Höfuð-stafr

Old Norse Dictionary - höfuð-stafr

Meaning of Old Norse word "höfuð-stafr" (or hǫfuð-stafr) in English.

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

höfuð-stafr (hǫfuð-stafr)
m., gramm. a ‘head-stave,’ head letter, capital, initial, used freq. in this sense by Thorodd: but grammarians use it specially of the letters h, q, v, þ, which can stand only at the beginnings of syllables, (see gramm. p. xv, col. 1 at the bottom; Skálda 165–171):—in prosody, the third of the alliterative letters (ljóðstafir) standing ‘ahead’ of the second verse line, the preceding two being called stuðlar; thus in ‘þá var grund groin | grænum lauki,’ the g in ‘grænum’ is a höfuðstafr, but in ‘grund’ and ‘gróin’ a stuðill, Edda 120: in mod. usage höfuðstafir in pl. is used of all the alliterative letters, skáldskapr þinn er skothent klúðr | skakk-settum höfuðstöfum með, Jón Þorl.

Orthography: The Cleasby & Vigfusson book used letter ö to represent the original Old Norse vowel ǫ. Therefore, höfuð-stafr may be more accurately written as hǫfuð-stafr.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᚼᚢᚠᚢᚦ-ᛋᛏᛅᚠᚱ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements

Abbreviations used:

freq.
frequent, frequently.
gramm.
grammar.
l.
line.
m.
masculine.
mod.
modern.
pl.
plural.

Works & Authors cited:

Edda
Edda. (C. I.)
Jón Þorl.
Jón Þorláksson.
Skálda
Skálda. (H. I.)
➞ See all works cited in the dictionary

Also available in related dictionaries:

This headword also appears in dictionaries of other languages descending from Old Norse.

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