I’d like to learn more about the article in Old Norse.
So far I’m aware that it serves to mark an object as definite and that it was not completely grammaticalized in Old Norse (that is the manuscripts display variations in its use). Thanks to Heusler I know that it is used ‘more scarcely than in modern Germanic languages’ (which evidently presumes that I am well acquainted with all the other Germanic languages) in particular, konungr, jarl and some others usually don’t have an article.
Nygaard seems to offer a more detailed explanation, but I don’t understand it at all.
And a related question on the detached article. As far as I understand, the article is detached if and only if it stands before an adjective. On the other hand I’ve seen examples where an adjective modifies a noun with a suffixed article. Which case is more common? Is there any difference in meaning?
Subject: Syntax of the article