The Project Gutenberg eBook of An Icelandic Primer, by Henry Sweet

The want of a short and easy introduction to the study of Icelandic has been felt for a long time--in fact, from the very beginning of that study in England. The Icelandic Reader, edited by Messrs. Vigfusson and Powell, in the Clarendon Press Series, is a most valuable book, which ought to be in the hands of every student; but it still leaves room for an elementary primer. As the engagements of the editors of the Reader would have made it impossible for them to undertake such a work for some years to come, they raised no objections to my proposal to undertake it myself. Meanwhile, I found the task was a more formidable one than I had anticipated, and accordingly, before definitely committing myself to it, I made one final attempt to induce Messrs. Vigfusson and Powell to take it off my hands; but they very kindly encouraged me to proceed with it; and as I myself thought that an Icelandic primer, on the lines of my Anglo-Saxon one, might perhaps be the means of inducing some students of Old English to take up Icelandic as well, I determined to go on.

In the spelling I have not thought it necessary to adhere strictly to that adopted in the Reader, for the editors have themselves deviated from it in their Corpus Poeticum Boreale, in the way of separating ǫ from ö, etc. My own principle has been to deviate as little as possible from the traditional spelling followed in normalized texts. There is, indeed, no practical gain for the beginner in writing tīme for tīmi, discarding ð, etc., although these changes certainly bring us nearer the oldest MSS., and cannot be dispensed with in scientific works. The essential thing for the beginner is to have regular forms presented to him, to the exclusion, as far as possible, of isolated archaisms, and to have the defective distinctions of the MSS. supplemented by diacritics. I have not hesitated to substitute (¯) for (´) as the mark of length; the latter ought in my opinion to be used exclusively--in Icelandic as well as in Old English and Old Irish--to represent the actual accents of the MSS.

In the grammar I have to acknowledge my great obligations to Noreen's Altisländische Grammatik, which is by far the best Icelandic grammar that has yet appeared--at least from that narrow point of view which ignores syntax, and concentrates itself on phonology and inflections.

The texts are intended to be as easy, interesting, and representative as possible. With such a language, and such a master of it as Snorri to choose from, this combination is not difficult to realise. The beginner is indeed to be envied who makes his first acquaintance with the splendid mythological tales of the North, told in an absolutely perfect style. As the death of Olaf Tryggvason is given in the Reader only from the longer recension of the Heimskringla, I have been able to give the shorter text, which is admirably suited for the purposes of this book. The story of Auðun is not only a beautiful one in itself, but, together with the preceding piece, gives a vivid idea of the Norse ideal of the kingly character, which was the foundation of their whole political system. As the Reader does not include poetry (except incidentally), I have added one of the finest of the Eddaic poems, which is at the same time freest from obscurity and corruption--the song of Thor's quest of his hammer.

In the glossary I have ventured to deviate from the very inconvenient Scandinavian arrangement, which puts þ, æ, œ, right at the end of the alphabet.

I have to acknowledge the great help I have had in preparing the texts and the glossary from Wimmer's Oldnordisk Læsebog, which I consider to be, on the whole, the best reading-book that exists in any language. So excellent is Wimmer's selection of texts, that it was impossible for me to do otherwise than follow him in nearly every case.

In conclusion, it is almost superfluous to say that this book makes no pretension to originality of any kind. If it contributes towards restoring to Englishmen that precious heritage--the old language and literature of Iceland--which our miserably narrow scheme of education has hitherto defrauded them of, it will have fulfilled its purpose.

1. This book deals with Old Icelandic in its classical period, between 1200 and 1350.

2. The Icelandic alphabet was founded on the Latin, with the addition of þ and ð, and of the modified letters ę, ǫ, ø, which last is in this book written ö, ǫ̈.

3. The vowel-letters had nearly the same values as in Old English. Long vowels were often marked by (´). In this book long vowels are regularly marked by (¯)¹. The following are the elementary vowels and diphthongs, with examples, and key-words from English, French (F.), and German (G.):--

[Footnote 2: Where no keyword is given for a long vowel, its sound is that of the corresponding short vowel lengthened.]

4. The unaccented i in systir, etc. (which is generally written e in the MSS.) probably had the sound of y in pity, which is really between i and e. The unacc. u in fōru (they went), etc. (which is generally written o in the MSS.) probably had the sound of oo in good.

5. Double consonants followed by a vowel must be pronounced really double, as in Italian. Thus the kk in drekka (to drink) must be pronounced like the kc in bookcase, while the k in dręki (dragon) is single, as in booking. When final (or followed by another cons.) double conss. are pronounced long, as in munn (mouth acc.), hamarr (hammer nom.), steinn (stone nom.), distinguished from mun (will vb.), and the accusatives hamar, stein.

6. k and g had a more front (palatal) sound before the front vowels e, ę, i, ö, ǫ̈, y, and their longs, as also before j, as in kęnna (known), keyra (drive), gǫ̈ra (make), liggja (lie).

7. kkj, ggj were probably pronounced simply as double front kk, gg, the j not being pronounced separately.

8. f had initially the sound of our f, medially and finally that of v, as in gefa (give), gaf (gave), except of course in such combinations as ft, where it had the sound of f.

9. g was a stopped (back or front--guttural or palatal) cons. initially and in the combination ng, the two g's in ganga (go) being pronounced as in go. It had the open sound of G. g in sagen medially before the back vowels a, o, ǫ, u, and all conss. except j, and finally:--saga (tale), dǫgum (with days); sagði (he said); lag (he lay). Before the front vowels and j it had the sound of G. g in liegen, or nearly that of j (our y), as in sęgir (says), sęgja (to say).

10. Before voiceless conss. (t, s) g seems to have been pronounced k, as in sagt (said), dags (day's).

11. The g was always sounded in the combination ng, as in single, not as in singer.

12. h was sounded before j in such words as hjarta (heart) much as in E. hue (= hjū). hl, hn, hr, hv probably represented voiceless l, n, r, w respectively, hv being identical with E. wh: hlaupa (leap), hnīga (bend), hringr (ring), hvat (what).

13. j is not distinguished from i in the MSS. It had the sound of E. y in young: jǫrð (earth), sętja (to set).

17. v (which was sometimes written u and w) had the sound of E. w: vel (well), hǫggva (hew).

19. þ and ð were used promiscuously in the older MS., the very oldest using þ almost exclusively. In Modern Icelandic þ is written initially to express the sound of E. hard th, ð medially and finally to express that of soft th; as there can be no doubt that this usage corresponds with the old pronunciation, it is retained in this book: þing (parliament), faðir (father), við (against). In such combinations as pð the ð must of course be pronounced þ.

21. The vowels are related to one another in different ways, the most important of which are mutation (umlaut), fracture (brechung), and gradation (ablaut).

22. The following changes are i-mutations (caused by an older i or j following, which has generally been dropped)³:

[Footnote 3: Many of the i's which appear in derivative and inflectional syllables are late weakenings of a and other vowels, as in bani (death) = Old English bana; these do not cause mutation.]

a (ǫ) ... ę :-- mann (man acc.), męnn (men); hǫnd (hand), hęndr (hands).

u (o) ... y :-- fullr (full), fylla (to fill); lopt (air), lypta (lift).

jū (jō) ... ȳ :-- sjūkr (sick), sȳki (sickness); ljōsta (strike), lȳstr (strikes).

23. The change of a into ę is sometimes the result of a following k, g, or ng, as in dęgi dat. sg. of dagr (day), tękinn (taken), gęnginn (gone), inf. taka, ganga. i appears instead of e, and u instead of o before a nasal followed by another cons.: cp. binda (to bind), bundinn (bound) with bresta (burst) ptc. prt. brostinn.

