The goal of this list is to gather poetic formulæ found in the old alliterative poetry, shared between several languages. They are sorted based on the number of languages in which they appear. This page is dynamic and regularly updated, so if you know of any other (securely attested) formulæ not found here you can contact me and I will add them.
Symbols and abbreviations
ACC — accusative object
DAT — dative object
INF — the infinitive marker, which varies by language
VRB — a verb
cpd — compound
& — a conjunction like ‘and’, ‘or’, ‘nor’
… — unclear words
· — cæsura
Primary sources
Bdr — Baldrs draumar
Beow — Beowulf
Guðr II — Guðrúnar kviða II
Háv — Háva mǫ́l
Heli — Heliand
Hhund II — Helga kviða Hundings-bana II
Hild — Hildebrandslied
Musp — Muspilli
Odd — Oddrúnar grátr
Vsp — Vǫlu spǫ́
Yt — Ynglinga tal
Shared lines
Full-lines
Would be cool to find!
Half-lines
*airiz & sīþiz ‘ere & since; before & after’
*anþeranō sinþō ‘a second time’
ON ǫðru sinni (Vsp 59/1b, Yt 13/4b)
OE óðre síðe (Beow 2670b, 3101b)
OS óðru síðu (Heli 1076b), óðer-síðu (Heli 3519a, 4786b, 5913b, 5948b)
*skarpaimaz skūramaz ‘in sharp showers’, said of a rain of projectiles
OS skarpun skúrun (Heli 5316a)
OHG skarpén skúrim (Hild 64a)
*maþla ist miz INF VRB ‘It is time for me to VRB’
ON mál ’s mér at VRB (at ríða ‘to ride’: Hhund II ?b)
OE mę́l is mé tó VRB (tó féran ‘to journey’: Beow 316a)
*ainagǭ duhtēr ‘only daughter’
ON ęinga dóttir
OE ángan dohtor (acc.; Beow 375a, 2997b)
Pairs and merisms
*erþō & upp-himinaz ‘earth & up-heaven; the whole cosmos’
ON jǫrð & upp-himinn
OE eorþe & up-heofon
OS erða & upp-himil (ęndi ‘and’: Heli 2886a)
OHG erdo & úf-himil (Wessobrunn prayer 2)
*fehu & ferhwą ‘cattle & life’
ON fé & fjǫr
OE feoh & feorh
OF fiá & ferech
*wurdō & werkō ‘words & works; speeches & deeds’
ON orð & verk
OE word & weorc
OS word & werk
*leubaz & *laiþaz ‘lief & loath; beloved & hated’
ON ljúfr & lęiðr (Háv 35, 40; numerous prose texts)
OE leóf & láð (né: Beow 511; ond: Beow 1061, 2910)
OS liof & léþ (só: Heli 1332; wiðar: Heli 1458)
*ansiwiz & albīz ‘Ease & Elves; heavenly & earthly supernatural beings’
ON ę́sir & alfar
OE ése & ielfe
*luftuz & laguz ‘lift & lay; air & water’
ON lopt & lǫgr
OE lyft & lagu
*wēpnō & wēdīz ‘weapons & garments; a warrior’s equipment’
ON vǫ́pn & váðir (dat. vǫ́pnum ok vǫ́ðum ‘with w. and g.’: Háv 41)
OE wę́pen & wę́da (dat. hilde-wę́pnum ond heaðo-wę́dum ‘with war-w. and war-g.’: Beow 39)
> *wēpnō & ga-wēdijō ‘weapons & clothing’
OE wę́pen & ge-wę́du (ond: Beow 292a)
*grimmaz & grēdagaz ‘grim & greedy’
OE grim & grę́dig (Beow 121a, 1499a)
OS grim & grádag (Heli 4369a)
*helmaz & brunjǭ ‘helmet & byrnie’
Other expressions and phrases
Verbal phrases/sentences
When the agent nouns are formulaic the constituent verb is expressed in the third person present indicative, otherwise it is in the infinitive.
