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Háskóli Íslands
Hugvísindasvið
Medieval Icelandic Studies
The Reception of Víga-Glúms saga in Seventeenth-century Icelandic Manuscripts
Ritgerð til MA-prófs í Medieval Icelandic Studies
Ermenegilda Müller
Kt.: 111292-4189
Leiðbeinandi: Emily Diana Lethbridge
September 2016
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ABSTRACT Víga-Glúms saga is a short example of the Íslendingasögur genre, whose plot is set in tenth-
century Eyjafjörður. This thesis addresses the transmission and reception of the text in
seventeenth-century Iceland through the codicological analysis of ten manuscripts, which
have been selected according to their date of production, their textual integrity, and their
accessibility in Icelandic collections. Their material characteristics are analyzed using a
combination of descriptive and quantitative methods. The observations made here concern the
manuscripts’ contents, their textual density and layout, the type and level of decoration, and
extra-textual elements (such as marginalia) found in them. The commissioners, scribes and
owners of these manuscripts are also identified, and the relationships between them are
investigated. The approach aims to consider how and by whom Víga-Glúms saga was copied
and read in a time-period that has been noted for its importance in the transmission of
medieval Icelandic literature.
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ÁGRIP Víga-Glúms saga er ein af Íslendingasögunum. Atburðarás sögunnar á sér stað á 10. öld í
Eyjafirði. Þessi ritgerð fjallar um varðveislunni og viðtökunni textans á 17. öld á Íslandi. Með
því að nota handritafræðilega greiningu á tíu handritum sem voru valin eftir því hvenær þau
voruð rituð, heilleiki textans er skoðaður ásamt því hvernig aðgengi þeirra er háttað í
íslenskum söfnum. Andlag ritgerðarinnar er rannsakað með því að nota bæði lýsandi og
magnbundna aðferð. Rannsóknin snertir því innihald textans ásamt textaþéttleika og umbroti
ásamt því hvernig skreytingum er háttað sem og aukaefni í textanum sjálfum (s.s.
spássíugreinar) í hverji handriti fyrir sig. Auk þess eru höfundar, lýsendur og eigendur
handritanna skoðaðir sem og samskiptin þeirra á milli. Aðferðin miðar að því að hvernig og
hver skrifaði Víga-Glúms sögu á mikilvægum tíma í íslenskri fornbókmenntasögu.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My special thanks go to those without whom the redaction of this thesis would not have been
possible:
Dr Emily Lethbridge, my supervisor, for her guidance and precious advice.
Signe Hjerrild Smedemark (MA), the conservator of the Árni Magnússon Institute, for
providing me with the opportunity to work with manuscripts of the Institute's collection,
assisting me in handling them properly and sharing her knowledge with me.
Professors Guðvárður Már Gunnlaugsson, Margrét Eggertsdóttir and Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir,
for their many enlightening pieces of advice and the books they made available to me.
Dr Silvia Hufnagel for her priceless counsels, Dr Susanne M. Arthur for making her thesis
available to me, and Þordís Edda Jóhannesdóttir (MA) for sharing her knowledge of post-
medieval manuscripts with me.
My fellow student Harriet Allen for proofreading my English, and Margrét Ágústa
Sigurðardóttir for proofreading my Icelandic abstract.
In a general manner, I would like to thank everybody who worked in the Stofnun Árna
Magnússonar í Íslenskum fræðum during the summer of 2016, staff, scholars and students, for
their help, moral support and friendly company.
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PLAN
I. Introduction.................................................................................................................7
I.1. Víga-Glúms saga: overview.......................................................................................7 I.1.a. The saga narrative and its composition............................................................................7
I. 1. b. Scholarship and editions................................................................................................9
I.2. Presentation of the approach......................................................................................12 I.2.a. Thesis statement..............................................................................................................12
I.2.b. Rationale and methods....................................................................................................13
I.3. General overview of the manuscripts of Víga-Glúms saga...............................17 I.3.a. Medieval manuscripts......................................................................................................17
I.3.b. Post-medieval manuscripts: scholarship.........................................................................18
I.3.c. Sixteenth-century manuscripts........................................................................................19
I.3.d. Seventeenth-century manuscripts...................................................................................20
I.3.e. Eighteenth-century manuscripts......................................................................................21
I.3.f. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century manuscripts.....................................................22
I.3.g. Recapitulation.................................................................................................................22
I.4. Manuscript corpus and plan of the analysis..........................................................23
II. Textual and material configuration..........................................................24
II.1. Textual contents of the manuscripts.....................................................................25 II.1.a. One text manuscripts....................................................................................................25 II.1.b. Multi-text manuscripts.................................................................................................27
II.2. Quire structure...........................................................................................................27 II.2.a. Collation.......................................................................................................................28
II.2.b. Codicological units and economy of paper in multi-text manuscripts ........................28
III. Visual aspects and textual economy of the main text..................30 III.1. Area and layout........................................................................................................30 III.1.a. Ruling and trimming...................................................................................................31
III.1.b. III.1.b. Size of text area and margins..........................................................................32
III.1.c. Text density.................................................................................................................33
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III.2. Decorative elements................................................................................................33 III.2.a. Textual division and highlighted elements..................................................................34
III.2.b. Initials..........................................................................................................................38
IV. Paratextual inscriptions.................................................................................40 IV.1. Marginalia.................................................................................................................40
IV.1.a. Overview.....................................................................................................................41
IV.1.b. Corrections and additions...........................................................................................41
IV.1.c. Others..........................................................................................................................42
IV.2. Colophons and last pages.......................................................................................43
IV.3. Foliation.....................................................................................................................44
V. Actors of production and material transmission..............................45 V.1. Scribes..........................................................................................................................45
V.2. Owners.........................................................................................................................49
V.3. Commissioners...........................................................................................................52
VI. Conclusion................................................................................................................53
Bibliography....................................................................................................................56
Appendix ...........................................................................................................................63
1................................................................................................................................................63
2................................................................................................................................................63
Figures:
1...............................................................................................................................................37
2...............................................................................................................................................39
3...............................................................................................................................................44
4...............................................................................................................................................52 (All photographs have been taken with the authorization of Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í Íslenskum fræðum.)
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I. Introduction This thesis addresses the transmission and reception of Víga-Glúms saga in seventeenth-
century Iceland through the codicological analysis of a restraint corpus of manuscripts. After
a presentation of the extant scholarship on the saga and the methods that will be applied in the
study of those manuscripts, the nature and distribution of their contents will be considered.
The principles of material economy applied during their production will then be investigated.
Their visual and esthetic features will then be analysed. These elements will provide first
clues about their milieu of production and their functions, and will finally be put in context
with the prosopographic information that can be found about their scribes, owners and
commissioners. Paleographic and orthographic features will not be addressed.
I.1. Víga-Glúms saga: overview I.1.a. The saga narrative and its composition
Víga-Glúms saga belongs to the íslendingasögur genre.1 It is a relatively short
example of these narratives. The plot set on and around the Þverá farm in Eyjafjörður area. It
provides a biographic perspective on the main character, Glúmr Eyjólfsson, who may have
lived between 928-35 and 1003,2 covering his ancestry and birth (chapters 1-4) and telling of
events that happen up until his old age and death (chapter 28). In his adolescence, Glúmr and
his mother are oppressed by their neighbors, Þorkell hávi and his son Sigmundr, who want to
get hold of their landed property, especially the evergreen field Vitazgjafi. The young Glúmr
sets off for Norway, where he wins the esteem of his grandfather through an act of bravery,
and comes back with magically empowered objects that will ensure his success. Back in
Iceland, Glúmr kills Sigmundr, thus earning the nick-name of Víga-Glúmr (‘Killer-Glúmr‘),
and gains back the land of Þverá, but Þorkell offers a sacrifice to the god Freyr, patron of
Vitazgjafi, so that Glúmr would eventually be driven off the land just like himself. His skillful
manipulation of the ensuing legal procedure allows him to regain possession of the wondrous
field. Glúmr secures his power in the area and prospers, but his divertions of the law
eventually provide a strategical weakness for his opponents to exploit, and he loses his landed
property as predicted. He dies of old age after converting to Christianity.
1 For the classification of genre in medieval Icelandic literature, see for instance Carol J. Clover, The Medieval Saga, Ithaca; London: Cornell U. P., 1982. 2 E. O. G. Turville-Petre (ed.), Víga-Glúms saga, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960 (first published 1940), xliii-li, and McKinnell, John (translation), Viga-Glums saga. With The Tales Of Ögmund Bash And Thorvald Chatterbox, Edinburgh: Canongate, 1987, 16. Vísur by Glúmr are quoted by Snorri Sturluson in Skáldskaparmál, v. 3, 7, v. 226, 67-68, v. 255, 73-74, and v. 337, 91 in Anthony Faulkes' edition (vol. 1, London: Viking society for Northern Research, 1998).
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Víga-Glúms saga is generally thought to have been initially composed in the first half
of the thirteenth century.3 The arguments that have been advanced for such a dating are drawn
from stylistical considerations4 and possible references to historical events of that period in
chapters 13-15.5 To the exception of Glúmr's and his father's travels to Norway,6 the narrative
takes place exclusively in Eyjafjörður, and is hence likely to have been composed in this area.
Gabriel Turville-Petre has suggested that the Benedictine monastery of Munkaþverá, founded
in 1155 on the traditional location of Glúmr's farm, could have been the birth place of the
saga.7 This location has indeed been pointed out as a copying - and possibly composition -
center.8
One complete medieval version of the saga is extant today in AM 132 fol.
(Möðruvallabók, 1330-1370, 129r-141v): this version has been noted for its extremely
polished style, and is consequently thought to have undergone significant reworking.9 Chapter
16 (Skútu-þáttr), which recounts the dealings of Glúmr with Víga-Skúta, presents undeniable
parallels with the corresponding episode in Reykdæla saga (chapter 26), and differs
stylistically from the rest of the saga in Möðruvallabók.10 However, chapter 16 of Víga-Glúms
saga and chapter 26 of Reykdæla saga also display a different style. In fact, chapter 26 of
Reykdæla saga is stylistically closer to the corresponding passage of Víga-Glúms saga
conserved in AM 564 a 4to (Pseudo-Vatnshyrna, 1390-1425, fol. 5r-5v) than to chapter 16 of
3 Turville-Petre 1960: xx-xxii., and McKinnell,1987: 10-11. 4 Turville-Petre 1960: xxii, who infers this dating from a comparison of the "construction and motives" of Víga-Glúms saga with that of other íslendingasögur. 5 Turville-Petre 1960: xxxvi-xxxviii, Eugen Mogk, Geschichte der Norwegische-Isländische Literatur, vol. II, Strassburg. Karl J. Trübner, 1904, 762, Gustav Neckel, Mitteilungen der schlesischen Gesellschaft für Volkskunde, vol. 11, 1909, 46, Knut Liestøl, "Ingolv-episoden i Viga-Glums saga", in C.W. von Sydow, Sigfrid Svensson, Waldemar Liungman and Åke Campbell (ed.), Nordiskt folkminne : Studier tillägnade C.W. von Sydow, 21/12 28, Stockholm: C. E. Fritz, 1928, 207-214, Richard North, "Sighvatr Sturluson And The Authorship Of Víga-Glúms Saga", in Heinzmann, W. et alii (ed.), Analecta Septentrionalia, Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2009, 256-280, and McKinnell 1987: 10-11. The traditional work on dating methods for the Icelandic sagas is Einar Ól. Sveinsson, Dating The Icelandic Sagas, London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 1958 (38 and 74-75 deal with Víga-Glúms saga's traditions). 6 Chapters 6 and 2-4. 7 Turville-Petre 1960: xix, who draws his information about Munkaþverá from Janus Jónsson, "Um Klaustrin á Íslandi", Timarit Hins Íslenzka Bókmenntafélags 8 (1887) 174-265, and Jón Helgason, Islands Kirke. Fra dens grundlæggelse til reformationen, Copenhagen: Gad, 1925, 125-126, and McKinnell 1987: 13. 8 Turville-Petre 1960: xix, and Theodore Murdock Andersson, " Snorri Sturluson And The Saga School At Munkaþverá", in Wolf, Alois (ed.), Script Oralia 51: Snorri Sturluson : Kolloquium anläßlich der 750. Wiederkehr seines Todestages, Tübingen: Narr, 1933, 9-26. 9 See E. O. G. Turville-Petre, "The Traditions Of Víga-Glúms Saga", Transactions of the Philological Society 1, vol. 35 (1936), 54-75, and Víga-Glúms saga (ed.), o cit., xxii. 10 Theodore Murdock Andersson, "Víga-Glúms Saga And The Birth Of Saga Writing", Scripta Islandica 57 (2006), 5-39, Walter Baetke, "Die Víga-Glúm-Episode in der Reykdæla saga", in Seiffert, H. W. (ed.), Beiträge zur deutschen und nordischen Literatur : Festgabe für Leopold Magon zum 70. Geburtstag 3. April 1957, Berlin, 1958, 5-21, Arie C. Bouman, "Observations On Syntax And Style Of Some Icelandic Sagas: With Special Reference To The Relation Between Víga-Glúms Saga And Reykdæla Saga", Studia Islandica 15 (1970), 1-79, Turville-Petre 1960: xxv-xxvii.
