Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1999, Blaðsíða 254
234
Part Two
ently being from Istaby (7th century),8 and West Nordic inscriptions in
the younger alphabet have only forms in r-.
In skaldic poetry there are - apart from the verse by Egill quoted by
Olåfr hvitaskåld (Skj. A 1: 60, B 1: 53) - four instances, involving three
different words, where the metre requires forms with vr-:
Bragi I st. 19.1-2: Vildit vrgngum ofra
vågs hyrsendir ægi9
(Skj. A 1: 4, B 1:4)
F>jo6 II st. 11.5-6: Jtu skalt véltr, nema vélum -
vreidr mælti svå...
(Skj. A 1: 18, B 1: 16)
Eil II st. 21.1-2: Vreidr sto5 VrQsku broSir,
vå gagn faSir Magna
(Skj. A 1: 152, B 1: 144)
Bragi is thought to have lived in the early 9th century, PjoSolfr or Hvini
in the late 9th century, and Eillfr GoSrunarson, who also composed a
poem to Håkon jarl inn riki, belongs to the late lOth century (cf. Finnur
Jonsson 1921: 264-66).
On the other hånd, there are many instances of words of this type al-
literating with r- in poems from the same age - even in Bragi there is
one instance of alliterating r- in reidr (cf. Marold 1983: 77-79):
Bragi I st. 11.7-8: reidr at Reifnis skeiSi / råSalfr ...
(Skj. A 1: 3, B 1:3)
The following instances are all taken from poetry usually assigned to the
9th or lOth century: Ulfr II st. 1.5-6 (rangr), HolmgB st. 8.5-6
(reidask), Eg IV st. 3.3-^4 (reidi), Korm II st. 40.3-4, Eg VII st. 7.5-6
and 19.3—4 (reidr), Eyv III st. 2.5-6, Homkl I st. 2.6-8, Pveil st. 1.7-8,
Emåhl st. 8.1-2 and TorfE st. 2.1-2 (reka), Homkl II st. 16.1-2 (rog-).
8 Krause 1971: 31, 95, 150; Eklund 1991: 157. Roes, Gotland (8th century) has rak, but
gutish has a linguistic development somewhat apart (Krause 1971: 31, 159; Eklund 1991:
178).
9 The stanza is transmitted in 5 manuscripts of Snorri’s Edda, one of which writes the
word with vr-: vra/ngvm (AM 748 4to; leb: vaungum. - Skj. A 1: 4). This is the only in-
stance I know of where forms with vr- are to be found in manuscripts of Old Norse poetry.