvivitna whatsoever .
Hverrsem or hverrsem helzt whoso o r whosoever .
A nn arr other, another, one,the second, is very irre
gular, and is thu s declin ed :SING . PLUR .
Masc. Fem . Neat. Masc. Fem . Neat.
N. annarr ouna r annat abrir abrar onnur
G . an nars annarrar s auers annerre (throughout)D . obrum annarri 66m 66m m (do )A . annan afira annat abra ounar .
E ngi none, no one,is a compou n d of einn , ein
, s itt an d
the n egative particle —gi, - ki, and i s thu s declin ed ;
54 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
SING . PLUR .
Masc. Fem Masc. Fem. Neat.N. engi engI engir engar engiG . enskis engrar engra (throughout.)D . engum engri engumA . engan enga enga engar engi.
T he in defin ite p erson one (Fren ch on,G erm . man) is
expressed either by the 3rd pers . sing . of the verb withou ta p ron ou n as
,ok heyr
’
oi hat and one heard that, and it was
hea rd, o r by the plural m en n men as,er m enn téku at drekka
when men took to drinking ; or lastly ,by the m odern form of
m abr man .
T he imperson al there , it, is expressed by hat, eventhough follow ed by a plu ral verb as , hat eru margir sem
there are many who ; still there is the regular form heir erumargir they are many .
If m any person s are implied , bu t only on e is m ention ed ,the pron ou n (mostly sa) u su ally stan d s in the plu ral , whilstthe n am e con n ected with it remain s in the singular n umbe ras , he ir Loki, i. e. , Loki and his mate ; heir G u nnarr G
'
unna rr
and S 17 1t7 6 7 heirBeli Beli and F rey ; viiS haG unn ar towardsG unnarr and his f olk ; vit S igur
’
é r I and S igurfir . Whenw ords of d ifferent gen ders com e together the p ron ou n is
placed in the n ea t. plu r . , as , hau ym is no whe, the n she ; attuhau owned they (Jo nah and G
'
udrun ) ; baatSi hau both(Ran d i -
er and Svanhild )
CHAPTER V.
T HE NUMERALS AND THEIR INFLECTIONS .
These are divided into cardin al an d ordinal.
1 . Cardin al Numbers .
1 einn ,ein
, eitt 10 tiu
2 tveir . tvwr ,tv6 11 ellifu
3 hrir , hr , hrju 12 télf4 tjbrir , fjbrar ,
tj dgur 13 hrettén5 hmm 14 f
'
értan15 sex 15 mtan7 s
'
au (sjb) 10 sextanS tta 17 autjfin9 n iu S h
lttj lin
a . O F NUMERALS . 55
19 nitjan so attatfa
20 tuttugu 90 n iutiu
21 tuttugu ok einn 100 hund red ,tiutiu
30 hrjatiu 110 handrail 0k tI'u ,ellifutiu
4 0 f oratiu 120 handrail oh tuttugu , stért
50 mtiu ha ndrail60 sextin 200 tvo hundrab70 sjautiu (sjotiu) 1000 hfisund .
A n indeclinable form in - tigi is u sed adj ectively ,as ;
dat. hrjatigi m bnn um to thirty men .
In m odern Icelandic - tiu takes the place of - tigir or- tigi.
Fo r declen sion of einn , see p . 1 1 .
T veir. hrir, and 1j6rir are thu s declin edMasc. Fem . Neat. Masc. Fem . Neat.
f‘
Mase. Fem. NeatN. tveir tvaar tvt
‘
) hrir hrj I'
I 6rir fj érar 136fig;G . tveggja (throughout) hriggja (I)
(
r
lzrl
bughout) gogurra (througD tvcim (do . prim 6m m
A . tva tvaar tv0 hrjé hrj6r hrj I'
I f'jbra 136m fibgur.
T he remainder, as far as tu ttugu in cluded , are indeclin
able ; but the su cceed ing ,up to hundrab ,
are form ed fromthe numeral substantive agr (from ti ten), wh ich is inflectedlike sibr in the 2nd declension
,and govern s the n ou n follow
ing it in the gen itive , as :6rir tigir man na f ortynzenogurra tiga
6rum tigum
bra tigu
Hundrab is a regu larly inflected n euter :S ing . nom . hundred Plur . nom . hundrub
gen . gen . hundrafiadat. dat. hundrubumace. ace.
hasa ud is fem in in e . an d is thu s declin edSing . nom . hI
'
Isund Plur . nom . husundir
gen husundar gen . hi'
Isunda
dat. (u) dat.— um
ace. ace.
T he n euter hushu n drafi , p lur . husba ndrub ,is also
u sed , m ean ing a thou sand , properly ,1200 .
A s the an cient Icelanders u sed the du od ecimal as wellas the decimal m ode of num eration
, they sign ified by the
great hundred (sté rt hundrab) 120 , as Opposed to the small
56 II. ETYMOLOGY .
hundred (100) which was sometim es expressed by tiutigir ;
so that halft hundrab form erly cou nted fo r 60 .
Babir both, which resembles tveir, and is a num eral adjective, is thu s declin ed :Masc. Fem .
N babir babarG . be gj a (throughout)D . b it um (do . )A . bafia babar bwt
’
li.
T he date of the year w ou ld be thu s expressed : husu ndatta hun draiS sextin n I
'
u 1869 .
2 . O rdin al Numbers .
T hefirst fyrsti, fyrsta , fyrsta T he 17th sjautj andisecon d annarr
,onnur
,an nat 18th attjandi
hrifi i, hrib a , brib e 19th nitj andi0 r i
,6 fj érda , fj érda 20th tuttugast
5thf
mti 30th hritugasti6th setti 4 0th fertugasti
7 th sjaundi 5oth fimtugasti
8th atti (attundi) 60th sextugasti
9th n ian di 70th sjautugasti10th tiundI 80th attatugasti11th ellifti 90th n itu asti12th t61fti 100th hun abasti13th hrettandi 110th oh tI
'
undi14th f
'
6rtandi l20th 0 k tuttugasti15th mtandi 200th tvo hundradastil6th sextandi 1000th hiisundasti.
J is in serted before a and u of the differen t inflection sof hri
’
c‘Si .
The co llective numbers , or num eral substantives , are
fimt five in number(1 seven
ten
twelveF imt and sjaun d are u sed solely fo r a space of five o r
seven days ; both are fem inin e words as well as tylft.
There are several temporals as ,from nott n ight, com e
einnaatt one n ight old ,naatrgamalt n ight old , and from vetr
winter , year vetrgamalt winter old , yea r old , tves vett ave
winters old .
To s ign ify a period o f three o r four days the compoundshrina ttingr and fi drnwtting r are u sed . To designate 30 ,
II. ETYMOLOG Y .
CHAPTER VI .
VERBS .
Icelandic verbs are active, passive , o r n euter .
A verb active expresses an action an d n ecessarily implies an agent, and an obj ect acted u pon as ; at elska to love ;ek elska G u i") I love G od .
L
A verb passive , wh ich is form ed by the addition of stor c: to the active expresses the receiving of an action an d
n ecessarily implies an obj ect acted upon ,an d an agent by
which it is acted u pon as ; at elskast to be loved ; G uD elskast
af hanum G od is loved by Izim .
T he passive is likewise expressed by the auxiliary verbsveroa an d vera w ith the past participle of the prin cipal verb as ;
ek verb borinn I am bornvard I was
em I have been bornvar I had
still em is also u sed for the p resen t, var for the preterite ten se :E x . var hann harbliga freistad lie was sorely temp ted ; var skipt
lioinu i tva stafii tbe army was divided into two sections .
A verb n eu ter expresses n either action n or passion bu t
being ,or a state of being , as ; ek em l am,
ek sef I sleep ,ek
sit I sit.
When a verb expresses an action in which the agen tacts ,
and is acted upon by him self,it is said to be in the
reflective form as ; at skamm ast sin to be ashamed of one’
s self .
T he term in ation sic,which is n ow also w ritten st or 2
,
was origin ally s imply a contraction of the reflective p ron ou n8I7C, correspon ding to our self, o r m ore exactly , to the Fren chreflective se, so that at Itallast was equ ivalent to to call one
’
s
self ,or the Fren ch s
’
app eler. It gradu ally assum ed a passiveforce , an d there are a few in stan ces of its employm ent as su chby class ic writers in the best ages of O ld- Norse literatu re .
Those verbs which have a passive form w ith an activem ean ing as
,at Golast to obtain ,
are called dep on ent verbs ;they are on ly few in n umber .
When an action is con ceived w ithou t a defin ite subj ectfrom which it proceeds ,
the verb is called imp ersonal , and is
u sed only in the third personal s ingu lar ,the place of the
6 . Vas es . 59
subj ect being supplied by the n eu ter person al pron ou n bat itas ; bat snjéar it snows .
A ll verbs are arranged in tw o classes an sw ering to the
strong and weak form s of the G erm an grammarian s . T he
former con sists in a change of the radical vow el in the pre
terite ten se an d past participle ; the latter adm its of the ad
d ition of vocal elem ents to the root, for example :Infinitive . Preterite . Past part.
S trong. syngj a sting sunginn
to sing sang sungstela stal stohn n (English en)to steal stole stolen
Weak. kalla kallafia (E ng. ed ; Ger kallabrman te or etc).
to call called called .
T he prin ciple o n which this n om en clature is fou nded is,
that the pow er o f varying a word by change of its m ore u nessential con stitu ents , w ithou t exte rnal aid in the way ofcompo sition or add ition of syllables , implies a certain vitality ,a certain inn ate
,organ ic strength n ot possess ed by roots
capable of variation only by the in corporation or add ition offoreign elem en ts . T he w eak infle ction is the regula r ,
the
strong ,tlze ir regula r, form of the older grammarian s
,and the
latter is the m ore an cient of the two m odes of inflection ;therefore the more appropriate appellation s wou ld be the old
and new m odes .
A sm all number of verbs have an anomalou s or,more
properly speaking ,a m ixed conj ugation that is a m ode of
conjugation con sisting of a combin ation of the strong and weak .
T he first class has seven co njugation s who se preteriteindicative is always mon osyllabic , having a con sonan tal ending with change of vowel ; the past participle is inflected ininn , in , it.
T he second class has two conjugation s whos e preteriteindicative is always un changed ; the past participle ends in
There are therefore n in e conjugation s in which everyregular and irregular verb is in clu ded .
There are fou r m oods in each conjugation , the indicative ,conjun ctive , imperative , an d infin itive ; bu t only tw o ten ses ,the present an d preterite , can be expressed by infle ction .
T he other ten ses are form ed by m ean s of auxiliary verbs .
60 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
In the first three of the m oods above—nam ed there are the
tw o numbers , singular an d plu ral, and the u su al person s , the~personal pron ou n being
“
placed before the verb,sin ce the dif
feren ce of person s , e specially in the passive voice,is fre
qu ently u n defin ed . T he participles are,the presen t active
and the past. T he infin itive always con tain s the root—vow el.
T he presen t an d preterite ten se , as well as the past parti
ciple or supin e , are the m ost important of the ten ses .
T he aux iliary verbs of ten se are, hafa to have , vera to be,ver
’
oa to become ; and they are thu s conjugated :
A t hafa to have.
INDICATIVE M oon .
Present Ten se .
SING . PLUR .
ek hefi, I have, ver ho fum, we have,
bu hefir, tho u hast; her hafi6, you have,hann hefir
,he has ; heir hafa , they have .
Preterite .ek hafdi, I ha d , vér ho fdum
,we had,
hit hafdir, tho u hadst, ber hofdud, you ha d ,hann hafdi, he ha d ; beir hofdu ,
they had .
CONJUNCTIVE M o on .
Present Ten se .
SING . PLUR .
ek hafi,I may have , ver hafim
, we may have,
bu bahr , thou mayest have bér hafid, you may have ,hann hafi
,he may have ; beir hafi, they may have .
Preterite .eh hefdi
, I m ight ha ve, ver hefbim, we m ight have ,
pa hefdir, thou m’
ightesthave, her hefdit’
l , you might have ,hann hefbi, he might have ; beir hefdi, they might have .
IMPERATIVE M o on . INFINITIVE M o on .
SING . hafdu ,have thou ; at hafa , to have .
PLUR . hofum ,let us have
,Pres . p a rt. hafandi, having,
hafib, have ye. Pastp art. haft, had .
Hafa is often u sed w ith a past participle agree ing ,like
an adj ective , in gender and case with the obj ect , e. g . , er
heir hbl'
bu felden homingj a libs in s when they had struck downthe chief s of the p eop le . It is also u sed with the su pin e passiveas ; er heir hbfbu vié talast when they had sp oken together .
6 . Vanes .
A t vera‘
to be.
INDICATIVE M o on .
Present Ten se .
S ING . PLUR .
ek em ,I am ,
ver erum , we are,
bu ert, thou art, per erufi, you are
,
hann er , he is ; heir eru , they are.
Preterite .
ek var,
I was ,ver varum , we were,
pa vert,
thou wast, her varub, yo u were,
hann var, he was ; beir varu ,they were .
Com UNCT IVE M o on .
Present Ten se.
S ING .
ek se, I may be, ver seim ,
pa ser,
thou mayest be, per seifi,hann se
,he may be ; beir séi,
Preterite .
eh vaeri, I might be, vér vaerim , we m ight be ,
pa vwrir, thou m ightest be, per vserib, you m ight be,
hann vaari, he might be ; heir vzeri, they M ight be .
IMPERATIVE M oon . Ixrm rrrvn M o on .
veri, letme be. verum , let us be, at vera ,to be.
61
ver- tu , be thou , verit, be ye, Pres p art. verandi, being .
veri,lethim be ; veri, let them be. Pastp art. verit, been .
Vera,w ith at and the infin itive of other verbs , sign ifies
a defin ite tim e , as ek em at skrifa I am j ust going to write.
A thoroughly past tim e which we den ote by laying an
emphasis on the au xiliary verb is expressed periphrasticallyin Icelan dic by the phras e elc embu
’
inn ,followed by the in
finitive with at,as : ek em buinn at skrifa I have (already)
written .
At verca to become.
IND ICATIVE M oon .
Present. Preterite .
I become. I became.S . ek verd, S . ek varb,bfl verfir, pa varb,hann verflr hann varfi
P. ver verbum ,P. ver urbum
,
per verbid, be: urbub,beir verfia . beir urbu .
C ONJUN CTIVE M oon .
