Breakdown of Hún vildi ekki að maðurinn dæmdi sig fyrir einmanaleikann.
hún
she
maðurinn
the man
ekki
not
vilja
to want (to will, be willing)
sig
himself/herself/themselves (acc)
að
that (conjunction)
fyrir
for (fyrir þig)
dæma
to judge
einmanaleikinn
the loneliness
Questions & Answers about Hún vildi ekki að maðurinn dæmdi sig fyrir einmanaleikann.
Why is sig used here instead of hana, given that it is the man doing the judging?
This is a long-distance reflexive. In Icelandic, a reflexive pronoun can reach across a clause boundary to refer back to the subject of the main clause (Hún). Because the main verb expresses a wish or thought, she is projecting her perspective into the subordinate clause, so she refers to herself as sig.
What would it mean if I used hana instead of sig?
It would change the meaning entirely! If you used hana (her), it would mean she didn't want the man to judge some other woman. To mean "herself" across the clause boundary in this context, you have to use sig.
Why is the verb dæmdi in the subjunctive mood here?
The main verb vilja (to want) expresses a wish or desire, which triggers the subjunctive mood in the following að-clause. Dæmdi is the past subjunctive of dæma (to judge). Importantly, this subjunctive mood is exactly the grammatical environment that allows the long-distance reflexive sig to "look back" to the main clause!
Why does fyrir take the accusative case (einmanaleikann) in this sentence?
The preposition fyrir takes the accusative when it means "for" in the sense of a reason or cause (like judging someone for something). The base word is the masculine weak noun einmanaleiki, which becomes einmanaleika in the accusative, and adding the definite article makes it einmanaleikann.
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