The Use of the Optative in the Edda

Tenney Frank was a scholar of Latin whose work on the rise of Roman Imperialism still shapes much of the modern discussion of the reasons for Rome's growth in the Late Republic and Early Empire. Although most of his work was centered around Roman history, this essay shows his command of Old Icelandic as he discusses the occurrences of the optative in the poems of the Eddas. Linguists will appreciate the nuances he extracts from his survey of clauses, and literary scholars will find his conclusions helpful to their interpretation of this key work of Nordic poetry.