Heill Ketill,

> > "Hinn mikli háskóli Reykjavíkur"
>
> So you put the locus (Reykjavík) in the nominative?
> Strange.

No Keth; "vík" is a strong feminine noun, whose genitive is "víkur".

> When I wrote the phrase "frá hafsins", I had actually looked it
> up in the Old Norse dictionary. And it says that when frá is
> used for localisation, it governs the genitive case. But I
> suppose that is only in Old Norse, because the genitive was
> used more frequently back then, in Old Norse.

I don't know what the dictionary told you or how you (mis)interpreted
it. Whichever way, "frá" rules dative and not genitive, whether in
Modern Icelandic or Old Norse. Besides, "frá" is used in only one
way, ablative, and not for any localization. How could "frá",
meaning "from" (the English cognate), be locative? Also, no
preposition that rules genitive can rule something else; prepositions
that can rule two different cases always rule either accusative or
dative, with allative and locative meanings, respectively.


Keth, I wonder why you keep lapsing into "teacher-mode", writing long
passages of dubious pedagological value, often about something I and
most students already know, or don't have much use for knowing. It's
not that I'm going to disapprove and edit out what you write. I just
honestly think you should approach these things differently. The
truth is, you don't know Old Norse in any practical sense; I must
concur with Eysteinn - you're "at sea"! There's no shame in that, of
course, for that's why we're all here. But while you're a student
here, it would be more appropriate for you to let the teachers do the
teaching, and for you to do the asking and studying.

Óskar