Hrólfs saga kraka — chs 34-35 §34.2
væri ‘is’
subj. 3rd pers. pret. sg.
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
væri ‘is’: This is the subjunctive voice of the verb, meaning something like ‘might be’. The subjunctive is used in subordinate clauses where there is some uncertainty, here, as to who is in the bone-pile.
CloseÞá ‘then’
Þá var honum svarat ‘then he was answered’: Literally ‘then [it] was answered to him’. Honum ‘to him’ cannot be the subject of the clause because it is in the dative case.
Closevar ‘was’
3rd pers. pret. sg.
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
Þá var honum svarat ‘then he was answered’: Literally ‘then [it] was answered to him’. Honum ‘to him’ cannot be the subject of the clause because it is in the dative case.
Closehonum ‘He’
dat. m. sg.
hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
Þá var honum svarat ‘then he was answered’: Literally ‘then [it] was answered to him’. Honum ‘to him’ cannot be the subject of the clause because it is in the dative case.
Closesvarat ‘answered’
pret. participle;
Þá var honum svarat ‘then he was answered’: Literally ‘then [it] was answered to him’. Honum ‘to him’ cannot be the subject of the clause because it is in the dative case.
Closeertu ‘are you’
2nd pers. pres. sg. enclictic pronoun;
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
ertu ‘are you’: ertu = ert þú
CloseVesall ‘pathetic’
nom. m. sg.
vesall (adj.): wretched (w. gen.)
Vesall þinnar skjaldborgar ‘pathetic with your shield-fortification’: Vesall goes with the genitive to mean ‘with respect to’.
Closeþinnar ‘with your’
gen. f. sg.
þinn (pron.; °f. þín, n. þitt): your
Vesall þinnar skjaldborgar ‘pathetic with your shield-fortification’: Vesall goes with the genitive to mean ‘with respect to’.
Closeskjaldborgar ‘shield-fortification’
gen. sg.
skjaldborg (noun f.): shield-wall
Vesall þinnar skjaldborgar ‘pathetic with your shield-fortification’: Vesall goes with the genitive to mean ‘with respect to’.
Close‘Hǫttr heiti ek, bokki sæll.’
‘Hví ertu hér,’ spyrr Bǫðvarr, ‘eða hvat gørir þú?’
Hǫttr svarar: ‘Ek gøri mér skjaldborg, bokki sæll.’
Bǫðvarr sagði: ‘Vesall ertu þinnar skjaldborgar!’
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