Íslenzk tunga - 01.01.1965, Page 39

UM ALDUR OG UPPRUNA KV-FRAMBURÐAR
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Ijörður (in the middle of tlie North), but it is uncertain whether the scribe
was from this district. Third, there is a similar example in a manuscript from
about 1690. The scribe, Jón Vigfússon, was born probably about 1650. The
district from whicli he hailed is uncertain, but all indications point to the
North. Fourth, the earliest example is from a manuscript written by a scribe
from Breiðafjörður (in the northern part of the West) about 1630. Finally,
there are two examples of alliteration of hv- and k- in poems ascribed to the
Rev. IJallgrímur Pétursson, who was born in 1614 and brought up in Skaga-
fjörður. These poems, however, have not been found in contemporaneous manu-
scripts, and to ascribe them to the Rev. Hallgrímur is therefore not altogether
safe.
4. Judging from these examples it seems quite likely that the change began
as early as the first half of the 17th century, even though no definite proof of
this is furnished by the available evidence. At any rate it seems clear that the
change had taken place in the second half of this century. Where the change
originated cannot be definitively ascertained. The examples point to the central
part of the North or the northem part of the West (Breiðafjörður). It there-
fore probably originated in either of these areas, or possibly in both.