--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "AThompson" <athompso@...> wrote:

>
> "og hætta til hverju (I thought til
> always took genitive?) eg launa þér?"
> `and risk whether I
> recompense you?'

I think the reason for this is that 'hverju', in this instance, is
governed by the verb which takes dative. Either 'til' is being
treated as an adverb or verbal particle here rather than a
preposition, or maybe it could be seen as a preposition whose
complement must be inferred: hætta hverju "risk whatever..." til "in
respect of [this matter]" -- compare Zoega's example:

hætta til þess virðing þinni
"stake thy honour on it"

litlu hættir nú til (impersonal)
"there is but small risk"

Zoega has examples of (a) hætta e-u; (b) hætta e-u til / hætta til
e-u; (c) hætta til e-s; hætta á e-t -- all meaning "to risk, venture,
stake".

Faarlund mentions this sort of thing, p. 148.

þá tak þú af tvá hluti
"then withdraw two parts"

þá mun ek eptir leita þeim eignum
"then I will seek those properties"

In the first of these examples from Faarlund, 'tvá hluti' is
accusative governed by the verb 'taka (af)'; if 'af' had been used as
a preposition, it would have needed a dative complement. This is the
same situation as we have in 'ok hætta til hverju ek launa þér'. By
contrast, in the other example, 'eptir' is a preposition governing
'þeim eignum' (in spite of being separated from its complement by the
verb!), since the verb 'leita' takes genitive.

LN