# Icelandic: Enn heldur af stað, brenna spurningar



## CarlitosMS

Hello everybody:
I would like to know the meaning of this sentence, since my Icelandic is not very good.
Moreover, I would like to know if "enn" means in this context "still" or "again".

Opnaðu augun, sjáðu hvar þú ert
Ég er og bíð þín þar
Hugurinn ber þig aðra leið, en hvert?
Enn heldur af stað, brenna spurningar
(Þá veistu svarið, Inga)

Greetings
Carlos M.S.


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## klandri

Honestly the sentence just makes no sense and I have no idea what it's trying to say.


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## CarlitosMS

It makes no sense because in correct Icelandic it would be something like "Enn heldur þú af stað, brenna spurningar", but the pronoun was substracted because of rhythm or metric reasons.


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## klandri

That is critical information without which this is indecipherable. Don't see why they'd write the lyrics like that though since in spoken Icelandic _"Enn heldurðu af stað"_ is very often pronounced _"Enn heldurð'af stað"_ so I don't see the need to obscure the meaning in this way especially by omitting the apostrophe.
_
Enn_ meaning _again_ is far less common than meaning _still_ but I don't see _still_ making much sense in this context so I'd have to assume it means _again_ here.


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## CarlitosMS

The translation would be an ommission of the conjunction "ef"?


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## klandri

I assume _og_ but honestly your guess is as good as mine.


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## CarlitosMS

The translation would be something like if "Again you set off, questions are burning"?
Otherwise, correct me.


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## klandri

Yes, except _Brenna spurningar_ actually makes sense in Icelandic as a phrase unlike _questions are burning_.


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## CarlitosMS

What does _Brenna spurningar _mean in this case?


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## Alxmrphi

Klandri's right that the expression _questions are burning_ is not a typical idiom in English, however it's completely normal to talk about a burning question.
See the definitions below for the meaning attributed to the English expression:



> *burning question*
> and *the burning question*
> _Fig._ a question whose answer is of great interest to everyone; a question that needs very much to be answered, as a fire needs to be extinguished. There's a burning question that needs to be answered: Why did you leave your wife of only one month?





> *burning question*
> An urgent or crucial issue under heated discussion. For example, _Real estate taxes are always a burning question for the town leaders_. This term has exact equivalents in French (_question brûlante_) and German (_brennende Frage_). [Mid-1800s]



As the second quote shows, it's pretty common across European languages to have this expression. In Danish, to add another example, it would be _brændende spørgsmål. _The Icelandic version means the same as all the others, that there are important and urgent questions to be answered.


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## CarlitosMS

Thank you very much for all your kind answers, but I still haven't found the sense of the sentence, since subjects are lacking.


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## CarlitosMS

Another clue, "heldur" refers to "hugurinn" and is the 3rd person of the verb "halda".


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