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In:Historical Linguistics 2023: Selected papers from the 26th International Conference on Historical Linguistics,Heidelberg, 4-8 September 2023
Edited by Jadranka Gvozdanović
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 371] 2026
► pp. 366–385

Resolution and anacrusis in Ancient Nordic

A re-evaluation of runic metrics

 | University of Agder
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This chapter explores a “problem of detail” in the metrical inscriptions of the older runic corpus. It re-evaluates resolution in alliterative lifts (notation in metrical phonology: Light+Light = Heavy, e.g. Hlewa- on the Gallehus horn) which occurs in conjunction with the alleged phenomenon of anacrusis, i.e. an optional initial drop (ek). The basic position of this chapter is that resolution in North-West Germanic metrics was an automatic, phonologically driven process, and hence a consequence of the phonological structure of the language. What has generally been regarded as anacrusis in the Gallehus inscription, and other similar structures, compensates for the resolved structure (Hlewa-) and forms part of the metrical schema. Most importantly, Old Norse verse supports this claim, e.g. Vǫlospá 3.3–4 vara sandr né sær || né svalar unnir.
Article outline
  • 1.Overview
  • 2.Anacrusis or not — a problem of detail?
  • 3.Line of argument
  • 4.Resolution in Ancient Nordic
  • 5.Is initial ek in the older runic inscriptions stressed or not?
  • 6.Anacrusis in the Gallehus inscription or not?
  • 7.Evidence in Old Germanic
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Author queries
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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