[6] máttu ‘they were able’: Ms. 343a has the reading mátti, which is 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of the verb mega ‘be able’. Since the subject of the sentence is the pl. benteinar ‘wound-twigs [SWORDS]’, eds either adopt the reading máttu (3rd pers. pl. pret. indic.) found in 471 and in 340ˣ (so Skj B and this edn) or emend mátti to the pret. subj. mætti ‘should have been able’ (Edd. Min.; Skald). Kock (NN §3289) adduces the pret. subj. dygði in the following long-line in support of an emendation to a subj. However, according to Nygaard (NS §§293-5) verb forms in the indic. are usual in dependent clauses introduced by svá at/svát, unless the main clause contains a negation, a question, an exhortation or a word meaning ‘worthy’ or ‘suitable’.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
- Edd. Min. = Heusler, Andreas and Wilhelm Ranisch, eds. 1903. Eddica Minora: Dichtungen eddischer Art aus den Fornaldarsögur und anderen Prosawerken. Dortmund: Ruhfus. Rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.