Breakdown of Glóðin virðist glóa milli steinanna.
steinninn
the stone
milli
between
virðast
to seem (general impression)
glóðin
the ember (f)
glóa
to glow
Questions & Answers about Glóðin virðist glóa milli steinanna.
Why does virðist end in -st? Is this the middle voice?
Yes! The -st ending indicates the middle voice. The active form virða means 'to respect' or 'to evaluate', but in the middle voice, virðast takes on a completely different meaning: 'to seem' or 'to appear'. This is a common pattern in Icelandic where the middle voice creates a new, but sometimes loosely related, meaning.
Why is there no að before the infinitive glóa?
The verb virðast belongs to a specific group of verbs that take a bare infinitive, meaning they do not use the infinitive marker að. You pair it directly with the action verb. This is similar to how auxiliary verbs like vilja (to want) and skulu (shall) behave.
What case does the preposition milli trigger for steinanna?
The preposition milli (between) always requires its object to be in the genitive case. Because there are multiple stones here, it triggers the genitive plural.
How exactly is the word steinanna built? It seems like it has a lot of endings.
It can look a bit long, but it breaks down logically. The root is the masculine noun steinn. The genitive plural ending is -a, making steina. The definite article suffix for the genitive plural is -nna. When you stick them together, you get steinanna (of the stones).
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