Karlamagnús

Icelandic

Etymology

Inherited from Old Norse Karlamagnús, itself calqued from Latin Carolus Magnus through combining Old Norse Karl (in the unexpected genitive form Karla instead of the expected Karls) with Old Norse Magnús (a direct loan from Latin Magnus). By surface analysis, Karla (genitive of Karli) +‎ Magnús.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʰa(r̥)t͡laˌmakn̥us/, [ˈkʰä(r̥)t̪͡ɬäˌmäkn̥us̺]

  Audio:

  (file)

  Rhymes: -amaknus, -aknus, -us

Proper noun

Karlamagnús m (proper noun, genitive singular Karlamagnúsar or (rare) Karlamagnúss)

1. Charlemagne; the emperor of the Kingdom of the Franks between 768 and 814 BCE whose reign and reformations had large influence throughout much of European history.

   Synonyms: Karl mikli, Karl I

   Þrátt fyrir að hann hafi verið mikill bakhjarl bókmenntalistarinnar er gert ráð fyrir að Karlamagnús hafi verið nánast algjörlega ólæs — „nánast“ því við höfum skrifað innsigli frá honum.

   Although he was a major sponsor of the literary arts, it is assumed that Charlemagne was almost entirely illiterate — “almost” because we have a written seal from him.

   „Sagt er að Engill Dauðans drap Karlamagnús í svefni vegna þess að hann hefði barist ef hann væri vakandi.“ — „Nei, þau segja það um Theodore Roosevelt.“

   “It’s said that Death killed Charlemagne in sleep because if he was awake he would have fought.” — “No, they say that about Theodore Roosevelt.”

Declension

Declension of Karlamagnús (sg-only masculine)

indefinite singular
nominative	Karlamagnús
accusative	Karlamagnús
dative	Karlamagnúsi
genitive	Karlamagnúsar, Karlamagnúss1

¹Rare.

Sources

• Karlamagnús on Málið.is, a compendium of multiple dictionaries of Icelandic.