Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
Craigie: Skaldic Metre.
341
On some Points in Skaldic Metre.
§ 1. The theory of Old Northern metres proposed by
Prof. Sievers has met with so much acceptance from those
who have had most opportunity to test its correctness, that
it might well seem to be, in its general outlines at least, a
completely established fact. Some studies in the stricter
forms of skaldic verse have however forced me to the
conclusion that in not a few points the system in question, as
finally laid down in Altgermanische Metrik, is open to
certain strong objections. The discovery of one important
point in which skaldic practice seems to be quite opposed to
Prof. Sievers’ views (see § 2 below) finally supplied the
means of testing other assumptions involved in the general
theory, and of showing that these are not very well borne out
by the facts of the case. What these facts are, and what
I believe them to mean, I have stated, as clearly and
concisely as possible, in the following pages. Here, however, I
wish to say that the time at my disposal being limited, I
have not been able to make exhaustive investigations in the
whole body of Old Northern verse. Feeling the necessity of
having a comparatively small and yet representative field to
work in, I selected as the basis for statistics the verses
contained in Eonr&d Gfslason’s Udvalg af Oldnordiske
Skjal-dekvad, as presenting on the whole a safe text and
illustrating the practice of many different skalds. The number
of lines in this work is about 2000, and in all important
cases I have given exact statistics of the types under
discussion; a number prefixed to a line indicates the page of
Skjaldekvad on which it occurs. But while my statistics
are limited to the verses contained in this work, I have
gone through the general mass of skaldic verse with
sufficient thoroughness to assure myself that it contains nothing
materially at variance with the results otherwise obtained,
ABKIV FOB MOBDMK NLOLOOI XT!, NT rOLJD XII.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