Present. Preterite .Iomay become 1 n ht become
S . ek yrfii, S . var-0,
bi’
I yrfiir, bl'
I varb,hann yrbi hann val
-5 ;P. ver yrbim , P. vbr urbum ,
b‘
er yrbib, ber urbub,beir yrbi. heir urbu .
62 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
IMPERATIVE M o on . INFINITIVE M oon .
verb- bu do thou become at verda to become.
Pres . p a rt. verdandi becoming . Pastp a rt. orbinn become .
FIR ST CLA SS .
S IG N FORM S .
1 . Infin itive . 2 . 1 p ers . sing . pres . ind : 3 . 1 pers .
sing . pret. ind . 4 . 1 pers . plu r . p ret. in d . 5 . Past part.
F IRST C ONJUG AT ION .
Vowel of the pret. a, plur . u .
Cha racteristics . Everywhere a short vowel. T he rootendings gen erally double , or liquids conn ected with mu tes :rarely double m u tes . Vowel of the infin itive e (seldom j a )i before nn (except brenna ,
renna), nd and ng ; y befo re ngv, abefore gyo , hhv, yet the pres . of slo'ggva is slyng . Past part.
has 0 ; but u before nn,nd
,ng . Strong v—vowel- changed
words have a for a in the pret. s ing . in d .
In the preterite ten se , as well as in the 2 pers . sing . ofthe imperative where the root- term ination likewise ap
pears , d after l becom es t ; after n both d and g are changedinto their corresponding thin letters t an d It , w ith assim i
lation of n .
At brenn a to burn .
A ctive VoiceINDICATIVE M oon .
Present. Preterite .I burn . I burned .
SING . SING .
eh brenn , eh brann,
bebrennr, pa brannt,hann brennr ; hann brann ;
PL . PL.
vér brennum,
ver brannum,
per brennid, herbrunnub,heir brenna . beir brunnu .
IMPERATIVE M o on .
brenn - bu,do thou ba rn
,
brennum , let us burn ,brennib, do ye burn .
CONJUNCTIVE Moon .
Present. Preterite .I m ay bum . 1 m ight burn .
S ING . SING .
ek brenni, eh brynni,
bi’
I brennir, bubrynn ir,hann brenni ; hann brynni
PL . PL .
ver brenn im ,ver brynuim ,
per brennib, bér brynu iO,beir brenni. heir bryn n i.
INFINITIVE M o on .
at brenna to burn .
Pres . p art. brennandi burn ing,Pastp a rt. brunniun burned .
6 . Vas es . 63
To this conjugation belong the follow ing verbs
cracklehelptingleturn roundrun
shakeringlet slip
j ingletouchsp routswill
swellhungerrollwip e ofboil
becomelay (eggs)lessenbind
find
throw downsp in
sp ur
sp ringstingwind
win
gof orwardsink
infl
bellaberga O r
bjargabregbabrastadettadrekka
gella or
gjallagj aldagn estahjal a
hvel a
hverfa
rennaskjalfaskella
slepmelt.sn
m
erta
spretta
svelgj asvellasveltaveltasverfa
vellaverbaverpabverrabinda
huna
brindaspinne
spirna or
Spurna
springsstmga
vindavinnahrokkva
sokkva
SIGggvastokkva
sy ngva
syngj abryngva
pres .
bellbergbregbbrestdettdrekk
gell
geld
gn
l
est
hve
hverf
ren nskelfskelll
infillsnertsprattsve
figevcl
sveltveltsverf
vellverbver
hvali?
bind
than
hfindspmn
spiru
springsfingvind
vinn
hrokk
sokk
slym
stok
syng
bryns
pret. s ing.
ball
bargbra
brastdatt
drakk
gall
galt
gnas t
hvall
hvarfrannskalf
skall
sla
pfisnart
sprattsval
sval
svalt
valt
svarf
varbvarpbvarrbatt
fann
hrattspann
sparn
sprakk
stakk
vatt
vann
brohksbkk
slbngstokk
sbng
prong
pret. plur.
bullum
burgum
brugbumbrustum
duttum
drukkum
gullum
guldum
gnustum
hul um
hul um
hurfum
runnum
skulfum
skullum
slupplum
smu um
snurtum
spruttum
sulgum
sullum
sultum
ultum
surfum
ullum
urbumurpum
burrumbundum
funnum orfundum
hrundum
spunnumspurnum
sprungum
stungum
nudum
unnum
hrukkum
sukkum
slungumstukkum
sungum
prungum
pa st part.
bo llinn
borginn
brugbinnbro stinn
dottinn
gollio n
go ldinn
n o stinnol inn
ho°
nu
horhu nrunninn
skolfinn
skollinn
lop Inn
mollinnsnortinn
spro ttinn
ol
so lhi
nn
so ltin n
oltin n
sorfinn
o llinn
orbinno Inn
pbli'rinn
bundin nfun ninn or
fundiunhrun din nspunn inn
sporn inn
spru nginnstunginn
undinnunn inn
hrukkin nsokkinn
slun inn
stuk'
n u
sungin a
brunginn .
64 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
SECOND CONJUG AT ION .
IVow el of‘the pret. a , plur. a .
Cha racteristics . S imple root- vowel : vowel of the infin itive e (originally i) . In som e words a root- con sonantaccompanying j has preserved the origin al vow el i , an d in
others the original ve, u has passed over to o, T he past part.
has the vowel e,un less the root- con sonant is a
,liqu id , or the
origin al vowel has been ve,for in su ch cases it becom es 0 .
T he pret. sing . in words with the root—con sonant g shou ldproperly becom e ag ; bu t here g falls away , and the vowelbecom es lang a
’
,as in vega , p ret. va
,&c.
A t gefa to give.
INDICATIVE M oon . C ONJUNCTIVE M o on .
Present. Preterite . Present. Preterite .
I give . I gave I m ay give . I mightgive .S . eh gef, S . eh gaf, S . ek gefi, S . ek gazfi,
hii gefr, hu gaft, hugefir, hu geefir.
hann gefr hann gaf hann gefi ; hann gash ;
P. vér gefum , P. ver gafum ,P . ver gefim , P . ver gaefim ,
h‘
er gefib, her gafub, her gefib, her gaefib,heir gefa . heir géfu heir gefi. heir gzefi.
IMPERATIVE M o on . INFINITIVE M oon .
gef- bu
,do thou give, at gefa. to give .
gefum ,let us give, Pres . p a rt. géfandi, giving .
gefib, do ye give. Pastp art. geflnn , given .
To this conjugation belong the following verbs :inf. pres . pret. sing. pret. plur.
to slay dreha drep drap drapum
eat eta et ét atum
inquire fregna fregn fra frégum
get gets at gat gatu
’
m
say kveda veb kvab vadumleak leka lek lak lbkum
read less les las lasummeasu re m eta met mat m ittum
drive reka rek rak rahum rekinn
see sjé. sé sé. slim senn
sleep sofa or set svaf svéfum or so sofinn
svefa fum
tread troba trail tradum trobinnweave vefa vaf, of vhfum , ofum ofinn
fight vega vb végum ,ogum veginn
66 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
IMPERATIVE M o on . INF INITIVE M oon .
far- bu, do thou j ou rney; at fara to j ou rney .
forum ,let us j ou rney , Pres . part. farandi j ourneyingfarib, do yej ou rney . Pastpart. farinu j ourneyed .
To this conjugation belong the following verbs :pres . pret. sing. pret. p1nr. past part.
to drive aka ek 6k 6kum ekinn
f eed ala el 61 élum alinndie deyja dey db dbum
, dbm daindraw draga dreg drb drbgum dreginrr
j lay fla flee flé flégum fleginncrow gala gel gél gélum galinn
geyja gey g6 gbum galun
dig grafa gref grbf gréfum grafinn
heave bet} a hef hbf hbfum hafinn
laugh hlaeja hlae hlb hlb um hle
ginn
lo de hlaba hleb hlbd hlé um hla inn
cut hnafa hnef hnéf hnbfum hnafinn
souse kefja kef hbf kbfum kahnu
f reeze kala kel kbl kélum kaliun
claw kl a klae klé klbgum kleginn
grind mala mel mbl mblum malinn
scrape ekefa skef skbf skbfum skafinn
shake skaka , skekja skek skék skbkum skekinn
shap e skapa skep skép skbpum skapinnstrike sla slaa 816 slégum sle
gxnn
stand standa stend stbd stébum sta inn
swear sverja sver sér sérum svarinn
take taka tek tbk tékum tekinn
wade vada ve il 66 ébum vadium
grow vex 6x 6xum , uxum vaxin n
wash hvé hvze hvé , hé hvbgum hveginn .
T he imperative of stauda is stattu.
FOURTH C ONJUG AT ION .
Vowel of the pret. ci, plur. i.
Cha racteristics .Root- vowel i ; when the con sonant It
follows, j is in serted before the term inating a of the infin itiveas
,vilg
’
a , svikj a : biba has the past part. beb inn for bibinu .
Verbs ,whose root is ig ,
form the pret. sing . in instead ofeig ,
‘ fo r instan ce , ste ste ig hne hneig ,se seig
this variation does n ot extend to the plural.
6 . VERBS .
A t gripa to seize.
CONJUNCTIVE M oon .IND I CATIVE M o on .
S . eh grip ,hi
’
I gript ,hann gripr ;
P. ver gripum ,
hér gripifi,heir grips .
Preterite .I seized .
S . ek greip ,
hu greipt,hann greip ;
P. ver gripum ,
her gripub,heir gripu .
IMPERATIVE M oon .
grip—bu , do thou seize ;
gripum ,let us seize ,
gripid, do ye seize.
to bide
biteglitterdriveyawn
sink downpush
tea rshriekwhineclimbf earglide onlook at
p ass u riner idetear inp iecesr iseca rvewrite
sink
shine6 tap forthslit
cut
mountsco rch
yield .
inf.
bibabita
blika
dritaina
n iga
hn ita
hrifa
hrina
hvina
klifa
kvibalidalita
m iga
ribarifarisaristar itasiga
skine
skribaslita
sn ibastiga
svida
svifa
svikjasvi a
vikI
jalay hold qf hrifa
pres .
bibbithlik
drif
gin
huighnit
hrif
hrin
hvin
klif
kvi6,kvibikvei5,kvidda
lidlit
,
m igribrif
ris
ristrit
sigskin
skribslit
sni0Stl
svi
svif
svik
svipvik
hrif
S . eh
Present.
I may seize .gripi,
bfi grip? “
67
Preterite .
I might seizS . eh gripi,
fl gripir.hann grip i
P. ver gripim ,
hér gripib,heir gripi.
pret. sing.
beidbeitbleikdreif
gein
, gindanaig, hne
hneit
hreif
hrein
hveinkleif
leib'
,lidda
leitmeig, mé
reidreifreisreistreitseig, seskeinskreidsleit
sneidsteig), ste
evcisveif
sveik
svai
veikp
hreif
svidda
nu Ipi ;P. ver grihim ,
hér gripib,heir gripi
INPINIT IvR M oon .
at gripa , to seize .
Pres . p art. gripandi , seizingPastpart. gripmn , seized
T0 this conjugation belong the following verbspret. plat .
bidumbitum
biikum
h umn igum
hnitum
hrifumhrinum
hvinum
kvibumlibumlitum
m igum
ribumrifum
risum
ristum
ritum
sigum
skinum
skridumslitum
sn ibumsti um
svi um
svikum
svipum
vikum
hrifum
past part.
bebinnbirinu
blikin n
drifinn°
n inn
El
nigin n
hnitinn
hfifinn
hrin in n
hvininn
klifinn
kvibinnlibinn
m iginnridm n
rifinn
risinn
ristinn
ritinn
siginnskininn
skribin nslitinn
sn ibinnsti
[
in n
vi inn
svifinn
svikinn
s
hrifin n .
II. ETYMOLOG Y .
FI F TH C ONJUG AT ION .
Vow el o f the pret. au plu r . u .
Characteristics . Vowel of the in fin itive j d before t, 6 ,
3 , st; butj il before f , g , k, p : u’
in him,lu
'
ka , and som etim essu
’
ga fo r the m ore comm on form sp iga . Verbs,whose root is
g ay ,form the pret. sing . in 6 for aug ,
e. g . sm o'
z smaug ; flo'
flaug ,
‘ lo'
laug ; plu r . always smugum , fl ugum ,lugum .
A t frj o sa to freeze.
INDICATIVE MOOD . CONJUNCTIVE MOOD .
Present. Preterite . Present. Preterite .
I f reeze . If roze . I may f reeze. I m ightf reeze.
S . eh frys,
S . ek frau s , S . ek frjbsi, S . ek frysi,
hu fryst hii frau st, hL’
I frj é sir, hfi frysir,hann frys ; hann fraus ; hann frjbsi , hann frysi ;
P. ver P. ver frusum , P. ver frjbsum , P. ver frysum ,
her her fru sub, her frjbsid, her frysub,heir heir frusu . heir frjbsi heir frysu .
IMPERATIVE MOOD . INF IN ITIVE MOOD .
é s- tu , do tho u f reeze at frjbsa , tof reeze .bsum
,let usf reeze, Pres . p a rt. frj é sandi, f reezing .
ési0,do yef reeze . Pastp art. frosinn , f rozen .
To this conjugation belong the following verbs :Inf. pres . pret. s ing. pret. p1ur. past part.
bjbba byb baud bubum bo binnbrjbta bry
'
t braut brutum brotinn
drjupa dryp draup drupum dropinn
fljuga flyg flaug, flb flugum floginn
flj bta flyt flaut flutum flotinu
fjuka fyk fauk fukum fokinn
spurt gibea gys gau s gu sum gosinn
p ou r'
6ta g'
t aut utum gotinn
obta in h jbta hiyt laut lutum hlotinn
hammer hnjbda hnyb hnaub hnubum hn obiunsneeze hnj 68 8. hnys hnaus hnusum hn o sinn
knot hnj bta hnyt hnaut hnutum hn otinn
make ba re hrj bba hryb hraub hrubum hrobinnsno re hrj bta hryt hraut brutum hrotin n
choose kjbsa kys kaus , kj ora kusum,ku kosinn
,
rum korinu
cleave klj ufa klyf klauf klutum klo fiuu
creep
kzjfipa kryp kraup krupum kropinu
etri ‘
e lj sta lyst laust lustum lo stm n
lie lj uga 13glaug , 16 lugum lo
gin n
shut links lauk lukum lo ( in n
6 . VERBS . 69
inf . pres .
luta lytnjbta nytrj bda rydrjufa ryfrjuka ryksj603. sybs figa , s
’
a S)"
slcjbta“g
skitsmjfiga m
'
gstrjfika strystipa
n a tyhrj
'
bta hryt
mom byt
S IX TH C ONJUG AT ION .
