[8] svellvífaðar ‘ice-covered’: This cpd adj. is a hap. leg. The first element svell ‘ice, sheet of ice’ (especially over land) is unproblematic, even though the scribes had difficulty with it. The second element appears to be the p. p. –vífaðr ‘covered, wrapped’ from the verb vífa ‘come upon suddenly or by accident’ (cf. ÍO: 1132). Exactly how the meaning of the p. p. derives from the inf. vífa is unclear; ONP: vífa gives five examples of this verb, all exemplifying the pres. part.