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1882
Volume 20, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 1782-7183
  • E-ISSN: 2030-9902

Abstract

Abstract

In Old Norse philology, there is limited debate on emendations and the choice between textual variants in the eddic poems. Considerations of this topic are mainly found in commentaries and editions, but even the largest ones explain only part of their underlying logic. Furthermore, new-philological critique of editorial interventions often bypasses concrete examples, including ones where most ‘new’ and ‘old’ philologists would likely agree that emendation is necessary. The article therefore focuses on concrete cases. It first revisits the epistemological underpinnings of a scribal versus a reconstructive focus, concluding that even the act of reading an Old Norse manuscript text requires some reconstruction of the scribe’s intentions. The ideal of non-invasive philology is thus a pipe dream, and this means that there is a real need for the skill and methodology of philologists. The question then rather becomes how far the reconstruction can proceed while retaining probability on its side, and this must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. From this vantage point, the article explores a range of examples to which plausible and largely ‘common-sensical’ emendations have been proposed. It takes its starting point in an important but largely overlooked article by Finnur Jónsson, where Finnur anticipated much of the later debate. Finnur’s typology of innovations is somewhat cumbersome, however, and the article instead follows one presented by R. D. Fulk, with the addition of the category of ‘analogy’. The findings support Leonard Neidorf’s ‘lexemic theory’, suggesting that scribes tended to focus on individual words rather than context, and that resulting innovations are therefore often nonsensical. Unlike Neidorf, however, I note that this analysis may not be applicable to prose. Due to its focus on concrete examples, the article also includes a range of observations that are not easily summarized.

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2025-12-05

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/content/journals/10.1484/J.VMS.5.142574
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Emendations and the Choice between Variants in the Eddic Poems
https://doi.org/10.1484/J.VMS.5.142574
/content/journals/10.1484/J.VMS.5.142574
/content/journals/10.1484/J.VMS.5.142574
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Eddic poetry; emendations; lexemic theory; textual criticism

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