Vowel of the pret.
’
e, plur. e.
Characteristics .
— A single root- con sonant after a longvowel
,double after a short one : the vowel of the infin itive ei
o r a before a single a before a double,con sonant ; vowel O f
the past part. like that of the inf . , except in ganga and f a’
,
where it is e.
At litta to let.
INDICATIVE M o on . C ONJUNCTIVE M o on .
Present. Preterite . Present. Preterite .
I let. I did let. I m a let. I mi ht let.
S . ek last, S . ek let, S . ek 1 ti, S . ek eti,
hI'
I ltetr, hi
’
I lezt, hu latir , hi'
I letir,hann ltetr ; hann let ; hann léti ; hann leti ;
P. ver latum,
P. ver létum,
P. ver létim,
P. ver létim ,
her latid, her letub, her létib, ér letib,heir lata . heir letu . heir lati. ir l
‘eti .
IMPERATIVE M oon . INF INIT IvI-z M oor) .
lat—tu , do thou let at him,to let.
létum ,let us let, Pres . part. latandi, letting .
latid, do ye let. Pastp a rt. latin u , let.
To this conjugation belong the follow ing verbs :inf. pres . pret. sing . pret. plur. past part.
to be called heita heit, heiti hét hétum heitinn
p lay leika leik lkh lékum leikin nswathe sveipa sveip sv
‘
ep svepum sveipinnblasa blws blés blesum blé sm n
fa fa? fekk fengum fenginn
7 0 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
SEVENTH C O NJUG AT ION .
Vowel of the pret. j o , plu r . j o'
.
C/zaracteristics . A lways a long root- syllable as the preceding , partly through a long vowel w ith a single con son ant,partly by reason of position after a short vow el.
A t au sa to sp rinkle.
IND ICATIVE M oon . C ONJUNCT IVE M o on .
Present. Preterite . Present. Preterite .
I sp rinkle . I sp rinkled . I may sp rinkle . Imightsp rinkle.
S . ek eys , S . ek j os , S . ek ausi, S . ek jysi,ht
'
i eyss , hi’
i jost, hu ausir, hi
'
i jysir,hann eyss ; hann jos ; hann au si ; hann jysi ;
P. ver ausum,P. ver j é sum , ju P. ver ausim
,P. ver jysrm ,
her au sifi, sum , her au sifi, her jysifi,
heir ausa . herjosufi, ju sufi, heir au si. heir Jysi.heir josu , ju su .
IM PERATIVE M o on . INFINIT IVE Moon .
aus , do than sp rinkle ; at ausa, to sp rinkle .an sum
,letus sp rinkle, Pres . p art. ansandi, sp rinkling .
au sifi,do ye sp rinkle. Pastp art. ausinn , sprinkled .
To th is conjugation belong the following verbs :inf. pres . pret. sing. pret. plur. past part.
to increase auka eyk 6k aukinn
dwell bua by" bj uggum bfiinn
leap hlaupa hleyp hlupum hlaupinn
liew he gva hogg ,hjuggum hoggvin
spew eh ja spy spuinn .
T he wo rds beta an d koggva always shorten the vowel inthe pret. plur. : lilaup a , auka ,
and ausa also become lilap um ,
f ukum,and f ris am in the sam e ten se . These last two conj uga
tion s inclu de those verbs which an ciently formed the preteriteby reduplication .
6 . Vanes . 7 1
SECO ND CLA SS .
S IG N FORM S .
Infin itive- ending - a, pret. sing .
- da or —di, pret. plur .
o dum, part.
- dr . T he conn ecting vowel is either i o r a this
c au ses the division of verbs of this class (which an swers tothe G erman designation of weak verbs) into two conjugation s .
F IRST C ONJUG AT IO N .
With conn ecting vowel i .
T he conn ecting vowel i always be com es j before an othervowel ifj i come together a simple i takes their place .
There are two divis ion s of this conjugation acco rding as
the root- vowel is short o r long . T he i changed in to j , is preserved in those verbs whose root- syllable is short as
,temja
to tame, vekja to wake, hylja to bide, and in fact in those whichhave a long syllable , but whose root ends in g and I: as vigjato consecrate, steikja to roast
,byggj a to deuell.
In the pret. and the past part. d remain s unaltered after1, m , n in short- syllabled words .
First Division . Short root- vowel.
Verbs of this division have n o final vowel in the pres .
or in the pret. before the ending .
A t telja
IND ICATIVE M oon .
Present. Preterite .I reckon . I reckon ed .
S . ek tel, S . ek taldi,
hii telr, hi'
i taldir,hann telr ; hann taldi ;
P. ver tel
f'
um , P. ver toldum
her te id her toldud,heir telj a . heir toldu .
IMPERATIVE Moontel- du , do than reckon ;teljum ,
letus reckon ,
telid,do ye reckon .
to reckon .
Con JUNCT Ivr-z Moon .
Present. Preterite .
I may recko n . I might recko n.
8 . ch teli, S . eh teldi,
Eu telir, hi
’
i teldir,
ann teli ; hann teldi ;
P. ver telim , P. ver teldim ,
her telifi, h‘
er teldill,heir teli. he ir teidi.
INFINITIVE M o on .
at telj a , to reckon .
Pres p art. teljandi reckon ingPast rt. tald: (talidr, talinn) ,
rec ed .
7 2 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
Thu s are conjugatedto choose vel' a to wean venja to gladden gledjadwell dveija wake vekj a whet hvetj abeat lemja thatch hek
'
a crave krefj as mite berja take leave vedja lead astray glepja
A t hylja to hide.
INDICATIVE M oon . CONJUNCTIVE M o on .
Present. Preterite . Present. Preterite .I hide . I hid . I may hide I mighthide
S . ek byl, S . eh huldi,
S . ek hyli, S . ek hyldi,hi
'
i hylr, hi'
i huldir, hii hylir, hi'
i hyldir,hann hylr ; hann huldi ; hann hyli ; hann hyldi
P. ver hyl'
um, P. ver huldum ,
P. ver hylim , P. ver hyldim ,
her hyllid
, her huldud, her hylifi, her hyldid,heir hylja . heir huldu . heir hyli. heir hyldi .
IMPERATIVE M oon . INFINITIVE Moon .
hyl—du
,do than hide ; at hylja, to hide .
hylljum , let us hide, Pres . p art. hyljandi, hidin
ghy id, do ye hide. Pastp a rt. huldr (hulidr, hu inn )hidden .
Thu s are conjugated :
to ask spyrja to groan s to rear rymjachew tyggja shut to root out ryfija .
ca rry flytj a rush on
S econd Division . Long root- vowel.
Verbs of this d ivision have the vowel i in the pres . ,bu t
n on e in the pret. before the ending .
A t daam a to j udge.
INDICATIVE M oon . CONJUNCTIVE M o on .
Present. Preterite . Present. Preterite .
I j udge . Ij udged . I ma j udge . I mightj udy8 . ch dwmi, S . ek doemai, S . eh osm i , S . ek dmmdi
,
ht'
i daernir, hfi dmmdir, hit dcemir, hi'
i dcemdir,hann dmmir ; hann doamdi ; hann doem i ; hann doemai
P. ver de mum ,P.verdcemdum ,
P. ver deem im ,P. verdoemdim ,
her dcemid, herdaamdud, her dcem id, her doerndid,heir dtema . heir doemdu . heir (loami. heir (lcemdi.
IMPE RA TIVE M o on . INFINITIVE M oon .
dorm do than judge ; at dcems , to j udgedazmum
,let us j udge, Pres . pa rt. doemand i , kidginy .
dwmib, do ycj udya. Pastp a rt. daemdr, j udged .
7 4 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
T he past participle in - a6 r is regularly d eclin ed , as :
indef. kalladr , kollud , kallatdef. kalladi
,kallaha
,kallada .
Like kalla are conjugated :to serve hj éna to a im zetla to gather safuap lunder herja cast kasta p rove sannatalk tala threaten hota f a ll asleep sofnabake baka sound hlj éda think bugsa .
write rita
PA SSIVE VOICE .
T he formation of the passive is very simple and regular :st is added in all cases
,bu t before this, r , t, d , and 6 are
dropt, which last letter however takes z for 3 .
At teljast to be reck At doemast to be At kallast to be called.
oned . j udged .
INorcs rrvn M oon .
Present.
I am reckoned . I am j udgedS . eh telst, S . ek dcnmist,
hit telst, hi'
i dcem ist,hann telst ; hann doem ist ;
P. ver teljumst, P. ver dcemum st,
her telizt, her daemizt,heir teljast. heir doemast.
Preterite.I was reckoned . I was j udged . I was called .
S . ek taldist, S . ek d oemdist, S . ek kalladist,
hi’
i taldist, hi’
i doamdist, hi’
i kallabist,hann taldist ; hann daamdist ; hann kallabist ;
P. ver toldumst, P. ver dcemdum st, P. ver kolludumst,
her tolduzt, her daamduzt her kollubuzt,heir toldust. heir doemdust. heir kollubust.
CONJUNCTIVE M o on .
Present.
I may be reckoned . I may bej udged . I may be called .
8 . ek telist, S . eh doemist, S . eh kallist,
Rf! telist, hi
'
i daemist, hi'
i kallist
ann telist ; hann doem ist ; hann kallist ;P. ver telimst, P. vbr doem imst, P. ver kallimst,
her telizt,Phr doemizt, her kallizt,
heir telist. eir doamist. heir kallist.
I am called .
S . ek kallast,
hi'
i kallast,
hann kallast ;P. ver kollumst,
her kallizt,heir kallast.
6 . Vas es . 75
I might be reckoned . I mi ht be called .
S . ek teldist, S . eh kd labist,ht
’
i teldist, hit kallabist,hann teldist ; hann kallabist ;
P. ver teldimst,
P. ver kallabim st,
her teldizt, h‘
er kallabizt,
heir teldist. heir kallabist.
telstu , be thou reck kallastu , be thououed ca lled ;
teljum st,let us be kollum st , let us be
recko ned , called ,
telizt,beye reckoned . kallizt
,be ye called .
at teljast, to be reck at kallast, to be called .
oned .
Pres . participle .
teljandist, being reck dazmandist , being kallandist,being called .
oued . j udged .
Past participle .
talizt, been reckoned . doemizt, been j udged . kallazt, been called .
REFLECT IVE VERBS .
T he passive voice is often expressed by the reflectiveform ,
which is thu s constru cted . To the verb active is ah
pended the reflective pron ou n sik (on e’
s self) in the lst pers .
sing . mik (myself) , thevowelbeing rej ected ; hen ce the lstpers .
sing . ends in —mk, the others have —eh.
T he lst pers . sing . adds —mk to the root of the verbthrough the conn ecting vow el u , as ; from elska elsk- u - mk ;
from falla foll—u - mk from bera bar- u - mk ; sjamk I lo ok abo utme
,oumk Ifea r, vilnumk I wish .
T he - r of inflection is dropt before - sk, as : 2 . 3 . pres .
sing . dcem i- skf or daamir- sk, skyt- skf or skytr- sk .
T he 1st pers . pl. is either form ed like the 1st pers . sing .
or it appends - sk to the ending m ,thu s , daemumk and due
m um sk , skjotumk and skjotum sk .
Preterite .
I m ight bej udged .
S . ek doemdist,
hii doemdist,hann doemdist ;
P. ver daemdimst,
her dd zmdizt,heir doamdist.
IMPERATIVE M oondcem stu ,
be thou
j udgedde mum st
, let us be
j udged ,doemizt, beyej udged .
INFINITIVE M o on
atdmmastdo bej udged .
7 6 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
A ccording to these rules reflective verbs are thu s con
jugatedatfallask, tof alldown . at skjotask,
to shrink. at foebask , to be nea rished .
INDICATIVE M oon .
Present.I all down . I shrink. 1 am nourished.
ek ollumk, S . skj éturnk ,
S . ek foebumk,hit fellsk, ht
’
i skytsk, hit foebisk,
hann fellsk ; hann skytsk ; hann foebisk ;
P. ver follumsk, foll P.verskjotum sk,skjot P. ver foedum sk, foed
umk , umk,
umk,
her fallidsk, her skj étidsk , her fmbidsk,heir fallask . heir skj étask heir foedask
Preterite .I ell down . I shrank. I was nourished .
S . eh ellumk, S . ek skutumk, S . ek foeddumk,
hit fizllsk , hit skautsk, hit foeddisk ,
hann fellsk ; hann skautsk ; hann fwddisk ;
P. ver fellum sk,fell P. verskutum sk
,skut P. ver foeddum sk,
umk, umk,
foeddumk,
her fellubsk, her skutudsk, her fmddudsk,
heir fellusk. heir skutu sk. heir foeddusk.
E xamples : Saall er sé er stenzk freistn i happy he who
withstands temp tation ; braafirmu n u her/ask, 0k atbbnum verfiask,brothers willfight, and become each other’s slayer ; on din feebiskok seheh (sezk) af guhligum malum the soul is no urished and
satisfied with godly words ; ver hrwfiumsk enn efsta dom,wef ea r
the extreme sentence ; hugr m isgeranda sny’
sk i orvilnan themind
of ill-doers inclines to desp air ; kona hin hefir gipsk heim m ann i
er hon kau s Ser thy wife is married to the man whom she chose .
ANO MALO US VERBS .
I. Verbs having the characteristics of either class :inf . pret. sing. pret. plur. past part.
to write,
rita reit ritum ritinn
wership ,
blé tada blotudum blotabr.
mir , blanda blett blendum blandinn
hlandaba blandudum blandabr.
