einnhverr

From einn +‎ hverr.

einnhverr

1. some, someone, something
2. (with a superlative) functions as an intensive

   ágætastr maðr einnhverr

In Old Norse grammars and dictionaries, various forms of einnhverr are often used as case markers, that is stand-ins for other words when discussing the grammatical properties of a verb or even a preposition and their use of case. The word's meaning evidently lends itself well to this purpose. Using the word as a stand-in case marker is, however, a modern invention used to describe Old Norse, and is not necessarily descriptive of its medieval use.

When used as such, the forms may be abbreviated. They are as follows:

e-m = einhverjum (dative marker for persons)

e-u = einhverju (dative marker for objects)

e-n = einhvern (accusative marker for persons)

e-t = eitthvert (accusative marker for objects)

e-s = einhvers (genitive marker for persons and objects)

Both its parts, einn and hverr, inflect individually. The first part, however, is generally an indeclinable ein- in all other forms than the masculine nominative singular and the neuter nominative and accusative singular. The last part is inflected more straight forward.

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “einnhverr”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive