Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series A - 01.06.2003, Page 112
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INTRODUCTION
(m) and uncial <m), irrespective of position, and <n> and the <H>-like
<n> indifferently for n, and the latter also for nn. <j> is normal but not
invariable after <o>, <d>/<ð>, often after <b) and sometimes after <g>.
<r>, sometimes dotted, is used for rr and on occasion for r. He uses
both usual <r> and a long-shafted form, apparently without distinction.
<f> mostly sits on the line but can also be extended below it. Round <s>
is sometimes used initially. In <tt> the first stave is often shortened and
so capped by the cross-bar of the second; the result can look like <it>.
He writes both <u> and <v) for vowel and sonant; the latter predomi-
nates; <v) occasionally has the insular form, like <y> (and even some-
times dotted), and <v> for intervocalic/is common. <y> is <y5>, not al-
ways dotted. <z> appears barred and unbarred; sometimes the latter
form tails below the line; the nota for ok is seldom used; it differs from
<z> in curling to the right at the base. The vowel ö is written <o>,
<au>/<av> and <a/>. æ is written <æ> but also commonly as <?> and
rarely as <e>. Diphthong ei is frequently written <e> and there are in-
stances where the scribe writes a word with <e> on the line and super-
script <‘> above it.41
(ii) Fols. 76v-78v, the transcript of the 1314 réttarbót, show certain
orthographic novelties; they are described in (iv) below. In the other
parts in Hand II long a is unmarked and vá is almost exclusively writ-
ten <ua>/<va>, though ‘vonar’ and ‘uottar’ are isolated exx. of change
to vó. The scribe prefers ‘miatt’ and ‘miara’ to the more frequent
‘miott’ and ‘miora’. There is one ex. of <ei> for é, ‘reittum’, two where
<ei) is written for e: ‘eillzti’, ‘eirfðÍNÍ’. The word misseri is spelt ‘miss-
eri’. No <y> forms are found in adj. mikill. <o) is the middle vowel in
‘olmosa’. Forms of son(r) are much more often with <u>/<v> than with
<o>. Past part. ‘vorðit’ and ‘volldit’ occur. <y> is normally unrounded
in ‘firi’, ‘ifir’, ‘þicki’, ‘ivirbotvm’, but ‘fyr’, ‘fyri’, ‘fyrir’, ‘fyrra’ also
appear; fyr(ri) is once expressed as ‘fvr’. u-mutation of a is expressed
by <o>, <au>/<av> and <a/>. There are numerous cases where the vowel
appears unshifted: ‘allu’, ‘allum’, ‘samu’, ‘skynsamum’, ‘tillagu’,
‘aðrum’. The word 0x is ‘ox’ in the nom., ‘exi’ in the dat. <e> for ei is
41 E.g. ‘ve'ta’, ‘me'ra’, ‘þe'm’; other superscript letters occur, some of them probably
intended as scribal self-correction, e.g. ‘pascha’, ‘saklauss’; but the number of (e) spel-
lings for ei suggests that the superscript forms were intentionally made. The other su-
perscript letter chiefly used is <■> in e.g. ‘va’la’, ‘all’a’.