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Article published In: Runic Inscriptions and the Early History of the Germanic Languages
Edited by Robert Nedoma and Hans Frede Nielsen †
[NOWELE 73:1] 2020
► pp. 21–43

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Ek […] wraitalaþo

The Proto-Norse strong preterite 1sg ending in light of the Trollhättan II bracteate

 | University of Copenhagen
Published online: 29 April 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1075/nowele.00032.pou
Abstract
Scholars have previously interpreted the sequence wraitalaþo on the Trollhättan II Bracteate as wrait alaþō ‘I wrote the magical formula’, wrait ā laþō ‘I wrote laþu in(to)’ or wraita laþō ‘I wrote as an invitation’. The first and second interpretations are improbable for semantic, morphological and syntactic reasons. The third interpretation does not consider the linguistic consequences of the strong preterite 1sg ending being retained as -a in Proto-Norse (PN). I will argue that final -a was preserved in early PN after a stressed syllable, but was lost after an unstressed one. I will reconsider the group of PN inscriptions that attest strong preterite verbs. Finally, I will conclude that all definite evidence of the loss of -a belongs to a later period. One exception, however, is the much-debated inscription on the Reistad Stone, which lacks the syncope and has an original word-final -a in unnam(ʀ̣) wraita.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The Trollhättan II Bracteate
    • 2.1The sequence wraitalaþo
      • 2.1.1The formulaic interpretation
      • 2.1.2Interpretations with wrait(a) as the verb
        • 2.1.2.1 wrait Al(l)a þō
        • 2.1.2.2 wrait alaþo
        • 2.1.2.3 wrait a laþō
        • 2.1.2.4 wraita laþō
  • 3.The stem laþō-
  • 4.The fate of the ending *-a
    • 4.1The inscriptional material
  • 5.The Reistad Stone
    • 5.1The verb unnam
    • 5.2The noun unnamʀ
    • 5.3The noun wraita
    • 5.4The verb wraita
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (66)
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