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Víga-Glúms saga in Möðruvallabók.11 The appearance of Skúta in Víga-Glúms saga does not
thus constitute a literary borrowing stricto sensu, but rather bears witness to textual traditions
that have been incompletely conserved.12 While, in Víga-Glúms saga, the protagonist is often
cynical and un-heroic, Reykdæla saga portrays him in a flattering manner, showing him as a
generous and honorable individual. Víga-Glúms saga also includes other digressions and
þættir (chapters 13-15 and 27-28) that suggest complex underlying textual traditions.13
Besides Reykdæla saga, protagonists and antagonists of Víga-Glúms saga are also
mentioned in Landnámabók - the Hauksbók version (AM 371 4to, 1302-1310) being closer to
Víga-Glúms saga than that of Sturlubók (AM 107 fol., 1640-1660),14 and Ljósvetninga saga,
where Glúmr's enemies, but also his son (chapter 17), play a key role. Mention is also made
of Glúmr in Hreidars þáttr15 in Morkinskinna, and Ögmundar þáttr dytts and Þorvalds þáttr
Tasalda in Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta.16 In the fragmentary manuscript AM 564a 4to,
Ögmundar þáttr dytts is inserted in Víga-Glúms saga.17
I.1.b. Scholarship and editions
Víga-Glúms saga was first printed in 1756,18 and has been published twelve times up
to the present date.19 John McKinnell translated it in English.20
11 Andersson 2006: 33-39, Turville-Petre 1960: xxvi-xxvii. 12 See Andersson 2006 and Baetke 1958. 5-21. As Andersson's study of Skutu-þáttr in Víga-Glúms saga is linked to his general theory on variants, see also Problems of Saga Origins: A Historical Survey, New Haven; Connecticut; London: Yale U. P., 1964, 129-182. See also Gísli Sigurðsson, The medieval Icelandic saga and oral tradition: a discourse on method (translation: Nicholas Jones), Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U. P. , 2004, 226, 307. 13 For chapters 13-15, see North 2009, Turville-Petre 1960: xxxiv-xxxvi, and McKinnell 1987: 10-11; for chapters 27-28, see Turville-Petre 1960: xxxviii-xlii. 14 Turville-Petre 1960: xvi-xvii. 15 Ármann Jakobsson, Þórður Ingi Guðjónsson (ed.), Morkinskinna, vol. 1, Reykjavík: Hið Íslenzka Fornritafélag, 2011, 152. 16 McKinnell 1987: 132-144 and 154-152. See I.3.a. 17 McKinnell 1987: 10, Turville-Petre 1960: ii, v, 96-98. 18 Björn Markússon (ed.), Agiætar Fornmanna Sögur, Hólar in Hjaltadalur: Halldór Eiríksson, 1756, 180 ff. 19 Guðmundur Pétursson and Suhm, Peter Friederich (ed.), Viga-Glums saga : sive Vita Viga-Glumi. ... Cum versione Latina, Copenhagen: Typis Augusti Friderici Steinil, 1786; Þorgeir Guðmundsson and Þorsteinn Helgason (ed.), Íslendinga sögur vol. 2, Copenhagen: Hið konunglega norræna fornfræðafélag, 1830, 321-396; Guðmundur Þorláksson (ed.), Íslenzkar fornsögur vol. 1, Copenhagen: Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag, 1880, 1-87; Valdimar Ásmundarson (ed.), Víga-Glúms saga, Reykjavík: Sigurður Kristjánsson, 1897, a reprint of Guðmundur Þorláksson's edition; Benedikt Sveinsson (ed.), Víga-Glúms saga, Reykjavík: Sigurður Kristjánsson, 1924, a reprint of Guðmundur Þorláksson's edition; Guðbrandur Vigfússon and York Powell, F. (ed.), Origines Islandicae vol. II, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905, 431 ff.; Turville-Petre, O. E. G. (ed.), Víga-Glúms saga, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1940, 2nd edition 1960; Guðni Jónsson (ed.), Íslendinga sögur, vol. 8, Reykjavík: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan, 1947, 1-88, which re-uses the text of Turville-Petre's edition; Jónas Kristjánsson (ed.), Eyfirðinga sögur, Íslenzk Fornrit vol. IX, Reykjavík: Hið Íslenzka Bókmennta félag, 1956, 3-98; Jón Helgason, Håndskriftet AM 445c, I, 4to. Brudstykker af Víga-Glúms saga og Gísla saga Súrssonar, Copenhagen: Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur, 1956, 21-31; Bragi Halldórsson et al., Íslendinga sögur og þættir, vol. 3, Reykjavík: Svart á Hvítu, 1987, 1906-1956. 20 McKinnell 1987.
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Altough not the most popular of the íslendinga sögur, Víga-Glúms saga has been the
object of a reasonable amount of scholarly attention. The themes that have been addressed by
the different studies on Víga-Glúms saga are style and language, textual history, religion and
ethics.
Margaret Jeffrey,21 Arie C. Bouman,22 Alexander Hill23 and Theodor M. Andersson24
have studied the style of the saga's prose content, while Halldór K. Friðriksson,25 Francis P.
Magoun26 and Heimir Pálsson27 have dedicated articles to some of its verses. Davíð
Erlingsson28 and Jakob Benediktsson29 have each studied one of the hapax legomena that can
be found in the saga.
The question of sources and inter-textuality in Víga-Glúms saga has been addressed
by a large number of scholars. The relation between Víga-Glúms saga and Reykdæla saga has
been first studied by Claude Meek Lotspeich,30 and has occupied not only Gabriel Turville-
Petre31 and Arie C. Bouman,32 but equally Walter Bætke33 and, more recently, Theodore M.
Andersson.34 The question of the sources of chapters 13-15 (Ingólfs þáttr) has also been the
object of a long debate. Gustaf Cederschiöld35 suggested Petrus Alphonsii's Disciplina
Clericalis (beginning of the twelfth century) as the source of the episode36 and Finnur
Jónsson37 saw a folk-tale motif in it, while Eugen Mogk,38 Gustaf Neckel39 and Björn
Sigfússon40 considered it as an allusion to historical events revolving around the figure of
21 The Discourse In Seven Icelandic Sagas : Droplaugarsona Saga, Hrafnkels Saga Freysgoða, Víga-Glúms Saga, Gísla Saga Súrssonar, Fóstbræðra Saga, Hávarðar Saga ísfirðings, Flóamanna Saga (PhD Diss., Bryn Mawr College), Menasha: G. Banta, 1934. 22 Bouman 1970. 23 A Detailed Analysis Of The Word-Order In Víga-Glúms Saga, Jersey: Hill, 1982. 24 Andersson 2006. 25 "Skýringar yfir tvær vísur í Víga-Glúms sögu of eina í Njáls-sögu", Tímarit Hins íslenzka bókmentafélags 3 (1882), 189-208. 26 "Víga-Glumr’s Equivocal Oath", Neophilologische Mitteilungen 53 (1952), 401-408. 27 "Vísur og dísir Víga-Glúms", Gripla 21 (2010), 169-196. 28 "Eyjólfr Has The Last Laugh : A Note On Víga-Glúms Saga, chs. i-iii", in Dronke, U. et al. (ed.), Speculum norroenum : Norse studies in memory of Gabriel Turville-Petre, Odense, 1981, 85-88, on the word totabassi, a gibe used in chapter 3. 29 "Hróðurskota", Fróðskaparrit (Annal. societ. scient. Færoensis) 13 (1964), 78-83. 30 Zur Víga-Glúms- und Reykdælasaga (PhD diss., University of Leipzig), Leipzig: Hesse & Becker, 1903 31 Turville-Petre 1960: xxv-xxvii. 32 Bouman 1970. 33 Baetke 1958. 34 Andersson 2006. 35 Kalfdråpet och vänpröfningen. Ett betrag till kritiken af de isländska sagornas trovärdighet, Lund, C. W. K. Gleerup, 1890. 36 See also Turville-Petre 1960: xxiv. 37 Den Oldnorske og oldislandske litteraturs historie, vol. II, Copenhagen: Gad, 1920-1924, 232-236. 38 Geschichte der Norwegische-Isländische Literatur, vol. II, Strassburg. Karl J. Trübner, 1904, p. 762. 39 Neckel 1909, 46. 40 "Ingólfsþáttur í Víga-Glúms sögu", Arkiv för nordisk filologi 53 (1937), 9.
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Sighvatr Sturluson (c. 1170-1238). Knut Liestøl's41 theory on the subject is a synthesis of
Cederschiöld's analysis and the Sighvatr hypothesis: according to him, the episode used an
exempla motif conceals an allusion to the political figure. The topic has been recently taken
over by Richard North, who argues that other allusions to Sighvatr may be identified
throughout the saga, and that he may be linked to its production.42 Rolf Heller,43 Eggert O.
Brím44 and Hermann Pálsson45 have also studied intertextuality in Víga-Glúms saga.
Víga-Glúms saga has been seen as a source for religious beliefs and practices by
Gabriel Turville-Petre,46 but also Richard North47 and Heimir Pálsson.48 While Richard North
addresses Glúmr's devotion to Óðinn, Heimir Pálsson focuses on the presence of the dísir49
and the hamingja50 in the verses of the saga: both studies stem from ideas that Gabriel
Turville-Petre had already sketched to some extant.51 The antagonism of the god Freyr
towards Glúmr, which Gabriel Turville-Petre52 and Richard North53 define as a conflict
between divine patrons, has been also analyzed by Jón Hefnill Aðalsteinsson,54 who uses the
methodology of structuralist anthropology in order to reveal a pattern of sacrilege and divine
punishment in the saga.
In the past three decades, the singular psychological traits of the protagonists, noted
already by Turville-Petre but often dismissed, on account of his influence, as Odinic
41 Liestøl 1928. 42 North 2009. 43 "Fóstbræðra saga und Víga-Glúms saga", Acta Philologica Scandinavica 31, vol. I (1976), 44-57. 44 "Um tvö átriði í Víga-Glúmssögu. I. Víg Gríms á Kálfskinni eða Þorvalds í Haga", Tímarit Hins íslenzka bókmentafélags 3 (1882), 100-124. 45 "På leting etter røttene til Viga-Glums saga", translation by Gunhild Stefánsson, Maal og Minne 1-2 (1979), 18-26 46 Turville-Petre 1936 and 1960. 47 North 2009. 48 Heimir Pálsson 2010. 49 For a definition of the word dís, see Geir T. Zoëga, A Concise dictionary of Old Icelandic, New York: Dover Publications Inc., 2004 (1rst ed.: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910), 88. The dísir are female divinities of Pre-Christian Scandinavia: see for instance Rudolf Simek, "Goddesses, Mothers, Dísir : Iconography and Interpretation of the Female Deity in Scandinavia in the First Millenium", in R. Simek, W. Heizmann (eds.), Mythological Women: Studies In Memory Of Lotte Motz 1922-1997 (Studia medievalia septentrionalia 7), Wien: Fassbaender, 2002, 93-123. The term dís is used as a generic qualifier for women in skaldic poetry, but Heimir Pálsson focuses specifically on the supernatural female entities that are mentioned in Glúmr's versified retellings of his dreams. The dreams of Glúmr are also analyzed by James A. Cochrane in Bright dreams and bitter experiences: dreams in six sagas of Icelanders (PhD Diss.), University of London, 2004, 205-227. 50 For this term, see Zoëga 2004: 183, Peter Hallberg, "The Concept of Gipta-Gæfa-Hamingja in Old Norse Literature", in G. Foote, Hermann Pálsson, D. Slay (eds.), Proceedings Of The First International Saga Conference, University Of Edinburgh, 1971, University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 1973, 143-83, and Bettina Sommer, "The Norse Concept of Luck", Scandinavian Studies 79 (Fall 2007), 275-294. 51 Turville-Petre 1936: 58 and 1960: xiii-xv (Óðinn), 1960: xi-xii (hamingja). 52 Turville-Petre 1936: 58 and 1960: xiv. 53 North 2009. 54 "Freysminni í fornsögum : þjóðfræðileg greining á efni þriggja Íslendingasagna", Íslensk félagsrit 2-4 (1990-1992), 69-83.
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features,55 have been analyzed in terms of heroic ethos. Glúmr is to some respect a peculiar
character, as he deviates from the heroic model of the Íslendinga sögur56 and shares traits
with the most amoral figures of Sturlunga saga.57 The ethos of Víga-Glúms saga has been
addressed in two theses, that of Ann Preston Hoffman58 and that of Sigríður
Steinbjörnsdóttir,59 and will hopefully trigger the interest of students and scholars in the
future.
