Breakdown of Kjaftasagan segir að skrímslið búi í vatninu.
vatnið
the water
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
að
that (conjunction)
segja
to say
búa
to live (in a place), to dwell
kjaftasagan
the rumor (gossip)
skrímslið
the monster
Questions & Answers about Kjaftasagan segir að skrímslið búi í vatninu.
Why is the verb búi used here instead of the regular present tense býr?
Búi is the present subjunctive form of búa (to live). In Icelandic, the subjunctive is often used for reported speech, especially when expressing hearsay, rumors, or claims you aren't verifying as absolute facts. Since this is a rumor (kjaftasagan segir að...), the subjunctive perfectly captures that uncertainty.
Would it be wrong to use the indicative form and say að skrímslið býr í vatninu?
It wouldn't be completely ungrammatical, but using the indicative býr implies the speaker believes the statement is an established fact. Using the subjunctive búi emphasizes that this is just what the rumor claims, keeping a healthy distance from the actual truth of the statement.
The word for rumor is kjaftasaga. How is this word formed?
It is a compound word combining kjaftur (animal mouth, or slang for a person's mouth) and saga (story). A rumor is literally a mouth-story passed from person to person. Here we see it with the feminine definite article as kjaftasagan (the rumor).
Why is it í vatninu and not í vatnið?
The preposition í (in) takes the dative case when describing a static location, and the accusative case when describing movement towards a destination. Since the monster is just living in the water, there is no movement from one place to another, so the neuter noun vatn takes the dative definite form vatninu.
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