Íslenzk tunga - 01.01.1965, Side 58

56 HALLDÓR HALLDÓRSSON
the one with reference to the meaning of the phrase, the other with
reference to its form.
a) In attempting to explain the origin of the phrase, I think it
natural to assume that the original meaning of the phrase is in
accordance with one of the three categories which I have set forth
above for semantically related phrases. The earlier theories of the
origin of the phrase all agree in some way or other with this postu-
late, even though extensive comparative material has not been col-
lected before.
b) Concerning the form, I assume that the oldest instance found
shows the original form, i.e., that the form hjarta drepr stall is ori-
ginal and the variants secondary. This does not exclude the possi-
bility that some of the variants may he very old, even older than
the settlement of Iceland. I am thinking especially of hjarta e-s gjör-
ir stall.
As I have already hinted, I think that the expression drepa stall
properly means ‘to stop’. In what follows I shall state the reasons
for this opinion.
1) We have already seen that in Stjórn the phrase hjarla stallrar
is found in the same meaning as hjarta drepr stall, i.e., ‘to lose heart’.
We know that hjarta stallrar properly means ‘the heart stops heat-
ing’. It is unthinkable that there is no connection between these two
phrases. What they have in common is the meaning (‘to lose heart’)
and the use of related words, the substantive slallr in one and the
verb stallra in the other. In addition both phrases have the word
hjarta as subject. But of course the connection between these phrases
can be explained in different ways. I shall discuss two alternatives.
It is possible that the verb stallra is a very old verb which was
formed from stallr in Proto-Germanic where it meant ‘place’. The
expression drepa stall is also probably Proto-Germanic, as I shall
soon try to show. The phrases hjarta stallrar and hjarta drepr stall
may thus be old variants. There is also a possibility that hjarta
stallrar really is a comparatively late abbreviation of the phrase