Hear No Sievers, See No Sievers: Metrics and the Eddic Commentary Tradition

Abstract This article explores a gradual shift towards metrical and linguistic imprecision in the four major commentaries on Old Norse Eddic poems produced from 1930s to today. trend both affects reflects state of scholarship at large. Many scholars today do not avail themselves criteria dating textual restitution but approach these issues either with agnosticism or by presenting vague arguments favour particular dates variants. During last three decades, however, testing along many parameters has placed essentials Eduard Sievers’ analysis (1893) beyond reasonable doubt, which means that abandonment precise description taken place context where preconditions for such were improving. These analytical advances mainstream have yet meet, present aims facilitate convergence. Furthermore, since will remain indispensable heuristic tools foreseeable future, field philology stands gain concise implicit assumptions guiding their analysis.