Abstract.For an odd prime power q the infinite field GF(q 2~ ) = U,_>0 GF(q2~ ) is explicitly presented by a sequence (f,,),,_>l of N-polynomials. This means that, for a suitably chosen initial polynomial fl, the defining polynomials f, ~ GF(q ) [x ] of degrees 2 n are constructed by iteration of the transformation of variable x ~+ x + 1/x and have linearly independent roots over GF(q). In addition, the sequences are trace-compatible in the sense that the relative traces map the corresponding roots onto each other. In this first paper the case q ---1 (mod 4) is considered and the case q ---3 (rood 4) will be dealt with in a second paper. This specific construction solves a problem raised by A. Scheerhorn in [11].