--- In norse_course@..., tsdoughty@... wrote:
> OK, I've got a question which has been bothering me for some time,
and which
> is appropriate for our beginner's level.
>
> Many names, like nouns in the strong masculine declension, end in -
r, which
> drops out in other cases.
>
> e.g. Óláfr Óláf Óláfi (nom. acc. dat.)
>
> But why not the name Baldr?
>
> In Voluspa we get "Ek sá Baldri", not "Ek sá Baldi"
>
> Different declension?
Very good question Tim! :)
The name Baldr belongs to a group of strong masculines whose stem
ends in 'r' ("galdr" = 'magic' is another); so the stem itself
is "Baldr". It's kind of like the "jarl" thing, it's not really
possible to pile an -r ending on to that, so you do without it (hence
nom "Baldr", not "*Baldrr").
The lessons will get to this very soon. But actually, since I'm
revising all of them from lesson 1 up, I may change it and present
this a bit earlier. Not a matter, words of this type aren't many, but
it's also not something difficult to learn.
Óskar