24. There is also a u-mutation, caused by a following u, which has often been dropped:

25. Unaccented ǫ becomes u, as in sumur pl. of sumar (summer), kǫlluðu (they called), infin. kalla.

26. The only vowel that is affected by fracture is e: when followed by original a it becomes ja, when followed by original u it becomes jǫ, as in jarðar gen. of jǫrð (earth)⁴. When followed by original i, the e is, of course, mutated to i, as in skildir plur. nom. of skjǫldr (shield), gen. skjaldar.

e (i, ja) ... a ... u (o) :-- bresta (burst), prt. brast, prt. pl. brustu, ptc. prt. brostinn; finna (find), fundinn (found ptc.), fundr (meeting).

e ... a ... ā ... o :-- stela (steal), prt. stal, prt. pl. stālu, ptc. prt. stolinn.

e ... a ... ā ... e :-- gefa (give), gaf (he gave), gāfu (they gave), gefinn (given), gjǫf (gift), u-fracture of gef-, gæfa (luck) mut. of gāf-.

ī ... ei ... i :-- skīna (shine), skein (he shone), skinu (they shone). sōl-skin (sunshine).

jū (jō) ... au ... u ... o :-- ljūga (tell a lie), prt. laug, prt. pl. lugu, ptc. prt. loginn. lygi (lie sbst.) mut. of lug-. skjōta (shoot), skjōtr (swift), skotinn (shot ptc.), skot (shot subst.).

29. Inflectional and derivative vowels are often dropt after long accented vowels: cp. ganga (to go) with fā (to get), the dat. plurals knjām (knees) with hūsum (houses).

30. Vowels are often lengthened before l + cons.: hālfr (half adj.), fōlk (people); cp. fōlginn (hidden) with brostinn (burst ptc.).

31. v is dropped before o and u: vaxa (to grow), prt. ōx, vinna (to win), unninn (won ptc.), svelta (to starve), soltinn (starved, hungry).

32. *-lr, *-nr, *-sr always become -ll, -nn, -ss after a long vowel or diphthong, as in stōll (chair nom.), acc. stōl, steinn (stone nom.), acc. stein, vīss (wise masc. nom. sg.), vīs fem. nom. sg., and in unacc. syllables, as in the masc. sg. nominatives mikill (great), fem. mikil, borinn (carried), fem. borin, ȳmiss (various) fem. ȳmis.

33. Words in which l, n, r, s are preceded by a cons. drop the r entirely, as in the masc. nominatives jarl (earl), hrafn (raven), vitr (wise), þurs (giant), lax (salmon).

34. If l and n are preceded by a short accented vowel, the r is generally kept, as in stelr (steals), vinr, (friend), sr becoming ss, as elsewhere.

35. r is kept after ll, and generally after nn, as in the masc. nom. allr (all), and in bręnnr (burns).

36. z often stands for ðs as well as ts, as in þēr þykkizk (ye seem) = *þykkið-sk, Vest-firzkr (belonging to the West Firths) = -*firðskr (fǫrðr, firth).

37. Inflectional t is generally doubled after a long accented vowel: fār (few) neut. fātt (cp. allr 'all,' neut. allt), sā (I saw), sātt 'thou sawest.'

38. Gender. There are three genders in Icelandic--masculine, feminine, and neuter. The gender is partly natural, partly grammatical, generally agreeing with the gender in Old English. Compound words follow the gender of their last element.

39. Strong and Weak. All weak nouns end in a vowel in the nom. sg. and in most of the other cases as well. Most strong nouns end in a cons. in the nom. sg.

40. Cases. There are four cases--nominative, accusative, dative, genitive. All nouns (except a few contractions) have the gen. pl. in -a (fiska, of fishes), and the dat. pl. in -um (fiskum). All strong masculines (fiskr) and some strong feminines (brūðr, bride) take r⁵ in the nom. sg. Most strong feminines show the bare root in the nom. sg. with u-mutation, if possible (āst, favour, fǫr, journey). The nom. pl. of all strong masc. and fem. nouns ends in r (fiskar, āstir). The acc. pl. of fem. nouns is the same as the nom. pl. (āstir). The acc. pl. of masc. strong nouns always ends in a vowel (fiska). The plur. nom. and acc. of neuters is the same as the sing. nom. and acc., except that in the plur. nom. and acc. they take u-mutation, if possible (hūs, houses, lǫnd, lands).

42. So also heimr (home, world); konungr (king); Þōrr (Thor), acc. Þōr, gen. Þōrs; steinn (stone), acc. stein, gen. steins, pl. nom. steinar; hrafn (raven), acc. hrafn, pl. nom. hrafnar; þurs (giant), acc. gen. þurs, pl. nom. þursar.

43. Dissyllables in -r, -l, -n generally throw out the preceding vowel before a vowel-inflection: hamarr (hammer), dat. hamri; jǫtunn (giant), pl. nom. jǫtnar. kętill (kettle) and lykill (key) show unmutated vowels in the contracted forms, as in the acc. plur. katla, lukla.

44. Some nouns of this decl. take -ar in the gen. sing., especially proper names, such as Hākon, gen. Hākonar.

46. The dat. sometimes drops the i: sæ (sea), Þōr. dagr (day) mutates its vowel in the dat. dęgi.

51. Those ending in g or k (together with some others) insert j before a and u: bękkr (bench), bękk, bękk, bękkjar; bękkir, bękki, bękkjum, bękkja. So also męrgr (marrow), stręngr (string).

52. So also vǫndr (twig), vǫllr (plain), viðr (wood). āss (god) has plur. nom. æsir, acc. āsu. sonr (son) has dat. sg. syni, plur. nom. synir. It regularly drops its r of the nom. in such compounds as Tryggva-son (son of Tryggvi).

53. So also fingr (finger), gen. fingrar, pl. fingr; vetr (winter), pl. vetr. maðr (man) is irregular: maðr, mann, manni, manns; męnn, męnn, mǫnnum, manna.

55. Pres. participles used as nouns follow this decl. in the pl., following the weak class in the sg.:

57. So also orð (word), land (land) pl. lǫnd, sumar (summer) pl. sumur (§ 25).

58. męn (necklace), kyn (race), grey (dog) insert j before a and u: greyjum. hǫgg (stroke) inserts v before a vowel: hǫggvi. knē (knee), knē, knē, knēs; knē, knē, kjām, knjā. So also trē (tree).

60. So also klæði (cloth). Those in k insert j before a and u: męrki (mark), męrkjum, męrkja. So also rīki (sovereignty).

63. Many take -u in the dat. sg.: kęrling (old woman), kęrling, kęrlingu, kęrlingar; kęrlingar, kęrlingar, kęrlingum, kęrlinga. So also laug (bath).

64. Those with a mutated root-vowel (or i) insert j in inflection: ey (island), ey, eyju, eyjar; eyjar, eyjar, eyjum, eyja. So also Frigg, Hęl. mær (maid), mey, meyju, meyjar; meyjar, meyjar, meyjum, meyja.

66. So also sorg (sorrow), skipun (arrangement), hǫfn (harbour) pl. hafnir, and the majority of strong feminines.

67. Many have -u in the dat. sg.: sōl (sun), sōl, sōlu, sōlar; sōlir, sōlir, sōlum, sōla. So also jǫrð (earth), stund (period of time).

68. One noun has r in the nom. sg., following heiðr in the sg.: brūðr (bride), brūði, brūði, brūðar; brūðir, brūðir, brūðum, brūða.

69. So also nātt (night) pl. nætr, bōt (compensation) pl. bœtr, tǫnn (tooth) gen. tannar pl. tęnnr.

75. hǫfðingi (chief) and some others insert j in inflection: hǫfðingja, hǫfðingjar, hǫfðingjum.

80. So also stjarna (star) pl. stjǫrnur, kirkja (church), gen. plurals stjarna, kirkna.

83. Adjectives have three genders, and the same cases as nouns, though with partly different endings, together with strong and weak forms.