6 . VERBS . 7 7
II . V erbs which have the characteristics of both con
j ugation s in the second class ,and which po ss ess other ir
regularitiesinf. pres. pret. iud . sing. pret. conj . past part.
to say segj a segi sagba sogda sagfir
be silent he'
a hegi hagba hegba hagat
think hyklkja hy ki hotta haetta hétt
work yrkja yrki orta yrta o rtr
seek saekja sceki sott
g iwtt
aa
hém
bbelieve h'
a h g hug a a u a rwill “if? vil
gvilda tilde vilj
gabr
set sotja set setta setta settr
sell selj a sel selda selda seldr
sepa rate skilja skil skilda skilda sk
ildr, ski
tnn
perform heyja, hé hat héba hwba hébrlongf or hreyja ,hra hrai hrada hrteda hrabrcrush l Ja y
lt'
tba l"t’
5a lt'
ibr lutnn
flee flyja y flyfia flyba fly’ idr
use duga dugi dugha dygba dugat
wake vaka vaki vakta vekta vakat
buy kaupa kaupi ke ta kev ta kevptr
endure hola holi ho a hyl a holatda re hora hori horba hyrba ho rat
putup with una un i u nda nda unat
lice lifa lifi lifba lifda lliatwarn vara vari var
%a,var verbs varat
a a
trim trut tritba try‘ba tritabrna nae ,
nat nada n teda nébrlja le, lj zn leba leba lcdr , lenngera ,gora geri gerba gerba gerbr
gorva gori gdrba gorba gorbr.
III. Verbs which have a peculiar irregularity :to rub gnt
'
ta guy gnera gneri gat'
tinoturn sn ita sny snera subri sn t
'
i innrow réa rte rera reri rbinn
grow groa gree gr‘
era gréri groin nsoa 8 83 sera, saba seri sé inn ,
sadr .to strike , a verb of the 1st class , 3rd conjugation ,
has also the pret. sléra .
IV . A n om alou s verbs, mostly auxiliaries .
At eiga to own , have.
IND ICATIVE M oon . CONJU NCTIVE M o on .
I own . I may own .
P. véreigum , S . ek eigt ; P. ver eigim ,
hereigub, hit cigir , her eigib,heir etgu . hann eigi ; heir eigi.
7 8 II. ETY MOLOG Y .
INDICATIVE M oon . CONJUNCTIVE'
M oon .
Preterite . Preterite .I did own . I might own .
S . eh atta , P . ver attum , S . ek satti, P. ver aattim ,
hit éttir, her attud, hit aettir, her aettib,hann atti ; heir attu . han n setti ; heir satti.
Pres . p art. eigandi, own ing . Pastp a rt. attr , owned .
Thu s are conjugatedto be able
, or, to do knega ,
m ega .
A t kunn a to be able.
INDICATIVE M o on . CONJ UNCTIVE M oon .
Present. Present.
I can , or, am able . I may be able .S . ek kann , P. verkumnum
, S . ek kunn i,
P. ver kunnim,
hit kant, her kunnud, hit kunn ir, hér kunnib,hann kann ; heir kunna . hann kunn i ; heir kunn i.
Preterite . Preterite .I could , or , was able. I m ight be able .
S . eh kunna, P. ver kunnum , S . eh hynn i, P. ver kynnim ,
hit kunn ir, her kunnub, hit kynn ir, her kynnib,hann kunni heir kunnu . hann hynni ; heir hynn i.
Pres . p art. kunnandi , being able. Pastp art. kunnat, been able .
Thu s is conjugatedto love , at unn a.
A t hurfa to need .
INDICATIVE M o on . CONJUNCTIVE M o on .
Present. Present.
I need . I may need .
S . ek harf, P. vér hurfum , S . eh hurh, P. ver hurfim ,
hit harft, her hurfuh, hit hurfir, her hurfib,hann harf. heir hurin . hann hurfi ; heir hurfi.
Preterite . Preterite .
I did need . I might need .
S . ek hurfta P. ver hurftum , S . ek hyrfti, P. ver hyrftim ,
flu hurftir her hurftub, hit hyrftir, her hyrftib,ann hurfti ; heir huritu . hann hyrfti ; heir hyrfti.
Pres . p a rt. hurfandi, needing. Pastpa rt. hurft, needed .
Skulu sha ll, ought, and mun u will, would , irreg . in l'
.
6 . VERBS . 7 9
IND ICATIVE M oon .
Present.S . ek skal, P. v
‘
er shulum ,
hit skalt, her skulub,
hann skal ; hetr skulu .
S . ek mun,man
,P. ver ntunum ,
hit munt , m ant, her munub
,
hann mun ,man ; hetr m unu .
Preterite .ek skylda ,
munda , &c. P. ver skyldum ,mundum ,
Part. wanting .
C ONJUNCTIVE M oon .
Presen t.
S . ek skuli , skyli,
hit skulir , skylir,hann skuli , skyli ;
ek muni , myni,
hit mun ir , myntr,hann mun t
, mynt ;
Preterite .
ek skyldi, myndi , &c. I P. ver skyldirn ,myndim ,
T he in f. form skyldu ,and mundu is often found in stead
of skulu and munu .
A t vita to know .
INDICATIVE M oon . C ONJUNCTIVE M oon .
Present. Present.
I know.
P. ver vitum ,
her vitub,heir vitu .
Preterite . Preterite .
I knew . I mighS . eh Vtssa, &c. P. vérvissum ,
&c. S . eh vissi, &c. P. vervissim , &c
Pres . p a rt. vitandi, knowing . Pastp a rt. vitat, known .
A t m u n a to remember is , in n early all its forms,con
jugated like munu .
V . Verbs u sed variou sly :hat berr vid it (sometimes) hap hann skammast sin he is asha
p ens, med of himself ,
P. ver skulim ,
her skulib,heir skuli ,
P. ver mu nim ,
her muh ib,heir mum .
80 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
eh forbask I escap e f rom my m ik rekr I am driven bef o re thef oes , gale,
mer ofb hdr I sh udder , u gir I am af raid of ,ver r b. I make a mistake, m ér vgl til ithapp ens to me,
leibist I am weary , heyrist I hear ,m ik langtar I long or, skilsk I understand .
hyrstir I am t zrsty ,
her tekst varla at itwill ha rdly be lucky f or thee,hat tékst honum hé it tu rned out lucky f or him at last
,
hrum ar it thunders ,dagar it dawns ; an d other verbs u sed impersonally .
CHAPTER VII .
UNINFLE CT ED WORDS .
PARTICLES .
Words which are m ostly u n inflected are classed un derden om ination ,
as : adve rbs, preposition s , conjun ction s ,
i nterj ection s .
CHAPTER VIII .
ADVERBS .
1 . Of Place °
har there,hvar where,her here ,itt out,inn within ,fram f orth,f orwa rd ,ofam above, downf romabove ,2 . Of Tim e :
nit now,
hebanfra hereaf ter ,tim iliga ea rly , sidla late,!than lately ,
hven ter when ,
he then , opt of ten ,
sjaldan seldom,forbum f ormerly .
stundum sometimes .
3 . Of Mann ervel well, illa ill, hvcrneg how,
jarn willin
gly , svh so , svitleibts thus .
hanneg in t ia tway , itgaatliga excellently .
hadan thence , habra thither ,hvadan whence
,hvert whither,
heban hence, hebra hither ,itti abroad
,ittau without, outside,
inn'
an within , inside, inn ar therein ,
neban down ,below uppt,upp up ,
upwards ,braut away , hvargt nowhere .
82 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
CHAPTER X I.
INTERJE CTIONS .
l o 0
S om e of the most comm on i nterj ection s are
O ! HO ! alas ! Velwell! G ott ok vel cap ital! Bravo ! an dthe like .
CHAPTER XII.
FORMA TION O F WORDS.
T he formation of words takes place through Derivationo r Composition . In the fo rm er case it occurs through alteration of the inflection change of vowel, o r syllabic add ition :
in the latter case it arises from the ju n ction of two or moreseparate words whose un ion form s a n ew one.
T he original form of a word , an d from which its derivation s an d inflection s spring is called the root. A ll roots are
m on osyllabic . A root by itself has n o d istin ct m ean ing , but
contain s an id ea which,in being developed , becom es the
m ain idea of a fam ily of kindred words . A root appears firstin the form of a verb, becau se the first stage in the process ofdevelopm ent is the idea of action or con dition . A ll verbs ,
therefore which com e from a root by dire ct derivation , are
called radicalverbs .
By derivation is to be u nderstood that in crease which a
w ord receives and which is in serted between the rootan d the inflection
,whereby the original id ea is developed .
E xamples 3 Root. Derivative. Inflection .
to cou nt telj a tel j a
hew ho gva he g v a
cold ka dr k d r
heaven him inn him in n .
D erivation is either vocalic (as tran sition of i into j , an d
of u into v, see tel- j—a , hogg—v- a) , con sonan tal (kal—d - r) , orm ixed that is , con sisting of vowel and con son ant (him - in—n ) .
T he vo calic Derivation .
In the vo calic derivation i (j ) produ ces a vowel—change ,and although itself dr0 pt, is hereby kn own . E xamples095i m adness , from Odt ra ging, byrdr (dat. acc. byrdi) burdenbrtebip assion , britbr hast from bur r carrying ,
ekra p loughed land— akrfield, festr rop e, from fastrfirm .
13. PREFIX ES . 83
T he con son an tal Derivation .
E very con sonant—derivation appears originally to havebeen m ixed an d when the vow el is lacking in Icelandic it
is often found in the cognate Teu ton ic tongu es , as
Icelandic. O ld High German . Icelandic. O ld Bigin German .
o ld man karl charal la ughter hlittr hlahter
bird fugl fokal poison eitr eitermoon tungl zungel arm armr aram
field akr achar thane deganwakej
’
ul vakr wacker even eban
finger fingr finkar I raven rafn hreben .
CHAPTER XIII .
PRE FIXE S .
A fat (G erm . aber in A berglaube sup erstition ) highly, very
greatly .
—au6 ig1 very rich —kostir harsh conditions ;—ligr of threaten ing app ea rance ; - m enn i exceed ingly strongman ;
- or6 violent language , - hungr very heavy .
A l (from allr all) quite, entirely : -
gj 6r p erf ect; - heill quite
hale ; —mattigr almighty ;- mennr general, p ublic ; - men
n ingr the commonalty ; - vit-r all-wise .A ll (Lat. p er in p ermultus) very , esp ecially : -
gtihr very brave ;- rikr very rich ; - storr very great ; - vel very wed . Thisprefix an swers to the E nglish right or very .
A nd and on d against:- nes p rom ontory opp os ite another at the
month of a fj ord ; - ro6 r ro wing against thewind ;~spwn is
over aga inst;- styggiligr abominable ; - vi6 ri contrary
wind ;- soelis against the s un ;
- streym is againstthe stream- vigr one who fights against; Ondverhrf ron ting (the op
posite of ofanverhr at the top ) .
A uO implies ease , and is opposed to tor : - fenginn easilycaught; —fyndr soonf ound - kenndr easily kn own —n aemr
soon app rehended ; - skilin n easily understood ; —séttr
easily gaihed ; - saar soon discern ed ; - trt'
1a credulous .
E in alone, extremely : —har6r cou rageous , bold ; - laagr upright,sincere —seta seclusion .
Fjol (G erm . viel much, Ang . S ax . fela many , G oth . filu )
much, continual: - byg6r thickly -
p eop led ; —kynngi greatkn owledge (witchcraft) —m en n i crowd ; —yr6 a to bewordy .
84 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
For before (from the p rep . fyrir) : —fa6 ir f orefather ; - mali
p refa ce ; - ra6 supp ly ;—spar foresight; - streymis with
the stream ; - tolu r p ers uasions ; - vin dis with the wind.
It also conveys a n otion of som ething dangerou s or umpleasant, as in E ng . forlorn : forbwn ir cu rses
,- daem a
to condemn,
- maela. to cu rse ; - sending dangerous mission . It inten sifies the m ean ing of verbs , as : forsma toscorn .
G agn guite opp osite, through : - hraeddrmuchf rightened ; - la36r
very learned ; - m :eli contradiction ; - sser transp arent—sta
’
<5a being opp osite .M is has a n egative m ean ing, an d also implies dissim ilarity ,
differen ce , o r deterioration : - dau6 i when one of two
dies before the other ; -
grip m istake ; —jafn uneven ; - kaupbad p urchase ; —11
'
ka to dislike ; - litr p ied ; - skiln ingr
misu nderstanding ; to ill- treat.
Sam (from sam an together) —borgarma6r cc- citizen ; - borinn
born of the same p a rents ; - dosgris on the same day ;- fagna. to rejoice with one ;
- fef5ra having the samefather ; —nafni having the same name as another ; - ]9ykkioccurren ce .
S i continual, uninterrup ted : - byr6r lying alongside (of ships)- felldr continuous ; - mall always p rating . This wordoccu rs in the phrase si oh as ever and age.
Sjald (from sj aldan) seldom : -
gwtr seldom obtained ; senn
seldom seen .
Sundr (opposite of sum ) asunder : —mcef5r having anothermother ; disun ion .
Tor implies difficulty : -breytiligr ha rd to manage ; - fyndr
bad to find ; —feera bad travelling ; —gas tr defficu lt to get;~n zemr du ll—witted
,- tryggr distrustfu l.
U or 0 is a n egative particle , m ostly u sed before adj ectives,
an d an swers to the E ng . nu : - fri6r dis cord ; - h6f ex
cess ; - kun nr unknown ; - mak uneasiness ; - m issandi
indisp ensable ; —sjaldan eften .
Van implies want , fault : - fzerr unable ; -
ga carelessness ;—heilsa m
’
ckliness ; - tri'
i unbelief .
O r (er has a privative sign ification : erlendis abroad ; - l1'
till very little ; - mjbr very thin ; - vitif oolish.
86 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
- lingr form s dim inu tives . beeklingr a little book, yrmlingr a
worm ling . It also form s patronym ics , as Knytlingr (fromKnutr (from Y ngvi)
- na form s the ending of m any in ceptive verbs : blikna to
turn p ale, hitna to grow hot, koln a to cool. It also inten sifies the m ean ing of adverbs : hérna j ust here, min aj us t now .
- na6r or - n u6 r : bun afir app u rtenances, manu’
é r month .
- n eyti f ellowship ,from n oun s in - nau tr : fOruneyti f ellow
traveller,motun eyti messmate .
- u i form s femin in e substantives from adj ectives in - inn : for
vitn i cu riosity, hly’
ESn i obedience .- 6ttr implies an outward form : dropottr in f orm of drop s ,
kringlbttr sp herical.- ra : beltra to halt, hlifira to yield .
- roenn den otes a district : au stroenn f rom the east,fjallroenn
f rom the f ells. H en ce som e femin in e substantives , as
n orraana the north wind,the Norse language .
- sa : glepsa to snatch at,hramsa to seize .
- si bersi bear, gassi goose, o fsi p ride . This en ding is rare .
