Re: Færeyinga saga - week 5

Heil Sarah!


You did well.

> kömr ... verb, 3rd person sing., present, indicative,
> active of KOMA

Correct.

You should note that 'ø' and 'ö' are not equivalent in
the orthography I'm using (though they are in modern
Scandinavian languages).

> Norðrlönd ... proper noun, neuter plural, accusative of NORÐRLAND

Correct.

> tíðenda ... noun, neuter plural, genitive of TÍÐENDI

Correct.

> Ólöfu ... proper noun, fem sing, accusative of ÓLÖFA

Correct - but the nominative is ÓLÖF.

> dóttur ... noun, fem sing accusative of DÓTTIR agreeing with Ólöfu

Correct.

> Þorsteins ... proper noun, masc sing, genitive of ÞORSTEINN

Correct.

> rauðs ... adjective, masc sing, genitive of RAUÐR agreeing
> with Þorsteins

Correct.

> þeim ... pronoun, 3rd person plural masc [could be fem or neut]
> dative of ÞEIR

Correct.

> vildi ... verb, 3rd pers plural, past, subjunctive,
> active of VILJA

Correct.

> kaupa ... verb, infinitive

Correct.

> Sentence 1
> vildu kaupa is in the indicative form because it is a
> definitive statement - wanted to buy
>
> Sentence 2
> vildi kaupa is in the subjunctive form because it is
> in a dependent clause implying possibility - what they
> might want to buy

Exactly.

> [The only example I can think of where we still have the
> subjunctive form in English is in ...If I were you, I would....
> but this would be less common in spoken English nowadays.]

Hmm... You sometimes seem to use the infinitive as a sort of
subjunctive:

"This report, while not recommending that the NRC immediately
halt the radioactive waste recycling program, did suggest THAT
IT TAKE a very cautionary approach..."

"And pray for our marriage, THAT IT BE reconciled..."

In such cases we could use subjunctive "at þat taki",
"at þat sé/verði".

> Maðr heitr Eyvindr

Not quite. You have to use the other form of 'heita'
in this case - the one that is supposedly descended
from the IE-medio-passive.

"Maðr heitir Eyvindr"

> hann bjó á Nóregum.

Many Norways now? :-)

> Broðir hans hét Gunnarr.

Correct. But don't neglect the accent in 'bróðir'.

> Broeðr váru báðir miklir ok sterkir.

A valid, if clumsy, sentence - but not quite what I intended.

"Brothers both were big and strong."

What I

"THE brothers were both big and strong."

I think we need some word for expressing the English
article in this sentence. That would be either the Old
Norse article or - better - the pronoun ÞEIR.

"ÞEIR broeðr váru bæði miklir ok sterkir."

> Now I´ve done this, I´ll make a start on week 6!!!

Good luck :-)

Kveðja,
Haukur