86. Some insert v before a vowel: hār (high), hāvan, dökkr (dark), dökkvir, kykr (alive), kykvir.

87. The t of the neut. is doubled after a long vowel: nȳtt, hātt. Monosyllables in ð, dd, tt form their neut. in -tt: breiðr (broad), breitt; leiddr (led), leitt. gōðr (good) has neut. gott. sannr (true) has neut. satt. In unaccented syllables or if a cons. precedes, tt is shortened to t: kallaðr (called), kallat; blindr (blind), blint, harðr (hard), hart, fastr (firm), fast.

88. l and n assimilate a following r: gamall (old), fem. gǫmul, fem. acc. gamla, dat. gamalli. vǣnn (beautiful), gen. pl. vænna.

90. Dissyllables in -inn have -it in the neut., and -inn in the masc. sg. acc.: tīginn (distinguished), tīgit, tīginn, pl. tīgnīr. So also kominn (come).

93. So also all comparatives, such as meiri (greater), and pres. partic. when used as adjectives, such as gefandi (giving), dat. pl. gefǫndum.

94. (1) with -ari, -astr: rīkr (powerful), rīkari, rīkastr; gǫfugr (distinguished), gǫfgari, gǫfgastr.

95. (2) with -ri, -str and mutation: langr (long), lęngri, lęngstr; stōrr (big), stœrri, stœrstr; ungr (young), yngri, yngstr.

It also has a pl. einir, einar, ein; gen. einna, etc. in the sense of 'some.'

103. The others are indeclinable up to þrīr tigir, etc.; the tigir being declined regularly as a plural strong u-masculine tigir, tigu, tigum, tiga.

104. hundrað is a strong neut.: tvau hundruð (240), tveim hundruðum, etc. It governs the gen. (as also does þūsund): fimm hundruð gōlfa, 'five (six) hundred chambers.'

107. Of the ordinals fyrstr and annarr (§ 91) are strong, the others weak adjectives. þriði inserts a j: þriðja, etc.

109. ek was often suffixed to its verb, especially in poetry, being sometimes added twice over: mætta-k (I might), sā-k-a-k (I saw not; a='not'). So also þū: er-tu (art thou), skalt-u (shalt thou) = *skalt-tu.

111. vārr, vārt, vār (our) is regular: acc. masc. vārn, masc. plur. vārir, vāra, vārum, vārra, etc.

113. hans (his), þess (its), hęnnar (her), and þeira (their) are indeclinable.

115. hinn, hitt, hin (that) is inflected like minn (except that its vowel is short throughout): acc. masc. hinn, plur. masc. hinir, hina, hinum, hinna.

118. When suffixed to its noun it undergoes various changes. In its monosyllabic forms it drops its vowel after a short (un-accented) vowel, as in auga-t (the eye), but keeps it after a long vowel, as in ā-in (the river), trē-it (the tree). The dissyllabic forms drop their initial vowel almost everywhere; not, however, after the -ar, -r, of the gen. sg., nor in męnninir (men, nom.), męnn-ina (men, acc.). The -m of the dat. pl. is dropped before the suffixed -num.

119. The ordinary relative pron. is the indeclinable er, often preceded by sā: sā er = he who, who, sū er who fem.

120. The neut. hvat has gen. hvess, dat. hvī, which last is chiefly used as an adverb = 'why.'

123. einn-hvęrr, eitthvęrt, einhvęr (some one) keeps an invariable ein- in the other cases, the second element being inflected as above.

127. In hvār-tvęggja (each of the two, both) the first element is declined as above, the second is left unchanged.

128. There are two classes of verbs, strong and weak. Strong verbs are conjugated partly by means of gradation, weak verbs by adding ð (d, t).

129. The ð of the 2 pl. is dropt before þit (ye two) and þēr (ye): gefi þēr, gāfu þit.

130. There is a middle voice, which ends in -mk in the 1 pers. sg. and pl., the rest of the verb being formed by adding sk to the active endings, r being dropt, the resulting ts, ðs being written z (§ 36): kvezk (active kveðr 'says'), þu fekkzk (fekkt 'gottest').

131. The following is the conjugation of the strong verb gefa (give), which will show those endings which are common to all verbs:

Imperative sg. 2 gef; pl. 1 gef-um, 2 gef-ið.
Participle pres. gef-andi; pret. gef-inn.
Infin. gefa.

Impers. sg. 2 gef-sk; pl. 1 gef-umk, 2 gef-izk.
Partic. pres. gef-andisk; pret. gef-izk neut.
Infin. gef-ask.

132. In the strong verbs the plur. of the pret. indic. generally has a different vowel from that of the sing. The 1 sg. pret. of the middle voice always has the vowel of the pl. pret.: gāfumk. The pret. subj. has the vowel of the pret. indic. plur. mutated: skaut (he shot), skutu (they shot), skyti (he might shoot). But there is no mutation in verbs of the first conj.: hljōpi, inf. hlaupa (leap).

133. The pres. indic. sing. mutates the root-vowel in all three persons: ek skȳt, þū skȳtr, hann skȳtr, infin. skjōta (shoot). e however is not mutated: ek gef, þū gefr. The inflectional r is liable to the same modifications as the r of nouns (§ 32): skīnn, vęx, infin. skīna (shine), vaxa (grow).

134. Verbs in ld change the d into t in the 1, 3 sg. pret. indic. and in the imper. sg.: helt (held), halt (hold!), infin. halda. nd becomes tt, and ng becomes kk under the same conditions: binda (bind), ganga (go), pret. batt, gekk, imper. bitt, gakk.

135. The t of the 2 sg. pret. indic. is doubled after a long accented vowel: þū sātt (thou sawest). If the 1 sg. pret. indic. ends in t or ð, the 2 sg. ends in zt: lēt (I let), þū lēzt, bauð (I offered) þū bauzt.

136. There are seven conjugations of strong verbs, distinguished mainly by the characteristic vowels of their preterites.

139. heita in the passive sense of 'to be named, called' has a weak present: ek heiti, þū heitir.

143. The following have weak presents (which makes however no difference in their conjugation):

[Footnote 6: sē, sēr, sēr; sjām, sēð, sjā. Subj. sē, sēr, sē; sēm, sēð, sē.]

150. There are three conjugations of weak verbs. All those of the first conjugation have mutated vowels in the pres., and form their pret. with ð (d, t): heyra (hear), heyrða. Those of the second form their pret. in the same way, but have unmutated vowels in the pres.: hafa (have) hafða. Those of the third form their pret. in -aða: kalla (call), kallaða.

Imper. sg. 1. heyr; pl. 1. heyr-um, 2. heyr-ið.
Partic. pres. heyr-andi; pret. heyr-ðr.
Infin. heyr-a.

Imper. sg. 2. heyr-sk; pl. 1. heyr-umk, 2. heyr-izk.
Partic. pres. heyr-andisk; pret. heyr-zk neut.
Infin. heyr-ask.

152. The inflectional ð becomes d after long syllables ending in l or n: sigla (sail), siglda; nęfna (name), nęfnda, nęfndr.

154. ð after s and t becomes t: reisa (raise), reista; mœta (meet), mœtta. Also in a few verbs in l, n: mæla (speak), mælta; spęnna (buckle), spęnta.

155. After nd and pt it is dropped: sęnda (send), sęnda, sęndr; lypta (lift), lypta.

156. It is preserved in such verbs as the following: dœma (judge), dœmða; fœra (lead), fœrða; hęrða (harden), hęrða; hleypa (gallop), hleypða.