I.2. Presentation of the approach I.2.a. Thesis statement
To summarize, there is a considerable corpus of secondary literature when it comes to
literary analysis and historiographical source study for our saga, but except for some of the
research on style, little of this scholarship addresses the question of manuscript transmission,
and none addresses the codicological aspects of the manuscripts which preserve the saga.
Moreover, the post-medieval manuscripts of the saga have not been studied as a whole. In
recent years, there has been a shift in scholarly approaches to saga texts, and issues of
historical information, textual interactions and literary composition are now informed by
approaches that take into account the variability of the text, and the influence of the social
conditions and material configuration of its manuscript transmission on its identity as literary
work.60 The ethical, psychological, anthropological, and more generally sociological
information present in a text can be addressed through the study of its preservation and
transmission, which inform the specific interest of a given social group into a literary text.61
For post-medieval times, the manuscripts of Víga-Glúms saga are numerous enough to
provide quantitative data about who was interested into this narrative and in which social or
geographical contexts it was read and preserved. Although the codicological aspects of some
of these manuscripts have already been studied (see I.3.b.), the position of Víga-Glúms saga 55 Turville-Petre 1960: xiii-xiv. 56 McKinnell 1987: 27-29. 57 North 2009. 58 Violence, heroism, and redemption: a study of changing moral norms in five Icelandic family sagas (PhD Diss., University of Chicago), Chicago, 1988. 59 Hetjur á heljarþröm : karlmennska og hetjuímynd fimm Íslendingasagna af Norðurlandi, (Master thesis, University of Iceland), Reykjavík, 2012 60 See Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir, "Expanding Horizons: Recent Trends in Old Norse-Icelandic Manuscript Studies", in New Medieval Literatures 14 (2012), 203-221, 206-214, and in general E. Lethbridge, J. Quinn (eds.), Creating the Medieval Saga: Versions, Variability and Editorial Interpretations of Old Norse Saga Literature, Odense: U. P. of Southern Denmark, 2010. 61 See for instance Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir 2012: 91, and D. F. McKenzie, Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts, Cambridge: Cambridge U. P. , 1999, 12-16. McKenzie's introduction gives a synthetic and compelling demonstration of how the production conditions of books, both handwritten and printed, inform their social, economical and cultural - in other terms, human - context.
13
in post-medieval Icelandic literary and manuscript culture has not been assessed yet.
Moreover, the post-medieval manuscripts of the saga are scattered around the world in
different collections (see I.3.c-g), thus making it problematic to render a comprehensive
picture of the saga's transmission and reception from the seventeenth century onwards.
Nevertheless, a large amount of information can be gathered about the post-medieval
manuscripts of the saga. Following the example of studies such as those of Silvia Hufnagel,62
Susanne M. Arthur63 and Tereza Lansing,64 the premise of this thesis is that a codicological
examination of the extant post-medieval manuscripts of Víga-Glúms saga can shed light on
the reception of the saga.
Such a study will allow the identification of the different material configurations in
which the saga can be found, and of the individuals involved in its transmission. As a literary
work preserved through manual, non-mechanical transmission techniques and dynamics,
Víga-Glúms saga can provide us with a significant amount of information about the literary
tastes and culture of human groups of different times, geographic areas and social
backgrounds, and about the purposes and configuration of textual transmission in these
different contexts. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze these aspects within a
circumscribed time-span and geographic area.
I.2.b. Rationale and methods
In Iceland, the seventeenth century was a time of revival for the transmission of
medieval Icelandic texts.65 Many learned Icelandic individuals of the time dedicated their
lives to the copying and preservation of the texts found in medieval manuscripts. A lot is
known about the major manuscript owners, commissioners and collectors of the time,66 and
62 Sörla saga sterka : studies in the transmission of a fornaldarsaga (PhD Thesis), Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, 2012. 63 Writing, Reading, and Utilizing Njáls saga: The Codicology of Iceland’s Most Famous Saga (PhD Thesis), University of Wisconsin, 2015. 64 Post-medieval production, dissemination and reception of Hrólfs saga kraka (PhD thesis), Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, 2011. 65 See for instance, Peter Springborg, "Antiqvæ Historiæ Lepores: Om renæssancen i den islandske håndskriftproduktion i 1600-tallet", in Gardar: Årsbok för Samfundet Sverige-Island i Lund-Malmö 8 (1977), 53-89, and M. Malm, "The Nordic Demand for Medieval Icelandic Manuscripts", in Gísli Sigurðsson, Vésteinn Ólason (ed.), The Manuscripts of Iceland, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute, 2004, 101-106. 66 See for instance Springborg 1977, Malm 2004, Már Jónsson, Arnas Magnæus Philologus, Odense: U. P. of Southern Denmark, 2012, Jóhann Gunnar Ólafsson, "Magnus Jónsson í Vigur", Skírnir 130 (1956), 107-126, Jón Pálsson, Sigurður Pétursson, Torfi H. Tulinius (ed.), Brynjólfur biskup: Kirkjuhöfdingi, fræðimaður og skáld, Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan, 2006.
14
the most prolific seventeenth-century scribes are well known.67 However, there is still a lot to
do when it comes to the codicological analysis of the Icelandic manuscripts of the time.
Codicology68 has progressed dramatically in the past two decades: its status as an
autonomous discipline and the scientific relevance of its approaches is no longer debated. It
was long considered a mere auxiliary discipline whose purposes are subsumed to historical
research on chronology and textual transmission.69 Yet it has started emancipating from the
historical sciences as early as the middle of the twentieth century, when the periodic
Scriptorium provided form for a debate around the nature and purpose of the discipline, and
advocated its legitimacy as an independent science with its own ensemble of techniques and
subject matters. Foundational figures such as Léon Gilissen (1924-2009), who drew from his
experience as a conservator in the Royal Library of Belgium, demonstrated the importance of
observing a manuscript's material aspects notwithstanding the pursuit of any historical and
text-historical conclusions70. Codicology, which is concerned with the manuscript as a
material object rather than the just the support of a text, is born from the objectives
formulated by these trends of thought: although its methods are not all so young, its unity as a
science is the product of long-term scholarly endeavors.71 Codicologists such as Léon
Gilissen were concerned principally with the reconstitution of the artisanal process of book
and manuscript production, thus limiting the contribution of the discipline to humanities in
general to technical history.72 However, from the 1980s on, an increasing number of studies
67 See for instance Helgi Ívarsson, "Sr. Jón Erlendsson handritaskrifari í Villingaholti", Árnesingur 8 (2007), 157-170, Már Jónsson, "Skrifarinn Ásgeir Jónsson frá Gullberastöðum í Lundarreykjadal", in Guðmundur Jónsson, Helgi Skúli Kjartansson, Vésteinn Ólason (dir.), Heimtur: ritgerðir til heiðurs Gunnari Karlssyni sjötugum, Reykjavík: Mál og Menning, 2009, 282-297, Agnete Loth, "Sønderdelte arnamagnæanske papirhåndskrifter", Opuscula I (1960), 113-142. 68 The term "codicology" was first used by Alphonse Dain in his 1944 lectures, and defined in its present sense by François Masai in "Paléographie et codicologie", Scriptorium 4 (1950), 279-293. See Albert Gruijs, "Codicology or the Archaelogy of the Book? A False Dilemma", Quaerendo 2, vol. 2, 87-108, and Susanne M. Arthur, Writing, Reading, and Utilizing Njáls saga: The Codicology of Iceland’s Most Famous Saga (PhD Diss.), University of Winsconsin, 2015, 6-7. 69 See J. Gumbert, "Fifty Years of Codicology", in W. Koch, T. Kölzer, (ed.), Archiv für Diplomatik. Schriftgeschchte. Siegel- und Wappenkunde vol. 50, Cologne; Weimar; Wiena: Böhlau, 2004, 504-526, 506. See also, M. J. Driscoll, "The Words on the Page: Thoughts on Philology, Old and New ", 90-95, in Lethbridge and Quinn 2010: 87-104. 70 Marilena Maniaci, Archeologia del manoscritto. Metodi, problemi e bibliografia recente, Rome: Viella, 2002, 16-18. For Léon Gilissen, see his main work, Prolégomènes à la codicologie: recherches sur la construction des cahiers et la mise en page des manuscrits médiévaux (collection: Les publications de Scriptorium, vol. 7), Gand: Story-Scientia, 1977, and Gumbert 2004: 514-515. 71 Gumbert 2004: 507-509. 72 Maniaci 2002: 18-19.
15
also address the significance of manuscript and book for socio-economic and cultural history,
in the perspective of new or material philology.73
Since 2000, the Icelandic manuscripts have become the objects of international
scholarly interest, and Icelandic and Continental scholars have initiated fruitful collaborations
in the field of codicology.74 The importance of comparative methods to assess similarities
between different manuscript cultures, but also the local particularities of manuscript
production, does not need to be proved anymore, and such methods have been successfully
applied to the study of Icelandic manuscripts.75 However, besides comparative codicology,
another recent trend has developed spectacularly in the past few decades: as Marilena Maniaci
had predicted at the beginning of our century, the branches of codicology that aim at
informing cultural, technological, and socio-economical history are now dominated by
quantitative approaches.76
Quantitative codicology, inaugurated by Carla Bozzolo and Ezio Ornato,77 uses large
databases of codicologic (and sometimes prosopographic) information. Because this method
de-singularizes the physical characteristics and historical contexts of the study objects, it can
produce significant statistical evidence, reaches large-scale conclusions, and brings methods
of the exact sciences to the world of manuscript studies.78 Quantitative methods allow to
provide the width/height ratios of bindings, pages and text areas, and text density for a large
number of manuscripts. They can also be used to gather a high amount of prosopographic
data, and can be combined with more traditional descriptive methods.
In Icelandic manuscript studies, some of the most recent works assess codicological
features using both quantitative and descriptive methods. In a second time, the identity and
73 See for instance Kristen Wolf, "Old Norse-New Philology", Scandinavian Studies 65, 3 (1993): 338, Stephen G. Nichols, "Why Material Philology?", in Helmut Tervooren and Horst Wenzel (eds.), Zeitschrift für Deutsche Philologie 116, Philologie als Textwissenschaft: Alte und Neue Horizonte, Berlin-Tiergarten: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1997: 1–30, Driscoll 2010. 74 See for instance Már Jónsson, "Recent Trends (or their Lack) in Icelandic Manuscript Studies", Gazette du livre médiéval 36 (springtime 2000), 11-16, Ezio Ornato, Lofræða um handritamergð, translated by Már Jónsson, Reykjavík: Sagnfræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands, 2003. 75 On comparative codicology, see Gumbert 2004: 512-513. 76 Maniaci 2002: 22-25. 77 Carla Bozzolo, Ezio Ornato, Pour une histoire du livre manuscrit au moyen âge: Trois essais de codicologie quantitative, Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1980. See Maniaci 2002: 23 and Silvia Hufnagel, Sörla saga sterka : studies in the transmission of a fornaldarsaga (PhD Thesis), Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, 2012, 159. 78 See Maniaci 2002: 23-24, Gumbert 2004: 522-524. Among the PhD theses that apply quantitative methods to Old Icelandic manuscript studies, that of Jeffrey Scott Love has been published: The Reception of Hervarar Saga ok Heiðreks from the Middle Ages to the Seveenteenth Century, Munich: Herbert Utz, 2013. The projects "The Variance of Njáls saga" (http://www.arnastofnun.is/page/breytileiki_njalu) and "Stories for all time: The Icelandic Fornaldarsögur" (http://fasnl.ku.dk/) address textual criticism and manuscript studies with informatic tools.
16
socio-economic background of the scribes, commissioners and owners may be defined in
order to determine the function and nature of the manuscripts. Silvia Hufnagel's,79 Susanne
M. Arthur's80 and Tereza Lansing's81 PhD theses follow this two-step approach. All three have
created functional categories to determine the purposes of manuscripts. Tereza Lansing
speaks of four manuscript categories: learned, literary, decorative, and plain.82 Silvia
Hufnagel distinguishes between scholarly and non-scholarly manuscripts.83 Susanne M.
Arthur divides her corpus between scholarly and private manuscripts, and subdivides the
private one in private-scholarly hybrids, decorative reading, moderate reading and plain
reading manuscripts.84
The present dissertation draws principally on these three theses, and takes them as
models for quantitative techniques, while the descriptive elements that will be assessed here
correspond to the points listed by manuals such as Clemens and Graham's and Greetham's.85
Nevertheless, the corpus studied here is much smaller than those of Silvia Hufnagel and
Susanne M. Arthur, who cover the whole manuscript transmission of their respective sagas,
and Tereza Lansing, who looks at all the post-medieval manuscripts of Hrólfs saga Kraka.
