Yrða

þeir

fornafn
þær, þau. This is the of the personal , answering to hann, hón, þat; þeira and þeirra; þeim; þá, þær, þau; in speech þau is sounded þaug, which form occurs as early as Run. Gramm. of 1651, and often rhymes in poets with words ending in g, flaug, þaug, 2. 17: [the uses the forms hi, hira, him, hi, and so in early South. E., whereas the has thay, thair, thaim; South. E. and Chaucer hii, here, hem, Morris’ Specimens, p. xv; de, deres, early deræ, dem.]
A. They, them, theirs (see Gramm. p. xxi); töluðu þeir mart, ríða þeir heim af þingi; þeir kómu í Fljótshlíð, Gunnarr tók vel við þeim; Njáll mælti til þeirra …, slíkar fortölur hafði hann fyrir þeim, … þeir spurðu þær tíðenda, báðu þær eigi leyna, þær sögðu svá vera skyldu; at þeim muni ílla sækjask at vinna oss, … vér getum þá eigi með vápnum sótta, and so in endless instances.
2. a peculiarity of the is the constant use of the ‘þau’ as collective for a and ; síðan gengu þau inn bæði ( Njall and Bergthora), at hann skyldi breiða yfir þau húðina; börn þeirra Þjálfa ok Rösku, ok görðusk þau … þá er þau höfðu gengit litla hríð, 28; Ask ok Emblu … önd þau né áttu óð þau né höfðu, ; and so also of things, þau páll og reka; þau hönd og fótr, and so on.
B. Special usages; this pronoun is used collectively before the names of two or more persons, the neuter being used when the persons are of different sexes:
1. where more than one are expressly named; þau Ásgerðr ok Þorsteinn, they, Asgerd and Thorstein, 702; þeir Starkaðr ok Þórðr, ok Flosi, 282; börn þeirra Hildigunnar ok Kára, the children of H. and K., id.; synir þeirra Starkaðar ok Hallberu vóru þeir Þorgeirr ok Börkr ok Þorkell, 89; synir hans vóru þeir Kolr ok Óttarr ok Haukr, id.; bræðr Hallgerðar vóru þeir Þorleikr, faðir Bolla, ok Ólafr faðir Kjartans, ok Bárðr, they, Thorleik, Olave, and Bard, 2; faðir þeirra Þorkels föður Brands, ok Þorgils föður míns, 20 (restored by Maurer; the emendation in the Editions is an error; the passage is parallel to that given above from ); Þórr ok þeir lagsmenn, Thor and they—his followers, 28.2. , as it seems, where the one part is understood, and not named; in this case the þau is used whenever the name understood is different in gender; þeim Oddi, to Odd and his men, vi. 379; þeir Vagn, W. and his men; þeir Pálnatóki, P. and his men, xi. 95; þeir Þóroddr, … þeim Þóroddi, ii. 251; frá skiptum þeirra Þórðar, the dealings of Thord (and ), iv. 110; þeir feðgar, they, father and son, 8; þau Ásgerðr, Asgerd and her son, 702; vinátta var með þeim frændum þeirra, between him and their kinsmen, 132; þeirra bræðra, xi. 160; þeir í Orkneyjum, 270; af þeim (those) fyrir austan árnar, 210.—This use of the pronoun þeir, þær, þau is peculiar to the old and tongue, and is not found in any other language. We take it to be a remnant from an ancient time when the article was still used detached and not suffixed, being, as in Homeric Greek, used half as a demonstrative pronoun; thus Iliad viii. 457, αϊδ Ἀθηναίη τε και Ἤρη, sounds quite , þær Aþena og Hera; extend it also to the other cases, þeirra () Aþenu og Heru, þeim Aþenu og Heru; also II. xiii. 496, 526; the usage of the , as above, seems peculiar to It is therefore an error to explain ‘þeir Þóroddr,’ , as if a copula ‘ok’ had been dropped between the pronoun and the name, þeir ‘ok’ Þóroddr; it is in fact an elliptical abbreviated version of the usage in B. 1: similar is the use of hann and hón for the (see hann B. II. p. 239, col. 1), and of ὁ as in xxi. 181.
C. For this pronoun as demonstrative, see þat, p. 731.
Skammstafanir og tilvitnanir
  • plur.fleirtala (e. plural)
  • pron.fornafn (e. pronoun)
  • sing.eintala (e. singular)
  • gen.eignarfall (e. genitive)
  • mod.modern.
  • dat.þágufall (e. dative)
  • acc.þolfall (e. accusative)
  • e. g.exempli gratia.
  • A. S.Anglo-Saxon.
  • North. E.Northern English.
  • Dan.Danish.
  • Icel.Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.
  • neut.hvorugkyn (e. neuter)
  • masc.karlkyn (e. masculine)
  • fem.kvenkyn (e. feminine)
  • i. e.id est.
  • ellipt.elliptical, elliptically.
  • Scandin.Scandinavia, Scandinavian.
  • Teut.Teutonic.
  • cp.compare.
  • etc.et cetera.
  • pr.proper, properly.
  • Gr.Greek.
  • Bb.Búnaðar-bálkr.
  • EddaEdda. (C. I.)
  • Vsp.Völuspá. (A. I.)
  • Eg.Egils saga. (D. II.)
  • Nj.Njála. (D. II.)
  • Jb.Jóns-bók. (B. III.)
  • Fms.Fornmanna sögur. (E. I.)
  • Hkr.Heimskringla. (E. I.)
  • BjörnBiörn Halldórsson.
  • Grett.Grettis saga. (D. II.)
  • Od.Odysseifs-kvæði, prose, 1829.