157. All these verbs have j preceded by a short syllable (tęlja), or a long vowel without any cons. after it (dȳja), or gg (lęggja); the j being kept before a and u, as in the pres. ind. of spyrja (ask): spyr, spyrr, spyrr; spyrjum, spyrið, spyrja, pres. subj. 1 sg. ek spyrja; they unmutate their vowel in the pret. and ptc. pret. (spurða, spurðr), the mutation being restored in the pret. subj. spyrða, spyrðir, etc. The ptc. pret. often has an i before the ð.

161. The few verbs of this class are conjugated like those of conj. I, except that some of them have imperatives in -i: vaki, þęfi; uni. lifa, sęgja have imper. lif, sęg. They mutate the vowel of the pret. subj. (ynða). Their partic. pret. generally occurs only in the neut.; sometimes the a is dropped.

164. The rest of hafa is regular. Pres. subj. hafa, hafir, hafi; hafim, hafið, hafi. Pret. indic. hafða, hafðir, hafði; hǫfdum, hǫfðuð, hǫfðu. Pret. subj. hęfða, hęfðir, hęfði; hęfðim, hęfðið, hęfði. Imper. haf, hǫfum, hafið. Ptc. hafandi, hafðr.

Imper. sing. 2. kall-a; plur. 1. kǫll-um, 2. kall-ið.
Partic. pres. kall-andi; pret. kallaðr (neut. kallat).
Infin. kalla.

Imper. sing. 2. kall-ask; pl. 1. kǫll-umk, 2. kall-izk.
Partic. pres. kall-andisk; pret. kall-azk neut.
Infin. kall-ask.

166. These have old strong preterites for their presents, from which new weak preterites are formed.

167. Of these verbs munu and skulu have preterite infinitives: mundu, skyldu.

170. Composition with the genitive is very frequent in Icelandic. Thus by the side of skip-stjōrn (ship-steering) we find skips-brot (ship's breaking, shipwreck), skipa-hęrr (army of ships, fleet). Genitival composition often expresses possession, as in konungs-skip (king's ship).

all- 'all,' 'very': all-valdr 'all-ruler, monarch,' all-harðr 'very hard,' all-stōrum 'very greatly.'

and- 'against': and-lit 'countenance' (lita, look), and-svar 'answer.'

ū- 'un-': ū-friðr 'war' (friðr, peace), ū-happ 'misfortune' (happ luck).

172. -ingr, -ingi, -ing: vīkingr 'pirate,' hǫfðingi 'chief,' kęrling 'old woman.'

173. -ð, fem. with mutation: fęgrð 'beauty' (fagr, fair), fęrð 'journey' (fara, go), lęngð 'length' (langr, long).

-leikr, masc.: kœr-leikr 'affection' (hœrr, dear), skjōt-leikr 'speed' (skjōtr, swift).

-ligr '-ly': undr-ligr 'wonderful,' sann-ligr 'probable' (sannr, true).

175. -na: brotna 'be broken' (brotinn, broken), hvītna 'become white,' vakna 'awake.' Used to form intransitive and inchoative verbs of the third conj.

176. -liga '-ly': undar-liga 'wonderfully,' stęrk-liga 'strongly' (stęrkr, strong).

177. Icelandic syntax greatly resembles Old English, but has several peculiarities of its own.

178. Concord is carried out very strictly in Icelandic: allir męnn vāru būnir 'all the men were ready,' allir vāru drepnir 'all were killed.'

179. A plural adj. or pronoun referring to two nouns of different (natural or grammatical) gender is always put in the neuter: þā gekk hann upp, ok með honum Loki (masc.), ok Þjālfi (masc.), ok Rǫskva (fem.). þā er þau (neut.) hǫfðu lītla hrið gęngit... 'he landed, and with him L., and Þ., and R. When they had walked for some time...'

180. The extensive use of the instrumental dative is very characteristic of Icelandic: whenever the direct object of a verb can be considered as the instrument of the action expressed by the verb, it is put in the dative, as in kasta spjōti 'throw a spear' (lit. 'throw with a spear'), hann helt hamarskaptinu 'he grasped the handle of the hammer,' heita þvī 'promise that,' jāta þvī 'agree to that.'

181. The weak form of adjectives is used as in O.E. after the definite article, þessi and other demonstratives. annarr (other) is always strong.

182., An adj. is often set in apposition to a following noun to denote part of it: eiga hālft dȳrit 'to have half of the animal,' ǫnnur þau 'the rest of them,' of miðja nātt 'in the middle of the night.'

183. sā is often put pleonastically before the definite article inn, both before and after the subst.: sā inn ungi maðr 'that young man,' hafit þat it djūpa 'the deep sea.'

184. The definite article is generally not expressed at all, or else einn, einnhvęrr is used.

185. A noun (often a proper name) is often put in apposition to a dual pron. of the first and second persons, or a plur. of the third person: þit fēlagar, 'thou and thy companions,' með þeim Āka 'with him and Āki.' Similarly stęndr Þōrr upp ok þeir fēlagar 'Thor and his companions get up.'

186. The plurals vēr, þēr are sometimes used instead of the singulars ek, þū, especially when a king is speaking or being spoken to.

187. sik and sēr are used in a strictly reflexive sense, referring back to the subject of the sentence, like se in Latin: Þorr bauð honum til matar með sēr 'Thor asked him to supper with him.'

188. The tenses for which there is no inflection in the active, and all those of the passive, are formed by the auxiliaries skal (shall), hafa (have), vera (be) with the infin. and ptc. pret., much as in modern English.

189. The historical present is much used, often alternating abruptly with the preterite.

190. The middle voice is used: (1) in a purely reflexive sense: spara 'spare,' sparask 'spare oneself, reserve one's strength.' (2) intransitively: būa 'prepare,' būask 'become ready, be ready'; sętja 'set,' sętjask 'sit down'; sȳna 'show,' sȳnask 'appear, seem.' (3) reciprocally: bęrja 'strike,' bęrjask 'fight'; hitta, 'find,' hittask 'meet.' In other cases it specializes the meaning of the verb, often emphasizing the idea of energy or effort: koma 'come,' komask 'make one's way.'

191. The impersonal form of expression is widely used in Icelandic: rak ā storm (acc.) fyrir þeim 'a storm was driven in their face.'

192. The indef. 'one' is expressed in the same way by the third pers. sg., and this form of expression is often used when the subject is perfectly definite: ok freista skal þessar īþrōttar 'and this feat shall be tried (by you).'

193. The abrupt change from the indirect to the direct narration is very common: Haraldi konungi var sagt at þar var komit bjarndȳri, 'ok ā Īslęnzkr maðr,' 'King Harold was told that a bear had arrived, and that an Icelander owned it.' The direct narration is also used after at (that): hann svarar at 'ek skal rīða til Hęljar' 'he answers that he will ride to Hel.'

