His son spoke

PWG *[XNOM] maþlōdē [YGEN] sunu/barn

by C Ryan Moniz

original research· spring 2013 - harvest 2021
updated & published· spring 2022

philology

Mjǫðr Óðins· Reconstructing Germanic verse formulae

There are at least two main versions of this West Germanic formula meaning ‘X spoke, Y’s son/child’:

  1. *[XNOM] maþlōdē [YGEN] sunu/barn
  2. *[XNOM] maþlōdē sunu/barn/&c [YGEN]

The order of the second halfline depends on whether the names alliterate with each other (1), or the first name alliterates with a word for ‘son, child’ (2). The formula uses a verb ‘to speak’ which is largely restricted to poetry in West Germanic, *maþlōn, and varies in its second halfline ordering depending on the alliteration: if both names

Old High German

[XNOM] gimahalta [YGEN] sunu

• Hildebrandslied 14, 36

hadubrant gimahalta   hitibrantes sunu

• Hildebrandslied 45

hiltibrant gimahalta   heribrantes suno

Old English

[XNOM] maþelode [YGEN] sunu

• Béowulf 2862, 3076

wígláf maðelode   wéohstánes sunu

• Béowulf 1383, 1473, 1651, 1817, 1999

béowulf maðelode   bearn ecgþéowes

• Béowulf 499

hunferð maðelode   ecgláfes bearn

The Battle of Maldon has a variant without the ‘son of Y’ secondary halfline, replacing it instead with bord hafenode ‘[he] raised [his] shield]’

• The Battle of Maldon 42

byrhtnóð maðelode   bord hafenode

• The Battle of Maldon 309

byrhtwold maðelode   bord hafenode

 

Mjǫðr Óðins· Reconstructing Germanic verse formulae

philology