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Late Placement of the Finite Verb in Old Norse Fornyrðislag Meter

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2012

Haukur Þorgeirsson
Haukur Þorgeirsson*
Affiliation:
University of Iceland
*
Ofanleiti 17, 103 Reykjavík, Iceland, [haukurth@hi.is]
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Abstract

In Old Norse poetry, there is a syntactic difference between bound clauses (subordinate clauses and main clauses introduced by a con-junction) and unbound clauses (main clauses not introduced by a conjunction). In bound clauses, the finite verb is often placed late in the sentence, violating the V2 requirement upheld in prose. In unbound clauses, the V2 requirement is normally adhered to, but in fornyrðislag poetry, late placement of the finite verb is occasionally found. Hans Kuhn explained these instances as a result of influence from West Germanic poetry. The present article argues that these instances can be explained as a remnant of the Proto-Norse word order, and that this explanation is better supported by the data.*

Type
ARTICLES
Information
Journal of Germanic Linguistics , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , 20 August 2012 , pp. 233 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Germanic Linguistics 2012

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