Þórarinn in the dative case

Abstract

The ancient inflection of the Icelandic male name Þórarinn (nom.), Þórarin (acc.), Þórarni (dat.), Þórarins (gen.), is identical in the modern language. But in addition to the usual dative form, Þórarni, four other forms have been used, Þórarin, Þórarini, Þórarinum, Þórarininum. As examples of the use of these innovative forms are not common, it is difficult to date their emergence with certainty. The oldest known example of Þórarinum is from around 1700 in South Iceland, from where it may have spread. Examples are found in several places in the South, in the West and in the North. Examples of Þórarin in the dative are found in the latter half of the 18th century. Þórarini occurs in the language of a man born in 1850. The rarest and presumably the youngest form, Þórarininum, occurs in the 20th century, in Rangárvallasýsla and Barðastrandarsýsla, and is probably extinct. The other three innovative forms are still occasionally found, especially Þórarin and Þórarini.