> I am looking for a few words or the single most appropriate word
that would cover the meaning of the word 'intense'. If anyone could
give me a few suggestions, that would be great and I will take it from
there.
Hi Victor,
Did you have a particular context in mind for "intense"?
'ákafr' "fierce, eager, vehement, zealous".
BATTLES AND STORMS. Var þá orrusta in ákafasta "There was then the
fiercest (most intense) battle"; Hér segir það hvernig áköf var
skothríðin "Here it says how fierce/intense the shower of missiles
was"; Varð nú orrostan enn ákafari. Váru Húnar allákafir ok sá þá sinn
kost "Now the battle became still more fierce/intense. The Huns were
very fierce and they saw then what their choices were"; . Létu þeir
þegar ganga grjótflaugina svá hart ok ákaft, at þeir drápu meir en
hundrað manna, áðr þeir vöknuðu "they made a hail of stones so hard
and fierce that they killed many men before they woke up"; og hið
mesta illviðri með áköfum stormi "and the greatest tempest with a
ferocious storm";
VIGOROUS VOLUNTARY ACTIONS. Examples include: riding (hard, at a
fierce pace), attacking (fiercely), drinking (eagerly, with a will),
urging (strongly, vehemently), praying (fervently).
INVOLUNTARY ACTIONS. Höttr skelfr ákaft "Hott was shaking terribly"
(seized by intense shaking).
STATES. Svo var ákaft um vináttu þeirra að hvorir buðu öðrum heim
hvert haust og gáfu stórgjafar "their friendship was so intense they
invited each other to a feast every autumn and loaded each other with
valuable gifts" (Njáls saga, ch. 97. Magnús Magnússon and Hermann
Pálsson translate this as "intense"); þá varð hann óðr ok ærr með
ákafri grimmd "then he became frantic and crazed with great/intense
ferocity"; A MODERN EXAMPLE: því hann var yfirkominn af áköfum harmi
"for he was overcome by fierce/intense grief";
The noun 'ákafi' is used in the genitive before adjectives and soem
nouns as an intensifier: Þeir urðu ákafa reiðir við orð hans "they
became intensely/extremely/very angry at his words"; 'ákafa fagr'
"very beatiful"; 'ákafa drífa' "a heavy snow drift". There are a
number of prefixes and other intensifiers besides this that might be
translated "very" or "extremely" (or just possibly "intensely" in the
right context?): geysi, furðu, al(l)-.
OTHER WORDS
mikill, stórr. The intensity of emotions such as grief can be
expressed with words meaning "big" or "great": með miklum harmi; af
miklum harmi; af trega stórum. There is also an idiom 'Henni þótti
þetta mikit' "she was grievously/sorely affected by this."
The all-purpose 'mikill' "great" can also apply to storms, etc. 'hið
mesta illviðri' "the greatest/fiercest storm."
harðr "hard." Besides meaning "hard" in physical consistency, this
can apply to hard blows with weapons, a hard or fierce attack/fight,
and other vigorous physical activity such as riding hard (i.e. fast,
at a furious pace).
ATTACKS & STORMS. gera þeir skothríð harða "they make a hard/fierce
shower of missiles"; Var fyrst hörð skothríð, en síðan höggorrosta
"there was first a hard shower of missiles, then hand to hand
fighting"; Tókst þar fyrst skothríð, en síðan in harðasta
höggorrosta "first there was a shower of missiles there, then the
hardest (most fierce/intense) hand to hand fighting"; Verður nú sókn
hin harðasta "there was now the hardest attack" (a very fierce assault);
REACTIONS. bregða hart við "to have a sharp/fierce/violent reaction".
The Online Icelandic Dictionary, which deals with the modern language
gives 'magnaður' "powerful, intense", but the medieval examples that I
found all seem to have the more specific meaning of "endowed with
magical power" or "made magically strong." However, this is the past
participle of the verb 'magna', and there may be some non-sorcerous
exampes of other parts of the verb at least: drengr magnar lof
þengils "the gallant warrior increases praise for the leader"; eldrinn
magnaðist "the fire increased in strength."
But I'm not sure how you would express the idea of an "intense person"
(someone with an intense personality), and "intense look/expression",
or an "intense experience/impression", or a work of art which affects
you with strong emotions, with that eye-of-the-storm connotation of
tensely alert all-absorbing meditative stillness.
Llama Nom