Meanwhile, I found the task was a more
formidable one than I had anticipated, and accordingly, before
definitely committing myself to it, I made one final attempt to
induce Messrs. Vigfusson and Powell to take it off my hands; but
they very kindly encouraged me to proceed with it; and as I
myself thought that an Icelandic primer, on the lines of my
Anglo-Saxon one, might perhaps be the means of inducing some
students of Old English to take up Icelandic as well, I
determined to go on.
In the spelling I have not thought it necessary to adhere
strictly to that adopted in the Reader, for the editors have
themselves deviated from it in their _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_,
in the way of separating _?«_ from _?¶_, etc. My own principle has
been to deviate as little as possible from the traditional
spelling followed in normalized texts. There is, indeed, no
practical gain for the beginner in writing _t?«me_ for _t?«mi_,
discarding _?°_, etc., although these changes certainly bring us
nearer the oldest MSS.
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