Sorry Patricia (and everyone), I was too hasty with my advice there.
Hope I haven't added to the confusion... According to Zoega, the
content of the dream can be accusative too (as well as the dreamer).
So the neuter pronouns representing the content of the dream in these
examples could well be accusative, and 'dreyma' impersonal as Alan
said. The double accusative was clear in one of the examples I found:
'mig hefir dreymt draum'. On the other hand, Zoega also gives examples of

(1) 'dreyma' "to appear in a dream to" - nominative dream, accusative
dreamer: sá maðr dreymir mik opt.

(2) 'dreyma' "dream" - (rare) nominative dreamer, accusative dream:
ein kona dreymdi þann draum.

(3) 'dreyma' "dream" (usual) accusative dreamer, accusative dream: mik
dreymdi draum.

It is this last usage which, as far as I know, has become the norm,
and which syntacticians consider an example of an accusative subject.
Incidentally, there is also a rare early example of a dative
experiencer (+nominative dream) with this verb in Guta saga written in
the East Norse language spoken on the Baltic island of Gotland:
droymdi henni draumbr; but this dialect differs from Old Icelandic in
several ways.

LN

p.s.

> en mér virðist hafa dreymt það
> "but I seem to have dreamt it"

I.e. "it seems to me that I have dreamt it", "I think I [must] have
dreamt it".





--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Patricia Wilson"
<originalpatricia@...> wrote:

>
> Thanks LN - no wonder I got confused here - it is totally different in
> English
> Thanks very much for this - it is Keeper Stuff - I shall print it up

and

> Keep it with my notes I shall want to study it all again later today
> Best !!
> Patricia
>
> -------Original Message-------
>
> From: llama_nom
> Date: 20/05/2007 13:41:04
> To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [norse_course] Re: Njal 62 - End Patricia's Translation

(dreyma)

>
>
>
> The person who experiences the dream is accusative, the content of the
> dream (what appears to someone in a dream) is nominative, if
> mentioned. When 'dreyma' is subordinated to an auxiliary verb such as
> 'hafa', the auxiliary can't agree with the experiencer since finite
> verbs can only agree with a nominative subject.
>
> > "Hvað hefir þig dreymt frændi?"
>
> hvað = what (nominative, the content of the dream)
> hefir = has (3rd person sg. to agree with 'hvað')
> þig = you (accusative experiencer as required by 'dreyma')
> dreymt = dreamt (past participle neuter, supine to go with 'hafa')
> frændi = kinsman (nominative serving as vocative)
>
> Lit. "what has appeared-in-a-dream to you?" (accusative experiencer,
> nominative content of dream), but in English the grammar is the other
> way round and we say "what have you dreamt?" (nominative experiencer,
> accusative content).
>
> > > "Það hefir mig dreymt," segir Gunnar, "að eg mundi eigi riðið hafa
> úr Tungu
> > svo fámennur ef mig hefði þá þetta dreymt."
>
> það = that (nominative, anticipates the content of the dream as
> described in the clause beginning 'að eg mundi...')
> hefir = has (3rd person sg. to agree with 'það')
> mig = me (accusative experiencer)
> dreymt (past participle neuter, supine to go with 'hafa')
>
> "I dreamt such a dream...that I would not have ridden from Tunga with
> so few companions if I had dreamt this then (before I left)."
>
> More examples:
>
> 1. Þórhallur mælti: "Draum vildi eg að þú réðir Finni þann er mig
> hefir dreymt." (Ljósvetninga saga)
> Th. said, "I wish you to interpret the dream that I have dreamt, Finni."
>
> 2. Þá sagði Faraó við Jósef: "Mig hefir dreymt draum, og enginn getur
> ráðið hann.
> "Then said Pharoa to Joseph, "I have dreamt a dream, and no one can
> interpret it."
>
> 3. Fleira er til á himni og jörðu en heimspekina getur dreymt um.
> "There are more things in heaven and earth then philosophy (accusative
> in Icelandic) can dream of."
>
> One reason for thinking of the accusative experiencer as the
> grammatical subject of 'dreyma', at least in modern Icelandic, is that
> the pronoun can be dropped in sentences like the following:
>
> ég var að vakna eftir að hafa dreymt eftirfarandi...
> "I was waking up after having dreamt the following..."
>
> en mér virðist hafa dreymt það
> "but I seem to have dreamt it"
>
> Óliver dreymir oft heilu kvikmyndirnar, og það eru lang-oftast Harry
> Potter eða Star Wars, og þá vaknar hann og segist hafa dreymt Harry
> Potter-draum í nótt.
>
> "O. often dreams whole films, typically Harry Potter or Star Wars, and
> then he wakes up and says that he's dreamt a Harry Potter dream last
> night."
>
> LN
>
> --- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Patricia Wilson"
> <originalpatricia@> wrote:
> >
> > I had some trouble with this to begin with - I could see alright the
> Impersonal - use of the dream - almost it seemed that the dream was
> visualised as part of the person but hefir was given as Have -
> singular - got stuck there
> >
> >
> >
> > Kolskeggur mælti: "Hvað hefir þig dreymt frændi?"
> >
> > Kolskegg spoke "What have you got (as) a dream Kinsman?"
> >
> > "Það hefir mig dreymt," segir Gunnar, "að eg mundi eigi riðið hafa
> úr Tungu
> > svo fámennur ef mig hefði þá þetta dreymt."
> >
> > That I have to me a dream" saya Gunnar "that I would not have ridden
> from Tongue with so few companions if then I had had this dream (if to
> me had (past) this dream then
>