One may ask what the interest of a study on a restraint manuscript corpus is: why not
make a thorough study of one manuscript, or, instead, of all Víga-Glúms saga manuscripts?
The answer to the first question is simple: although interesting and valuable, a study of one
manuscript would only provide very specific information on transmission and reception, and
would not comprehensively reflect social and cultural facts of a given time-period. Moreover,
the post-medieval manuscripts of Víga-Glúms saga are so numerous and different from each
other that the choice of one of them would ultimately be arbitrary. On the other hand, they are
scattered around the world, and not all of them are digitized. It was thus impossible to study
them all in a two-months span. Moreover, the material configuration of manuscripts evolves
over time and, although assessing this evolution is useful, it is also possible to render a precise
picture of one of its stages through the study of a chronologically circumscribed corpus. For
these reasons, I have chosen to study a group of manuscripts that were produced in the same
79 Hufnagel 2012: 161-166 and 179. 80 Arthur 2015: 23-29. 81 Tereza Lansing, Post-medieval Production, Dissemination and Reception of Hrólfs saga kraka (PhD thesis), Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, 2011, 37-52, 57-67 and 73-79. 82 Lansing 2011: 84-94. 83 Hufnagel 2012: 161-164. 84 Arthur 2015: 135. 85R. Clemens, T. Graham, Introduction to Manuscript Studies, Ithaca and London: Cornell U. P. , 2007, 129-134, and D. C. Greetham, Textual Scholarshi An Introduction, New York and London: Garland, 1994, 153-155. See also, for instance, A. R. Rumble, "Using Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts", in Richards, M. (ed.), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts. Basic Readings, New York and London: Routledge, 1994, 3-24.
17
century, feature the complete text of Víga-Glúms saga, and are accessible in the Icelandic
collections (I.4). Such a selection allowed me to draw a wide range of codicological
information from manuscripts that, although they don't represent the whole transmission of
Víga-Glúms saga, constitute samples that can be comprehensively observed. Nevertheless,
they must be contextualized in the long-term unfolding of Víga-Glúms saga's manuscript
transmission.
I.3. General overview of the manuscripts of Víga-Glúms saga I.3.a. Medieval manuscripts
Víga-Glúms saga is preserved in its entirety in AM 132 fol. (Möðruvallabók) from
1330-137086, and fragments are also found in two other medieval parchment manuscripts,
namely AM 445 c 4to and AM 564 a 4to, both from 1390-1425.87 Three medieval
manuscripts and fragments is comparatively a lot for a text of the Íslendingasögur genre.88 All
of these manuscripts are now in the Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum
collection in Reykjavík, Iceland. The first edition to include the texts of the three manuscripts
was made be Guðmundur Þorláksson.89 AM 564 a 4to was long considered to be a fragment
from the lost Vatnshyrna manuscript, but, although Vatnshyrna and AM 564 a 4to may have
been related, they cannot be identified with one another.90 AM 445 c 4to has been edited by
Jón Helgason,91 who has established quantitative data on the textual content.92 John
86 Kristian Kålund, Katalog over Den Arnamagnæanske Håndskriftsamling, vol. I, Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1889, nr. 161, 95-96. See also, for instance, M. Chestnut, "On the Structure, Format and Preservation of Möðruvallabók", Gripla 21 (2010), 147-167, and A. De Leeuw Van Weenen, Möðruvallabók, AM 132 fol., Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1987, - "Four topics from the morphology of the Möðruvallabók", in Anna Grotans, Heinrich Beck and Anton Schwob (eds.), De consolatione philogiae : studies in honor of Evelyn S. Firchow, Göppingen : Kümmerle, 2000, 615-638, Guðmundur Finnbogason, "Corpus codicum Islandicorum medii aevi. V. Möðruvallabók", Skírnir 107 (1933), 214, Claudia Müller, "Die Möðruvallabók als Kompilation von Nordland-Sagas", Arbeiten zur Skandinavistik 14 (2001), 379-385, and Sigurjón Páll Isaksson, "Magnús Björnson og Möðruvallabók", Saga 32 (1994), 103-151. 87 AM 445c 4to: Kålund 1889: 642 (nr. 1216); AM 564a 4to: Kålund 1889: 717-718 (nr. 1406). AM 445 c 4to contains chapters 7-9 (Turville-Petre 1960: 91-94) and AM 564 a 4to contains parts of chapters 14-15, Ögmundar þáttur (see below in the same section and I.1.a), chapters 16-18, and chapter 28 (Turville-Petre 1960: 95-103). 88 See the table illustrating the amount of pre-reformation manuscripts for each of the Íslendingasögur in Emily Lethbridge, "„Hvorki glansar gull á mér/né glæstir stafir í línum,“: some observations on Íslendingasögur manuscripts and the case of Njáls saga", Arkiv för nordisk filologi 129 (2014), 66. 89 Guðmundur Þorláksson 1880: xiv-xv. Guðmundur's edition features the text of the fragments in appendix ( 88-110). The editions of Valdimar Ásmundarson (1897), Benedikt Sveinsson (1924), follow the example of Guðmundur, O. E. G. Turville-Petre (1940, 1960) uses AM 132 fol. and presents the texts of the two fragments in appendix, Guðni Jónsson (1947) re-uses Turville-Petre's transcription of Möðruvallabók, and Jónas Kristjánsson (1956) are also based on these three manuscripts (I.1.b). 90 Stefán Karlsson, "Um Vatnshyrnu", Opuscula 4 (Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana XXX), 1970, 279-303, and John McKinnell, "The reconstruction of Pseudo-Vatnshyrna", Opuscula 4 (1970), 304-337. 91 Jón Helgason 1956, I.1.b. 92 Jón Helgason 1956: 11.
18
McKinnell has suggested that AM 564 a 4to and AM 445 c 4to were both part of the same
dismantled manuscript, and he designates this manuscript Pseudo-Vatnshyrna.93 He bases this
hypothesis on Jón Helgason's quantitative data, correspondence of binding holes, and
orthographic features. John McKinnell also noted that the fifth leaf of AM 564 a 4to features
part of Ögmundar þáttr, whose full text figures in Ólafs saga en mesta, and he thinks that it
may have originally been integrated in Víga-Glúms saga between Ingólfs þáttr and Skutu-
þáttr.94 His translation draws on the texts of the three manuscripts.95
I.3.b. Post-medieval manuscripts: scholarship
There is a short discussion about the textual tradition represented by the post-medieval
manuscripts of Víga-Glúms saga in Guðmundur Þorláksson's edition. Guðmundur states that
the text of those manuscripts does not differ drastically from that of Möðruvallabók, except
for the extended prologue that some of them feature.96 He accordingly divides them in two
groups. Group A includes AM 508 4to, AM 164b fol., AM 144 fol., AM 153 fol., NKS 1714
4to and Thott 984b fol., all of which display the same prologue of Víga-Glúms saga as the
text of Möðruvallabók.97 Group B includes AM 160 fol., AM 143 fol., AM 509 4to, AM 164a
fol., AM 565b 4to, AM 217b fol., Thotts 976 fol., ÍB 45 4to, ÍB 65 4to, and ÍB 185 4to,98 and
feature the extended prologue99 (see appendix 1).
In Möðruvallabók, The genealogy starts with Ingjáldr, the son of Helgi inn magri and
grand-father of Glúmr. Although the Möðruavallabók text mentions the fact that Ingjáldr is
Helgi's son, the extanded prologue has its function in the plot, since it clarifies the familial
relations between Glúmr and his enemies, the Esphælingar. Guðmundur was not able to find
the manuscript used in Björn Markússon's edition, but puts in in group A. Turville-Petre
identifies it as Ms. Add. 1112 in the British Museum's collection.100
Guðmundur considers that this extended prologue is derived from Laxdæla saga
(chapter 1).101 His demonstration is not especially compelling, as the textual parallels are only
a matter of two or three phrases, but it is not the time and place to discuss this. Although the
present dissertation does not include transcriptions, and is thus not concerned with verifying
93 McKinnell 1970: 304-337. 94 McKinnell 1970: 319. 95 McKinnell 1987: 9. 96 Guðmundur Þorláksson 1880: x. 97 Guðmundur Þorláksson 1880: xi-xii. 98 Guðmundur Þorláksson 1880: xii-xiv. 99 Guðmundur Þorláksson 1880: x-xi. 100 Turville-Petre 1960: liii. 101 Guðmundur Þorláksson 1880: x-xi.
19
Guðmundur's assertions, it will be noted wether manuscripts of our corpus feature this
extended prologue or not, as it may be useful for further research.
Valuable codicological information about some of the seventeenth-century
manuscripts of Víga-Glúms saga is provided by Agnete Loth,102 who reconstructs the codices
that included some of these manuscripts, and identifies many of the scribes involved in their
production. Desmond Slay's 1960 article103 and Sture Hasts's study104 also provide valuable
codicological and contextual information.
I.3.c. Sixteenth-century manuscripts
There are no extant sixteenth-century manuscripts of Víga-Glúms saga. Few sixteenth-
century manuscripts have survived,105 although other types of texts were copied in significant
amounts.106 Manuscript culture undoubtedly underwent an important transformation at this
time. The factors that have been identified by scholars include the plague of the fifteenth
century, which left the country significantly depopulated,107 and the Reformation, completed
in 1550, which had a long-term impact on literacy culture.108 In terms of materiality, book-
culture undergoes a profound transformation during this century, with the introduction of
paper and the printed press.109 The first printed text in Icelandic is supposed to have been
produced in Hamburg in 1530, and the printing press was introduced to Iceland in the same
decade, under the supervision of the last Catholic Bishop Jón Arason.110 The oldest book to
have been printed in Iceland is probably the Breviarium Holense from 1534.111 At Hólar,
under the patronage of bishop Guðbrandur Þorláksson, the first printed Icelandic law-book,
Lögbók Íslendinga, was issued in 1578, followed by the first printed Icelandic Bible, known
102 "Sønderdelte arnamagnæanske papirhåndskrifter", Opuscula I (1960), 113-142. 103 "On the Origins of Two Icelandic Manuscripts in the Royal Library of Copenhagen", Opuscula 1 (1960), 143-150. 104 Papperhandkrifterna till Harðar saga, Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana XXIII, Hafniæ: Munksgaard, 1960. 105 Emily Lethbridge (2014: 73-74) mentions three sixteenth-century saga manuscripts, JS frg 6 4to, AM 152 fol. and AM 510 4to. 106 Halldór Hermannsson, Icelandic Manuscripts, Islandica 19, New York: Cornell U. P. , 1929, 26, and Springborg 1977: 54-55. A table illustrating the repartition of Icelandic manuscripts per centuries until 1600 can be found in Már Jónsson 2012: 11. 107 Stefán Karlsson, "From the Margins of Medieval Europe: Icelandic Vernacular Scribal Culture", 487-589, in O. Merisalo, P. Pahta (eds.), Frontiers in the Middle Ages. Proceedings of the Third European Congress of Medieval Studies (Jyväskilä, 10-14 June 2003), Louvain-la-Neuve: Fédération Internationale des Instituts d'Études Médiévales, 2006, 483-491. 108 Matthew J. Driscoll, "The Long Winding Road: Manuscript Culture in Late Pre-Modern Iceland", 52-53, in Anna Kuismin, M. J. Driscoll (eds.), White Field, Black Seeds. Nordic Literary Practices in the Long Nineteenth Century, Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2013, 50-63. 109 See Vésteinn Ólason, "Bóksögur", 210-211, in Frosti F. Jóhannson (dir.), Íslensk þjóðmenning VI: Munnmenntir og bókmenning, Reykjavík: Bókaútgafan Þjóðsaga, 1989, 161-228. 110 Steingrímur Jónsson, "Prentaðar bækur", 92, in Frosti F. Jóhansson 1989: 91-116. 111 Steingrímur Jónsson 1989: 92-93.
