Hvats í heimi betra
— hyggr skald af þrô sjaldan —
— mjǫks langr, sás dvelr drengi,
dagr — an víf in fǫgru?
Þungan berk af þingi
þann harm, es skalk svanna
— skreytask menn á móti —
minn aldrigi finna.
Hvats betra í heimi an in fǫgru víf? Skald hyggr sjaldan af þrô; dagr, sás dvelr drengi, [e]s mjǫk langr. Berk þann þungan harm af þingi, es skalk aldrigi finna svanna minn; menn skreytask á móti.
What’s better in this world than fair women? The poet seldom forgets his yearning; the day which delays men is very long. I carry that heavy care from the assembly, that I shall never meet my woman; men dress up at the meeting.
[4] in fǫgru víf ‘fair women’: Lit. ‘the fair women’.
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 |