When reading official documents, historical archives, or formal reports, you will encounter a specific formal register. Just as formal English relies on words like "thereof," "thereon," or "thereby," Icelandic creates similar formal adverbs by combining þar (there) with a preposition.
"Thereof" and "Thereon": Þar af, Þar á
Instead of repeating a noun along with a preposition (like af þessu or á þessu), formal written Icelandic uses þar af (thereof / of that) and þar á (thereon / on that). These are highly common in catalogs or archival descriptions to detail the subsets or physical conditions of a collection.
"Thereby" and "Regarding That": Þar með, Þar um
Þar með translates to "thereby" or "with that." It is often used to show cause and effect, or it appears in the fixed phrase þar með talið, which means "including" (literally: "there-with counted").
Similarly, you can use þar um to mean "regarding that" or "about that matter," which is a neat way to refer back to a previously mentioned subject.
Reading Archival Descriptions
To fully understand these historical or bureaucratic texts, you will need some specialized vocabulary, such as skrásetningin (the cataloging) and innihaldið (the content).
Let's look at a final example that combines this formal cataloging vocabulary with our new pronominal adverbs.