Abbreviations in Old Norse-Icelandic Manuscripts

7/14/2019 Abbreviations in Old Norse-Icelandic Manuscripts

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The use of abbreviations is a characteristic feature of medieval Latin manuscripts and

those of most vernacular traditions. The practice derives from Roman times, whenthere were three systems of abbreviation in use: the notæ juris, which were usedextensively in legal documents, the Tironian notæ, a system of shorthand signsdeveloped by Cicero's secretary Tiro, and the nomina sacra, contracted forms of thewords for ‘God’ and the name ‘Jesus Christ’, a practice borrowed by the earlyChristians from Hebrew. The use of abbreviations in Latin manuscripts increased untilthe 12th century, after which it began to fall off. The Latin system was taken overmore or less wholesale in manuscripts written in the vernacular languages, but ingeneral the use of abbreviations was never as great in the vernacular languages as ithad been in Latin. An exception to this are Old Norse, and especially Icelandic,manuscripts, which both in terms of frequency and variety of abbreviations exceed

even Latin practice. There were also a number of Icelandic innovations, such as theuse of small capitals and dotted letters to indicate geminate consonants.

Following L. A. Chassant, Dictionnaire des abréviations latines et françaises (1846), it iscustomary to divide abbreviations into four types, seen from the point of view of themeans through which the abbreviation is achieved:

1) Suspension, also known as truncation or curtailment, where only thefirst letter or letters of a word are written, generally followed (andfrequently also preceded) by a point or with a superscript stroke.2) Contraction, where the first and last letters are written, normally also

with a superscript stroke, or, less commonly, a point or points.3) Special signs or brevigraphs, such as the Tironian nota resembling a 7used for et, found in Old Norse in the same sense (ok).4) Superscript letters; a superscript vowel normally represents that vowelpreceded by r or v, a superscript consonant that consonant preceded by a.

The most common sign of abbreviation is the superscript stroke or bar, which canindicate the suppression of one or more nasal consonants (m or n), and is also used, aswas mentioned, as a more general mark of abbreviation in suspensions andcontractions. Although in appearance there is no discernible difference between thetwo signs, in terms of their use they are quite distinct. The letter h with a stroke, for

example, represents the word hann (‘he’), but here the stroke cannot be said to ‘standfor’ the characters ann in the same way as it stands for n when the same word isabbreviated han, with a stroke over the n. The combination of characters ann is nototherwise normally abbreviated in this same way (see 4.2.8 below), and the barrepresents other letters in other inflectional forms of the same word, for example onuin the dative singular honum (‘him’), abbreviated hm, with a superscript stroke. Fromthe point of view of their function, therefore, abbreviation signs may be said to fallinto two categories, those which indicate that something has been omitted, withoutsuggesting what that something may be, and those which always refer to a particularcombination of graphemes, regardless of the lexical item in which they occur. There isobviously a correlation between the two systems: suspensions and contractions by

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necessity make use of a general mark of abbreviation, while superscript letters andtittles (some of which actually derive from letters) have a specific graphemicreference. The brevigraphs are of both types, since some, such as the inverted crepresenting con, have a specific graphemic reference, while others, for example thenomina sacra, have more in common with suspensions and contractions such as thebarred-h. In fact, the nomina sacra are contractions: in Ihc for Jesus, for example, theLatin letters reflect the form, but not the phonological value, of the original Greekuncials IHC (=IES). Other inflectional forms are also found: Ihm for Jesum, Ihu for Jesu

etc. This is no different from the barred-h, which, as was said, if used on its ownrepresents hann, but honum if followed by an m, and hans if followed by an s; thebarred-h can also represent forms of the feminine pronoun hón (‘she’), hi, for example,for henni (dat. sing.) or har for hennar (gen. sing.). Looking at it from the other side, thebarred-h and similar characters could be said to function as brevigraphs, since theycan represent various inflectional forms of the same or related words.

It is customary in traditional scholarly editions to expand abbreviations. In some casesthis is done silently (for example in most of the editions from the ArnamagnæanInstitutes in Copenhagen and Reykjavík), but in more diplomatic editions thesupplied letters are generally printed in italics. An exception to this are suspensions

using a point, expansions of which are given in round brackets — this is also commonpractice in editions where the expansion of abbreviations is otherwise not indicated.The reasoning behind this is that there is greater degree of uncertainty as to theprecise form intended with suspensions than with other types of abbreviation,although why this should apply only to those suspensions which make use of a point,rather than a superscript stroke, is unclear.

Given below is a list of abbreviations organised according to type. It should perhapsbe mentioned that as with most typological systems, the categories given here areunlikely to correspond to anything of which medieval scribes were consciously aware,even as ordinary speakers of a language are generally unaware that they use nouns,

verbs etc.

