Subject: [norse_course] Re: [norse
_course] Nú brýtr þú ok týnir skipinu ok fénu (conditional
indicative?)
> I don't know if this is the right way to think of
it, but could it > be sort of rhetorical and concerned? "Now you're
going to [go and] > get [yourself] shipwrecked [aren't you].
There won't be much to > show THEN that you've (subj.)
met..."
Perhaps, but that's not quite the feeling I get from
reading this.
> Or would it be better to just treat it as if
'brýtr' has the force > of a subjunctive, if not the form? The
final subjunctive HAFIR I > guess is there because it involves a
perception that won't take > place. But is it the negative
quality that causes this, or the fact > that it's a perception?
I wonder if indicative would be prefered if > he was saying "then it
certainly will be seen that you've met..." > Or would the fact that
it's describing some hypothetical person's > perception be enough to
demand the subjunctive? So many questions...
I'd emphasize the
'nú' here. I don't think the sentence would work without it. To me the
effect is to make the hypothetical event slightly more real or vivid than
using a subjunctive construction would. I'd translate along these
lines: