Historical Present in Narrative

Level 6

Þá kemur maður inn og segir að skipið sé komið. (Then a man comes in and says that the ship has arrived.)

How It Works

A spotlight, not a new time. In the sagas, the story moves between past and present. The present marks a moment the storyteller wants you to see:

  • Hann gekk út á hlað. Sér hann þá mann ríða að bænum. (He went out into the yard. Then he sees a man riding toward the farm.)
  • Þá hleypur Gunnar út og grípur atgeirinn. (Then Gunnar runs out and grabs his halberd.)

The second sentence of the first example also starts with its verb, a typical saga pattern. See narrative inversion.

Everyday stories. People do the same thing when they tell a story aloud:

  • Ég var á leiðinni heim í gær og þá hringir síminn. (I was on my way home yesterday, and then the phone rings.)

The rest of the sentence follows. In reported speech, the that-clause matches the tense the storyteller chose. With present segir, it takes the present subjunctive: segir að skipið sé komið. With past sagði, it would be sagði að skipið væri komið.

Reading tip. When you are reading the sagas and the tense suddenly changes, keep reading the events as past. It is a style choice, not a mistake and not a jump in time.

Examples (4)

  1. Þá kemur maður inn og segir að skipið sé komið.

    Then a man comes in and says that the ship has arrived.

    Word by Word: Then comes man in and says that the-ship is(SUBJ) come.

    The present segir goes with the present subjunctive sé.

  2. Þá hleypur Gunnar út og grípur atgeirinn.

    Then Gunnar runs out and grabs his halberd.

    Word by Word: Then runs Gunnar out and grabs the-halberd.

  3. Hann gekk út á hlað. Sér hann þá mann ríða að bænum.

    He went out into the yard. Then he sees a man riding toward the farm.

    Word by Word: He went out on yard. Sees he then man ride to the-farm.

    The story moves from past gekk to present sér.

  4. Ég var á leiðinni heim í gær og þá hringir síminn.

    I was on my way home yesterday, and then the phone rings.

    Word by Word: I was on the-way home yesterday and then rings the-phone.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the subject before the verb after þá.

    Þá maður kemur inn og segir að skipið sé komið.
    Þá kemur maður inn og segir að skipið sé komið.

    þá takes the first place, so the verb must come second, before the subject.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Historical Present in NarrativeLevel 6

Learn This First

Historical present builds on verb-first narration.