Anon Líkn 2VII/1 — ins ‘of the’
Víst má ek hræddr, ins hæsta
heiðs algöfugr, beiða,
mér at munnshöfn dýra
mærðteitr jöfurr veiti,
ár því at ek má stórum
ungr hógsettrar tungu
frá afgerðum orða
ofsjaldan vel halda.
Víst má ek hræddr beiða, at algöfugr mærðteitr jöfurr ins hæsta heiðs veiti mér dýra munnshöfn, því at ungr má ek ofsjaldan halda ár orða vel frá stórum afgerðum hógsettrar tungu.
Surely I must, fearful, entreat that the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven [= God (= Christ)] grant me precious mouth-content [SPEECH], for, [being] young, I can all too seldom keep my oar of words [TONGUE] well from great offences of an easily-employed tongue.
readings
kennings
- algöfugr mærðteitr jöfurr ins hæsta heiðs — the completely noble, fame-glad prince of the highest clear-heaven [= God (Christ)]
grammar
Pronouns and determiners: Definite article
The definite article is normally suffixed to nouns, except in some cases where it is used with an adjective. If the noun form ends in a vowel, the 'i' in the article is dropped. If the noun form ends in 'um', the 'm' and 'i' are both dropped. E.g. hesta (acc. pl.) > hestana (acc. pl. definite); hestum (dat. pl.) > hestunum (dat. pl. definite)
| masc. | fem. | neut. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sing. | N A G D | inn inn ins inum | in ina innar inni | it it ins inu |
| pl. | N A G D | inir ina inna inum | inar inar inna inum | in in inna inum |