The impersonal verb in Old Icelandic

54.
• • varo peirn pat ~yrir at ••• (p.45, 1.148)
"Varo" used in this way is normally impersonal, but it is
uncertain whether lIpatil is the subject or the object o~
the verb. C~. Class VI, p.5, 1.29; p.17, 1.416.
par var grunnsrevi mikit. . . (p.45, 1.153)
Is "grunnscevi" subject or object? Cf. p.45, 1.154 (Class V):
.I / ()
" •• var pa langt til sjavar •••" g.v., where the verb
.i.§ impersonal.
• • bar pat til t{oenda at. • • (p .46, 1.178)
Is lIpat" sub ject or object? C~. 1.148 above; p .63, 1.129
below.
Hrafnkels saga:
/
• • er p~r leioisk. (p.6l~ 1.65)
The English equivalent is "when you grow tired o~
itll.
Is "it" a de~inite
pronoun or impersonal?
Einari korn pat 1 hug, at ••• (p.63, 1.129)
Is the neuter Ilpatlr subject or object? C~.
Class VI, p.17,
1.416; p.45, 1.148; p.46, 1.178.
Mundi okkr Einari ekki ha~a
/
Is the subject impersonal or "annat s..rnatt"?
/
annat smiltt til oroit.(p.6S,1.193)
Literally the
translation is "It would vvi th us, me and Einar, not have
import another small matter" or nNo other small matter would
have come between Einar and me. 11
The English replaces the
Icelandic constr'uction wi th a construction with a de~i21i te
sub jec t, which replacement causes certain Jilnversion in word
order.
The verb in the Ic elandic is "Mundi til oroi til; it