In:Dating the Old Norse Poetic Edda: A multifactorial analysis of linguistic features
Christopher D. Sapp
[Studies in Germanic Linguistics 5] 2022
► pp. vii–x
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Published online: 16 June 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/sigl.5.toc
https://doi.org/10.1075/sigl.5.toc
Table of contents
AcknowledgmentsXI
Chapter 1.Introduction1
1.1On the importance of dating Eddic poetry1
1.2A brief introduction to Old Norse poetry4
1.3Corpora7
1.3.1The Eddic poems7
1.3.2The skaldic poems11
1.4Overview of book14
Chapter 2.Previous scholarship and methodological considerations15
2.1The debate on the age of Eddic and skaldic poetry15
2.1.1Early speculation; early scholarship15
2.1.2More recent scholarship19
2.1.3Dating skaldic poetry22
2.2Literary scholarship on individual poems24
2.2.1Vǫluspá (Vsp)24
2.2.2Hávamál (Háv)25
2.2.3Vafþrúðnismál (Vm)28
2.2.4Grímnismál (Grm)29
2.2.5Skírnismál (Skm)29
2.2.6Hárbarðsljóð (Hrbl)30
2.2.7Hymiskviða (Hym)30
2.2.8Lokasenna (Ls)31
2.2.9Þrymskviða (Þrk)32
2.2.10Vǫlundarkviða (Vkv)33
2.2.11Alvíssmál (Alv)33
2.2.12The Helgi poems: HH I, HHv, and HH II34
2.2.13Grípisspá (Grp)35
2.2.14Young Sigurðr poems: Rm, Fm, and Sd36
2.2.15Elegiac poems: Br, Sg, Gðr I, Hlr, Gðr II-III, and Od37
2.2.16Atlakviða (Akv)39
2.2.17Atlamál in grœnlenzku (Am)40
2.2.18Guðrúnarhvǫt (Ghv)41
2.2.19Hamðismál (Hm)41
2.2.20The Eddic appendix: Bdr, Rþ, Hdl, Grt, and Svm42
2.2.21Summary of proposed dates44
2.3Linguistic and metrical methods for dating Old Norse poetry46
2.3.1Why linguistic and metrical criteria ?46
2.3.2The particle of/um46
2.3.3Alliteration of *vr- with r-47
2.3.4Contracted vs. hiatus forms48
2.3.5Syncope50
2.3.6Mythological kennings50
2.3.7Kuhn’s laws and Fremdstofflieder hypothesis51
2.3.8Other criteria for dating Eddic poetry51
2.3.9Dating skaldic poetry51
2.4My assumptions and methods53
2.4.1Dating the extant poem53
2.4.2Selection of my dating features55
Chapter 3.The particle of/um57
3.1Background57
3.1.1Kuhn’s (1929) foundational study57
3.1.2Fidjestøl’s use of the particle to date Eddic poetry59
3.1.3Recent work on the particle in skaldic poetry64
3.2The particle of/um in my Eddic corpus67
3.2.1Selection of data67
3.2.2Effect of independent variables70
3.3The particle of/um in my skaldic corpus76
3.3.1Selection of data76
3.3.2Effect of independent variables77
3.3.3Combining the two genres79
3.4Discussion80
Chapter 4.Change in negation markers83
4.1Background83
4.1.1Negation types in Old Norse83
4.1.2Negation as a dating criterion84
4.2Negation in my Eddic corpus89
4.2.1Selection of data89
4.2.2Comparison of rankings92
4.2.3Effect of date94
4.3Negation in my skaldic corpus96
4.3.1Selection of data96
4.3.2Effect of date97
4.3.3Combining the two genres99
4.4Discussion101
Chapter 5.Verb placement in subordinate clauses103
5.1Background103
5.1.1Old Norse word order in prose and poetry103
5.1.2Kuhn’s laws and Old Norse word order105
5.1.3Evaluations of Kuhn’s hypotheses109
5.1.4Word order in specific meters113
5.1.5An alternative to the Fremdstofflieder hypothesis115
5.2Verb order in my Eddic corpus117
5.2.1Selection of data117
5.2.2Comparison of rankings121
5.2.3Effect of independent variables124
5.3Discussion130
Chapter 6.Relative clause types133
6.1Background133
6.2Relative markers in my Eddic corpus135
6.2.1Selection of data135
6.2.2Comparison of rankings139
6.2.3Effect of independent variables142
6.3Relative markers in my skaldic corpus144
6.3.1Selection of data144
6.3.2Effect of independent variables145
6.3.3Combining the two genres147
6.4Discussion148
Chapter 7.Metrical criteria for dating149
7.1Selection of metrical criteria for this study149
7.2Variation in metrical types150
7.2.1Previous studies of type variation150
7.2.2The Eddic data152
7.2.3Comparison of rankings157
7.2.4Effect of independent variables in Eddic corpus162
7.3Increase in heavy dips164
7.3.1Previous study: Myrvoll (2014)164
7.3.2The Eddic data165
7.3.3Comparison of rankings169
7.3.4Effect of independent variables in Eddic corpus172
7.4Discussion174
Chapter 8.A multivariate system of dating Eddic poetry177
8.1Background177
8.1.1Text classification with Naïve Bayes Classifiers177
8.1.2Applying Naïve Bayes Classifiers to philology179
8.2Dating Eddic poems by the Naïve Bayes Classifier180
8.2.1Training the model on the skaldic data180
8.2.2The NBC model and its application to the Eddic poems183
8.3Implications of the proposed dates186
8.3.1Comparison to classifications by other scholars186
8.3.2Evaluation of other dating criteria188
8.3.3On the ages of the individual poems195
8.4Discussion and conclusion202
References205
Appendices
Appendix 1.The meters of Eddic and skaldic poetry215
Appendix 2.Summaries of the Eddic poems219
Appendix 3.Instances of the particle of/um in the corpora223
Appendix 4.Instances of negation in the corpora227
Appendix 5.Verb order in subordinate clauses in the Eddic corpus233
Appendix 6.Relative markers in the corpora239
Index245
