Fossilized Genitives with "Til"
In Old Danish, prepositions forced nouns into specific grammatical cases. While Modern Danish has lost this case system, a few common idioms survive as "fossilized" expressions.
When using the preposition til (to/for/at) in these fixed phrases, the noun often takes an archaic -s ending, which originally marked the genitive case. A classic example is til søs (at sea).
| The captain and the crew are at sea for a long time. | Kaptajnen og besætningen er længe til søs. |
You will also see this -s ending in the phrase til lands (by/on land). Notice how these fixed phrases are used without any articles (like "en" or "et").
| Do we have enemies both at sea and on land? | Har vi fjender både til søs og til lands? |
Direction and State
These fixed -s expressions frequently describe a general direction, location, or state of being. For instance, if a heavy treasure goes overboard, it sinks til bunds (to the bottom).
| If the ship sank, the treasure would fall to the bottom. | Hvis skibet sank, ville skatten falde til bunds. |
Similarly, when characters sit down to eat, Danish uses the fixed expression til bords (at the table / to the table), rather than pointing out a specific physical table (bordet).
| The queen and the smuggler sat down at the table. | Dronningen og smugleren satte sig til bords. |
Archaic "-e" Endings
Not all fossilized prepositional phrases end in -s. Some fixed expressions retain an archaic -e ending instead. For a pirate or smuggling adventure, you will need the phrase på færde, which translates to "afoot" or "going on."
This expression is almost always used when something suspicious, secretive, or dangerous is happening in the background.
| Did the dog bark because something was afoot? | Gøede hunden fordi der var noget på færde? |
| The guard didn't know that thieves were afoot. | Vagten vidste ikke at der var tyve på færde. |