A.1.1 The first letter or letters of a word are written out and the remainder omitted,this omission being indicated by means of a point (or colon) set after, or both beforeand after, the letter or letters. This method was used both for a number of generally

common words, k. for konungr (‘king’), d. for drottinn (‘lord’) or dóttir (‘daughter’), s. forsonr (‘son’), segir/sagði (‘says/said’) etc., and also for words, especially proper names,which appear repeatedly in a text, and which are thus only understandable in context.Whole phrases, for example legal formulas, if frequently repeated, could also berepresented by the first letters of each word. Single letters used to represent wholewords in this way were known in Latin as sigla. Plurals could be indicated bydoubling the sigla; in Old Norse manuscripts this was especially common with kinshipterms, such as bb for bræðr (‘brothers’), dd for dætr (‘daughters’), ss for synir (‘sons’) etc.




A.1.2 The first letter or letters are written on the line and the remainder omitted, asuperscript stroke, sometimes with a curl, indicating the omission. This form ofabbreviation is largely restricted to certain common words.

Particularly in younger manuscripts, the word þess (and related forms, e.g. þessa) isfrequently abbreviated using a double stroke through the ascender.

A.1.3 Only the initial letter is written on the line, and the letter immediately followingit is written superscript. This form of suspension is essentially also restricted to certaincommon words, chiefly those shown here. In some cases, such as voro, fara and eigi, itcan be difficult or impossible to determine whether it is in fact the letter immediatelyfollowing, rather than the final letter (see below, section A.2.2), which is intended.Superscript letters used in this way should be distinguished from those which refer toa specific combination of letters, discussed below in section B.1.2.




A.2.1 The initial and final letters of a word are written on the line, but some or all ofthe intervening letters are omitted, the omission being indicated by means of asuperscript stroke or bar, either straight or with a curl, which is set over short lettersand generally passes through the ascenders of any tall letters. Points are also possible— following, preceding and, very rarely, between the letters — but are less common.

Certain genitive forms, in particular konungs, hans and þess, are sometimes abbreviatedin such a way that the first and last letters are combined as ligatures (k plus tall s etc.),with a bar to indicate that they are contractions. These are essentially of the same typeas those just discussed, but need to be treated in a slightly different way:

A.2.2 The initial letter is written on the line and the final letter is written superscript (apractice still common with ordinal numbers, 1st, 2nd on so on). This type is especiallycommon with forms of the word maðr (‘man‘). As was mentioned above in sectionA.1.3, some words abbreviated in this way could also be interpreted as suspensions.




A.3.1 The nomina sacra, i.e. Ihc for Jesus and Xpc for Christus. These, as was mentionedabove, are originally Greek contractions, but with Roman minuscules used instead ofthe Greek uncials.

A.3.2 The Tironian nota for et, probably the most common of all abbreviations(although entirely absent from some early manuscripts); it had various forms, theearliest resembling a 7 .

A.3.3 Runic letters. The f - and m-runes are occasionally used to represent the words fé and maðr (their names in the runic alphabet). The latter is frequently found with asuperscript (Latin) letter indicating an inflectional ending, i for manni (dat. sing.), a formanna (gen. pl.) etc.; this corresponds entirely to contractions mentioned in sectionA.2.2.

A.3.4 The †-sign is used for the word kross.

B.1.1 Supralinear signs (tittles). These are normally written over another character, orsometimes, depending on their shape, slightly to the right. They cannot occurword-initially or, for the most part, in pairs.

B.1.1.1 The nasal stroke, indicating the suppression of one or more nasal consonants; itcan occur both medially and finally.




B.1.1.2 The pi- or omega-like sign (originally a superscript a), representing ra or, less

frequently, va, ja or ar .

B.1.1.3 The 2-like sign, representing ur (or its mutated form yr ); it sometimes resemblesthe infinity symbol.

B.1.1.4 A sign resembling the numeral 9, used to indicate us (or its mutated form ys); itis principally used finally, in which case it can appear on the line, but can also be used

medially.

B.1.1.5 The zigzag-shaped sign, representing er or ir , occasionally also re (esp. with p),eir (esp. in the word þeir ), or simply r (esp. with e to represent the 3rd person sing.form of the verb ‘to be’); it is sometimes also used as general mark of abbreviation in

suspensions, particularly where one of the suppressed letters is an r .




B.1.2.1 Superscript a, representing va.

B.1.2.2

Superscript e, representing re or ve.

B.1.2.3 Superscript i, representing ri, ir or vi (esp. in the word því ).

B.1.2.4 Superscript o, representing or or ro.

T

B.1.2.5 Superscript c, representing ik(k) or ek(k).




B.1.2.6 Superscript d or ð, representing eð or uð (especially in the word guð).

B.1.2.7 Superscript m, representing um.

B.1.2.8 Superscript n, representing in(n) or an (particularly in forms of the encliticdefinite article).

B.1.2.9 Superscript r, representing ar .

B.1.2.10 Superscript t, representing at or it, or later að or ið.

B.2.1 A semicolon-like sign used to represent ed or eð; the later cursive form canresemble the numeral 3 or the letter z. In Latin writing it could also stand, with b, for

the ending -bus and with q for the enclitic -que. It survives in the English viz. forvidelicet. Its use in Old Norse manuscripts is for the most part restricted to the wordmeð, although the sign is sometimes also used with the letter s, representing the Latinword sed; in a text otherwise in the vernacular this is normally expanded heldr .

