1. General (no date), earliest poetry

a. Phonology

i. Vowels in stressed syllables

• kømr : kemr. ø v. e. Ex. øfra : efra, etc. Vacillation in mss: it’s unclear whether this is a sound change or not. Suggestion: retain < ø > (or go with MS spelling?).

• gull : goll. u v. o. Ex. sunr : sonr; fogl : fugl; goð (pagan) : guð (christian). No date. Suggestion: stay with ms. form; pay attention to internal rhyme.

— Shortening:

• háski : haski. á > a | –CC. Ex. árna : arna; járn : jarn; nátt (nótt, nôtt) : natt. No time given for this change, but evidenced in early poetry (cf. Sigvatr vask : haska).

• mín : minn. í > i | –CC. Ex. lítill : litlir; fríðr : fritt. No date given: shortening appears to have taken place in different environments at different times (see below, morphology).

• góðr : gott. ó > o | –CC. Ex. Þórólfr : Þorleifr. No date given.

• ýmiss : ymsir. ý > y | –CC. No date given.

ii. Vowels in unstressed syllables

• skipi : skipe. i > e. ‘Preliterary,’ but restored to / i / prior to 1250. Question: is this orthographic or not? Suggestion: use < i > throughout (also for definite article: inn. See below, morphology).

• konu : kono. u > o. As above.

• hána : hana. á > a. Ex. Óláfr : Ólafr. Controversial dating. Suggestion: use forms required by rhyme and metre.

iii. Consonants

• hvílð : hvíld. ð > d | [+long syllable] l, n–. Ex. hǫlðar v. hauldar. Date: as early as the 9th century.

• vinjeyjar: vineyjar. j/i (stem) > 0. Ex. niðjerfi > niðerfi, hrynjeld : hryneld. Date: / j / preserved in the oldest poetry (Bragi, Egill, etc.; cf. Kuhn 1983, 48). Suggestion: use older forms in the oldest poetry when required by metre (comment in notes).

b. Morphology

• mínn : minn. / i: / suggested by internal rhyme in some skaldic stanzas before 1200. Note: like a: ǫ rhymes, this could be an archaic feature — don’t use the long forms, but make a comment in the notes.

• enn : inn. Chronology: earliest inn, then enn, then inn (by 1250; see above). Suggestion: use inn consistently.

References