Let us begin by considering the definition of ‘word’ that underlies the foot patterns of Old English metre:

1. D1a All stressed simplexes count as words.

2. D1b Unstressed prefixes count as function words.

3. D1c A compound may count as one word or as two.

4. D1d A function word may count as a word or as undefined linguistic material.

Provision D1a hardly requires comment. The simple equation foot = word would not be communicated to the audience if some ordinary stressed lexical items did not count as words. Provision D1b goes against modern word spacing conventions, but is justified by the fact that Old English unstressed prefixes still look like prepositions in most cases and behave exactly like prepositions from a phonological point of view. Provision D1c acknowledges that word-level linguistic rules sometimes take a whole compound as their domain and sometimes apply to the subconstituents of a compound as if each were a separate word. Provision D1d is justified by the fact that prepositions, conjunctions, and similar unstressed constituents have a rather weak identity as words, an identity often lost altogether when they are absorbed by neighbouring stressed words. In general, the metrical interpretation of words will vary only in the way that linguistic interpretation varies.

Provisions D1a, D1c, and D1d should apply to Eddie as well as to Old English poetry, but provision D1b will seldom apply because Old Norse has hardly any unstressed prefixes.