In English, we form abstract nouns like "wisdom" or "kingdom" by adding the suffix "-dom" to existing words. Icelandic uses the exact same ancient root to do this: the masculine suffix -dómur.
When a medieval apothecary diagnosed a mysterious ailment, they were dealing with a sjúkdómur (disease)—formed by adding -dómur to the root of sjúkur (sick). Since words ending in -dómur are masculine, they take the masculine definite article -inn in the nominative case (e.g., sjúkdómurinn).
| This is a very mysterious disease. | Þetta er mjög dularfullur sjúkdómur. |
| Whether the disease is fatal or not, let's try to cure it. | Hvort sem sjúkdómurinn er banvænn eða ekki, skulum við reyna að lækna hann. |
Remedies and Brews
To cure (lækna) a patient, you need a remedy. Adding -dómur to the genitive form of læknir (doctor) gives us læknisdómur (remedy).
| What the patient needs is an ancient remedy. | Það sem sjúklingurinn þarf er forn læknisdómur. |
A proper remedy might involve boiling herbs into a potent brew (seyði) or carefully measuring out a specialized powder (duft).
| The disease is sometimes fatal if the doctor doesn't have the right brew. | Sjúkdómurinn er stundum banvænn ef læknirinn hefur ekki rétta seyðið. |
| You have to put a little bit of the powder into the brew. | Þú verður að setja dálítið af duftinu í seyðið. |
Mysteries and Wisdom
The suffix -dómur builds many other abstract concepts. A secret or hidden thing becomes a leyndardómur (mystery), while the knowledge of a wise person becomes vísdómur (wisdom).
| The remedy is a great mystery, isn't it? | Læknisdómurinn er mikill leyndardómur, er það ekki? |
| Let's listen to the doctor's wisdom. | Við skulum hlusta á vísdóm læknisins. |
Wealth, Relics, and Paganism
In medieval times, curing a wealthy patient could bring an apothecary great wealth (ríkidómur). But when medicine failed, people sometimes turned to a holy relic (helgidómur) or the ancient ways of paganism (heiðindómur). All of these are built with the same versatile -dómur suffix.
| Should the patient have used the relic or the medicine? | Hefði sjúklingurinn átt að nota helgidóminn eða læknisdóminn? |
| The patient fears the paganism, but needs the wisdom. | Sjúklingurinn hræðist heiðindóminn en þarf vísdóminn. |
