The paper explores the possibility that final -a could be preserved in a linguistically early state of attested Proto-Norse, and that the strong verbs could still have an ending -a in the 1st person preterite. This requires an examination of the readings of the inscriptions in which "wraita" (meaning "inscription", "I wrote" or "s/he wrote") and the implications of various interpretations. The paper also takes all attested 1st and 3rd singular preterites attested in Proto-Norse runic inscriptions into account. It is suggested that the syllable structure or stress pattern could play a role in the loss or retention of absolute final -a, but that the evidence is very scarce. It is is, however, concluded that we only have attestaions of apocope in post-syncope inscriptions, meaning that we at best cannot prove that the suggestion is impossible.