Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series A - 01.06.1997, Blaðsíða 21

XIX
Short and long u are usually written with v initially (seven exceptions, e.g.
upp 248) and with u medially. v is written in Lundvnum 56, but the word is
divided over the line-end, Lund|vnum; mvna 932, printed with v, may have u
(the letters are sometimes difficult to distinguish); svndr 1010 seems clear (but
may have been influenced by sveinn etc.). u is usual fínally, e.g. nu (twenty-
six times), þu (twenty-four times), su (four times), but v occurs in sv O44, þv
993 (at line-end), Nv 238, 925 (both at line-end), and in the five instances where
Nv is the first word of the chapter and the N was written later. There are three
instances of ó, stóndum 463, móno 924, 949 (cf. Zitzelsberger 1987, cxxix); both
words are common, and are otherwise spelled with u.
œ is occasionally written e or q: athefi 327, venligr 1030, vent ll8; matuqlar
316, B^ringi II1, h?fr ll43. The er abbreviation has been expanded as œr in
bæri l8, væri 27, 245, væra 317.
ö is written more or less equally ó and o: sógo 1', óll l22; fioll l5, giofum 110
etc. Forms of giora occur frequently and are spelled only with io. The spelling
au is used nine times, e.g. daugum l2, aunga 832; it occurs in a variety of spell-
ing contexts.
The spelling e is rare in unstressed or weak-stressed syllables. In final posi-
tion, except in foreign names, there occur with e only skade 718, *hefde 822; for
it/ith and -inn in verb endings only Seget 756, latet 925; for -lig etc. only hæfilega
432. There are no occurrences of e in the suffixed article. The ending -ir/er is writ-
ten with er thirteen times, e.g. sæler 222, but at least nineteen times with ir, e.g. fa-
tækir 222; the abbreviation has been expanded with ir. But eyrendi/erendi is
always spelled with e in its second syllable at its twelve occurrences, and tidindi
(,d=ð), spelled with i on four occasions, is also spelled once with e, tiþenda 422.
The spelling o is more common than uK v) in final position in unstressed
syllables (in a proportion of 2:1): sógo l1, Þesso l6, fengo l23; landinu l9,
giordu 117, bezstu 1 '9, etc; it is written ó once, godó 441. But u is used in closed
final syllables, daugum l2, ættuth l5 etc., with only six instances of o: erom
259, ætlot 522, nókkot 759, 814, 928, skulot 8". In medial syllables both u and o
are found, e.g. tauludu 424, vitruzstu 59, morguninn 1123, rikuliga 54; stundodo
222, þionosto 994, morgonin 740, virdoligazstr 959. There are two instances writ-
ten with ó: vitrózstu 842, lðndónum 929-30.
The svarabhakti vowel, which is indicated only by use of the superscript r
rotunda, is rare: viturleik 431, viturliga 470, aldurs 1151. (The form of the word
vipur 117 is in doubt.)
Single consonants are sometimes written double, and double written
single, both finally and (less often) medially. A dot or a horizontal stroke may
be used for the second consonant. Zitzelsberger 1987, cxxxii-cxl, gives full
details for each consonant affected in Konráðs saga. The following are some
illustrations from Mírmanns saga: