Jon Nall wrote:

> i've looked high and low and cannot figure out what "e-m" or "e-t" mean
> in the example below. both cleasby and zoëga contain this notation.
> could someone enlighten me?

They're short for forms of 'einhverr' and 'eitthvat' ("someone" and
"something"), and they're there to tell you what case the objects
of the verb take.

einhverr nominative
e-n = einhvern accusative
e-m = einhverjum dative
e-s = einhvers genitive

eitthvat nominative
e-t = eitthvat accusative
e-u = einhverju dative
e-s = einhvers genitive

It was a bit of a trick, though; I don't see this listed in my copy of
Zoëga, but did find it in front of the glossary in Rogers.

> example from zoëga:
> hlotnast (að), v. refl. to fall to one's lot (e-m hlotnast e-t).

So, when using this verb, the person is in the dative and typically
precedes the verb; the object or task is in the accusative and
typically follows the verb.

Erich