- ska sign ifies a qu ality : folska silliness , maelska talkativeness .
- skr term inates many p rope r adj ectives : en skr E nglish, gau zkrG othic, islenzskr Icelandic .
- sl : beisl bit,hermsl sorro w, kyn sl strange event.
- sla : faazla maintenance, geymsla care, vigsla cons ecration .
- ta renders tran sitive : lykta to shut, n eita to deny , skemta
- un d : tegu nd sp ecies, vitund knowledge , busu n d thousand .
- u sta or - osta : fu llu sta satisf action , bj énu sta service .- ver6r (E ng . wa rds) : au stanverbr eastward, u tanverbr outwa rd .
-
yuja forms a few fem in in e n oun s : apynja she- ap e ,asynja
goddess , vargynja she- wolf .
CHAPTER XV.
COMPOSITION.
Composition means the fo rm ing of one word ou t of twoo r more , with or without change of form in either. Of these ,the last is considered as the chief word ; the first serves to
15 . COMPO SITION . 87
defin e it m ore closely , as : bogm afir bowman , swkonungr sea
king, harfagrf air—haired , ken n imabr p astor .
In words fram ed by composition ,each of the co n stitu ents
may possess , and still retain,an independent sign ifican ce ,
as
for example , in steam - boat,in which instan ce each of the
words has ju st the sam e sen se as when employed by its elf ,though ,
in order to complete the m ean ing of the compou ndsomething mu st be understood . In the maj ority of compoundwords , the compon ent parts are n ot all separately sign ificant,but the word con sists of a prin cipal radical, the sen se ofwhich is reversed ,
extended ,lim ited , o r otherwise qu alified ,
by combin ing with it a particle or other determ inative,n o t of
itself expre ssive of a state, qu ality , or act.
C omposition of Noun s .
Nom inal composition is either proper or improper. It is
proper when the first word rej e cts all inflection ,and its root
alon e is j o in ed to the following ,as : bogmafir bowman
,j arb
hus underground ho use cell , mjobdrekka mead vessel, eldhus
brew- house , blo’
é fall fl ow qf blood . In su ch cas es the co n
stituents cann otbe separated , butmu st n ecessarily be includedu nder one idea .
Nom inal composition is improper, when its firstm emberis placed in the gen itive , as : ko nu ngsm abr king
’
s ma n ,hjar
tarhorn hartshorn , so nardbttir grandda ughter, ko n urikif emalerule, eyrnaverkr ea rache , enn isbreifir having a broad f orehead,herbabreibr broad- shouldered ; whe re the two m embers couldalso be written separately an d regarded as two words . Som etim es the m ode in which the compou nd is fram ed co n siderablyaffects its signification ; thu s konungmafir a royalp erson ,
is
mu ch the sam e as kon u ngr, but konungsmabr o n the contrary ,a man who is in the king
’
s service .
f em in in es in - i,which are indeclinable in the singular ,
and stand first in composition , are sometim es conn ected withthe following m ember by s , as : fraandsem is—talr genea logicalenumeration , hrmsn is- ligr hyp ocritical, uglebis—kleefiimourningclothes . These compounds resemble the G erman Liebesbrief .
88 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
Composition of A djectives .
H ere the fi rst adj ective m ostly takes the sam e changesas the sam e m ember iii compound substantives .
M any adjectives are composed of two others , the lastbeing always the ch ief word , as : sannheilagr truly holy ,storgjofull op en - handed , lau slyndrfickle . T he last part of som ecompou nd s is a substantive which takes an adj ectival formin con sequ en ce of the composition ,
as : brihofba’
or threeheaded, langorbrwordy , rangeyg
’
é r squint- eyed, fagrhaarbrf air
haired , skammlifr short- lived .
T he adj e ctive is placed last in the following and similar
com poun ds : halslangr long- necked, sviradigr thick- necked,
smekkgéfir good - tasted ,n efm ikill big- nosed ,
ski’
ofoerr able tor un with snow—shoes . Thu s the participles are always placedlast
,as : fé tbro tin n broken—legged ,
sottbitinn natu ral death,rybgenginn rust- eaten , jarn sleginn iron - shod .
Compo sition of Verbs .
A dverbs and p repo sition s are frequ ently compou n dedwith verbs , as : aftaka to beat of ; utreka to drive out, upptaka
to take up , fraskilja to sep arate , which m ay be written w ithequ al correctn ess taka af ,
upp , reka u'
t, shilfa f rd .
YVhen a substantive is compounded with a verb the
latter con stitutes the last part of the composition ,as : kross
festa to cru cify , han dhbggva to cut of the hand , fétfara to
measure by the step ,lifiata to p ut to death ,
IOgtaka to a ccep t aslaw,
auglysa to make p la in ,varbveita to keep guard , fbttroba
to tread under f oot.When the verb forms the first part of the compoun d its
infin itive s ign is often dropt being supplied by the vowel iwhich conn ects it w ith the remain ing m ember of the com
pou nd ,as : ken n imaor p riest, leerifa
’
é ir tea cher,laarisveinn
dis cip le , renn ism ibr turner, scnd ibob i messenger , spen n itong
p in cers .
Verbs compounded w ith adj ectives are rare ; the following are examples : ranglysa to state incorrectly , sannfmra to
p ersuade , kun ngbra to announ ce .
90 II. ETYMOLOG Y .
- doemi : biskupsdoem i bishop riclc, einvaldsdcemi mona rchy ,hertogadoem i dukedom .
- efn i one who will becom e som ething : konungsefni crownp rin ce, mégsefn if uture brother- in—law .
—gjarn show s desire : fegjarn covetous , holgj arn f ond offiat
lery , m etn afiargj arn ambitious,namgj arn studious, braetu
gj arn f ond of strife .- kona woman : ein setukon a f emalehermit
, bj onu stukona handmaid .
- korn form s dim in utives : hopkorn a small heap ,karlkorn a
little man , piltkorn a little boy , ritkorn a smallwriting .
- land,o ften appended to the nam e of a cou ntry : Indialan d ,Polinaland , Pru ssaland .
- lau ss,a n egative, an sw ering to the E nglish - less huglau ss
sp iritless , kon unglau st inter regnum ,vapn lau ss weap on less .
- list art: skaldskaparlist the p oetic art, braetu list a rgumentative skill.
maor man : gleb imaor a lively man , m aalskumafir an eloquen tman .
- m en n i : gé bmenn i a brave man ,illmen n i a bad man ,
litil
m enni an insignificantman ,m ikilmenn i a f amous man .
This word occu rs only in composition .
- viss shows qu ality : dau nviss keen - scented, hvatviss headlong,laeviss c unning, stelviss thievish .
PAR T III .
SY NT AX .
CHAPTER I .
OF NOUNS,ADJECTIVE S ,
AND PRONOUNS .
In Icelan d ic as in other languages an adj ective agreesin number , gender ,
and case w ith the substantive which itqualifies . E ven in substantives which
,with a masculin e o r
n eu ter form ,have a fem in in e sign ification ,
and with a fem in in eor n euter form have a m ascu line one , there is no exceptionto this ru le , as the adj ective in thes e cases takes the grammatical, not the real, gender. Thu s, hitt fegra vif (neat ) the
1 . NO UNS , Am s crrvs s AND PRONOUNS . 9 1
fair woman , friOr svann i (masc .) a handsome woman ,flagbit
l ta (neut. ) the loathsom e sorceress , greyit litla (neat ) the littledog, hann var skald gott (ne at ) he was a good p oet, hann var
hetja m ikil (fem ) he was a great champ ion .
Many mascu lin e and n euter n oun s w ith a fem in in e sigu ificatio n are poetical n am es of women as
,svarri, svenn i, spru nd ,
fijoo . O f n euters with a masculine sign ification are most
compound words in m enni, as : u ngm enn i, m ikilmenn i,afar
m enn i. Y et when the person thu s sign ified is m entionedimm ediately afterwards , it is in the natu ral gende r , as : as eh
l9a hina m iklu hetju hann var triO r synum then I saw
thatg reat champ ion ; he was of fair countenance : rcedda eh viii
fegrstan svanna hon er kvenna ku rteisu st I sp oke tothef airestwoman ; she is the most cou rteous of women .
Titles mostly follow the proper nam e,as : Haraldr ko n
u ngr King Ha rald ,S iguriSr j arl E a rl S ig urOr . A svaldr her
togi Dulce O swald ,Otto kaisari hin n m ikli the emp eror O tto
the G reat, A ri prostr Priest Ari, Kristina drottn ing Queen
Christina .
H erra an d S ira (S ir) , Fru ,Madam e (M adam) , Fruken
and Jungfru however, precede the nam e . H erra lord,
master, applies to kings , bishops , and kn ights ; S ira is usedonly of priests ,
a title an swering to o u r word sire , that is,
Father , which m ode of addressing their clergy is still com
m on am ongst the S candinavian peasan try , and form erly prevailed in E ngland , as we m eet with "
S ir Parson” in old writ
ings . When substantives which den ote som e m ember of aperson , show that the action which the senten ce describes
,
con cern s more the pe rson than the particular m ember ,the
person takes the dative . e. g . , hann fell fram a faatr konu ngi
he f ell f or wa rd at the king’
s f eet. O n the other hand ,when
the action refers to the bodily parts them selves the gen itiveis u sed ,
as : bvaar hann faetr ko nungs he washes the king’
s f eet.In the sam e m ann er the dative of the person al p ron oun isu sed in stead of the possessive , e. g . , leysti han n bOnd af
totum ser he loosed thef etters f rom his feet, not totum sinum,
as the release was n ot confin ed to the fe et , bu t affected the
whole body .
When an adj ective or pron oun re fers to two substantivesone of which is mascu lin e
,the other fem in in e
, it takes the
n euter ,e. g .
, bat kveld gekk hann at bru’
Olaupi meO Bryn
92 III. SYNTAX .
hildi,en e r bau (neut. ) komu i seeing , be. dro - han n sver
’
c‘
Sit
fram or sli6 rum oh lagO i i m illum beirre that even ing heweddedBrynhildur ; but when they got into bed ,
he d rew his sword out
of the sheath, and p la ced it betwee n them : vit (Loki 0 k Freyja)skolum aka tvau (n e ut. ) we two (Loki and Frey/a) shall drive :mmlti hva
’
rt vifi annat (neut. ) they spoke to one another (of aman an d woman ) ef bOnd i m aelir at kona skal barn sitt af
brj é sti ser lata , ok hefir hann kvanriki sva m ikit, at hon vill
eigi at o r’
Oum han s him, be er hon sek m Orkum 3 af sinu
ein u fé ; en ef hann gar eigi heldr en hon , be. eru bau bceO z
sek m Orkum af heggje beirra fé , if a p easant says that his wifemustwean her child , and he is so much henp ecked that she willnot heed his words
,then is shefinable in 3 ma rks of her o wn
money ; but if he ca res no more about it than she does , the n are
they both subj ect to a mulct in ma rks of the money of both : enn
er bau (G rimr okLopthmna) v6ru buin ,ok byr gaf, beldu bau
tveim skipum au str m efi lan di, butwhe nthey (G rimr and Lap t
hcena) were ready , and a f air breeze sp rung up , they steered theirtwo ship s eastwa rds along
‘
the coast.From the sam e reason the substan tives feOgin f ather and
daughter, m oebgin mother and son, systkin brother and sister aren eu ter, as each word sign ifies person s of different sex .
When several prope r n am es are conn ected by the con
j u n ction ok,’
the person al pron oun is u su ally added,especially
when the n am es so j oin ed form the subj ect of the senten ce,
e. g ., bau Bj Orgé lfr oh H ildiribr attu 2 sonu
,Bj o
‘
rgo'
lfr and
H ildirifir had 2 sons ; eptir bat fOru beir S igurO r oh Beginns G nytaheifii af terwa rds S igurOr and Beginn went to G nytaheath. BOrn beirra varu bau G u nnarr Hogn i G ufin in ,
G ufiny their children were G unnarr ,&c. T he pron oun ,
however,is Often om itted when all the persons are femin in e
,
as : bat var eitt sinn at Brynhildr ok C ubrun gengu til vatn sat bleikja hadda sina once it chan ced that Brynhildr and
G udr u’
n went to the river to wash their hair (not ba r Brynhildr0k G ufir u
'
n)T he conju n ction and is frequ ently om itted before a pro
per n oun preced ed by a personal pron ou n ,when the latter
takes the dual or plural number in the sam e case as the
proper noun ,as : geri ek hin brifiju manngj bld fyrir ijOrraO
viO ykkr péri I adj udge the third fine f or the plot against theeand Thdrir . If yO r péri had stood here
,the tran slation wou ld
94 III. SYNTAX .
m ay be adopted . kon ungrinn riki, (i. e. , konungr hinn riki)
or, ko nu ngrinn hinn riki, the rich king .
Occasion ally the article hinn is om itted , and the adj ectiveu sed in defin itely along with the substantive especially w ithproper n ou n s ,
as : dalr m ikli (for hiun mikli) M ikligar‘
Or
(hinn m ikli gar’
O r) Langavatn (hit langa vatn) Hakonkonu ngr goO i King Hdkon the G ood , Saga Harallds harfiraba
the history of Haralldr Harfirdfii.
T he possessive pron ou n sinn is u sed when referen ce ism ade to the subj ect of the verb , as : han n hefir s in n hatt he
has his (own) hat ; bu t hann hehr hans hatt w ou ld m ean ,he has
his (another’
s) hat. heir toku sina hatta they took their (o wn)hats ; heir téku heirra hatta they took their (other p ersons
’
) hats .
Partitives as well su perlative adj ectives and num erals,
as pron oun s ,also govern the gen itive , as : hann var allra
skalda mestr he was the g reatest of all ba rds ; hverr heirra hefirhat gertwhich of them has done that? ; ek veit eigi hvart n ok
ku rr varr mu ndi I kno w not whether any of us will ; hit blo'
taO i
han n,ok lifO i han n ha enn tiu vetta then he sacrificed, and
still lived ten years . T he adj ectival partitive takes the n eutersingular, as : mart manna many men .
