--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "naddr_risi" <emironen@...> wrote:

> Before establishing an etymology of this word it is not superfluous to
> specify its form: various printed editions and MSS have rather vage
> spelling: Hærvaða and even Hávaða.

Good point, naddr_risi. I've just checked Turville-Petre's edition;
he notes: "In R the form Harvaða has been altered to Hærvaða. Other
forms are Handafjöll and Hanaðafjöll (U)." I'm afraid I know no more
than that, so all further information is welcome. Is there in fact
any manuscript authority for this form Harvaða that appears in the
normalised texts? Or is it just a (partially) reconstructed form
based on the assumption that it refers to the Carpathian Mountains.
If so, I've been building speculation on top of speculation; not
always a firm foundation! Sorry about that.



--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Patricia" <originalpatricia@...>
wrote:

>
> When this question was originally answered by LN he used the most

commonly found spelling IMO


I'm afraid I simply used the spelling found in modern editions. I
should been more careful and checked to see what I could find out
about the forms actually attested. Thanks naddr_risi for bringing the
matter to our attention. Patricia: even if we did establish the "most
commonly found" spelling, this wouldn't be significant in itself if it
happened that most common spelling could be traced to a
mutation/alteration/error, not shared by some older manuscript from
which these were copied.

LN