Editing Alliterative verse (section)

===Formal features===
Both German traditions show one common feature which is much less common elsewhere: a proliferation of unaccented syllables. Generally these are [[part of speech|parts of speech]] which would naturally be unstressed — [[pronoun]]s, [[preposition]]s, [[Article (grammar)|articles]], [[modal auxiliary|modal auxiliaries]] — but in the Old Saxon works there are also [[adjective]]s and [[lexical verb]]s. The unaccented syllables typically occur before the first stress in the half-line, and most often in the b-verse.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The ''Hildebrandslied'', lines 4–5:
{{Verse translation|lang=goh|
<u>'''G'''</u>arutun se iro <u>'''g'''</u>uðhamun, {{pad|1em}}  <u>'''g'''</u>urtun sih iro suert ana,
<u>'''h'''</u>elidos, ubar <u>'''h'''</u>ringa, {{pad|1em}} do sie to dero <u>'''h'''</u>iltiu ritun.
|
They prepared their fighting outfits, {{pad|1em}} girded their swords on,
the heroes, over ringmail {{pad|1em}} when they to that fight rode.}}

The ''Heliand'', line 3062 (Matthew 16:17):
<poem>{{lang|osx|<u>'''S'''</u>âlig bist thu <u>'''S'''</u>îmon, quað he, <u>'''s'''</u>unu Ionases; {{pad|1em}} ni mahtes thu that <u>'''s'''</u>elbo gehuggean}}
blessed are you Simon, he said, son of Jonah; {{pad|1em}} for you did not see that yourself
</poem>

This leads to a less dense style, no doubt closer to everyday language, which has been interpreted both as a sign of decadent technique from ill-tutored poets and as an artistic innovation giving scope for additional poetic effects. Either way, it signifies a break with the strict Sievers typology.