Heill Victor.

Eysteinn is right about the word in question. It is a rare word, and
extant manuscripts do not seem to agree on how it should be written.
It is a compound of two parts, the first part (óð- < *wôd-) likely
related to inspiration (needed to compose poetry), and the second
related to ON hroera/hrøra (<*hrôzian), MIce hræra, a weak verb
meaning to stir. The -ir suffix(*-jaz)in hroerir/hrørir is an agent-
suffix, so the likely meaning is 'inspiration/poetry-stirir'. The
-er in ME words like 'stirer' is also an agent-suffix, having the
same origin in Germanic, which hopefully helps to explain what it
tends to imply in ON. The name Óðinn is likely related to the óð- in
this rare word, and it is thought, but not known for certain, that
it was originally a u-stem (Early Runic N. *wôduz A. *wôdu D. *wôdiu
G. *wôdôz), but the extant instances and cases of ON óðr give
conflicting evidence about its original declension. The Early Runic
personal name Wôdurîdaz is attested in runic from about 400AD (its
ON form would be Óðríðr), which would seem to support the idea that
ON óðr was originally a u-stem. From the verb *hrôzian are derived,
besides ON hroera/hrøra, Old English hrêran, Old Saxon hrôrian, Old
High German hruoren, New High German ruhren (ulmauted u), all with
the same range of meanings. Likely also related, by ablaut, is the
Early Runic nom.sg.masc. a-stem hrazaz, a personal name or nickname.
So how should this word be written in ON? It depends on the era of
the language chosen, and the major issue here is the -h-. Take a
look at the exhaustive list of options given below by Eysteinn. The
variants with -ey- are likely due to either a) spelling variations
for the sound long ø (also written oe) or b) mutation variations of
original ô before z (*hrôzian) (z/R caused a variety of mutations in
ON when it turned into r in West Norse, which can sometimes be seen
in alternate forms of words with original z/R, for example: ýr/ór
'out of', ørlög, Erlandr (personal name), orrosta/orrusta/orresta
'battle', etc.etc.. The most conservative form, however, would be ON
hroerir/hrørir (accent the ø = oe), because it shows only i-mutation
of a preceeding ó by a following -i/j-. Given that this form occurs,
I would stick with it. Lastly, the major issue: -h-. Gulp. By about
1200AD, this -h- would be gone due to simplification of consonant
clusters of three or more consonants, by which rule the middle one
has to go (Þórfríðr attested 1000AD in West Norse runes > Þórríðr
Attested about 1120AD in a copy of Ari Fróði > MIce usually Þuríðr).
However, the oldest manuscripts (like the 2 Homily Books, etc.), _do
not show simplification of consonant clusters at all in compounds_,
and show much less of it in non-compounds as well - but the complex
rules on these non-compounds are irrelevant here, as this word is a
compound. Thus, about 1200AD and later: óðroerir/óðrø'ir, but about
1100AD and earlier: óðhroerir/óðhrø'rir - because the simplification
of consonant clusters of three or more consecutive consonants in
compound words is thought to have begun during the 12th century,
middle-later half. Hope this helps ;)

Regards,
Konrad

--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Eysteinn Bjornsson"
<eysteinn@...> wrote:

>
> --- Victor Hansen wrote:
> >
> > I believe that the word Odhroerir is the old Norse for the

symbol of the triple horn of Odin (is it referred to by any other
names and how would those be pronounced?). Someone correct me if I
am off track with this word but I'd be very interested to know the
proper pronounciation of it (or as close as possible), if someone
could give me a bit of help on this.

> .
> .
> .
>
> We don't even know what the correct form ought to be, so we don't

know for certain what the word means. The pronunciation
would vary depending on which form you would prefer. Some forms
possible are:

>
> Óðrerir
> Óðreyrir
> Óðrørir
> Óðroerir
> Óðhroerir
>
> In Skáldskaparmál, it is the name of one of three cauldrons
> in which the dwarfs Fjalarr and Galarr caught the blood of Kvasir.
> However, as used in Hávamál, Ó. appears to be the name of the
> actual liquid therein, i.e. the poetic mead itself. I have never
> heard of "the triple horn of Óðinn" and doubt it is mentioned
> anywhere in Icelandic sources. A dubious school of mythological
> interpretation even equates Ó. with Mímisbrunnur (Mímir's well).
>
> Others here (llamanom, this is you) are better at "authentic"
> Old Norse pronounciation or approximations thereof ... I'm just
> a modern Icelander, and know little of such learned matters ...
>
> In modern Icelandic the pronounciation would be approximately:
>
> Óð - as "oath", but with the "th" of "father", not that of "thing".
> Hræ - say "rye" and then add an "h" in front = "hrye".
> Rir - "rir" with "i" as in bin.
>
> And of course all three r's need to be trilled in the Icelandic
> manner.
>
> I guess the Icelanders of, say, the 11th century, would have
> pronounced quite similarly, except that the value of "hræ"
> would have been closer to "hruh", rather than "hrye".
>
> But as they always say, you really have to hear it in order
> to know how to do it.
>
> Not much help, I'm afraid.
>
> Eysteinn
>