Ek […] wraitalaþo

Abstract

Abstract Scholars have previously interpreted the sequence wraitalaþo on the Trollhattan II Bracteate as wrait alaþō ‘I wrote the magical formula’, wrait ā laþō ‘I wrote laþu in(to)’ or wraita laþō ‘I wrote as an invitation’. The first and second interpretations are improbable for semantic, morphological and syntactic reasons. The third interpretation does not consider the linguistic consequences of the strong preterite 1sg ending being retained as -a in Proto-Norse (PN). I will argue that final -a was preserved in early PN after a stressed syllable, but was lost after an unstressed one. I will reconsider the group of PN inscriptions that attest strong preterite verbs. Finally, I will conclude that all definite evidence of the loss of -a belongs to a later period. One exception, however, is the much-debated inscription on the Reistad Stone, which lacks the syncope and has an original word-final -a in unnam(ʀ) wraita.