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as Guðbrandsbiblía, in 1584.112 However, besides the law-books, it is almost certain that no
secular texts were issued in print-house of Hólar.113 The printing of vernacular fiction
literature was made possible when Þórður Þorláksson, grand-son of Guðbrandur, was
appointed bishop of Skálholt in 1674, and took the press south with him.114 Some 27 Icelandic
and Latin texts were printed in Skálholt in the end of the seventeenth century, among which
Íslendingabók and Landnámabók (1688).115
Meanwhile, on the continent, an acute interest for the Icelandic literary legacy was
building up.116 The Latin works of Arngrímur Jónsson (Brevis commentarius de Islandia,
1593, Crymogæa, 1609), which were based on medieval manuscripts that were kept in Hólar
and the area of Beiðafjörður, ignited the passion of the Danish scholars for the Icelandic
cultural heritage.117 The first printed sagas were however produced on Swedish initiative
(Gautreks saga and Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar, Uppsala, 1664), in the context of
Gothicism.118
I.3.d. Seventeenth-century manuscripts
In contrast to the sixteenth century, the seventeenth century is a time of active
production for saga manuscripts.119 I have found records for twenty-one seventeenth-century
manuscripts preserving texts of Víga-Glúms saga. Fifteen of them are in Stofnun Árna
Magnússonar í islenskum fræðum: AM 143 fol.,120 144 fol.,121 160 fol.,122 164 a fol.,123 164 b
112 Steingrímur Jónsson 1989 96-97 and Springborg 1977: 61-62. 113 In general, the non-religious texts printed in Iceland during the XVIth century that are known to us are three examplars of Lögbók Íslendingar (Halldór Hermannsson, Icelandic books of the sixteenth century, Islandica 9, New York: Cornell U. P., 1916, 22, 26, 27) two of the Morðbréfabæklingar, defenses composed by bishop Guðbrandur for his grandfather Jón Sigmundsson (ibid., 42). The ensemble of the known productions show the transition from Catholicism to Lutherianism (ibid., 17-68). See also Springborg 1977: 62. 114 Steingrímur Jónsson 1989: 104. 115 Steingrímur Jónsson 1989: 104. Þórunn Sigurðardóttir, Heiður og huggun. Erfiljóð, harmljóð og huggunarkvæði á 17. öld (PhD Diss.), Reykjavík: University of Iceland, 2014, 184. 116 Stefán Karlsson 2006: 490, Már Jónsson 2012: 26-29. 117 Már Jónsson 2012: 30-33, Halldór Hermannsson 1916: 40-41, Springborg 1977: 55-61, Malm 2004: 101-102, and Jakob Benediktsson, Arngrímur Jónsson and his Works, Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1957. 118 Steingrímur Jónsson 1989: 103. See also Lansing 2011: 10-18 and Hufnagel 2012: 14-22. 119 Springborg 1977: 55-57, Már Jónsson 2012: 36-40. 120 Kålund 1889: 101 (nr. 172), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/AM02-0143. See Slay, Desmond, "On the Origins of Two Icelandic Manuscripts in the Royal Library of Copenhagen", Opuscula 1 (1960), 143-150, 149-150. 121 Kålund 1889: 102 (nr. 173), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/AM02-0144. 122 Kålund 1889: 112-113 (nr. 196), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/AM02-0160. See Slay 1960: 149-50, Már Jónsson, Arnas Magnæus philologus, Odense: U. P. of Southern Denmark, 2012, 192, Loth 1960: 113-142, 126, and Sture Hast, Papperhandkrifterna till Harðar saga, Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana XXIII, Hafniæ: Munksgaard, 1960, 154-157. 123 Kålund 1889: 132 (nr. 222), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/AM02-0164a.
21
fol.,124 165 b fol.,125 217 b fol.,126 441 4to,127 455 4to,128 508 4to, which was produced in
Copenhagen,129 509 4to,130 565 b 4to131 and 582 4to.132 ÍB 45 4to and 65 4to are part of the
Íslenzka bókmenntafélag collection, originally situated in Copenhagen.133 One is now in the
Banks collection in the British Library,134 and was used by Björn Markússon in his 1756
edition,135 and by Guðmundur Pétursson and Peter F. Suhm.136 Two are in the Royal Library
of Stockholm.137 One is in the Thott collection in the Arnamagnæan Institute/Nordisk
forskningsinstitutt in Copenhagen.138 It is also worth mentioning AM 576 a 4to, which
includes a fragmentary narrative summary (fol. 7r-7v) and a summary by chapter (11r-11v) of
the saga.139
I.3.e. Eighteenth-century manuscripts
I have have found records for eleven eighteenth-century manuscripts of Víga-Glúms
saga. Two are in the Landbókasafn collection in Reykjavík.140 One is in the Árni Magnússon
124 Kålund 1889: 132-133 (nr. 223), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/AM02-0165b. 125 Kålund 1889: 135-136 (nr. 235), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/AM02-0165b. 126 Kålund 1889: 175-176 (nr. 336), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/AM02-0217b. See Hast 1960 : 157-158. AM 217 b fol. was used for several editions: Þorgeir Guðmundsson and Þorsteinn Helgason (eds.) 1830, Jón Sigurðsson (ed.), Íslendínga sögur: udgivne efter gamle Haandskrifter af det kongelige nordiske Oldskrift-Selskab, vol. 2 (1847), x and 3-118. 127 Kålund 1889: 638-639 (nr. 1210), and https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0441. See Loth 1960: 122-124 and 132-133. 128 Kålund 1889: 646-647 (nr. 1227), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0455. See Loth 1960: 126. 129 Kålund 1889: 668 (nr. 1277), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0508. AM 508 4to was copied from Möðruvallabók, which had been sent out of Iceland by then, on the request of Árni Magnússon, between the fall of 1686 and that of 1688, probably by Ásgeir Jónsson. See Már Jónsson, "Skrifarinn Ásgeir Jónsson frá Gullberastöðum í Lundarreykjadal", in Guðmundur Jónsson, Helgi Skúli Kjartansson, Vésteinn Ólason (dir.), Heimtur: ritgerðir til heiðurs Gunnari Karlssyni sjötugum, Reykjavík: Mál og Menning, 2009, 282-297. 130 Kålund 1889: 669 (nr. 1281), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0509. 131 Kålund 1889: 720 (nr. 1411), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/AM04-0565b . See Loth 1960: 122-124 and 132-133. 132 Kålund 1889: 744 (nr. 1449), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0582. 133 Páll Eggert Ólason, Skrá um handritasöfn Landbókasafnsins (vol. 2), Reykjavík: Prentsmiðjan Gutenberg, 1927, 743 (nr. 6205), and 748 (nr. 6225), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/IB04-0045 and https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/IB04-0065. 134 Ms. Add. 4868: The British library Catalogue of additions to the manuscripts 1756-1782: additional manuscripts 4101-5017, London: British museum publications limited, c. 1997, 253. 135 I.1.b. 136 I.1.b. 137 Pa fol. nr. 54:Vilhelm Gödel, Katalog öfver kongl. bibliotekets fornisländska och fornnorska handskrifter, vol. II, Stockholm: Kungl. Boktryckeriet, 1897-1900, 109, 164; Pa 4:o nr. 4: ibid., vol. III, 182, 262-264. 138 Thott 976 fol.: Komissionen for det arnamagnæanske legat, Katalog over de oldnorsk-islandske håndskrifter i københavns offentlige biblioteker (udenfor den arnamagnæanske samling), Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandel, 1900, nr. 994, 315. 139 Kålund 1889: 737-738 (nr. 1432), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/AM04-0576a. 140 Lbs 272 fol.: Páll Eggert Ólason, Skrá um handritasöfn Landbókasafnsins, vol. 1 (1918), 90 (nr. 252), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/Lbs02-0272; Lbs 946 4to: ibid., 398 (nr. 1262), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-0946.
22
collection in Reykjavík.141 One is in the British Museum,142 and was, according to Turville-
Petre, used by Björn Markússon for his edition.143 The Royal Library in Copenhagen holds
five of them,144 and the Thott collection, one.145 There is a last one in the university library of
Oslo.146 Besides them, it is worth mentioning Ms. Boreal 119 in the Bodleian Library in
Oxford, which features glosses on Víga-Glúms saga.147
I.3.f. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century manuscripts
I have found records for only three nineteenth century manuscripts of Víga-Glúms
saga. Two are held in the Landbókasafn collection148 and one is in the Bodleian Library (Ms.
Icelandic c. 9): Ólafur Halldórsson states that it is a copy of manuscripts that were then in the
Arnamagnæan collection in Copenhagen.149
I.3.g. Recapitulation
The following graphic illustrates the repartition of the manuscripts of Víga-Glúms
saga throughout time:
141 AM 153 fol.: Kålund 1889: 107 (nr. 182), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/AM02-0153. 142 Ms. Add. 1112 4to: List of additions to the manuscripts in the British Museum in the years 1836-1840, London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1843, Reprinted 1964 by Jarrold and Sons, Norwich, 32. 143 Björn Markússon (ed.) 1756 (I.1.b). See Turville-Petre 1960: liii. 144 Ny kgl. sml. 1154 fol.: Komissionen for det arnamagnæanske legat 1900: 124 (nr 3072), Ny kgl. sml. 1249 fol.: ibid.: 145 (nr. 398), Ny kgl. sml. 1706 4to: ibid.: 208 (nr. 6012,), Ny kgl sml. 1714 4to: ibid.: 211 (nr. 60912), Ny kgl sml. 1822 4to: ibid.: 236 (nr. 722). 145 Thott 984 I-III, fol.: Komissionen for det arnamagnæanske legat 1900: 318 (nr. 100119). 146 UB 313 fol.: Jónas Kristjánsson, Skrá um Íslenzk handrit í Noregi, Handritastofnun Íslands, 1967, 42 (nr. 46). 147 Fol. 70r-96v; after Ólafur Halldórsson, Skrá yfir íslenzk handrit í Oxford, Reykjavík, 196-, 146. 148 Lbs 1635 4to: Páll Eggert Ólason vol. 1 (1918): 571 (nr. 1967), https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/is/Lbs04-1635; Lbs 747 fol.: Grímur M. Helgason, Lárus H. Blöndal, Handritasafn Landsbókasafns, additional vol. 3 (1970), 29-30 (nr. 113). See also Finnbogi Guðmundsson. "Nokkurar sögur ... í hjáverkum uppskrifaðar." Árbók Landbókasafns Íslands 22 (1965): 146-152. 149 Ólafur Halldórsson 196-: 215.
23
Although this visual rendering shows a peak in production in the seventeenth century,
one has to keep in mind that many manuscripts may be lost. It shows nevertheless that it was
a time of intense copying of Víga-Glúms saga, a fact that is attested for other works as well.
I.4. Manuscript corpus and plan of the analysis The manuscripts that will be the object of the present study have been selected according to
three criteria. They were all written in Iceland during the seventeenth century, they all feature
the complete text of Víga-Glúms saga, and they are all accessible in the Icelandic collections.
All are paper manuscripts.
1) AM 143 fol., a one-text manuscript, comes from the collection of Torfæus
(Þormóður Torfason); it has been collated with AM 160 fol.150 Kristian Kålund dates it to the
second half of the seventeenth century.151
2) AM 144 fol., a multi-text manuscript, is dated by Kålund to the last quarter of the
seventeenth century.152
3) AM 160 fol., a lavish collection of sagas given to Árni Magnússon by the
stiftamtmaður Ulrich Christian Gyldenløve, has not been dated more precisely than the span
of a century yet, but is rather well known.153
150 Slay 1960: 149-150. 151 Kålund 1889: 101. 152 Kålund 1889: 102.
0
5
10
15
20
25
Medieval Sixteenth century Seventeenth century
Eighteenth century
Nineteenth century
Manuscripts of Víga-‐Glúms saga
24
4) AM 164 a fol., is a one-text manuscript, whose original beginning is to be found in
AM 165b fol.154 where it has been crossed. In the present state of the manuscript, the first
folio of the manuscript has been replaced twice, once by Árni Magnússon.155 It is
conventionally dated from between 1635 and 1645, on the basis of information provided by
Árni in the note conserved within the manuscript, and biographic information about its scribe
(V.1).
5) AM 164 b fol., a one-text manuscript, is dated to the second half of the century by
Kålund.156
6) AM 217 b fol., a multi-text manuscript, is not dated more precisely than a century.
7) AM 455 4to, a multi-text manuscript, is dated to 1660.157
8) AM 509 4to, in the same collection, features, in addition to Víga-Glúms saga, an
appendix on the settlement of Iceland ("Um fund og fyrſtu bygging Iſlandz") and a fragment
of a text on the Norwegian law. It is dated between 1625 and 1672, which corresponds to the
activity period of its main scribe (V.1).
9) AM 565 b 4to, a one-text manuscript of the same collection, is dated to the last
quarter of the century. Agnete Loth has demonstrated that it was once part of a larger codex,
just before AM 441 4to, which features the original ending of Víga-Glúms saga.158
10) ÍB 45 4to, a multi-text manuscript, is not dated more precisely than the span of a
century.
First, the textual contents of these manuscripts will be put in relation with their
material configuration (II). The layout and density of their texts will then be assessed (III.1),
as well as the decorative elements that frame inner textual divisions (III.2). I will go on to
present the paratextual inscriptions that can be found in each manuscript (IV). Finally, the
scribes, owners and potential commissioners of each manuscript will be introduced (V).
II. Textual and material configuration This chapter first addresses the issue of each manuscript's unity. I will list their contents and
assess if the one-text manuscripts constitute codicological units of their own, or if they come
from larger units that have been broken up, and the nature of multi-text manuscripts as
153 Már Jónsson 2012: 192, Slay 1960: 147-150, Loth 1960: 126, Hast 1960: 154-157. 154 Kålund 1889: 135-136. 155 See flyleaf 1b in the manuscript. 156 Kålund 1889: 132-133. 157 See scribal colophon in the manuscript (fol. 72r). 158 For the reconstruction of the book that included these two manuscripts, see Loth 1960: 122-124 and 132-133.
