--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Fred and Grace Hatton"
<hatton@...> wrote:

>

> og þótti mönnum það mikið
> and it seemed to people very (sad?)

Yes, I think that's right. Here, if I'm not mistaken, the idiom is
saying that they were greatly affected (emotionally), rather than just
that they considered this momentous or significant; cf. Zoega 'e-m
þykkir mikit um e-t' "one takes it much to heart" (honum þótti svá
mikit um fall Ólafs konungs) vs. 'e-m þykkir mikit undir e-r' "one
thinks it of great importance". Similar examples:

Konungr sat jafnan á haugi drottningar, því at honum þótti mikit
fráfall hennar.
The king sat always on the queen's grave-mound, for he took her death
badly.

Henni þótti þetta mikit, ef þeir skulu svá fara allir, en hún mátti
ekki duga þeim.
It grieved her to think that they should all die without her being
able to help them.

En þá er þau skildust, var auðsætt, at henni þótti mikit fyrir þeira
skilnaði.
But when they took their leave of each other, it was clear that she
was greatly affected by their parting.

(That last one is Randalín/Áslaug saying farewell to 'Ragnarr in
Ragnars saga loðbrókar' as he sets off on his foolhardy expedition to
England which she has predicted will lead to his death.) There are
more examples in this article, where the expression is taken as
indicating that someone is emotionally affected, deeply affected,
grieved. (Search for 'þótti mikit').

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:zMJN7IG1SVoJ:userpage.fu-berlin.de/~alvismal/11laxd.pdf+%22%C3%BE%C3%B3tti+mikit%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=uk