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4.1. Unstressed final t.
d for unstressed final t is common in the oopies of Vatnshyrna where
the preceding root syllable ends in t (e.g. leitad, C2v9, haustid, E33:4),
but rare elsewhere, though nockitd occurs twice on E34 (15 and 19).
4.2. Use of vo for vd.
va is more common than vo overall; in E there are 21 va and 10 vo spellings,
in C 4 with va and 6 with vo, in H 26 with va and 18 with vo. However, the
word svd is always spelt with va, and if all cases of it were discounted,
vo spellings would be in the majority. There are also a few spellings with
vå (e.g. vån, E40:19).
4.3. vær for ver.
The spelling vær does not appear in any of the copies of Vatnshyrna.
The usual spelling is v'' (e.g. C2vl4, E34:12), but ver appears at E34:28.
However, it is possible that Åmi has here expanded the abbreviation.
4.4. Parasite u before -r.
There is no use of interlinear 2 involving parasite u in E or C, but H
shows a form of the -ur abbreviation resembling an infinity sign (00),
in leing00, H6rl3, dagfinn00, H7r7-8. E shows one reverse spelling without
original u (ydr, E39:15), but there are none in C or H. Explicit parasite
u appears in Draumur, in the titles of Draumr Porsteins Sidu-Hallssonar,
at C2r7, and of Stjornu-Odda draumr, at the beginning of H, but it cannot
be certain whether these titles were copied from Vatnshyrna or not. Other-
wise, -ur occurs only in H (heygdur, 2vl, sadur, 3v4, nætur, 7rl0), and it is
possible, in view of the absence of supporting forms, that some or all of
these may be mistakes on the part of Årni.22
4.5. eng/eing.
eing is usual in all Arni’s copies of Vatnshyrna, though occasional eng
appears in all of them (e.g. fengu, C2v6, engi, H3v23, fengu, E38:12).
4.6. éjie.
ie for é appears only once iliet, Clvl2); ee occurs 8 times for é in C and H,
(e.g. leet, Clvl3, seen, H7vl4), but these spellings are probably analogous
to the use of m for å.23 If this is so, the single case of ie should probably
be regarded as an accidental intrusion of Årni’s own spelling system.
4.7. Graphs for r.
In E, there are only about a dozen cases of 2, one after o, the others
all after d. C shows 2 in a majority of 30 to 10 after d, but only once else-
where, after u. H makes wider but less consistent use of 2—here it is the
majority form after d, Jc, a common minority form after g (14 to 29), and
occurs occasionally after o, a, t, e, i, n, æ,f. The majority of these 2 graphs
occur near the beginning of H. All but ten of the 2 graphs in the copies of
Vatnshyrna are in final positions; of these ten, three are in the double consonant
22 But see Stefan Karlsson, above, 4.3.1, for exceptional -ur spellings in Flat-
eyjarbåk, which was written about the same time as Vatnshyrna.
23 See seetions 4.13 and 9.13 below.