Anon Eirm 7I/4 — inn ‘the’
‘Hví namt þú hann sigri þá, es þér þótti hann snjallr vesa?’
‘Því at óvíst es at vita *, nær ulfr inn hǫsvi
sœkir á sjǫt goða.’
‘Hví namt þú hann sigri þá, es hann þótti þér vesa snjallr?’ ‘Því at óvíst es at vita *, nær inn hǫsvi ulfr sœkir á sjǫt goða.’
‘Why did you deprive him of victory then, when he seemed to you to be valiant?’ ‘Because it cannot be known for certain when the grey wolf will attack the home of the gods.’
notes
[4] inn hǫsvi ulfr ‘the grey wolf’: Fenrisúlfr, the monstrous wolf Fenrir who will break free at Ragnarǫk (‘the doom of the gods’), swallowing the sun (cf. Vafþr 46, 47) and (if the identification is correct) fighting Óðinn and his son Víðarr (Vsp 53-6; cf. SnE 2005, 49-50).
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 |