When the gen itives va’
r, gkha r, yO ar are govern ed by a
partitive or pron ou n ,the correspond ing possessives vdrr,
ykkarr , y’
Oarr are u sed in stead of them in apposition w ith theword which govern s the gen itive , as : drepa m u n hann einn
varr,he must kill one of us ; engi varr (ne mo noster for nemo
nostrzim) , none of us ; engum varum brasbrum to none of us
brothers, hverr varr hriggj a each of us three .When the reciprocal pron oun sj dlfr in the gen itive . co n
nected w ith a possessive , expresses ou r own ,the possessive
always an swers in case , gen der, an d number to sy'
dlfr and n otto the word which governs it in the gen itive , as : i sjalt
'
s hin skapelln ,
in thy o wn sacrism; at sjalfra varra vilja , a ccordingto our o wn will ; fyrir sal sjalfrar s innar, f or her own soul.
T he interrogative pron oun hval (G erm . was f ur, Dan .
hvad f or), what kind of , has gen erally the dative after it. m orerarely the gen itive , e. g . hon Spu rO i hvat m ann i han n var
,
she asked what kind of man he was ; hvat hrOng er hat, whatcro wd is that? prestr spurb i, hvat sukki har vaari, the p riestasked , whatwas the ro w; hvat mann a . what kind of men
1 . NOUNS , ADJECTIVES AND PRONOUNS . 95
T he dative is u sed1 . without a preposition when a w ord den otes a means ,
in strum en t , or mann er : hon var trob in hestafé tum til bana ,
she was trodden under f oot of horses to death ; han n mwlir
feigum mun n i he sp eaks with a dying mo uth ; var hat cibumbundit , tha t was confirmed by oa ths ; hann varb hvi fegin nhe was glad of it; hon var frib synum , she had a f air countenance ; hann het sva 66m nafn i
,he was thus ca lled by an
other name
2 . where a word stands as a d efin itive with som e com
parative , preposition or adverb : hon var miklu friOari en
him , she was mu chf airer than Thdra halfum manufii seinna
half a month later ; tveim Ortugum m inna en eyrir two - thirdsless than an ounce ; Hem ingr andaO ist vetri sitSarHem ingr diedthe winter af ter ; arum eptir Noa flee the year af ter Noah
’
s
flood3 . where a word d efin es o r inten sifies the comparative :
hann var hverjum m an n i sterkari he was stronger than anyman ; hverri konu fegrif airer than any woman ; dOkkiilfar eru
svartari biki the swa rt elves are darker than p itch :4 . when the preposition at is employed with the com
parative (som etimes instead of hei) , as : m enn voru he ir atvaskari
, they were men so much the braver ; engi m a‘
or mun
E rik kalla at m e ira konung ho at hann drepi einn bOndason ,
no man will call E rik a king any more f or slaying a p ea
sant’
s son :
5 . or with a participle when it an sw ers to the G reekgen itive absolute and the Latin ablative absolute : athvi gOrvu(hoefacto), this being done ; at uppveran di sé lu , whilst the sun
was shining ; yet at is som etim es om itted .
In order to indicate length of tim e o r distan ce ,the sub
stantive which defin es either is placed in the accu sative , as :
dvaldist hann har m org m isseri he abode there many years ;heir fOru atta rastar they travelled eight miles ; fara land veg ,
s leiO ina to go by la nd , by sea ; hann veg thatway ; m arga
lund many ways . E xception : hann for leibar s inn arhe wen t on his way ; thu s the G erm . er zog seines Weges .
When in a phrase a substan tive o r pron oun is to stand
in a depen dent relation (either govern ed by a preposition or
the verb itself) , it is som etim es introdu ced into a propositionwhich begin s with har sem , har er
,and be com es the subj ect
96 III. SYNTAX .
of it : haftSi erkibiskupinn bar m ikit at styfijast vi6 ,sem Jon
var, the a rchbishop had mu ch to rely up on where Jo'
n
'
was, i. e.,
fou nd firm support in h im ; mu n nu ekki bu rfa at aetla til
saamdar, bar sem hann er it cannot n ow avail to exp ect any
honou r where he is , i . e.,on his part , from him ; kom bat ok
bar fram ,er porstein n var, this also happ ened where Thorsteinn
was,it stru ck Thorstein n also ; mu ntu bykkjast litlu til verja ,
bar sem eh em thou thinkest indeed that thou sacrificest littlewhere I am
,i. e.
, by sacrificing m e .
E xpression s su ch as as or me’
d to'lf ta mann do n ot m eanwith twelve men
”
,but
“myself the twelfth with eleven
others or“with eleven others” ; therefore when we fin d the
ordin al expressed in the sam e way as the cardinal n umber,
nam ely by cyphers e. g .,vi6 X II mann , the vowel in mann
can alon e determ in e the correct tran slation : vi’
c‘
SX II m ennwou ld s ignify
"
with 12 m en”
.
G en itives and possessives are m ostly placed before theircorrespon ding n ou n s when u sed emphatically ; but otherwiseafter them ,
as : gerou bat fyrir hennar sakar ! do that f orher sahe . Bro
’
oir han s var kom inn ear,his brother had come
bef ore ; er heir fun du G unnhildi mo’
c‘Sur sina
, when they f oundG unnhildur their mother .
When one n oun denotes a part of an other ,or rather
helps to m odify it , the nam e of the substan ce mu st precede ,and be compoun ded w ith the other word ; but if n ot a n oun
,
or in capable of composition the n am e of the substan ce mu st
follow w ith the preposition af ,as : hann kastaoi kokubita
fyrir hun dinn he threw a bit of cake to the dog ,af barkar
stykkjum beim f rom the p ieces of bark ; korn tu n n an kostar9 0 r . dr. ,
a tun of rye costs 20 ria: dolla rs ; litio af safl'
ran i
a little saf ron .
T he indefin ite and defin ite form of adj ectives m ay be
u sed interj ectionally ,as : karl m in n goiSr ,
my good f ellow !harmit gott , the good child ! husmooir géfi , good housewife !ek vilda , goor drengr, at 1mgengir inn i sto fun a , I wish thee,good lad, to go into the room . Nu
,Jon litli piltr litli, n ow,
little John ,little boy . But the sen se becom es collective when
both the substantive and adj e ctive are pu t in the defin iteform ,
as : géba beru it, the good child , or, good childre n.
When adj ectives sign ify m easure they take the nam e of
98 111. SYNTAX .
pingvelli , segir han n honum tib indi but when S tarla went tohis ship ,
Hallvarfir G ullsko'
r had come out ; hef ound Thordr hisbrother- in—law at Thingvalla ; he tells him the tid ings ; parsleok E yvindr kdmu heim of hau stit
, f o'
r T horolfr til fobu r sins ,
taka be ir fe’
c‘
Sgar pa tal sin i m illi, spyrr pen
-
31a eptir , &c.
Thdro’
lfr and Eyvindr came home in the autumn ; Thdrdlfr we ntto his f ather
’
s ; f ather and son then talk together ; Tho'
rélfr asks
af ter , &c.
A n adverb which belongs to a verb is placed before theobj ect an d as n ear to the verb as possible , as : 17atok R andverhauk sinn 0k plokkab i af fjabrarn ar , then R andver took hishawk and p lu cked of its f eathers ; hratt ho n pa f ram skipin u
then she launched f orth the ship . If the verb stan d last in a
relative position ,fo r in stan ce
,the adverb or preposition is
pu t imm ediately before the verb,as : Jormunrekr sé hauk
bann ,er b in n hafoi fjafirarnar af plokkat, Jo
‘
rmunrekr saw the
hawk whose f eathers had bee np lucked of ; harm var a skipi bvier hon hafb i f ram hrun dit he was on the ship which she had
la unched f orth .
T he present participle in —andi, - anda , besides its u sual
active sign ification ,contain s also the idea of the futu re parti
ciple passive , an d thu s correspon ds with the Latin presentparticiple in - ans ,
- ens,- ntis , and the future participle passive
in - andum,
- endum both in m ean ing and form,as : allter seg
janda sinum vin, every thing may be said to one
’
s f riend ; variS
veitandi eru bofiorb G u’
é s G od’s commandments must be kep t ;varla er truan da it is hardly credible ; knefalla meo u pphald
an di hondum to f all on one’s knees with up lifted hands ; bettaer biggj anda ,
this is to be received ; a deyan da degi, on the dayof one
’
s death .
T he fu tu re is form ed by the auxiliary verbs ska l , an d
still m ore frequ ently mun (will) , an d the infin itive of theprin cipal verb : vit varum faaddir a einn i natt, 0k mu n skamt
vatoa m illi dauba okkars,we were born in one night, and it
will notbe long between our deaths ; brocbrmun u berjask brotherswill contend with each other .
T he perfect and pluperfect are form ed by the auxiliaryverb haf a and the perfect participle of the prin cipal verb inthe n eu ter : han n hafbi veitt i c inn boggi otr 0k lax ,
he had
killed at one blow both otter and salmon ; E gill hafoi gengit yfirSkog nbkkurn Egill had gone over some wood . If there be an
2 . O N THE Vas es . 99
o bj ect in the senten ce the participle mu st take the genderand number of the obj ect : beir boi‘bu felldan hotbingja lib
they had stru ck down the chief tains of thep eop le . See p . 60 .
Some intran sitive verbs u se vera instead of haf a ; er nokhur
stund var libin , when some time had p assed , and then the participle of cou rse takes the gen der and number of the subject.
When bu’
imm ediately follows a verb the suffix sh in
refle ctive verbs may coalesce w ith Pd and become sta : snfistu
fra illu turn thyself f rom evil ; laagstu (abase thyself ) at upphefistu (tha t thou mayes t be
‘ exalted ) at eigi lmgistu , bi er bu
hyggr upp at hefjask ,that thou be no t abused , when thou
exp ectest to be honou red ; gerstu hofbingi fy rir libinu , make
thyself leader of the host; fastu vel at virbi, provide thyself wellwith victuals .
E h is often suffixed to the verb , and so ftens its k intog ,
as : barbag fo r bar-6a eh, o r if the verbal root has gg , these
letters are changed into kk, as : hykk fo r hygg eh ; sometim esa of the inflection is resolved into i , as : a tti}; fo r a tla elc,
nemik (p res . conj . ) for nema eh.
T he accu sative with the infin itive is a frequent form o f
expression : vaan i engi maor Olaf konung bvi or lan di farithafa
,let no one f an cy thatKing Glaf r therefore has gone out of
the country ; satt hygg ek mik segja , methinks I sp eak the truth ;ask ve it ek standa
,I know that an ash- tree stand s (there) ; bik
kvazk (i. e. kvao sik) hilm ir bitta vilja , die king said he wanted
to meetwith thee .Many verbs which imply the setting o f som ething in
m otion requ ire the obj ect in the dative , as : kasta (stein i,Spj é ti) , verpa to throw (ear pa verpir stifili af mar
,bef ore then
throwest the saddle f rom the horse) , stinga , leggj a to stab (hannlagoi spj dti gegnum harm
,or
,harm lag
‘
oi hann spia'
ti he sent
the sp ear through him) , skjota to shoot (han n shan t mann inn
oru, hann skaut fyrir sik skildi) , bregtSa (hann bra sverb i he
drew his sword) , sa (sa korn i to sow corn ), blasa ,fnaesa to blow
out (fnaasa eitri) spyta (hann spytti upp mibinum i kerin he
spat up the mead into the vessels, snua,venda , skifta to divide.
Most verbs likewise which sign ify rule,command
,len ien cy ,
or the Opposite“
govern the obj ect in the dative , as : G ylfi
konu ngr res 16ndum ; hann bauo honum at lata skirask ; at
bjerga lifi ; at eira konum 0k kirkjum ; at tyna lifinu ; komaas a trans itive verb likew ise govern s in the dative , as : kom a
7 .
100 111 . SYNTAX .
einum i vandrzebi to bring one into.
p eril; ek kem bvi eigi vioI cannot app ly it.
Those verbs which sign ify a wan t, desire , or possessionmostly govern the gen itive with accu sative of the person ,
and
gen itive of the thing ,e. g . , sakna eh m in s malvin ar
,I miss
my comp anion ; at spyrja einhvern rabs to ask on e’s advice ;at bi6ja hann frifiar to ask him f or p eace at afia
'
fjar to obtainp rop erty ; hann fekk beirrar konu er porun bet he got to wif ea woman called Yhdrun ; hann beib byrjar he waited f or a ,
f air wind .
T he conjun ctive is u sed when condition is implied ,chiefly in dependen t senten ces after conjun ction s , as : bc
’
) at,
or bétt although, ef if ; likewise when a w ish or desire is ex
pressed : ]96 at hann vacri eigi kom inn ,though he may not.
have come ; e n 196 sva vaari,but though it be so ; vilda ek at
bet laarbit m ik I wo uld that you taught me. T he presentor preterite conjun ctive may be u sed without a conjun ctionwhen it can be tran slated by in case , or if ; e. g . ,
vili hann
ekki m eb gbhu , ba komdu til m in will he not come by f airmeans , then do thou come to me ; ksem i han n m eban ek em a,
bro ttu, should he come whilst I am away .
CHAPTER III .
ON THE PARTICLES .
1 . Interrogative Pa rticles . T he prin cipal of these are :
bvi why , wheref ore, hversu ,hve, hvern in ,
hvern ig ,m ean ing
how, hva6a what kind of , as,hva6a ma
’
cSr what kind of manT he older tongu e m ostly employs hvat in stead ,
w ith the
gen itive plural , or the preposition af , as hvat m anna,hvat
af menn um,hvar where, hvert whither , hvaban when ce, near
an d hvenzer when ,hvart o r hyett whether ; hvart e6a o r
hvart sem eba whether or ?
2 . Negative Pa rticles . S imple n egation is expressed byné o r ne, the prefixes 0
' or u', and the su ffixes —gi, - cl,
- a .
Na! o r us stan ds imm ed iately before the word to whichit belongs ,
and this m u st be a verb as : 861 bat n o vissi,
E inn is the only word not a verb before which n o is u sed ;ne cinn none (O ld E nghsh ne o ne) more frequently contracted in toncznn .
102 III. SYNTAX .
necting Vowel i occurs in the verb it is retain ed in the
negation ,as : kvelj - at :
6 .- a or - at is su ffiXed to the 3rd p ers . sing .
,as : er- a he is
not; skal- a he shall not ; vetor- at he becomes not.7 . When the 3rd p ers . p lu r . en ds in - a
,only t is added ,
as :
bita - t they bite not to the ending u, how ever, of the 3rd
p ers . p lur. either - at is appen ded , as : letu - at (from lata tolet) , or - t
,as : eigu
- t,eru—t.