Lēt hann þar ęptir hafra, ok byrjaði fęrðina austr ī Jǫtun-heima, ok alt til hafsins; ok þā fōr hann ūt yfir hafit þat it djūpa; en er hann kom til lands, þā gekk hann upp, ok með honum Loki, ok Þjālfi, ok Rǫskva. Þā er þau hǫfðu lītla hrīð gęngit, varð fyrir þeim mǫrk stōr; gengu þau þann dag allan til myrkrs. Þjālfi var allra manna fōt-hvatastr; hann bar kȳl Þōrs, en til vista var eigi gott. Þā er myrkt var orðit, leituðu þeir sēr til nāttstaðar, ok fundu fyrir sēr skāla nakkvarn mjǫk mikinn, vāru dyrr ā ęnda, ok jafn-breiðar skālanum; þar leituðu þeir sēr nātt- bōls. En of miðja nātt varð land-skjālfti mikill, gekk jǫrðin undir þeim skykkjum, ok skalf hūsit. Þā stōð Þōrr upp, ok hēt ā lagsmęnn sīna; ok leituðusk fyrir, ok fundu af-hūs til hœgri handar i miðjum skālanum, ok gengu þannig; sęttisk Þōrr ī dyrrin, en ǫnnur þau vāru innar frā honum, ok vāru þau hrædd, en Þōrr helt hamarskaptinu, ok hugði at vęrja sik; þā heyrðu þau ym mikinn ok gnȳ. En er kom at dagan, þā gekk Þōrr ūt, ok sēr hvar lā maðr skamt frā honum ī skōginum, ok var sā eigi lītill; hann svaf, ok hraut stęrkliga. Þā þōttisk Þōrr skiIja hvat lātum verit hafði of nāttina; hann spęnnir sik męgingjǫrðum, ok ōx honum āsmęgin; en ī þvī vaknar maðr sā, ok stōð skjōtt upp; en þā er sagt at Þōr varð bilt einu sinni at slā hann með ham- rinum; ok spurði hann at nafni, en sā nęfndisk Skrȳmir: 'en eigi þarf ek,' sagði hann, 'at spyrja þik at nafni: kęnni ek at þū ert Āsaþōrr; en hvārt hęfir þū dręgit ā braut hanzka minn?' Seildisk þā Skrȳmir til, ok tōk upp hanzka sinn; sēr Þōrr þā at þat hafði hann haft of nāttina fyrir skāla, en afhūsit þat var þumlungrinn hanzkans. Skrȳmir spurði ef Þōrr vildi hafa fǫru-neyti hans, en Þōrr jātti þvī. Þā tōk Skrȳmir ok leysti nestbagga sinn, ok bjōsk til at eta dǫgurð, en Þōrr ī ǫðrum stað ok hans fēlagar. Skrȳmir bauð þā at þeir lęgði mǫtu-neyti sitt, en Þōrr jātti þvī; þā batt Skrȳmir nest þeira alt ī einn bagga, ok lagði ā bak sēr; hann gekk fyrir of daginn, ok steig hęldr stōrum, en sīðan at kveldi leitaði Skrȳmir þeim nāttstaðar undir eik nakkvarri mikilli. Þā mælti Skrȳmir til Þōrs at hann vill lęggjask niðr at sofna; 'en þēr takið nest-baggann, ok būið til nātt-verðar yðr.' Þvī næst sofnar Skrȳmir, ok hraut fast; en Þōrr tōk nest-baggann ok skal leysa; en svā er at sęgja, sem ū-trūligt mun þykkja, at engi knūt fekk hann leyst, ok engi ālar- ęndann hreyft, svā at þā væri lausari en āðr. Ok er hann sēr at þetta verk mā eigi nȳtask, þā varð hann reiðr, greip þā hamarinn Mjǫllni tveim hǫndum, ok steig fram ǫðrum fœti at þar er Skrȳmir lā, ok lȳstr ī hǫfuð honum; en Skrȳmir vaknar, ok spyrr hvārt laufs-blað nakkvat felli ī hǫfuð honum, eða hvārt þeir hęfði þā matazk, ok sē būnir til rękkna. Þōrr sęgir at þeir munu þā sofa ganga. Ganga þau þā undir aðra eik. Er þat þēr satt at sęgja, at ekki var þā ōttalaust at sofa. En at miðri nātt þā heyrir Þōrr at Skrȳmir hrȳtr, ok söfr fast, svā at dunar ī skōginum. Þā stęndr hann upp, ok gęngr til hans, reiðir hamarinn tītt ok hart, ok lȳstr ofan ī miðjan hvirfil honum; hann kęnnir at hamars-muðrinn sökkr djūpt ī hǫfuðit. En ī þvī bili vaknar Skrȳmir, ok mælti: 'hvat er nū? fell akarn nakkvat ī hǫfuð mēr? eða hvat er tītt um þik, Þōrr?' En Þōrr gekk aptr skyndiliga, ok svarar at hann var þā nȳvaknaðr, sagði at þā var mið nātt, ok enn væri māl at sofa. Þā hugsaði Þōrr þat, ef hann kvæmi svā ī fœri at slā hann it þriðja hǫgg, at aldri skyldi hann sjā sik sīðan; liggr nū ok gætir ef Skrȳmir sofnaði fast. En lītlu fyrir dagan þā heyrir hann at Skrȳmir mun sofnat hafa; stęndr þā upp, ok hleypr at honum, reiðir þā hamarinn af ǫllu afli ok lȳstr ā þunn-vangann þann er upp vissi; sökkr þā hamarrinn upp at skaptinu. En Skrȳ- mir sęttisk upp, ok strauk of vangann, ok mælti: 'hvārt munu fuglar nakkvarir sitja ī trēnu yfir mēr? mik grunaði, er ek vaknaða, at tros nakkvat af kvistunum felli ī hǫfuð mēr; hvārt vakir þū, Þōrr? Māl mun vera upp at standa ok klæðask, en ekki eigu þēr nū langa leið fram til borgar- innar er kǫlluð er Ūt-garðr. Heyrt hęfi ek at þēr hafið kvisat ī milli yðvar at ek væra ekki lītill maðr vęxti, en sjā skulu þēr þar stœrri męnn, er þēr komið ī Ūtgarð. Nū mun ek rāða yðr heil-ræði: lāti þēr eigi stōrliga yfir yðr, ekki munu hirðmęnn Ūtgarða-loka vel þola þvīlīkum kǫgur- sveinum kǫpur-yrði; en at ǫðrum kosti hverfið aptr, ok þann ætla ek yðr bętra af at taka. En ef þēr vilið fram fara, þā stęfni þēr ī austr, en ek ā nū norðr leið til fjalla þessa er nū munu þēr sjā mega.' Tękr Skrȳmir nest-bag- garm, ok kastar ā bak sēr, ok snȳr þvęrs ā braut ī skōginn frā þeim, ok er þess eigi getit at æsirnir bæði þā heila hittask.

