Breakdown of Goðafræðin er áhugaverð en ég hafði aldrei heyrt spádóminn.
vera
to be
ég
I
en
but
heyra
to hear
aldrei
never
hafa
to have
áhugaverður
interesting
goðafræðin
the mythology
spádómurinn
the prophecy
Questions & Answers about Goðafræðin er áhugaverð en ég hafði aldrei heyrt spádóminn.
How do we form the past perfect "had never heard" in this sentence?
We use the past tense of hafa (to have), which is hafði for the pronoun ég (I), followed by the supine form (sagnbót) of the main verb. The supine of heyra (to hear) is heyrt. Together, hafði ... heyrt translates to "had ... heard".
Why is the adverb aldrei (never) placed between the two verbs?
In Icelandic main clauses, adverbs like aldrei (never), alltaf (always), or ekki (not) usually come immediately after the conjugated verb. Since hafði is the conjugated verb here, aldrei steps right in between it and the supine heyrt.
Why is the adjective áhugaverð (interesting) in this specific form?
It has to agree with the noun it describes, goðafræðin (the mythology). Goðafræði is a feminine noun in the nominative case here, so the adjective takes the feminine nominative form áhugaverð instead of the neutral áhugavert or masculine áhugaverður.
Why does spádóminn (the prophecy) end in -inn, and what case is it in?
Spádómur (prophecy) is a masculine noun. Here, it is the direct object of the verb heyrt (heard), which takes the accusative case. The accusative form of spádómur is spádóm, and adding the masculine accusative definite article (-inn) gives us spádóminn.
How is the word goðafræðin constructed?
It is a compound word: goð means "gods" (referring to the Norse gods), and fræði means "study" or "science" (often used as "-ology" in English). The -n at the end is the attached feminine definite article "the", making it "the mythology".
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