8 . When - i terminates the 3rd p ers . sing . p ret. of verbs ofthe 2nd class
,- t is suffixed
,and u su ally
- a in the sub
jun ctive,as : varnabi he hindered
,varnafiit he hindered not;
biti should he bite , bitia shou ld he not bite .T he above cases con cern only the an cient tongu e ; in the
modern language eigi or ekki not is u sed .
T he phrase“n otwithstanding
”or n evertheless” is ex
pressed by eigi at heldr .A dverbs are form ed from adj ectives by the term in ation
- a,as : gj arna willingly , vioa widely, illa badly , gorva gui ,te
heima athome :- an
,as : drjugan freguently , jafnan always, gj arnan willingly ,harban hardly :
- liga, from adj ectives ending in - tigr , as : knaligr brave, knaliga bravely, stbrligr, storliga in a high degree . This term ination is often shortened into - la ,
as harla (for harola ,
harbliga) very greatly, varla scarcely .
A dverbs are also formed ,1 . from the nom . and acc. neutr. of adj ectives
,as : trau ttwith
dgffieulty, m est mostly ;2 . from substantives by the terminationis, as : aleib is on the way , andsoelis opp osite to the sun , and
streymis against the stream ,fo rvindis before the wind, jafn
foetis of egual birth ;- veg, as : annanveg otherwise , from vegr way, bannveg thiswise, hvernveg how,
in whatway: som etim es v is dropt, thu s ,banneg, hverneg , or more u su ally, bannig , hvern ig ;
3 . from the genitive case of substantives , as : loks at last,
allskyns all kinds of, an narstaoar elsewhere,allsko star in
all resp ects , utan soknar out of a p arish
4 . from the dative case of substantives , as : obruvis i otherwise .Prepositions with the cases governed by them are u s ed
3. PARTICLES . 103
adverbially , as : til blitar enough ,til sanns truly ,
mefi 61111
altogether, s braut away .
A dverbs which sign ify m otion from a place :heim an f rom home, ofan f rom above, naiSan f rom below, in nan
from within ;
motion to a placehingat hither ; hingat thither ;
rest in a placeuppi above , n ibri below ,
inni within ,1’
1ti o ut, framm i bef ore,serrifar ; motion towards
, partly pres ence on ,the spot :
nor‘
br no rthwa rds, subr southwa rds , vestr westwards , au streastwards as, hann gekk au str he wen t eastwards ,
hann var ba
au str i lan dit he was then in the east of the country ,n i6 r do wn
wa rds , aptr back again .
T he addition of - na to adverbs intensifies the idea expressed ih the primitive , as : mina this very moment, h
‘erna inthis very p la ce, banna j ust there, enna j ust now .
Som e adverbs may be compared in the sam e way as
adj ectives , as :
soon skamt skemr skemst widely viba vibex vibast
f ar fjarri firn first f r tly titt tibar tides tof ten opt optar optast sel n sjaldan sjaldnar sjaldnast.
Many irregular adj ectives are,
as adverbs ,compared
regularly ,as
northerly n orbr norbar norbast without i n fitar yztsoutherly subr sunnar sybst within in inner m ust
easterly
austr su star austast otar efstup 11
6pi
wester y vestr vestar vestast beneath m ri nebar nefist.
T he following adverbs are irregular :good yel betr best, little litt minnr minst.bad illa verr verst
,rather gj arna heldr helzt,
much mjok meirr mest,
within inn i innar innet.
Lengi long, lengr longer, is u sed only of tim e ; lengra ,
of place , lengst both of tim e an d place .
Of the preposition s ,som e govern either the gen itive ,
dative or accu sative ; others govern both the dative and
accu sative .
T he following govern in the gen itivetil to, i n without, auk besides , an d the compou nd or derived
forms am illi,amefial
,amillim m illum millim between ;
sakir,fyrir s by means of , f or the sake of , vegn a on
104 III. SYNTAX .
a ccount of, titan without, beyond, inn an within, also megin , u sedwith compounds as , babu m egin on both sides (of any thing) ,i stab instead of .
T he following take the dativeaf of , fraf rom,
bja by, with (Fren ch chez, G erm . bei) , 1'
1r
o ut of , un dan f rom ,away f rom , gagnvart over against, amot,
mot, i moti against, towa rds, asamt together with .
w ith som e combination s , as :
1'
1t af,u pp fra, fram i n
,eu ndan bef ore , framhjaby , over ,
i gegn against, e hendr against (in opp ositio n) , til handaf or,f or the best.
T he following govern in the accu sativeum (of ) about, concerning, with all its compounds , whether
it stan ds first or last , as : umf ram o r f rom um,i gegnum
through , fram yfir over and above,fram u ndir until, up to, and
all those which are compou n ded from fyrir w ith an adverb ofplace in —an
,as : fyrir morban to thenorth of , fyrir titan boeinn
outside the town . In an cient poetry um and of are o ccasion allyfoun d with the dative .
T he following govern the dative an d accu sative accordingto their m ean ing :
a on ,up on , i in , to, m eiSwith, vi
’
o with, by, at, eptir af ter ,fyrir before, u n dir under, yfir over .
Those which sign ify rest at a place mostly take thedativeas : konu ngr var a skipi the king was on the ship , heir lagu 1
hofn inn i they lay in the harbou r, and those which den ote m o
tion to a place employ the accu sative as : hann gekk a skiphe went to the ship ,
s igldu beir um i hofn in a they Sailed into theha rbour ; but as they do n ot always refer to a place , the fo llowing defin ition s requ ire attention .
A takes the dative when u sed of a specified tim e , as . e
hverju ari every yea r s hverri n ottu every night, as well as inSpeaking of a certain day in the week e. g . ,
a laugardegi on a
S aturdaywhen it m ean s about, of , with, by, in a figurative sense ,
as : fa hekking e einhverju to obtain hnowlcdge about everybody ,ek em a beirri tr1
’
1 I am of thatf aith, hann lifir emalaferlumhe lives by lawsuits ,
hun hefir abra me6 t’er6 e h im she has
another method with cows .
A takes the accusative when it signifies o n this wise ,with respect to
”
,as : e bann hétt
,ebe leifi in thatmanner,
106 III. SYNTAX .
It govern s the accu sative when it expresses relation o ftim e or order as : eptir mitSjan dag af ter midday, beir tékuallan arf eptir fodur
‘
sinn they succeeded to their f ather’
s in
heritance .Pyrit govern s the dative when it m eans before, in the
p resen ce of, on accoun t of ; or when it betoken s hin dran ce , ashann talabi langt eren di fyrir lifiinu he delivered a lengthymessage to the p eop le, ek gat ekki verifi i fribi fyrir hanum I
could n ot be at p eace f or him ,latast fyrir ein um to p erish by
on e’ s o wn hand,hann bor
’
é i ekki fyrir hun dinum he da red not
f or the dogs .
It takes the accu sative when u sed of tim e,as : litlu fyr
'
vetr shortly before win ter ; when it m ean s instead of, f or, as :
hann sendi man n fyrir sik he sen t some one in his stead ;when it sign ifies by means of , by , as verba saluholpinn
fyrir truna to be saved by f aith ; when u sed of price , as hvab
gafstu fy‘
rir bcnkrn ar what didst thou givef or the books ?U n dir takes the dative after it in the sign ification of rest
in a p la ce , as : u ndir bo1°6 inu, stolnum under the table
,the
cha irs ;when it m ean s under , subordinate to , dep endent up on , as :
alla be sem n udit hanum em all that are under him, bat erekki undir bvi komit that is not of great conseguenca
It has the accu sative in the sign ification of away towards,as : u ndir sblarlag towards sunset, and away under, as : u ndir
eyna away under the island .
Y fir govern s the dative when it betoken s rest in a place,yfir eldinum above thefirewhen it m ean s to have power over, as : drottna yfir lan di
to rule over a country .
It takes the accu sative when it m ean s motion to a p la ce,as : hann roar 1
'
1t yfir n esit he rows around the nazc
in the sign ification of more than, as : mer u nn i maar yfir
mann hvern the girl loved me more than any one else .A t or at) is the only preposition which govern s the three
It governs the gen itive when used in the m ean ing of atthe p la ce of , with any one, at his house (the word hiisi or thelike being understood) , as heir gistu at Bjarn ar they wereBj arn
’
s guests . Formerly this preposition was u sed with the
3. PARTICLES . 107
genitive of the persona] pronoun s , as : beir gistu at min, bin
It takes the dative when it m eans to a p lace, as : koma
at boa to com e to a farm :
at a p la ce , as : at IOgbergi at the council-hill ; hann hjoatBirgisheimi he lived atBirgisheimr :
transition f rom one state to ano ther, as hann var6 at stein i
he was changed into stone ; brenna at osku to burn to ashes :
before comp aratives , as : varu beir at vaskari were theythe braver .
a f uture time, as : liiSr at jolum Jule app roaches , at hau stinext autumn .
This preposition ,when it govern s the dative case, like
wise form s many adverbial expressions .
It employs the accusative when it m eans behind ,af ter
(one’
s death), as : him s itt at sik to leave something behind one ,
at l’
obur sinn af ter his f ather (his death) . Thu s in Run ic inscription s , reisa stein at cinn to raise a stone to one.
Many nam es of places occur in the dative with the preposition d, i or at
,instead of the n om inative after heita o r the
like,as : ea beer bet a Steini that house was called S tone ; hann
bjo i kaupstafi beim er heitir i Stafangri he lived in themarkettown which is called S tavanger.
CHAPTE R IV .
O F ELLIPSE S .
E llipses or omission s frequ ently o ccur in O ld—No rse . In
most cases they are easily supplied , as for in stan ce ,when the
pron ouns sci,eu
'
, hann , hu’
n or bat are omitted , the subj e ct orobj ect for which they are u sed having been already nam ed :si6an sneib Karkr hofufi af jarli 0 k hljép i brau t meb (pat) ,af terwards Karhr cut of thej a rl
’
s head, and ran of with (it) .
T he 3rd p ers . of the verb is often u sed w ithout a sub
ject , when this is unkn own or can be easily supplied ,as
sva segir i G rimn ism él, it is thus said in G ranimsmdl.
T he word ko str choice, alternative
, resource is often elidedin senten ces the m eaning of which is clear
,as : far eptir,
Haleyingr, sé mun per hinn bezti (ko str) vera , pu rsue, Haleyiugr , thy bestalternative ; 0 k er sé (ko str) til , at sigla undan ,
and the only choice is to sail away .
108 IV. Pnosonv.
T he verbs vera and verba are frequ ently dropt as wellas the defin ite forms as einn m orginn vakti ’Astrifir G lum0k sagbi at n au ta fjeldi S igmu n dar var kom inn i tun 0 k vildi
brj é ta an dvirki :“ en
'
ek hefi sigi fraleik til at reka (hann ) ibrau t , en verkm enn (eru ) at vinnu
”
,one morning A
'
stribr
awoke G lu’mr, and said, that a lot of Sigmundr
’
s cattle had gotinto themeadow, and would throw down the cooks ;
“
but I am not
nimble enough to drive (them) away , and the workmen are at
work” .
These ellipses take place especially after the words munand skal in the fu ture
,as : bem u n hann kom in n (vera) til
konu ngs , then will he have come to the king ; bari skulu oh talin
noin heirra , therein shall theirn ames also (be) reckoned .
S om etim es the ellipsis is m ore important , e. g . , G lumr
segir, sé eh glbggt byat,
titt var (bu ert) barn at sldri , en
(hefir 196) vegit slika hetju sem borvaldr var,I saw clearly
how the matter “
stood : thou art) a child in age, but yet hast)slain such a hero as Thorvaldr was .
PA R T IV .
PRO SO DY .
CHAPTER I .
O ld—Norse poetry is n ot regulated like that of an cientG reece an d Rom e by qu an tity , but by accentuation
,which
cann ot, however, be arbitrarily laid upon any syllable . In a
word con sisting of m any syllables ,the accent mu st rest on
that which u su ally has the ton e : in m onosyllables it cann otfall o n preposition s an d conjun ctions , exceptwhen it becom esemphatic .
Icelan dic poem s are divided into regular strophes (erendi,visa staka) which gen erally contain eight lin es (orb ,
visu
o rb). These strophes are subdivided into halves (visuhelm ingr) , and each of these again in to two parts (visu fjorbungr)con stitu ting a qu arter strophe or couplet.
Visa , like the G erman Weiss , mean s the manner or wise ofdoing a thing : this wise , otherwise .
110 IV. Pno sonv.
In short lin es one of the sub- letters is often om itted ,
but the chief- letter n ever:hljbds bid
’k’allar to attention I bid all
helgar kindir ; holy generation s :gb1 um Asum crowed near the fE sirG ullinkambi G ullinkambi (thegolden - combed)Vowels interchange. with each other , and should
,if po s
sible , be differentand ban né attu breath they p ossessed n ot;
65 pan n é hofbu , sense they had not.Here a" , d , an d 6 form a complete and elegant letter—rhym e .
J, v, and k, when followed by a vowel,are admitted
into the number of correspondent letters :eh man gotna I remember the giantsdr umborna ; born in the beginn ing .
Here e, j , a’
rhyme with each other : examples in whichv answers to vowels are extremely rare :
svaf vaetr Freyja slep t notE e
yja
a'
tta nottum ; f or eight nig ts .
H ere v and d correspond .
Som etim es we meet with verses in which su ch words as
ulfr, rangr, reibr, which in the earliest times began with v
have form ed alliteration with words beginn ing with this
letter as in A tlaqviba :
vin i Valhiill wine in Valhalla .
(v) reidi sask heirHuna They f eared the Huns’
wrathand in Baldrsdrauma :
V) rindr berr R indr (Vala’s mo ther) bears
i Vestrsblum ; in the western halls .
When there is an u n equ al lin e , or a solitary m ember ina verse
,su ch as the third and sixth lin es of the six- mam
bered stan zas,it always contain s two alliterated words , as in
the following qu otation from Vafbrudn ismal :orVmis holdi of s r sfl esh
varjbrb umskopud, the earth was shap ed ,en or beiuum bj brg ,
of his bon es the mounta ins ;himinn or hausi heaven of the skullins hrlmkalda jbtuns , of the hoarjf rosty giant ;
en or sveita sjbr. and of his sweat the sea .
3. Assos as cs s . 111
CHAP TE R III .
A SSONANCE S .
A ssonan ce , or lin e - rhym e , is called in O ld - Norsepoetry hending ,
and is d ivided into two kinds ,whole and
half- ass onan ce .