Þōrr fōr fram ā leið ok þeir fēlagar, ok gekk fram til miðs dags; þā sā þeir borg standa ā vǫllum nǫkkurum, ok sęttu hnakkann ā bak sēr aptr, āðr þeir fengu sēt yfir upp; ganga til borgarinnar, ok var grind fyri borg-hliðinu, ok lokin aptr. Þōrr gekk ā grindina, ok fekk eigi upp lokit; en er þeir þreyttu at komask ī borgina, þā smugu þeir milli spalanna ok kōmu svā inn; sā þā hǫll mikla, ok gengu þannig; var hurðin opin; þā gengu þeir inn, ok sā þar marga męnn ā tvā bękki, ok flesta œrit stōra. Þvī næst koma þeir fyrir konunginn, Ūtgarðaloka, ok kvǫddu hann, en hann leit seint til þeira, ok glotti um tǫnn, ok mælti: 'seint er um langan veg at spyrja tīðinda, eða er annan veg en ek hygg, at þessi svein-stauli sē Ǫkuþōrr? en meiri muntu vera en mēr līzk þū; eða hvat īþrōtta er þat er þēr fēlagar þykkizk vera við būnir? Engi skal hēr vera með oss sā er eigi kunni nakkvars konar list eða kunnandi um fram flesta męnn.' Þā sęgir sā er sīðast gekk, er Loki heitir: 'kann ek þā īþrōtt, er ek em al-būinn at reyna, at engi er hēr sā inni er skjōtara skal eta mat sinn en ek.' Þā svarar Ūtgarðaloki: 'īþrōtt er þat, ef þū ęfnir, ok freista skal þā þessar īþrōttar;' kallaði utar ā bękkinn at sā er Logi heitir skal ganga ā gōlf fram, ok freista sīn ī mōti Loka. Þā var tękit trog eitt, ok borit inn ā hallar- gōlfit, ok fylt af slātri; sęttisk Loki at ǫðrum ęnda, en Logi at ǫðrum, ok āt hvārr-tvęggja sem tīðast, ok mœttusk ī miðju troginu; hafði þā Loki etit slātr alt af beinum, en Logi hafði ok etit slātr alt ok beinin með, ok svā trogit; ok sȳndisk nū ǫllum sem Loki hęfði lātit leikinn. Þā spyrr Ūtgarðaloki hvat sā inn ungi maðr kunni leika. En Þjālfi sęgir at hann mun freista at ręnna skeið nǫkkur við einn-hvęrn þann er Ūtgarðaloki fær til. Hann sęgir, Ūtgarða]oki, at þetta er gōð īþrōtt, ok kallar þess meiri vān at hann sē vel at sēr būinn of skjōtleikinn, ef hann skal þessa īþrōtt inna; en þō lætr hann skjōtt þessa skulu freista. Stęndr þā upp Ūtgarða- loki, ok gęngr ūt, ok var þar gott skeið at ręnna ęptir slēttum vęlli. Þā kallar Ūtgarðaloki til sīn sveinstaula nakkvarn, er nęfndr er Hugi, ok bað hann ręnna ī kǫpp við Þjālfa. Þā taka þeir it fyrsta skeið, ok er Hugi þvī framar at hann snȳsk aptr ī mōti honum at skeiðs ęnda. Þā mælti Ūtgarða- loki: 'þurfa muntu, Þjālfi, at lęggja þik meir fram, ef þū skalt vinna leikinn; en þō er þat satt, at ekki hafa hēr komit þeir męnn er mēr þykkja fōthvatari en svā.' Þā taka þeir aptr annat skeið, ok þā er Hugi er kominn til skeiðs ęnda, ok hann snȳsk aptr, þā var langt kōlf-skot til Þjālfa. Þā mælti Ūtgarðaloki: 'vel þykkir mēr Þjālfi ręnna; en eigi trūi ek honum nū at hann vinni leikinn, en nū mun reyna, er þeir ręnna it þriðja skeiðit.' Þā taka þeir ęnn skeið; en er Hugi er kominn til skeiðs ęnda ok snȳsk aptr, ok er Þjālfi eigi þā kominn ā mitt skeiðit; þā sęgja allir at reynt er um þenna leik. Þā spyrr Ūtgarðaloki Þōr, hvat þeira īþrōtta mun vera er hann muni vilja birta fyrir þeim, svā miklar sǫgur sem męnn hafa gǫ̈rt um stōrvirki hans. Þā mælti Þōrr at hęlzt vill hann þat taka til, at þreyta drykkju við einnhvęrn mann. Ūtgarðaloki sęgir at þat mā vel vera; ok gęngr inn ī hǫllina, ok kallar skutil-svein sinn, biðr at hann taki vītis-horn þat, er hirðmęnn eru vanir at drekka af. Þvī næst kömr fram skutilsveinn með horninu, ok fær Þōr ī hǫnd. Þā mælti Ūtgarðaloki: 'af horni þessu þykkir þā vel drukkit, ef ī einum drykk gęngr af, en sumir męnn drekka af ī tveim drykkjum, en engi er svā lītill drykkju- maðr, at eigi gangi af ī þrimr.' Þōrr lītr ā hornit, ok sȳnisk ekki mikit, ok er þō hęldr langt, en hann er mjǫk þyrstr; tękr at drekka, ok svelgr allstōrum, ok hyggr at eigi skal þurfa at lūta optar at sinni ī hornit. En er hann þraut örindit, ok hann laut ōr horninu, ok sēr hvat leið drykkinum, ok līzk honum svā, sem all-lītill munr mun vera at nū sē lægra ī horninu en āðr. Þā mælti Ūtgarðaloki: 'vel er drukkit, ok eigi til mikit; eigi munda-k trūa, ef mēr væri sagt frā, at Āsaþōrr mundi eigi meira drykk drekka; en þō veit ek at þū munt vilja drekka af ī ǫðrum drykk.' Þōrr svarar engu, sętr hornit ā munn sēr, ok hyggr nū at hann skal drekka meira drykk, ok þreytir ā drykkjuna, sem honum vannsk til örindi, ok sēr ęnn at stikillinn hornsins vill ekki upp svā mjǫk sem honum līkar; ok er hann tōk hornit af munni sēr ok sēr, līzk honum nū svā, sem minna hafi þorrit en ī inu fyrra sinni; er nū gott beranda borð ā horninu. Þā mælti Ūtgarðaloki: 'hvat er nū, Þōrr? muntu nū eigi sparask til eins drykkjar meira en þēr mun hagr ā vera? Svā līzk mēr, ef þū skalt nū drekka af horninu inn þriðja drykkinn, sem þessi mun mestr ætlaðr; en ekki muntu mega hēr með oss heita svā mikill maðr sem æsir kalla þik, ef þū gǫ̈rir eigi meira af þēr um aðra leika en mēr līzk sem um þenna mun vera.' Þā varð Þōrr reiðr, sętr hornit ā munn sēr, ok drekkr sem ākafligast mā hann, ok þreytir sem lęngst ā drykkinn; en er hann sā ī hornit, þā hafði nū hęlzt nakkvat munr ā fęngizk, ok þā bȳðr hann upp hornit, ok vill eigi drekka meira. Þā mælti Ūtgarðaloki: 'auð-sēt er nū at māttr þinn er ekki svā mikill sem vēr hugðum; en vill-tu freista um fleiri leika? Sjā mā nū, at ekki nȳtir þū hēr af.' Þōrr svarar: 'freista mā ek ęnn of nakkvara leika, en undarliga mundi mēr þykkja, þā er ek var heima með āsum, ef þvīlīkir drykkir væri svā lītlir kallaðir. En hvat leik vili þēr nū bjōða mēr?' Þā mælti Ūtgarðaloki: 'þat gǫ̈ra hēr ungir sveinar er lītit mark mun at þykkja, at hęfja upp af jǫrðu kǫtt minn; en eigi munda-k kunna at mæla þvīlīkt við Āsaþōr, ef ek hęfða eigi sēt fyrr at þū ert miklu minni fyrir þēr en ek hugða.' Þvī næst hljōp fram kǫttr einn grār ā hallargōlfit, ok hęldr mikill; en Þōrr gekk til, ok tōk hęndi sinni niðr undir miðjan kviðinn, ok lypti upp, en kǫttrinn beygði kęnginn, svā sem Þōrr rētti upp hǫndina; en er Þōrr seildisk svā langt upp sem hann mātti lęngst, þā lētti kǫttrinn einum fœti, ok fær Þōrr eigi framit þenna leik. Þā mælti Ūtgarðaloki: 'svā fōr þessi leikr sem mik varði; kǫttrinn er hęldr mikill, en Þōrr er lāgr ok lītill hjā stōr- męnni þvī sem hēr er með oss.' Þā mælti Þōrr: 'svā lītinn sem pēr kallið mik, þā gangi nū til einnhvęrr, ok fāisk við mik; nū em ek reiðr.' Þā svarar Ūtgarðaloki, ok litask um ā bękkina, ok mælti: 'eigi sē ek þann mann hēr inni, er eigi mun lītil-ræði ī þykkja at fāsk við þik;' ok ęnn mælti hann: 'sjām fyrst, kalli mēr hingat kęrlinguna, fōstru mīna Ęlli, ok fāisk Þōrr við hana, ef hann vill; fęlt hęfir hon þā męnn er mēr hafa litizk eigi ū-stęrkligri en Þōrr er.' Þvī næst gekk ī hǫllina kęrling ein gǫmul. Þā mælti Ūtgar- ðaloki, at hon skal taka fang við Āsaþōr. Ekki er langt um. at gǫ̈ra: svā fōr fang þat at þvī harðara er Þōrr knūðisk at fanginu, þvī fastara stōð hon; þā tōk kęrling at leita til þragða, ok varð Þōrr þā lauss ā fōtum, ok vāru þær svip- tingar all-harðar, ok eigi lęngi āðr en Þōrr fell ā knē ǫðrum fœti. Þā gekk til Ūtgarðaloki, bað þau hætta fanginu, ok sagði svā, at Þōrr mundi eigi þurfa at bjōða fleirum mǫnnum fang ī hans hǫll; var þā ok liðit ā nātt, vīsaði Ūtgarðaloki Þōr ok þeim fēlǫgum til sætis, ok dvęljask þar nātt-langt ī gōðum fagnaði.