*DAT tō banini werþaną ‘to become (someone)’s slayer; to kill (someone)’
OE to banan weorðan (Beow 587, 1261b–1262)
OS te banon werðan (Heli 644b)
OHG ti banin werdan (Hild 54b)
> *DAT tō handu-banini werþaną ‘to become (someone)’s hand-slayer; to kill (someone) by hand’
OE to hand-banan weorðan (Beow 460, 1330, 2500–2501a)
OS te hand-banon werðan (Heli 5198–5200a)
*ek ga·frah ‘I (have) learned’, uttered by the poet who in this way “breaks the fourth wall” before reporting some event to which he himself is not a direct witness
ON ek frá, frá’k
OE ic gi·fręgn
OS ik gi·fragn
OHG ih ga·fregin
*ek hauzidō sagjaną ‘I heard it said’
ON hęyrða’k sęgja (Odd 1a)
OE hýrde ic seggen (The Partridge 1a)
OHG ik gi·hòrta dat seggen (Hild 1)
*saiwi-līþandiz sagjanþi ‘sea-passers [SAILORS] say’, especially used with regard to rumours, hearsay
OE þonne sęgdon þęt · sę́-líðende ‘then sea-passers said it’ (Beow 377), secgað sę́-líðend (Beow 411a)
OHG dat sagetun mí · seo-lídante ‘sea-passers said it to me’ (Hild 42)
*sunnǭ/sōwulō1 skīniði sunþanē ‘sun shines from the south’
ON sól skęin sunnan ‘sun shone from the south’ (Vsp 4/3a)
OE sunne swegl-wered · súðan scíneð ‘splendour-clothed sun shines from the south’ (Beow 606)
*aljaną dauh ‘zeal/courage/strength avails’
OE þonne his ellen déah ‘when his zeal avails’ (Beow 572b–573)
OHG ibu dir dín ęllen taoc ‘if thy zeal avail thee’ (Hild 55b)
Epithets
*mēkijas agjō ‘short-sword’s edge’
ON mę́kis ęgg
OE méces ecg
OS mákjas ęggja
*fleugandô flainaz ‘flying arrow’
ON fljúgandi flęinn
OE fleógende flán
*gellandô gaizaz ‘yelling spear’
ON gjallandi gęirr
OE geallende gár
Kennings
*aldǫ̂ barnō ‘children of generations [MEN]’
ON alda bǫrn
OE ielda bearn
OS ęldi-barn
*baugǫ̂ brut(j)ô ‘breaker of torcs [KING/RULER]’
ON baug-broti2
OE béaga brytta (Beow 35, 352, 1487)
*swerdǫ̂ [ga]·laikaz ‘sword-play [BATTLE]’
ON sverða lęikr
OE sweorda ge·lác
Compounds
*midja-gardaz ‘the middle enclosure; middle earth’
ON mið-garðr
OE middan-geard
OS middil-gard
OHG mittil-gart
Got. midjun-gards
*jéra-dagóz ‘days of yore’
ON ár-dagar
OE geár-dagas
OS èr-dagos
*X-berandiz ‘X-carriers, carriers of X’
> *swerda-berandiz ‘sword-carriers [WARRIORS]’
ON sverð-beręndr (Yt 5/2a)
OE sweord-berende (GenA 1060a)
> *helma-berandiz ‘helmet-carriers [WARRIORS]’
OE helm-berende (Beow 2517a, 2642a)
OS helm-berand (Heli 765b)
*ermuna-grundą ‘the vast expanse of land [EARTH]’
ON jǫrmun-grund
OE eormen-grund
*fulda-wegą ‘the land-way; a path over which one travels’
ON fold-vegr (Bdr 3/3b)
OE fold-węg (Beow 1633b)
Poetic synonyms
Words only used in poetry, or with exclusively poetic senses. Some, especially in Old Norse and Old English, are so well-attested that it would be difficult to list all occurrences.
*gunþiz ‘war/battle; a walkirrie’
ON guðr/gunnr
OE gúð
OS gúð- (in cpds, see above)
OHG gúði (Hild 60)
*hildiz ‘war/battle; a walkirrie’
ON hildr
OE hild
OS hild
OHG hilt (Hild 6)
*lindō ‘(lindenwood) shield’, in prose ‘linden-tree’
ON lind
OE lind
OHG linta (Hild 67)
*randō ‘shield’, in prose ‘rim, edge’
ON rǫnd
OE rand
Several words for the sun seem to have coexisted in Proto-Germanic, and this is still the case in some of the attested daughter languages. Thus Got. has both sunnō and sauil (with the latter only being used in the translation of Mark), and ON has both unmarked sól and poetic sunna.
Formally reflecting *bauga-brut(j)ô, but cf. attested bauga dęilir ‘dealer of trocs’, bauga spillir ‘spiller of torcs’.