25
compilations or collections of texts. This step will also allow determine what literary genres
they feature. Textual contents will then be put in relation with the quire structure in order to
see what principles of material economy were applied by those who designed and produced
the manuscripts.
II.1. Textual contents of the manuscripts The textual contents of a manuscript can give clues about the intention, methods and mindset
of the commissioners, scribes or compilers of the book or codex. Moreover, determining the
textual units contained in a manuscript allows a better understanding of its material
structure.159 Among the manuscripts selected here, some feature only Víga-Glúms saga in its
complete form, but are known to have been part of larger books, while some may have always
contained a single text. This is most of the time indicated by the notes that Árni Magnússon
inserted on flyleaves at the beginning of the manuscripts, but the research of Agnete Loth
contributes in clarifying and detailing these facts. On the other hand, some feature several
texts: they may have been intended as such when they were produced, but may also be
constituted of smaller units that have been bound together.160
II.1.a. One text manuscripts
Half of the manuscripts that were selected for the present study feature only the text of
Víga-Glúms saga:
In AM 143 fol., Víga-Glúms saga begins with "Hier byriar Glums Søghú" (1r, 1-2).161
Árni's Catalogus Librorum Manuscriptorum Thormodi Torfæi (AM 435b 4to) lists the
manuscripts with which it was originally bound on fol. 9r-9v (AM 6 fol., AM 10 fol., AM
157h fol., AM 193d fol., in shelf-mark order). These manuscripts feature fornaldarsögur (AM
6 fol., AM 10 fol., AM 157h fol., AM 193d fol.) and íslendingasögur (AM 157h fol). It is not
known whether the book was broken up by Torfæus or Árni.
AM 164a fol. begins with "Hier bÿriaſt Glúms Saga" (additional leaf 2r, 1). Árni tells
us about the book it was once part of in his note at the beginning of AM 164a fol.: "ur bok
(elldre enn 1646) er eg feck af Sera Hơgna Amúndaſyne." (2-3). Similar indications on
provenance can be found in the notes in AM 151 fol., AM 165 a fol., AM 165 b fol., AM 165 159 For questions of homogeneity and heterogeneity of manuscripts, see Gumbert, J. P., "Codicological Units: Towards a Terminology for the Stratigraphy of the Non-homogeneous Codex", Segno e testo 2 (2004), 17-42, especially 20-24. 160 For these distinctions, see Lethbridge 2014: 72-75. 161 In this thesis, transcriptions render the spelling of the manuscripts as faithfully as possible, notwithstanding pronunciation.
26
c fol., AM 165 d fol., AM 165 e fol., AM 165 g fol., AM 165 h fol., AM 165 i fol., AM 165 k
fol., AM 165 l fol., AM 202 a fol., and AM 202 i fol.162 AM 202 g fol. features
íslendingasögur and þættir, while AM 202 a fol. and AM 202 i fol. feature for the most part
fornaldarsögur. It is reasonable to assume that this book has been broken up by Árni or his
assistants according to subject matter. The original beginning of AM 164a fol. is to be found,
crossed in a darker ink, in AM 165b fol., 14v (26-37), and has been copied on the
aforementioned additional leaf. Leaf 3r-v was apparently copied from AM 160 fol. (149r ff.)
in order to supply a more complete or accurate text. AM 160 fol. was used for corrections on
AM 164a fol. according to Árni's note: "variæ lectiones eru eptir henda Sera Jons
Erlendsſonar i villingahollte i bok sem hans hój Excellence Güldenlewe ä in folio", 5-8 (the
note in AM 160 fol. has "hana hafi eg latad Conferera vid glums sơgu med hendi Jons
giſſurſonar úr bok er eg feck af Sera hogna amúndaſyne", 2v, 3-6).
AM 164 b fol. bears the title "Sagan Af Wÿga Glúúme" (1r, 1). Árni's note reads "Ur
bok er eg feck af Jons Thorlaksſyne, Syslumanni i Múla þinge" (2-3), and similar information
can be found in the notes of AM 163 e fol., AM 163 m fol., AM 163 n fol. and AM 181 i fol.,
in shelf-mark order. With the exception of AM 181 i fol. (Ála flekks saga), these are all
manuscripts of íslendingasögur.
AM 509 4to bears the title "Hir Byriar Glums Søgu" (1r, 1-2). After the saga are two
other short texts, one bearing the title "Um fund og fyrſtu bygging Iſlandz" (45r, 1) and ending
with the date "D. CCCC og XVIII ar." (12), the other beginning with "Anno 1270 woru
nordſk lög fyrzt til Islandz send" (13) and ending with "... þá hann var med lok lídinn" (19).
Árni's note states that the manuscript comes "ur bok, ſem eg feck fra Sigurde Magnusſyne ä
Feriu" (2-4), and this book is also mentioned in the note of AM 551 4to, which contains
Kjalnesinga saga and two þættir.
AM 565b 4to bears the title "Hier Byriar Glums ſơgu", on a paper strip attached in
between the end of Fóstbræðra saga (1r, 13) and the beginning of Víga-Glúms saga (14). Fol.
21r is written by a different hand on a different paper: the original ending is to be found in
AM 441 4to, 1bisr.163 It was originally part of a larger book which included AM 552 f 4to,
AM 564 b 4to, AM 552 e 4to, AM 552 a 4to, AM 552 i 4to, AM 591 f 4to, AM 552 d 4to,
AM 552 o 4to, AM 565 a 4to, AM 441 4to, AM 552 k 4to, AM 591 c 4to, AM 591 d 4to, AM
591 h 4to, AM 459 4to, in the order suggested by Agnete Loth.164 The codex that these
162 See Hast 1960: 148-149. 163See Loth 1960: 131-133. 164 Loth 1960: 127-129.
27
manuscripts formed together would then have featured around 75% of íslendingasögur and
þættir, the rest being fornaldarsögur and kings' sagas.
This information allow situate these manuscripts in their former material surrounding,
before they went through the process of division and classification that Árni Magnússon and
his assistants subjected them to,165 and see what texts Víga-Glúms saga was originally copied
alongside.
II.1.b. Multi-text manuscripts
Among the multi-text manuscripts presented here, those that are have been collected by Árni
Magnússon owe their integrity precisely to the fact that they preserved texts that were thought
to share similarities. Interestingly, this shows us the influence that Árni's philological
endeavors had on the modern classification of genres in medieval Icelandic literature.166 ÍB 45
4to, which was preserved in a different milieu (see V.2), nevertheless displays texts that can
be easily associated in terms of subject matter. Complete tables of contents can be found in
appendix (2).
Three out of five multi-text manuscripts contain exclusively Íslendingasögur and
þættir. ÍB 45 4to contains, in addition, Landnámabók (whose subject-matter can be associated
with the Íslendingasögur) and Arons saga Hjörleifssonar (which pertains to the
samtíðarsögur genre). AM 217 b fol. was originally bound with AM 217 a fol. (Árna saga
biskups), AM 217 c fol. (þættir and kings' sagas), AM 111 fol. (Landnámabók) and a lost
version of the poetic Edda (c.f. Árni's note in AM 111 fol. and fol. 1r of AM 217 a fol.): it
was thus part of a multi-genre manuscript, which contained both poetic and prose texts.
AM 144 fol. and ÍB 45 4to display the same group of short sagas and þættir, in the
same order and with similar titles (Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls to Gunnars þáttur
Þiðrandabana).
II.2. Quire structure An examination of quire structure allows evaluate the homogeneity of manuscripts, and get a
first glimpse of the principles of material economy applied by their producers.
165 See Beeke Stegmann, "The intended and unintended traces of a collector: Studying the history of Arnamagnæan manuscripts based on accompanying slips" (paper presented at the 16th Care and Conservation of Manuscripts conference, Copenhagen, April 13th-15th 2016). 166 Már Jónsson 2012: 192-193, Lethbridge 2014: 72-75, Stegmann 2016.
28
II.2.a. Collation
The following data are rendered according to the model proposed by Clemens and Graham.167
One adaptation that I have made was to indicate, in italics, the pages that cannot be labeled as
"modern", but which are later additions to the manuscripts. Although collations can be found
on handrit.is (see I.4) for all of these manuscripts except AM 217 b fol., AM 160 fol. and ÍB
45 4to, the following table is based on observations made for the purpose of this thesis.
Shelf-mark Number of leaves Quire structure AM 143 fol. ii+34+ii I-V6, VI4 AM 144 fol. i+51+i I4, 1+II2, 2+III2, 1+IV4,
V4, VI4, VII4, VIII4, IX4, X4, XI4, XII4, 1+XIII4
AM 160 fol. iii+344+iii I8 - IV8, V10, VI10, VII8, VIII10-XIII10, XIV8+1, XV10, XVI4, XVII10-XXVI10, XXVII10 (wants 7), XXXVIII10-XXXI10+2, XXXII10
AM 164 a fol. 2+28 2+I2+4, II6, III8, 1+IV6 AM 164 b fol. i+22+i I6, II6, III6, IV2, V2 AM 217 b fol. i+42+i I8, II12, III6, IV10, 2+V4 AM 455 4to i+73+i I8, II8, III8, IV8, V8, VI2,
VII8, VIII8, IX8, X6+1 after 1
AM 509 4to i+44+1 I8, II8, III8, IV8, V8, VI4 AM 565b 4to 20+2 I4+2, II8, 2+III4, IV2 ÍB 45 4to i+361+i I8-XI8, XII4, XIII8-
XXIII8, XXIV6, XXV8 - XLV8, 1+XLVI6
II.2.b. Codicological units and economy of paper in multi-text manuscripts
By assessing the place of different textual units in the quire structure (see appendix 2), one
can determine the degree of homogeneity of a multi-text manuscript, but equally how the
material support has been used in its production. It may thus be used to assess the socio-
economic milieu in which the manuscript originates.
In AM 144 fol., Víga-Glúms saga fills three quires without overlapping on the fourth.
However, one must keep in mind that, in this very damaged manuscript that has undergone
several repairs, the number of leaves of quires II-IV (those that have additional leaves) is the
same as if they had constituted regular quires of two bifolia each, as the rest of the
manuscript. If it was the case, Víga-Glúms saga would end in the same quire as the beginning
of Svarfdæla saga. Both narratives are close in subject-matter, as they are set in the same area
167 Clemens and Graham 2007: 130-131.
29
(Eyjafjörður). There is a continuity in paper size, text layout, and decoration between Víga-
Glúms saga and the rest of the manuscript, and one main hand has been identified throughout
(see description on handrit.is). It would be far fetched to assume that the manuscript is not
homogeneous. There are no blank pages left in the manuscript, and some texts (Gunnars
saga, Þorsteins þáttur forvitna and Þorsteins saga hvíta, Þorsteins þáttur stangarhöggs and
Gunnars þáttur Þiðrandabana) follow each other on the same page, but the variation in the
size of titles (27v compared to 34v etc.) and spaces between texts (41r compared to 45r etc.)
shows that the amount of paper was dealt with in an unsystematic manner.
In AM 160 fol., each text occupies its own set of quires. Three different scribes
worked on it, and applied different working methods (III.1, V.1).168 Svarfdæla saga and Gísla
saga follow each other from one page to the other while, from fol. 55r to the end of the
manuscript, every-time a saga ends before a quire, the remaining pages are left empty. While
bearing witness to the prosperity of the manuscript's milieu of production, this feature can
also show the intention to make each saga an independant unit. The book's homogeneity can
thus not be ascertained with the methods applied here, and the part of each scribe will
hereafter be treated seperately.
The texts of AM 217 b fol. share the same quires, and display a solid unity of layout
and script. The scribe had each saga begin on a new page, which shows that shortage of paper
was not a problem he was especially concerned with. It is hard to assess the original level of
homogeneity of the book it formed with AM 217 a fol., AM 217 c fol. and AM 111 fol., as all
of these manuscripts are different from each other when it comes to the size of their leaves
and their state of conservation. A deeper analysis would be necessary to understand what the
book they formed together may have looked like, but there is unfortunately not enough time
and space to perform it in this thesis.
AM 455 4to is entirely written by a single known hand (V.1). There is no strong
reason to question its homogeneity. Nevertheless, the last page of quire VI is empty. This
might suggest that the scribe intended quires I-VI is a unit, but also that he had not considered
well the amount of paper at his disposal. Indeed, from fol. 61v on, he started cramming the
texts together.
In ÍB 45 4to, some pages feature blank spaces or are empty within Svarfdæla saga
(fol. 101v, 102v-104v, and some smaller spaces that could hold one or two words in fol. 109r,
115r-v, 123r and 128r at least), and were intended for lacunae to be filled.169 Similar lacunae
168 On the two presumed scribes of fol. 1r-54v, and the issue of their identification, see Slay 1960: 146-147. 169 See Jónas Kristjánsson 1956: lxxii, xcii-xciii.
