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Athafnasama hetjan fer í hættusaman leiðangur.

Athafnasama hetjan fer í hættusaman leiðangur.
The enterprising hero goes on a risky expedition.
From Lesson 492:Adjectives of tendency (-samur)·Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Athafnasama hetjan fer í hættusaman leiðangur.

What does the suffix -samur do in athafnasama and hættusaman?
The suffix -samur attaches to nouns to create adjectives that describe a tendency, habit, or characteristic. Since athöfn means "action" or "enterprise", athafnasamur means "tending toward action" (enterprising). Similarly, hætta means "danger", making hættusamur "tending toward danger" or "risky".
Why do the roots of the words change before the -samur suffix, like the -a- in athafnasama?
When adding suffixes like -samur, Icelandic often uses the genitive (possessive) case of the root noun as a connector. The genitive plural of athöfn is athafna, which gives us athafnasamur. For hættusaman, it uses the genitive singular of hætta, which is hættu, creating hættusamur.
Why does athafnasama end in -a while hættusaman ends in -an?
They are declining differently based on their nouns. Athafnasama is in the weak declension because it modifies a definite noun (hetjan, the hero), and it is in the feminine nominative case as the subject. Hættusaman is in the strong declension because it modifies an indefinite noun (leiðangur, an expedition), and it takes the masculine accusative form.
Is the word hetjan always feminine, even if the hero is male?
Yes, hetja (hero) is a grammatically feminine noun. In Icelandic, grammatical gender is fixed for the noun and dictates the form of attached articles and adjectives (like the feminine weak adjective athafnasama), regardless of the actual gender of the person being described.
Why does the preposition í force hættusaman leiðangur into the accusative case?
The preposition í can take either the accusative or the dative case. It triggers the accusative here because it involves motion or direction toward a destination (going into or on the expedition). If the hero were already actively situated within the expedition, í would take the dative case (í hættusömum leiðangri).

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