Norwegian/Danish: Knuden er den; sagen er den

[astri]

I'm curious if "knuden er den..." means the same as "sagen er den..." ("saken er den"), as in, "the thing is..."

Here is how the phrases appear in an 1877 letter:

“Sagen er den, at jeg af visse Grunde maatte bestemme mig til at reise fra Kr.a för den almindelige Tid, saa det tog mye Tid, inden det Brev fandt mig.”

“Knuden er den at jeg har saa ondt for at komme mig til at skrive”

 

[Svenke]

Yes, it does. The expression is not common nowadays, though.

Danish knude and Norwegian knute mean 'knot', and the point is that the knot is difficult to untie.

Svenke

 

[bicontinental]

Knuden er den at...

Yes, definitely dated usage (as Svenke said above)

Bic.

 

[astri]

Takk!