B.2.2 A sign resembling an inverted c or sometimes the numeral 9 (in which case it isidentical to the superscript sign for us) which stands for con and (in Latin) com. In Old




Norse, as in Latin, it is found only in initial position. It is most commonly used inLatin loan words, but can also be found in native words as well, in particular kona(‘woman’) and konungr (‘king’).

B.2.3 A sign resembling the numeral 4 (in fact a round r with a oblique curve throughthe leg) used to represent the termination -rum; it is especially common after theletters ð and o. In Latin this mark could also function as a general mark of abbreviation(the origin of the R-sign, now commonly misinterpreted as Rx, used in medicalprescriptions, which stands for recipe), but such use is rare in Old Norse manuscripts.

B.2.4 The letter p with a straight stroke through the descender indicates per , while acurved stroke or flourish extending through the descender represents pro, and p with a

superscript bar pre; although occasionally found in native words, these are mostcommonly used in Latin loan words such as prófeti.

B.3 Small capitals and dotted letters were used in Icelandic manuscripts to indicategeminate consonants. It is not standard practice to expand small capitals (althoughsome editors have done so), while dotted letters normally are treated like otherabbreviations.

M. J. Driscoll3/X/2007

Björn K. Þórólfsson: ‘Nokkur orð um íslenzkt skrifletur’, Landsbókasafn Íslands: Árbók 1948-9 (1950), pp. 117-152, esp. pp. 119-125. Johs. Brøndum-Nielsen: ‘Indledning’, Palæografi A: Danmark og Sverige, Nordiskkultur XXVIII:A (Stockholm, Oslo & København, 1943), pp. 1-35, esp. pp. 30-32.




Odd Einar Haugen: ‘The development of Latin script I: in Norway’, The Nordiclanguages: An international handbook of the history of the North Germanic languages,ed. Oskar Bandle et al. (Berlin/New York, 2002), pp. 824-832.——: ‘Paleografi’, Handbok i norrøn filologi, ed. Odd Einar Haugen (Bergen, 2004),pp. 175-214.Hreinn Benediktsson: Early Icelandic script as illustrated in vernacular texts from thetwelfth and thirteenth centuries, Íslenzk handrit: Icelandic Manuscripts, Series inFolio, II (Reykjavík, 1965), pp. 85-94.

Andrea de Leeuw van Weenen: The Icelandic Homily book: Perg. 15 4o in the RoyalLibrary, Stockholm, Íslensk handrit III (Reykjavík, 1993), esp. pp. 42-45, 105-120.Andrea de Leeuw van Weenen: A Grammar of Möðruvallabók (Leiden, 2000), esp.pp. 38-39, 46-47 and 110-126Konráð Gíslason: Um frum-parta íslenzkrar túngu í fornöld (København, 1846), pp.1-4.Sam Jansson: ‘Svensk paleografi’, Palæografi A: Danmark og Sverige, pp. 82-134.Erik Kroman: ‘Dansk palæografi’, Palæografi A: Danmark og Sverige, pp. 36-81.Erik Kroman: ‘Abbreviaturer’, KLNM , I, cols. 5-7.Kr. Kålund: Palæografisk atlas: Oldnorsk-islandsk afdeling (København & Kristiania,1905), pp. vii-xiDidrik Arup Seip: Palæografi B: Norge og Island, Nordisk kultur XXVIII:B(Stockholm, Oslo & København, 1954).Harald Spehr: Der ursprung der isländischen schrift und ihre weiterbildung bis zur mitte des 13. jahrhunderts (Halle/Saale, 1929).Stefán Karlsson: ‘The development of Latin script II: in Iceland’, The Nordiclanguages: An international handbook of the history of the North Germanic languages,ed. Oskar Bandle et al. (Berlin/New York, 2002), pp. 832-840.Lars Svensson: Nordisk paleografi: Handbok med transkriberade och kommenteradeskriftprov, Lundastudier i nordisk språkvetenskap A 28 (Lund, 1974).——: ‘Palaeography’, Medieval Scandinavia: An encyclopedia, ed. Phillip Pulsianoet al. (New York, 1993), pp. 491-496.Börje Westlund: ‘The development of Latin script III: in Sweden’, The Nordiclanguages: An international handbook of the history of the North Germanic languages,ed. Oskar Bandle et al. (Berlin/New York, 2002), pp. 841-849.

Bernhard Bischoff: Paläographie des römischen Altertums und des abendländischen Mittelalters (Berlin 1979), pp. 202-223.Adriano Cappelli: Lexicon abbreviaturarum: Dizionario di abbreviature latine ed

italiane (Milano, 61961).A. Chassant: Dictionnaire des abréviations latines et françaises usitées dans lesinscriptions lapidaires et métalliques, les manuscrits et les chartes du moyen âge (Paris,1846; repr. 1965).W. M. Lindsay: Notae Latinae: An account of abbreviations in Latin MSS. of the earlyminuscule period (c. 700-850) (Cambridge, 1915).A. G. Petti: English literary hands from Chaucer to Dryden (London, 1977), pp.22-25.Ludwig Traube: Nomina sacra: Versuch einer Geschichte der christlichen Kürzung(München, 1907).

Abbreviations in Old Norse-Icelandic Manuscripts

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