Aumr maðr telr sér einskis vant,
ef sér atvinnu á,
en inn fégjarni sýtir, þótt fullsælu hafi,
ok þykkiz válaðr vera.
Aumr maðr telr sér einskis vant, ef á sér atvinnu, en inn fégjarni sýtir, þótt hafi fullsælu, ok þykkiz vera válaðr.
A poor man thinks he lacks nothing if he has means of subsistence for himself, but the avaricious person complains even if he has great wealth, and thinks he is poverty-stricken.
[4] inn fégjarni: so 624, ágjarn 1199ˣ, 723aˣ
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 |