En at morgni, þegar dagaði, stęndr Þōrr upp ok þeir fēlagar, klæða sik, ok eru būnir braut at ganga. Þā kom þar Ūtgarðaloki, ok lēt sętja þeim borð; skorti þā eigi gōðan fagnað, mat ok drykk. En er þeir hafa matazk, þā snūask þeir til fęrðar. Ūtgarðaloki fylgir þeim ūt, gęngr með þeim braut ōr borginni; en at skilnaði þā mælti Ūtgar- ðaloki til Þōrs, ok spyrr hvęrnig honum þykkir fęrð sīn orðin, eða hvārt hann hęfir hitt rīkara mann nakkvarn en sik. Þōrr svarar at eigi mun hann þat sęgja, at eigi hafi hann mikla ū-sœmð farit ī þeira við-skiptum; 'en þō veit ek at þēr munuð kalla mik lītinn mann fyrir mēr, ok uni ek þvī illa.' Þā mælti Ūtgarðaloki: 'nū skal sęgja þēr it sanna, er þū ert ūt kominn ōr borginni--ok ef ek lifi ok mega-k rāða, þā skaltu aldri optar ī hana koma; ok þat veit trūa mīn, at aldri hęfðir þū ī hana komit, ef ek hęfða vitat āðr at þū hęfðir svā mikinn krapt með þēr, ok þū hafðir svā nær haft oss mikilli ū-fœru. En sjōn-hvęrfingar hęfi ek gǫ̈rt þēr, svā at fyrsta sinn, er ek fann þik ā skōginum, kom ek til fundar við yðr; ok þā er þū skyldir leysa nestbaggann, þā hafða-k bundit með gres-jārni, en þū fannt eigi hvar upp skyldi lūka. En þvī næst laust þū mik með hamrinum þrjū hǫgg, ok var it fyrsta minst, ok var þō svā mikit, at mēr mundi ęndask til bana, ef ā hęfði komit; en þar er þū sātt hjā hǫll minni set-berg, ok þar sātt-u ofan ī þrjā dala fer- skeytta ok einn djūpastan, þat vāru hamarspor þin; setber- ginu brā ek fyrir hǫggin en eigi sātt þū þat. Svā var ok of leikana, er þēr þreyttuð við hirðmęnn mīna. Þā var þat it fyrsta, er Loki gǫ̈rði; hann var mjǫk soltinn, ok āt tītt; en sā er Logi hēt, þat var villi-eldr, ok bręndi hann eigi seinna slātrit en trogit. En er Þjālfi þreytti rāsina við þann er Hugi hēt, þat var hugi minn, ok var Þjālfa eigi vænt at þreyta skjōt-fœri við hann. En er þū drakkt af horninu, ok þōtti þēr seint līða,--en þat veit trūa mīn, at þā varð þat undr, er ek munda eigi trūa at vera mætti; annarr ęndir hornsins var ūt ī hafi, en þat sāttu eigi; en nū, er þū kömr til sævarins, þā mun-tu sjā mega, hvęrn þurð þū hęfir drukkit ā sænum.' Þat eru nū fjǫrur kallaðar. Ok ęnn mælti hann: 'eigi þōtti mēr hitt minna vera vert, er þū lyptir upp kęt- tinum, ok þēr satt at sęgja, þā hræddusk allir þeir er sā, er þū lyptir af jǫrðu einum fœtinum; en sā kǫttr var eigi sem þēr sȳndisk; þat var Miðgarðs-ormr, er liggr um lǫnd ǫll, ok vannsk honum varliga lęngðin til, at jǫrðina tœki sporðr ok hǫfuð; ok svā langt seildisk þū upp at skamt var þā til himins. En hitt var ok mikit undr um fangit, er þū fekkzk við Ęlli; fyrir þvī at engi hęfir sā orðit, ok engi mun verða, ef svā gamall er at ęlli bīðr, at eigi komi ęllin ǫllum til falls. Ok er nū þat sātt at sęgja, at vēr munum skiljask, ok mun þā bętr hvārratvęggju handar at þēr komið eigi optar mik at hitta; ek mun ęnn annat sinn vęrja borg mīna með þvīlīkum vēlum eða ǫðrum, svā at ekki vald munu þēr ā mēr fā.' En er Þōrr heyrði þessa tǫlu, greip hann til hamarsins, ok bregðr ā lopt; en er hann skal fram reiða, þā sēr hann þar hvęrgi Ūtgarðaloka, ok þā snȳsk hann aptr til borgarinnar, ok ætlask þā fyrir at brjōta borgina; þā sēr hann þar vǫllu vīða ok fagra, en enga borg. Snȳsk hann þā aptr, ok fęrr leið sina, til þess er hann kom aptr ī Þrūð- vanga.

Line 3. Hann ā þar rīki er Þrūð-vangar heita, 'he reigns (there) where it is called Þ.,' i.e. in the place which is called Þ. The plur. heita agrees with þrūðvangar, as in l. 14 below: þat eru jārnglōfar 'that is (his) iron gloves.'

l. 5. þat er hūs mest, svā at męnn hafa gǫ̈rt, 'that is the largest house, so that men have made (it),' i.e. the largest house that has been built. Note the plur. hūs of a single house; each chamber was originally regarded as a house, being often a detached building.

l. 1. fōr með hafra sīna...ok með honum sā, āss er... We see here that með generally takes an acc. to denote passive, and a dat. to denote voluntary accompaniment.

l. 20. þat er sā augnanna, 'the little he saw of the eyes.'-- Thor frowned till his eyebrows nearly covered his eyes, and the man felt as if he were going to fall down dead at the mere sight of them.

l. 36. þeir, the masc. instead of the neut. pl., as in l. 32 foll., showing that leituðu is meant to refer only to the men of the party, and not to include Rǫskva. (Gr. § 179.)

l. 66. būið til (prp.) nātt-verðar yðr, prepare supper for yourselves.

l. 77. Er þat þēr satt at sęgja. satt is in apposition to þat--'that is to be told you as the truth, (namely) that...'

l. 108. at æsirnir bæði þā heila hittask. The full sense is, 'that Thor and Loki expressed a wish that they and Skrȳmir might meet again safe and sound.'

ll. 111, 112. sęttu hnakkann ā bak sēr aptr, threw back the backs of their heads till they touched their backs, i.e. threw back their heads.

l. 120. glotti um tǫnn, 'grinned round a tooth,' i.e. showed his teeth in a malicious grin. Two MSS. read við instead of um.

l. 121. er annan veg en ek hygg, at...? is it otherwise than as I think, namely that...? i.e. am I not right in thinking that...?

l. 140. kallar þess meiri vān at hann sē... 'says that there is more probability of that, namely that he is...than of the contrary,' i.e. says that he will have to be...

l. 150. fōthvatari en svā, 'more swift-footed than so--under these circumstances,' i.e. than you.

l. 156. ok er Þjālfl eigi þā kominn... = þā er Þjālfi eigi kominn...

l. 89. heim. This use of heim in the sense of 'someone else's home.' is frequent. Cp. our 'drive a nail home.'

l. 6. Hēðinn = hann; this use of a proper name instead of a pronoun is frequent.

l. 259. vāpna is governed by the second half of the genitival compound klæða-būnað, which is here considered as two independent words.

l. 116. hęldr is here used pleonastically in a kind of apposition to the preceding bętr.

l. 129. þessi einn var svā hlutrinn, at..., this single thing is the case, namely that... i.e. the only thing is that...

l. 15. þō goes with the following at = ok sęlja, þōat (þōtt) væri ōr silfri.

