Question 1

Why do we use væri and væru here instead of the regular past tense words?

Accepted Answer

The phrase bara ef (if only) sets up a hypothetical wish, which triggers the subjunctive mood. To talk about an unreal situation right now, we use the past subjunctive of vera (to be). Væri is for the singular brælan, and væru is for the plural bylgjurnar.

Question 2

Does brælan just mean bad weather, or is it specific to the ocean?

Accepted Answer

Bræla specifically means rough seas or bad weather at sea. Because fishing and sailing are so central to Icelandic life, there are specific words for ocean weather. If you were talking about a regular storm on land, you would usually use a word like stormur or vont veður.

Question 3

Why is the word for finished spelled búin here without the double N?

Accepted Answer

The word búinn (finished or done) changes its ending to agree with the noun it describes, just like a regular adjective. Because brælan (the rough sea) is a feminine singular noun, it takes the feminine singular form búin.

Question 4

Is minni (smaller) in a special plural form to match bylgjurnar (the waves)?

Accepted Answer

Actually, no! A nice trick in Icelandic is that comparative adjectives (words ending in -er in English, like smaller or faster) do not change for gender or number when they are in the nominative case. So minni is the exact same word you would use for a singular masculine or neuter noun.

Bara ef brælan væri búin og bylgjurnar væru minni.

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