30
can be seen in Gunnlaugs saga, which stops after four lines on fol. 305v, and Arons saga,
where they were filled by a younger hand (142r-143r, 147r-148v, 153v). The last leaf of quire
XII (fol. 92) is empty, and its verso is darker. The script of Landnámabók and Samtíningur...
is also different from that of the beginning of Svarfdæla saga, and the average size of the
margins also changes. From fol. 127v to 196v and 305v to 399r, the texts follow each other
from one page to the next; from fol. 230r to 293r and on fol. 354v, there is not even the space
for one line between them. These elements suggest that at least quires I-XII were not
originally bound with the rest of the manuscript. There is also a noticeable difference in paper
color between the last page of quire XXXIX and the first one of quire XL., but fol. 208r (from
l. 7 on) to 308v present many similarities in layout and decoration. The manuscript was
probably kept unbound at some point, as the darker color of the first and last pages of quires
suggests on many instances throughout the book. Hence, quires I-XII may originally have
been an independant unit.
III. Visual aspects and textual economy of the main text In the following chapter, the textual density and layout of each manuscript will be assessed.
Then, I will identify and define the types of decoration that can be found in my corpus. These
two points will allow assess more precisely how scribes would deal with the economy of
material, and what purposes the manuscripts were primarily intended for. This second
objective will be achieved by using the theoretical frame created by Silvia Hufnagel, Tereza
Lansing and Susanne M. Arthur, who divide their corpuses into functional categories
according to features that can be found for the most part in the main text. The observations
performed in this thesis will be put in relation with the features of these categories.
III.1. Area and layout The layout of the text can provide us with clues about the purpose of the manuscript. Even
without going as far as assigning a specific function to each manuscript, one can note that the
layout informs us about the intentions and priorities of the scribes. The relative proportions of
the page and the text have an economical significance, as their choice determines the amount
of material - paper in the present case - that will be used. They also influence the esthetics and
the readability of the text.170 The number of lines and the page/text proportions are also noted,
170 Már Jónsson, "Manuscript Design in Medieval Iceland", in H. Þorláksson, Þ. B. Sigurðardóttir (ed.), From Nature to Script, Reykholt: Snorrastofa, 2012, 231-243, 241-242.
31
and they constitute useful, although not comprehensive, information. The average size of the
margins for each manuscript can be inferred from the measuring of the pages and text. Two
caveats are to be taken into account. Firstly, margins have different functions, and the outer
margin is more commonly used for notes, corrections and glosses than the inner one: thus, a
manuscript that displays an average of large margins, with a similar size for the inner and the
outer one, is not necessarily intended for extensive annotation. Secondly, trimming can
compromise the accuracy of the proportional data, and cannot always be detected. The text
has been measured according to the ruling, when present, but otherwise, vertically, from the
top of the minims of the first line to the horizontal baseline and, horizontally, from the left to
the right edge of the text.
III.1.a. Ruling and trimming
Ruling and trimming can inform practices of manuscript production. Here, they are also
factors that will affect the numeric data. Trimming can be detected when catch-words, page-
titles or marginalia are mutilated.
Shelf-mark Ruling Trimming
AM 143 fol. horizontal, stylus not apparent
AM 144 fol. not apparent vertical
AM 160 fol. vertical and horizontal, stylus not apparent
AM 164 a fol. not apparent vertical
AM 164 b fol. vertical, ink horizontal, bottom
AM 217 b fol. not apparent horizontal, top and bottom
AM 455 4to not apparent not apparent
AM 509 4to vertical, unidentified material vertical
AM 565 b 4to not apparent not apparent
ÍB 45 4to vertical, outer side, stylus vertical and horizontal, top and
bottom
AM 509 4to is an interesting case in terms of trimming. On fol. 25v, a marginal note
was saved thus: two horizontal incisions were practiced above and below it, as fare as the
ruling; it was probably folded inside during the trimming. However, it cannot be strictly
affirmed the amount of paper that escaped trimming in this way is representative of the
original margin width. As it appears from the table above, it is not possible to assess trimming
32
for all manuscripts as, for some, there were no textual and paratextual elements that could
have been mutilated by such a process.
In AM 160 fol., ruling is more pronounced in 1r-54v, which are written by other
scribes that the rest of the manuscript.
III.1.b. Size of text area and margins
The information presented below should be taken with caution. It is drawn from average
measurements and counts, notwithstanding the different texts and hands in each manuscript.
Shelf-mark Average page size Percentage of text
area per page
(surface)
Percentage of
margins per page
(width)
Lines per page
AM 143 fol. 298x214 mm 58% 18.6% 28-33
AM 144 fol. 320x201 mm 62.7% 18.7% 42-57
AM 160 fol. 288x196 mm 52.7% 21.4% 21-36
AM 164 a fol. 296x190 mm 58% 21.3% 38-41
AM 164 b fol. 302x195 mm 76.7% 9% 39-41
AM 217 b fol. 333x215 mm 74% 11.4% 38-42
AM 455 4to 186x152 mm 60.3% 19.3% 43-51
AM 509 4to 181x142 mm 70.5% 13.3% 23-25
AM 565 b 4to 203x166 mm 70% 17.7% 29-33
ÍB 45 4to 185x148 mm 80% 5.4% 23-39
The manuscript with the largest margins is AM 160 fol. It should be noted, however,
that 1r-54v have smaller margins (17.4%) than 55r-344v (25.3%). 1r-54v (see appendix 2)
have an average of 61.5% of text surface. 1r-24v and 25r-54v have approximately the same
text surface, but 1r-24v have 32-36 lines per pages, whereas 25r-54v have 27-30 lines. 55r-
344v have 44% and 21-23 lines. AM 143 fol. is supposed to have been written by the same
scribe as AM 160 fol., 25r-54v: their text surfaces are not strikingly similar when compared to
the rest of the corpus, but they have close numbers of lines per page. The manuscript with the
smaller margins is ÍB 45 4to, but it has been trimmed vertically and horizontally, and at both
the top and the bottom of the pages. There is no significant difference between the text
surface of 1r-91v and of the rest of the manuscript. Large margins can be intended a sign of
33
wealth and prestige.171 However, they are also a common feature of scholarly manuscripts, as
they can be used for extensive annotation.172
III.1.c. Text density
The density of the text has been assessed here by calculating the average number of characters
per square decimeter in the text area. Abbreviation marks have not been counted as
characters, but the punctuation has been included. Characters have been counted on three
random lines (one towards the beginning of the page, one towards the middle, one towards the
end), on each of three random pages (one towards the beginning of the manuscript, one
towards the middle, one towards the end). They have then been used in a simple formula:
(average number of characters per line) × (average number of lines per page) ÷ (surface of
text area).173 The result has been rounded to the nearest integer. For the manuscripts whose
homogeneity cannot be ascertained (II.2.b), this calculation has been done for the different
sections that present dissimilarities (1r-24v, 25r-54v and 55r ff. in AM 160 fol., 1r-91v and
93r ff. for ÍB 45 4to), but one must keep in mind that the other manuscripts can also be the
works of more than one scribe. For this reason, the following numbers must be taken
cautiously.
Shelf-mark AM
143 fol.
AM 144 fol.
AM 160 fol., 1r-24v
-25r-54v
-55r-344v
AM 164 a fol.
AM 164 b fol.
AM 217 b fol.
AM 455 4to
AM 509 4to
AM 565 b 4to
ÍB 45 4to, 1r-91v
-93r- 361v
Characters/cm2 323 785 496 363 287 424 436 444 1933 521 750 746 720
AM 455 4to is exceptionally dense compared to the other manuscripts. In a general
manner, quartos are denser than folios, with the exception of AM 144 fol. For the seventeenth
century, it has been noted that poorer scribes would produce denser manuscripts in order to
use less paper,174 and that scholarly manuscripts tend to be less dense than private ones,
probably for the sake of readability.175
III.2. Decorative elements 171 Lansing 2011: 86, Hufnagel 2012: 178, Arthur 2015: 151. 172 Lansing 2011: 85, Hufnagel 2012: 174, Arthur 2015: 144. 173 I take this method from Silvia Hufnagel (2012: 162 and personal communication). Susanne M. Arthur (2015: 27-28) uses a very similar calculation, in addition to Unita di Rigatura and average number of words, which have not been calcutated here. See also Lansing 2011: 73-77. 174 Hufnagel 2012: 179-180, Arthur 2015: 174, 182. 175 Lansing 2011: 85, Hufnagel 2012: 174, Arthur 2015: 144.
34
The level of decoration of a manuscript can indicate the economic situation of the milieu in
which it was produced,176 and the use it was intended for.177 Although the decoration some
eighteenth-century manuscripts have been briefly studied,178 there are to my knowledge no
specific works of art history devoted to this subject for the seventeenth century. Specific
studies on manuscript corpuses have noted, however, the link between the wealth of the
manuscripts' scribes and commissioners, and their level of decoration.179
On the continent, manuscript decoration declined alongside with the manuscript book
itself as printing techniques spread.180 In Iceland, the establishment of the printing press was a
long term process and did not compromise the manuscript transmission of local literature until
a late time,181 but it may nevertheless have had an influence on manuscript esthetics,182 and
other factors caused decorative efforts put into manuscripts to diminish.183 Nevertheless,
although they do not display the lavishness and professional quality of medieval examplars,
seventeenth-century manuscript show a logic in their use of decoration. As Margét
Eggertsdóttir notes, baroque literary esthetics emphasize the interaction between textual and
extratextual elements, and use ornamentation to outline the sense of literary works.184
III.2.a. Textual division and highlighted elements
In the manuscripts studied here, some textual elements are highlighted by the size, boldness
and style of their script. Most of them have a function in textual division, but they can also
reflect concerns with prosimetry or an interest in the characters. Their presence in the text of
Víga-Glúms saga is illustrated here:
Shelf-mark Title Chapter
headings
Indication of
vísur
Endings of
Víga-Glúms
saga
Other
highlighted
elements
AM 143 fol. 1r, 1-2, taller,
bolder and
flourished
27, same hand
as the main text
11, different
hand
34r, 23-25: pen-
flourished end
formula, Latin
formula and
Incipits of
chapters
176 Hufnagel 2012: 184. 177 Lansing 2011: 86. 178 D. K. Þrastardóttir, "Skreytingar og sköpunargleði í handritum frá 18. öld", Sagnir 22 (2001), 32-34. 179 Hufnagel 2012: 180-181, Lansing 2011: 93-94, Arthur 2015: 150-152. 180 J. J. G. Alexander, The Decorated Letter, New York: George Braziller, 1978, 27. 181 See I.3.c. 182 Lansing 2011: 79-81. 183 Springborg 1977: 54-55. 184 Margrét Eggertsdóttir 2014: 52.
35
scribal signature
AM 144 fol. 1r, l. 1, taller,
bolder and
flourished
None 12 (three
different
types), same
ink color
11v, 30-34:
half-diamond
indention,185
end formula
Incipit
AM 160 fol. 149r, ll. 1-2,
taller
27, same hand None 208r, 18-20:
half-diamond
indention, end
formula
Incipit
AM 164a fol. 1bisr, l. 1, taller,
different script
(not original)
27, 24 in the
margin, 3 above
the text area,
different hand
8, same hand 28v, 1-10: half-
diamond
indention, end
formula and
three symbols
None
AM 164 b fol. 1r, l. 1, taller,
different script
None 13, 4 with the
name of the
enunciator,
same hand
22v, 23-36:
half-diamond
indention, end
formula
Incipit
AM 217 b fol. 12r, l. 1, taller,
different script
27, 12 in the
margin, same
hand
None 28v, 31-33: end
formula and
vísa in chancery
script
Incipit
AM 455 4to 43r, l. 1, taller 27 in the
margin, 22
decorated, same
hand
None 50v, 34-35: end
formula,
"Glums
Eiolfsſonar" in
larger font
Incipits of
chapters
AM 509 4to 1r, ll. 1-2: taller
and bolder,
different script
27, same hand None 44r, 5-11: half-
diamond
indenting, end
formula, symbol
Names of
protagonists
AM 565 b 4to On separate
paper slip, taller
and surrounded
with decorative
21 in the
margin, same
hand
None in AM 441 4to,
1bisr, 28: end
formula, symbol
Incipit, names
of protagonists,
direct speeches
185 For this term, see T. L. Devinne, Correct Composition (New York: Oswald Publishing & Co., 1921), 181-191.
36
elements,
different script
ÍB 45 4to 196v, l. 1, taller
and bolder,
followed by
symbol,
different script
None 11, 4 with the
name of the
enunciator,
same hand
230r, 2-7: end
formula, small
cross and bolder
"Ender" in a
different script
Incipit, names,
vísur
The strategies adopted by the scribes to make these elements stand out visually consist
principally in making the script bolder and using another script, usually chancery or chancery
fractura, that can be slightly more flourished. Chancery, which became popular for book
writing in the late seventeenth century, is a cursive variant of fractura, which evolved from
hybrida and was first used for titles and headings.186 When the core text itself is written in
chancery, size and shading are used.
