Breakdown of Þótt stormurinn væri slæmur, hlypi landkönnuðurinn burt frá snjóflóðinu.
vera
to be
frá
from
hlaupa
to run
slæmur
bad
burt
away
landkönnuðurinn
the explorer
þótt
although
stormurinn
the storm (wind)
snjóflóðið
the avalanche
Questions & Answers about Þótt stormurinn væri slæmur, hlypi landkönnuðurinn burt frá snjóflóðinu.
How do we get the form hlypi from the verb hlaupa (to run)?
Hlaupa is a strong verb. To form the past subjunctive of a strong verb, you take its past plural form (we ran = við hlupum, so the stem is hlup-) and apply a vowel shift. The u shifts to y, giving us the subjunctive stem hlyp-. Then you add the ending for the third person singular, which is -i, resulting in hlypi.
Is væri also formed using this past plural rule?
Yes, even though vera (to be) is highly irregular! The past plural of vera is við vorum (we were). The vowel o normally shifts to æ in the past subjunctive. So the stem vor- shifts to vær-, and adding the third person singular ending gives us væri.
Why is this sentence using the past subjunctive (væri, hlypi) instead of the normal past tense?
The word þótt (even if / although) expresses a hypothetical or uncertain situation here. When describing an unreal or hypothetical scenario (Even if the storm were severe... he would run), Icelandic uses the past subjunctive for both the condition and the result.
Why is snjóflóðinu in the dative case here?
It takes the dative case because it directly follows the preposition frá (from), which always requires its object to be in the dative. Since flóð (flood or avalanche) is a neuter noun, its dative definite form is snjóflóðinu.
How does the word landkönnuðurinn break down?
It is a compound word. Land means land or country, and könnuður means explorer (from the verb kanna, to explore). The -inn at the end is the attached definite article, making it the explorer.
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