áfallinu

áfallinu is the definite dative singular form of the Icelandic noun áfall, which translates roughly as misfortune, calamity, or blow. The headword áfall covers a broad sense of misfortune, including natural disasters, personal setbacks, or serious hardships that befall people or communities. The form áfallinu appears when the noun is definite and in the dative case, such as in phrases that involve prepositions or predicates governing the dative in formal or literary Icelandic.

Etymology and meaning are linked to the Old Norse and broader Germanic roots of áfall, which carry the idea of a sudden impact or turning event—an event that comes upon someone like a bodily blow or a fate-changing occurrence. In modern Icelandic, áskal to the word remains primarily literary or formal, with more common everyday usage tending to the broader sense of “misfortune” without heavy case marking.

Usage notes include the fact that áfall can describe large-scale events (disasters affecting a country or community) as well as personal misfortune. The definite dative form áfallinu is most likely to appear in written or formal contexts, and it may occur in clauses that express with-dative relationships, such as descriptions of burdens, consequences, or situations that are considered to be endured or faced.

See also: áfall, calamity in Icelandic literature, linguistic inflection in Icelandic nouns.