æ follows að, ð follows d, ę follows e, œ follows oð, ǫ follows o, ö follows ǫ, þ follows t.

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I.	Thor
II.	Thor and Utgarðaloki
III.	Balder
IV.	Death of Balder
V.	Hēðinn and Hǫgni
VI.	Death of Olaf Tryggvason
VII.	Auðun
VIII.	Þrymskviða

a	as in	mann (G.)	halda (hold)
ā	"	father	rāð (advice)
e	"	été (F.)	gekk (went)
ē²		. . .	lēt (let pret.)
ę	"	men	męnn (men)

æ	as in	there	sær (sea)
i	"	fini (F.)	mikill (great)
ī		. . .	lītill (little)
o	"	beau (F.)	orð (word)
ō		. . .	tōk (look)
ǫ	"	not	hǫnd (hand)
ö	"	peu (F.)	kömr (comes)
œ		. . .	fœra (bring)
ǫ̈	"	peur (F.)	gǫ̈ra (make)
u	"	sou (F.)	upp (up)
ū		. . .	hūs (house)
y	"	tu (F.)	systir (sister)
ȳ		. . .	lȳsa (shine)
au	"	haus (G.)	lauss (loose)
ei	=	ę + i	bein (bone)
ey	=	ę + y	leysa (loosen)

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	fisk-r (fish)	fisk-ar
Acc.	fisk	fisk-a
Dat.	fisk-i	fisk-um
Gen.	fisk-s	fisk-a

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	hęlli-r (cave)	hęll-ar
Acc.	hęlli	hęll-a
Dat.	hęlli	hęll-um
Gen.	hęlli-s	hęll-a

Sg. Nom.	ęlli (old age)
Acc.	ęlli
Dat.	ęlli
Gen.	ęlli

	Masc.	Neut.	Fem.
Sg. Nom.	ung-r (young)	ung-t	ung
Acc.	ung-an	ung-t	ung-a
Dat.	ung-um	ung-u	ung-ri
Gen.	ung-s	ung-s	ung-rar

Pl. Nom.	ung-ir	ung	ung-ar
Acc.	ung-a	ung	ung-ar
Dat.	ung-um	ung-um	ung-um
Gen.	ung-ra	ung-ra	ung-ra

gamall (old)	ęllri	ęlztr
gōðr (good)	bętri	bęztr
illr (bad)	vęrri	vęrstr
lītill (little)	minni	minstr
margr (many)	fleiri	flestr
mikill (great)	meiri	mestr

	Cardinal	Ordinal
1.	einn (one)	fyrstr (first)
2.	tveir	annarr
3.	þrīr	þriði
4.	fjōrir	fjōrði
5.	fimm	fimmti
6.	sex	sētti
7.	sjau	sjaundi
8.	ātta	ātti
9.	nīu	nīundi
10.	tīu	tīundi
11.	ellifu	ellifti
12.	tōlf	tōlfti
13.	þrettān	þrettāndi
14.	fjōrtān
15.	fimmtān
16.	sextān
17.	sjautān
18.	ātjān
19.	nītjān
20.	tuttugu
21.	einn ok tuttugu, etc.
30.	þrīr tigir, etc.
100.	tīu tigir
110.	ellifu tigir
120.	hundrað
1200.	þūsund

Sg. Nom.	ek (I)	þū (thou)	--
Acc.	mik	þik	sik (oneself)
Dat.	mēr	þēr	sēr
Gen.	mīn	þīn	sīn

Dual. Nom.	vit	it	--
Acc.	okkr	ykkr	sik
Dat.	okkr	ykkr	sēr
Gen.	okkar	ykkar	sīn

Pl. Nom.	vēr (we)	þēr (ye)	--
Acc.	oss	yðr	sik (oneselves)
Dat.	oss	yðr	sēr
Gen.	vār	yðar	sīn

	Indicative	Subjunctive
Present sg. 1.	gef	gef-a
2.	gef-r	gef-ir
3.	gef-r	gef-i

pl. 1.	gef-um	gef-im
2.	gef-ið	gef-ið
3.	gef-a	gef-i

Preterite sg. 1.	gaf	gæf-a
2.	gaf-t	gæf-ir
3.	gaf	gæf-i

pl. 1.	gāf-um	gæf-im
2.	gāf-uð	gæf-ið
3.	gāf-u	gæf-i

Infin.	Third Pres.	Prt. Sing.	Prt. Pl.	Ptc. Prt.
falla (fall)	fęllr	fell	fellu	fallinn
lāta (let)	lætr	lēt	lētu	lātinn
rāða (advise)	ræðr	rēð	rēðu	rāðinn
heita (call)	heitr	hēt	hētu	heitinn
halda (hold)	hęldr	helt	heldu	haldinn
ganga (go)	gęngr	gekk	gengu	gęnginn
fā (get)	fær	fekk	fengu	fęnginn
--------------------------
auka (increase)	eykr	jōk	jōku	aukinn
būa (dwell)	bȳr	bjō	bjoggu	būinn
hǫggva (hew)	hǫggr	hjō	hjoggu	hǫggvinn
hlaupa (leap)	hleypr	hljōp	hljōpu	hlaupinn

bęrja (strike)	barða	barðr
lęggja (lay)	lagða	lag(i)ðr
tęlja (tell)	talða	tal(i)ðr
vękja (wake)	vakða	vakðr
flytja (remove)	flutta	fluttr
dȳja (shake)	dūða	dūðr

lifa (live)	lifi	lifða	lifat
una (be contented)	uni	unða	unat
skorta (be wanting)	skorti	skorta	skort
þola (endure)	þoli	þolða	þolat
þora (dare)	þori	þorða	þorat
nā (attain)	nāi	nāða	nāðr, nāit

sęgja (say)	sęgi	sagða	sagðr
þęgja (be silent)	þęgi	þagða	þagat
hafa (have)	hęfi	hafða	hafðr
kaupa (buy)	kaupi	keypta	keyptr

close:	e	ē	o	ō	ö	œ
open:	ę	æ	ǫ	-	ǫ̈	-

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	skjǫld-r (shield)	skild-ir
Acc.	skjǫld	skjǫld-u
Dat.	skild-i	skjǫld-um
Gen.	skjald-ar	skjald-a

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	fōt-r (foot)	fœt-r
Acc.	fōt	fœt-r
Dat.	fœt-i	fōt-um
Gen.	fōt-ar	fōt-a

	Singular	Plural
Nom.	faðir (father)	fęðr
Acc.	fǫður	fęðr
Dat.	fǫður	fęðrum
Gen.	fǫður	fęðra

Sing. 1.	hęfi	sęgi	þęgi
2, 3.	hęfir	sęgir	þęgir

Plur. 1.	hǫfum	sęgjum	þęgjum
2.	hafið	sęgið	þęgið
3.	hafa	sęgja	þęgja

Infin.	Pres. Sg.	Pres. Pl.	Prt.	Ptc.
eiga (possess)	ā	eigu	ātta	āttr
kunna (can)	kann	kunnu	kunna	kunnat n.
mega (can)	mā	megu	mātta	mātt n.
muna (remember)	man	munu	munða	munat n.
munu (will)	mun	munu	munða	----
skulu (shall)	skal	skulu	skylda	skyldr
þurfa (need)	þarf	þurfu	þurfta	þurft n.
unna (love)	ann	unnu	unna	unnt n.
vita (know)	veit	vitu	vissa	vitaðr