Whole - assonan ce , or properly Speaking , consonan ce(abalhending n oble rhym e) , o ccu rs when two syllables in thesam e lin e have the vowels and the con son ants immediatelyfollow ing them alike
,as : swn - ir (som e) an d gum—ar (men) ,
merk- i (mark) and sterk—a (strong) .Half—asson ance (skothending imperfect rhyme) admits of
d ifferen t vowels follow ed by the sam e co n sonan ts , as , stirbum
(dat. p lu r . of stir‘
bt stifl'
) and n orfian,verb (I becam e) and
forba (to gu ard) . T he half- assonan ce is comm only u sed in
the first lin e of the co uplet which con tain s the sub- letters ,and the whole - assonan ce in the latter hem istich , as
fasto rbr skyli firda word-f ast should the king befengsaell vera bengill ; who will keep warriors ;hcefir heit at rfufa to break thy p lighted f aithhjaldur mbgnubr ! pér aldri. beseems thee not, mighty man !A ll syllables which have an assonan ce ,
mu st be ac
cented ; all consonants may form part of an assonan ce exceptthe flexio nal endings r and s after consonan ts : accordinglybjarts and bjarts are a regu lar whole- asson ance, and a
'
br and
fly’
bi a correct half—assonan ce .
Rhym e is impo rtant in determ in ing the right orthographyand pronun ciation of a word . For in stance , as there is a
whole—assonan ce in the lin e tirarlau st ok Ira ,it is clear that
tir mu st rhym e with ir ,and cann ot be written with g, which
has been in correctly u sed by som e writers .
CHAPTE R IV .
RHY ME .
T he terminating rhym e of the I celanders is formed on
the sam e prin ciple as that of the poetry of oth er nation s .
Final rhym es are single or compound ,being e ither form ed
by the u ltimate , as : f ar, var, i, bvi , o r by both the u ltimate
112 IV. Pao sonv.
and penultimate together ,as : auka , lauka ,
segja , beg/a .
There is n o in stan ce before the Reformation,in which the
first lin e is rhymed with the third and the second with thefourth ,
only con secutive rhym ing lin es be ingmet w ith pre
viou sly to that period .
Su ch words as sp arat an d kverit, varb and orb are ad
m issible as half- rhym es ,becau se they have the sam e fin al
con sonants , though their vowels are unlike .
CHAPTER V.
O F THE DIFFE R ENT KINDS O F VERSE .
T he an cient Icelanders divided their poem s into threechief classes . called Fornyr
’
é alag, Dro’
ttkvcefii, and R u’
nhenda .
T he first possesses only alliteration,the secon d
,alliteration
and assonan ce,the third
,alliteration an d final rhym e .
1 . Forn yroalag , or , Narrative Verse.
T he original and simplest form of versification in O ldNorse , which it also possesses in common with the otherTeu ton ic langu ages particularly the A nglo—Saxon ,
is Fornyrfialag (old word—lay) which is the m ost u nrestricted in itsm etre , having the greatest comp lemenfi ‘
,and frequ ently only
on e auxiliary letter. A ll the poems of the E lder E dda are
in narrative verse . It is d ivided in to two kinds , theS tarkabarlag p rop er , an d Lj o
'
bahdttr .
T he S tarkafiarlag p rop er con sists of strophes of eightlin es conn ected by alliteration : each lin e has two long syl
lables , or two resting—points for the voice ; the rhym e- lettersshou ld be three , though one of the sub- letters is often wanting . T he following stan za from the V61u 8pa offers an exampleof narrative verse thu s con stru cted
ek sirBaldri Iforesaw or Balder ,blodgum tivor , f or that b cody victim ,
Odin s barni f or that son of Odin
Short precursory words which , though independent of thestructure of the verse , are necessary to the completion of the sen se ,constitute what may be called the comp lement (mdtfylling versefilling).
114 IV. PR o sonv.
hriggja nibja in Jb’
tunheimr
arbor1nn cannot easilyor) Jotuuheimum . be drawn f rom the breast.An other kin d of Fornyrfialag in frequ ent u se is Lj o
'
ba
ha’
ttr, con sisting of a six- lin ed strophe , whose lst; 2nd , 4 th ,
and 5th lin es are con stru cted like the S tarkabarlag p rop er,having two resting-
points , pau ses ,or long syllables ,
an d
con n ected by alliteration ; but the 3rd an d 6th lin e have threepau ses with a special alliteration : each of these lin es has 2(very rarely 3) rhym e—letters different from those of the twopreceding lin es as
olr eh vard drunk I became,
varb) o frolvi became very drunkenat in s fr66a Fjalars ; in the giant
’
s dwelling ;bvi er) bldr baztr, for best is aleat) aptr o fheimtir when again recovershverr sitt geb gumi. each man his wit.
T he following stan za offers an example of a m etre withthree rhym e—letters
ungr var'
k fordum ; young was I once ;for k cinn saman
,wen t I q uite a lone,
bagyard ek villr vega ; then wen tI astray ;
au igr p6ttum sk I thoughtmyself happyer
'
k annan fann ; when If ound anothermadr er mann s gaman man is the sp ort qf man .
T he following half- strophe is p ecu liarly composed :pat
'r pé. reynt, that is then p roveder pa at) runum spyrr when thou askestof runesinum) reginkunnum : to the gods alone known .
H ere the three rhym e- letters r are so placed that each lin econtain s on e.
When the eight- lin ed F ornyrbalag is so con stru cted thiittwo half- rhym es occu r in the first lin e of each couplet , an d
two whole—rhym es in the second lin e , it is called Toglag ; forin stan ce in the follow ing half- strophe
ok senn sona and then Canutc slew,
slb hvern ok be or banished at on ceA balbrébs eba each of the sonsu'
t fltemdi Knutr of A balbrabr.
5 . VERSE . 115
2 . Dr6ttkvaabi
T he metre u sual in laudatory po em s is called Dréttkvcebi
(from dr6tt chief , kvmbi song) or"
hero ic verse ” , and was
most comm only u sed by the skald s who lived after the 9 thcentury f It has alliteration and assonan ce
,and very rarely
adm its the mdlfylling . T he chief letter mu st be the first inevery second lin e and the second rhym e in every lin e mu st
occur in the penultimate syllable . T he first strophe of thepoem called G eisli the ray ,
an eu logium on King Clatt the
Saint by E inarr Sku larso n will furn ish an example of thiskin d of m etre
ein s mé. orb oh hoenira llsrébanda bins snjallavel er) fro’br ea er getr gbbsgubs brenning mér kenna .
gbfugt ljbs bobar geisligunnbfii
g:miskunnar
é aztan ya ek itrumI
0 afi brag sélar.
T he following is the order of the words : e in s mamer kennaorb 0k bcen ir ,
sé er vel frébr ,er gett gbbs brenn ing hin s
snjalla allsraban da gub s . E h byb itrum Olafi aga tan brag .
G unnbfiigr geisli bobar gofugt lj6s m iskun nar sblar ; m eaning ,
"
Likewise can I know words as well as prayers ; he isvery wise who comprehends the gloriou s Trin ity of Alm ightyG od . I offer to n oble O lafr an excellent song . A m ostpowerful beam betoken s the beau tiful light of the sun ofmildn ess
A ssonan ces here occur in every lin e ; in the first lineof each couplet there is a half—rhym e , in the seco nd , a wholeone. There are three resting-
po ints in each lin e , an d a com
plem ent only in the 3rd lin e , i. e. vel er .
When a strophe , form ed in other resp ects like theD ro'
tt
kvceb i,has eight long syllables in each lin e , it is called Hryn
henda, as
ljbtu va a l ting titan
laubri ; hlfbfsgp
gullit rauba ;fastligr hneigbi furu glwstrity rie garmr of sheibat styri ;stirbum hblt um Stafangr nordanstdlum ; bifbusk fyrir sitar ;u i lbbu elmars typpislid
)
glik 1 Dana veldi.
116 IV. PR o sonv.
T he order of the words is as follows : lj6tu laubri varp é.
utan lypting ; gullit rauba bifb isk ; fastligr fyris garmr ofstyri skeibar hn eigb i f
‘
uru glaestri ; Stafangr h‘elt um stirbum
stalum n orban ' alar bifbu sk fyrir ; uppi glbbu elmars typpiglik eldi i veld1 Dan a ; m ean ing ,
“
with boisterou s sea- foamd rifted on the prow of the vessel ; the red gilded mast
“
is
shaken ; the strong w ind arou nd the rudder bent sidewaysthe ship splendidly adorn ed ; Stafangr steered the rude prown orthwards ; the breakers are broken before (the proceedingship) ; aloft shon e the ship
- m asts like fire in the kingdomof the Dan es ”
3 Runhenda .
.R iinhenda (run p oem ,henda rhyme) or popu lar verse
has final rhym e along with alliteration . Each strophe con
sists of eight lin es ,the first d etermin ing the m etre of the
rest. This class of versification is subdivided into severalkinds
,according to the n umber of accen tuated syllables . T he
following offers an example with tw o resting-
pointsslikt er svasiklingr it61d bess énnordrém pann ;jarla erau stan ver
skatna skyrstrSkfili dyrstr
m ean ing ,Thu s it is : the king possesses this fam e ; the
people call it good ; of the prin ces is Skuli (com e) from the
east,the worthiest man
,of heroes the m ost excellent” .
A n other in stan ce furnishes fou r accentuated syllablesbiggie kna med gulli 166
gotna ferd af rassi mjbrekka lmtr hann sveit at sin
silfri skenkt it fagra vin ;
greipum maztir gullin skal,
gum num sendir a ar bit] ,eigi hitta aebra mann
,
j arla beztr en skj bldung harm
m ean ing ,
"
T he cheerful troop of men can rece ive with goldthe m ead from the king : he let the crowd d rink in his
Printed by Breitkopt‘ and Haertel , Leipzig.
Williams andNorga-te’
s SchoolBooks an d M ap s .
Williams (T . Modern German and English Conversations
an d E lem entary Phra ses , the G erm an revised and
corrected by A . Kokem u eller. 2lst en larged an d
im p roved E d ition . 12m o . cloth 38 6d
Williams (T . S .) and C. Cruse. German and English
Commercial Correspon den ce. A Collection of M odernMercantile Letters in G erm an an d E nglish , with their
Tran slation on opposite pages 2u d E dition . 12m o .
cloth 418 6d
Apel (H ) German Prose Stories for Beginners (in cludingLessing
’
s Prose Fables) , w ith an in terlinear Translation in the n atural o rder of Construction . 2n d
edition . 12m o . cloth 23 6d
German Prose. A Collection of the bestSpecimens
o f G erm an Prose , chiefly from M odern A u thors . A
Han dbook for S chools an d Fam ilies . 500 pp . Crown
8vo . cloth 3s
b arman dilassiss far 6 11131151; S chema, with$0125 filth ifintahnlarg. Crown 8vo . cloth .
Schiller’s Lied von der Glocke (T he Song of the Bell) , an d
other Poem s an d Ballads , by M . Fbrster 2s
MinorPoems . By Arthu r P .
.
Vern on 23
Maria. Stuart, by M oritz Fbrster 2s 6d
Goethe’
s Hermann und Dorothea, by M . Forster 28 6d
Iphigenie auf Tauris . With Notes by H . Attwell.28
Egmont. By H . Apel 2s 6d
Lessing’s Minna von Barnhelm,
by S chmidt 23 6d
Emilia. Galotti. By G . Hein 23
Chamisso’s Peter Schlemihl, by M . Forster
Andersen (H. G.) Bilderbuch ohneBilder, by Beck 2s
Nieritz. DieWaise, a Tale, by O tto 2s
Baufi ’s Mmrchen. A S election , by A . Hoare 33 6d
Carové (J.W.) Maahrchen ohne Ends (T he Story withou
an E n d ) . 12m o . cloth 2s
Fouque’
s Undine, Sintram,Aslauga
’
s Ritter, die beidenHau ptleu te . 4 vols . in 1 . 8vo .
‘ cloth 7s 6dU n dine. ls 6d ; cloth , 2s . A slauga . ls 6d ; cloth , 2sSintram . 2s 6d cloth , 3s . Hauptleute. ls 6d cloth , 23
[5]
Williams and Norgate’
s SchoolBooks and M aps .
finish, sit.
Euripides’
Medea. T he G reek Text, with In trodu ction an d
E xplan atory Notes for S chools , by J. H . Hogan . 8vo .
cloth 3s 6d
Ion . G reek Text, w ith Notes for Beginn ers ,Introdu ction an d Qu estions for E xam in ation , by the
R ev. Charles Badham , D.D . 2n d E dition . 8vo . 3s 6d
E schylus. Agamemnon . Revised G reek Text, w ith literallin e- for-lin e Tran slation on opposite pages , by JohnF . Davies , B.A . 8ve . cloth 33
Platonis Philebus. With Introdu ction an d Notes by Dr.
C . Badham . 2nd E dition,considerably augm ented .
8vo . clothEuthydemus et Laches. With Critical Notes , by
the R ev. Ch . Badham , D .D. 8vo . cloth 443
Convivium ,
'
cum E pistola ad T hompsonum ,
“ De
Platon is Legi’
bu s ,”edidit C . Badham 8vo . cloth 4 3
Kiepert New Atlas Antiquus. Maps of theAncien tWorld ,for S chools an d Colleges . 6th E dition . With a complete G eographical In d ex . Folio , boards 73 6d
Kampen. 15 Maps to illustrate Caesar’
s De Bello Gallieo.
15 c oloured Maps . 4 to . cloth 3s 6d
seam .
Volpe (Cav. G .) Eton Italian Grammar, for the u se of E tonCollege . In clu din g E xercises an d E xam ples . NewE dition . C rown 8vo . cloth (Key , ls) 4 s 6d
Racconti Isterici e Novelle Morali. E dited,for the u se
o f Italian Stu d ents , by G . Christison . 12th E dition .
18m o . cloth l s 6d
Rossetti. Exercises for securing Id iom atic Italian, by
m ean s of Literal Tran slation s from the E nglish byM aria F . Rossetti. 12m o . cloth 3s 6d
Aneddoti Italiani. O ne Hu n d red Italian Anec
d otes , selected from “ 11 Com pagn o dc] Pas seggio .
Being also a Key to Rossetti’s E xercises . 12m o .
cloth 2s 6d
Venosta (E )Raccolta di Poesie. Crown 8vo . cloth 5s
[ 6]
Related Documents
