Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1999, Blaðsíða 337

XII Foreign matter poems
317
case, and one wonders if it can possibly be used as a criterion for dating.
The novelty of this type, where a word with short root stem will have to
carry both of the metrical lifts in the short line, was heavily underlined
by Kuhn - in his view it is the most peculiar verse form in all Old
Germanic poetry.29 Ljodahåttr does not know the type (Kuhn 1939: 197
= 1969: 499). As the table shows, it is confined to the four poems Vglund-
arkvida, Gudninarkvida / and II and Sigurdarkvida in skamma (includ-
ing Sigurdi also Helreid Brynhildar and Oddrunargråtr) on the one
hånd, and on the other hånd Ivarr Ingimundarson, Merlmusspd, Vlkars-
bålkr and Mannjafnadr (Mdnnervergleich) in Qrvar-Odds saga (Heusler
and Ranisch 1903: 65-70). Ivarr Ingimundarson used it in Sigurdarbglkr,
a poem on SigurSr slembi from around 1140, and if he was influenced by
Eddie poetry, as Kuhn plausibly thought, the type is older than this date
(Kuhn 1939: 207 = 1969: 506). Kuhn is probably right in supposing that
it is not very mueh older,30 however, particularly if the type is to be ex-
plained by the development of the syllable length in Sigurdr.
If we conclude that West Germanic influence is not necessary to ex-
plain the type fyr konungi, it should on the general principle of simplic-
ity be disregarded, and we are left with the explanation by the shorten-
ing of the first syllable of Sigurdi, which is a datable event, even if it
cannot be dated exaetly. I thus consider the occurrence of this metrical
type to be a valid argument in favour of a date not very mueh before
1100, a criterion to be considered together with other arguments, con-
vergent or divergent. It may be the most tangible result of these articles
as far as dating is concerned, favouring a dating of these poems to a
period not earlier than the llth century.
To Kuhn the occurrence of such forms in Vglundarkvida created a ser-
ious obstacle, as he was convinced of the old age of this poem. It would
be circular however to judge the validity of a dating criterion on the ba-
sis of a preconceived idea of the age of a poem in the absence of exter-
nal evidence. It must also be remembered that the occurrence of young
forms is a type of evidence which in itself is unable to decide the ques-
tion of dating (cf. the discussion above, pp. 237-38, regarding vr-).
29 “[...] diese Verse, in denen eine kurze offene und anscheinend undehnbare Silbe allein
einen inneren Takt ausfiillt, das Merkwiirdigste sind, was die altgermanische Verskunst
uns hinterlassen hat” (Kuhn 1939: 203 = 1969: 503-04).
30 “[...] wahrscheinlich nicht vor dem 12. Jh.” (Kuhn 1939: 197 = 1969: 499).