Breakdown of Þetta er fornritið sem ritað var á Íslandi.
þetta
this
vera
to be
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
Ísland
Iceland
sem
who / which / that
fornritið
the ancient text
rita
to write (formally)
Questions & Answers about Þetta er fornritið sem ritað var á Íslandi.
Why is the word order ritað var instead of var ritað?
This is an example of stylistic fronting, a feature common in written Icelandic and formal speech. In a relative clause introduced by sem, the past participle (ritað) is moved in front of the finite verb (var). In everyday spoken Icelandic, you would usually just hear sem var ritað.
Why is the participle ritað in the neuter form here?
The participle must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes. Since fornritið (the ancient text) is a neuter, singular noun, the past participle takes the neuter singular form ritað rather than the masculine ritaður or feminine rituð.
Is fornritið a compound word?
Yes, it is made up of forn (ancient or old) and ritið (the writing or the text). Compound nouns in Icelandic always take their gender and declension from the final word in the compound, which is why the whole word is neuter, just like rit.
Why does á Íslandi take the dative case here?
The preposition á governs the dative case when it describes a static location (where something happens or is located). Because the writing happened in Iceland, we use the dative. If it described movement towards a destination, it would take the accusative.
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