In AM 143 fol., written in chancery fractura, titles and incipits distinguish themselves
from the core of the text not by their script, but by their size, their level of decoration, and the
boldness of their line in the case of the saga title and the end of the saga, which are also more
flourished. From 11v on, chapter incipits start appearing, and are set in descrescendo.187 AM
160 fol., where the text of Víga-Glúms saga is also written in chancery, makes use of size to
make the titles and incipits stand out as well.
In AM 217 b fol., the title and incipit, written in chancery fractura, are not different
from each other in size. The vísa that closes the text is written in the same script, but is
slightly smaller than the main text, and stands out mostly by its script.
AM 164 a fol. is the most sober manuscript: its original title in AM 165b fol. (14v) is
not visually different from the main text.
Half of the manuscripts have a different script for titles and incipits, and two also for
the closing formula (AM 217 b fol. and AM 143 fol.). They all display a clear hierarchy
186 Guðvárður Már Gunnlaugsson, Sýnisbók Íslenskrar Skriftar, Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í Íslenskum fræðum, 2007, 122, 132, 136, 144. In a general manner, I use the material from the course of Þórdís Edda Jóhannesdóttir (2016), Medieval script types: Scribal errors and emendations (PowerPoint). See also Albert Derolez, The palaeography of Gothic manuscript books: from the twelfth to the early sixteenth century, Cambridge: Cambridge U. P., 2003, 163-171. 187 For this term, see Christine Jakobi-Mirwald, Buchmalerei: ihre Terminologie in der Kunstgeschichte, Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 1997, p. 65.
37
between titles and colophons on one hand, and chapter incipits on the other: titles and
colophons are the objects of more decorative efforts and are usually larger.
Chapter headings are not always visually distinguished from the core text, and when it
is the case, it is more spatially than in terms of script and decoration. Some manuscripts don't
even display chapter division, and some confine it to the margin. In AM 455 4to, every saga
closes on a small decorative symbol (figure 1) and, in the margin of the text of Víga-Glúms
saga, around 82% of the chapter headings are surrounded by a decorative capsule made of a
jagged or undulated line. Whereas the end-motives188 are to be found in most of the other
manuscripts described here (AM 509 4to, for instance, has one at the end of every chapter),
none reaches the decorative level of the element in fol. 34v, and only AM 455 4to displays
this kind of chapter ornamentation.
Figure 1 (34v)
A majority of the texts of Víga-Glúms saga simply close with a half-diamond
indention.189 AM 143 fol. has a colophon, and some are to be found at the end of other sagas
in ÍB 45 4to (127v, 139v, 163v etc.) and at the end of AM 455 4to (72r).190
Throughout the major part of the present corpus, catchwords are outlined by a more or
less sophisticated decoration (see for instance ÍB 45 4to, fol. 157v). Catchwords seem to be a
common feature in seventeenth century saga manuscripts,191 and are often to be found in the
present corpus. They often go along with a page titles,192 although these are less common.
Sometimes, the names of the characters (when they are first mentioned, the vísur, and
the direct speeches when they are of special relevance to the plot (Skúta's riddle in chapter 16
or Glúmr's equivocal oath in chapter 25). These elements have a clear textual function, and
are always much less decorative than titles, incipits etc. Vísur indications are always in the
188 For end-motives, see Jakobi Mirwald 1997: 58-59. 189 C.f. Hufnagel 2012: 163; see also Arthur 2015: 151-152, 273, who calls this feature a tip. 190 See IV.2. 191 Lansing 2011: 82. Catchwords are to be found in incunables and may show the influence of printing (Devinne 1921: 142-143), but they can also fulfill a function in quire binding (Arthur 2015: 18). 192 Susanne M. Arthur (2015: 151, 163 etc.) calls them running heads.
38
margin. Some of the indications are visibly not from the same hand as the main text, and can
thus reflect the concerns of a later owner or user, in the manner of marginalia. However, when
they are written by the scribes themselves, they sometimes show a decorative intent.
III.2.b. Initials
The following table illustrates the repartition of initials in the texts of Víga-Glúms saga:
Shelf-mark decorated pen-flourished lombards total
AM 143 fol. 1 5 21 27
AM 144 fol. 0 2 0 2
AM 160 fol. 0 16 10 26
AM 164a fol. 0 none 1 (not original) 1/0
AM 164b fol. 0 1 0 1
AM 217b fol. 0 2 0 2
AM 455 4to 0 14 0 14
AM 509 4to 0 0 28 28
AM 565b 4to 0 1 17 18
ÍB 45 4to 1 1 7 9
In the texts of Víga-Glúms saga, all the initials are in the same ink as the main text.
AM 160 fol. stands out as the most lavish manuscript, with its majority of pen-
flourished initials. There is, in addition, a large space intended for an initial at the beginning
of the text (149r, 4-7). AM 164a fol. features no initials, but the beginning of the text in AM
165b fol. has a blank space intended for one (14v, ll. 26-28).
The lombard initials are usually integrated into the text area, but sometimes they
exceed the margin, as in AM 565b 4to for instance. They are thus not always prioritized when
it comes to the use of the writable surface. When the text is written in kurrent, one often meets
capitals instead of lombards: they are sometimes more shaded and can exceed the text area,
but do not display more esthetic refinement that the main text, and are much smaller than
lombards.
Pen-flourished initials share a common ensemble of stylistic characteristics. They are
often bigger, and always bolder, than lombards. The flourishing may stem from the hairlines,
and contour lines are usually jagged or undulated.193 Groups of short strokes cross the strokes
193 See Jakobi-Mirwald 1997: 91 for this type of flourishing (Fleuronnéstab). The types found here are in "saw-blade" (Sägeblatt) or"wedge" (Keil) shapes.
39
of the letters perpendicularly. These motives can be complemented with tendrils194 and
buds.195 On one occasion, a shape is left blank on the body of the letter196 (AM 143 fol., 1r).
On another (ÍB 45 4to, fol. 196v), the body of the letter is constituted of cadels.197
A few elements outside the text of Víga-Glúms saga are worth mentioning. In AM 144
fol., one pen-flourished initial and one capital in the page title are rubricated (26r-v). ÍB 45
4to opens with a large decorated initial with complex historicizing patterns and pen-
flourishing (1r, 1-6), and contains several others. Inhabited initials are to be found in AM 160
fol. (figure 2), and ÍB 45 4to (for instance 177v). AM 455 4to is a special case, as it displays a
large amount of decoration outside the positive space of initials.
Figure 2 (54r)
Tereza Lansing had noticed to baroque influence on some decorative elements in her
seventeenth-century corpus.198 The esthetics of seventeenth-century initials in Iceland may
also bear witness to the influence of woodcut in incunabula.199
The survey provided in this chapter gives clues about the milieu of production of each
manuscript, its original function, and what use was intended for the text of Víga-Glúms saga
in it, using the categories that have been defined by Tereza Lansing, Silvia Hufnagel and
Susanne M. Arthur.
Large margins, low text density, and a large amount of decorations are indicators of
wealth, and can be used to define a manuscript as a decorative or prestigious object.200 This is
definitely the case of AM 160 fol. AM 143 fol. can probably also be put in this category.
However, when manuscripts display very few decorations, large margins and low
density may show that they were intended for scholarly use.201 AM 164a fol. and AM 164 b
fol. (although it has small margins) may have had this function.
194 Jakobi-Mirwald 1997: 87 (Ranke). 195 Jakobi-Mirwald 1997: 92 (Knospe). 196 See Jakobi-Mirwald 1997: 71. 197 See Jakobi-Mirwald 1997: 65. 198 Lansing 2011: 83. 199 Lansing 2011: 79-81, Silvia Hufnagel (personal communication). 200 Lansing 2011: 86, Hufnagel 2012: 180, 200-201, Arthur 2015: 152-157. 201 Lansing 2011: 85, Hufnagel 2012: 174, Arthur 2015: 136-144.
40
Some individuals may have made a scholarly use of manuscripts, but in a private
context: these manuscripts would display the features of scholarly copies, with the exception
of textual density, that would be higher.202 This can be the case of AM 144 fol., and possibly
the original use of fol. 1r-91v in ÍB 45 4to.
Some manuscripts were simply used for private reading, and were not intended as
especially valuable. On the contrary, they bear witness to concerns of material economy: they
are densely written and in smaller formats. They may be moderately decorated.203 The quarto
manuscripts of the present corpus probably pertain to this category.
Finally, some manuscripts have average margins and density, and few decorations:
they are simply labelled as plain.204 AM 217 b fol. can be put in this category.
Finally, the function of manuscripts may change over time, as they circulate and are
used by different individuals.205 These first observations can be refined by examining
elements outside the main texts of the manuscripts that bear witness to the uses that have been
made of them, and to the identity of their scribes and owners.
IV. Paratextual206 inscriptions Paratextual features are defined as all the elements that surround a text.207 Inscriptions, textual
or not, that surround the text of a manuscript, can be used to assess its provenance208 and the
various uses that were made of it.209
IV.1. Marginalia IV.1.a. Overview
Marginalia are witnesses of the use that was made of a particular manuscript: for instance, a
scholar will use the margins for annotation and textual corrections. Here, the marginalia are
simply subdivided between those that are related to the main text, and those that are not.210
Marginal chapter headings and indications of vísur have not been included, as they have
already been surveyed in III.2.a. The following table illustrates the general distribution of
202 Arthur 2015: 145-150. 203 Lansing 2011: 86-87, Hufnagel 2012: 178-179, Arthur 2015: 157-173. 204 Lansing 2011: 86, Arthur 2015: 174-184. 205 Hufnagel 2012: 196, Arthur 2015: 251. 206 The term "paratext" was coined by Gérard Genette (Seuils, Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1987). See Lansing 2011: 84 and Arthur 2015: 247-253. 207 Genette 1997: 1-7, Arthur 2015: 247. 208 Clemens and Graham 2007: 117-128. 209 Arthur 2015: 251. 210 Arthur 2015: 251-252.
41
marginalia in the present corpus. In all the manuscripts studied here, the marginalia appear to
be from different hands than that of the scribe.
Shelf-mark corrections and
additions
others total
AM 143 fol. 32 1 33
AM 144 fol. 2 1 3
AM 160 fol. 4 (20r: fellur karl hinn
Raude) (in Kroka-Refs
saga, marginalia with
latin terms: 24)
77 105
AM 164a fol. 161/2 (2 of the same
hand as the main text,
1 in AM 165b 4to)
0 161/2
AM 164b fol. 0 8 8
AM 217b fol. 1 8 9
AM 455 4to 9 0 9
AM 509 4to 2 5 7
AM 565b 4to 1 1 2
ÍB 45 4to 33 279 312
IV.1.b. Corrections and additions
Among the single text manuscripts of Víga-Glúms saga studied here, two in particular have
been the objects of extensive correction endeavors from some users, who hence seem to have
been concerned mostly with textual accuracy. For both manuscripts, the note left by Árni
Magnússon provides information about the circumstances of this process. The note in AM
143 fol. tells us that that manuscripts was "confererud vid Vigaglums Sơgu i
Güldenlövesbok" (ll. 4-5), in other terms, collated with AM 160 fol. According to Kristian
Kålund,211 Jón Sigurðsson, the archivist at the Arnamagnæan Institute of Copenhagen (1811-
1879),212 indicated in his catalogue (JS 409 4to) that these corrections were from the hand of
Jón Sigurðsson (1702-1757).213 AM 164 a fol. has been, according to Árni's note, collated
with AM 160 fol.: "... enn variæ lectiones eru eptir henda Sera Jons Erlendsſonar i
villingahollte i bok sem hans hój Excellence Güldenlewe ä in folio" (ll. 4-8). From this, one
211 Kålund 1889: 101. 212 Páll Eggert Ólason, Íslenzkar Æviskrár, vol. 3 (1950), 266-268. 213 Páll Eggert Ólason 1950: 261. However, in JS 409 4to, I have not found the section devoted to AM 143 fol., which should have been before fol. 117r.
42
can deduce that these manuscripts were, at least at some point, valued primarily for their
textual content, and that AM 160 fol. was seen as featuring an especially accurate version of
Víga-Glúms saga. AM 160 fol. also features a few additions and corrections in the text of
Króka-Refs saga (115r-146r), but they are proportionately scant given the size of the
manuscript.
In other manuscripts, the interest given to textual accuracy is comparatively less: only
the most obvious scribal errors are corrected in the margins. One exception is the text of
Landnámabók in ÍB 45 4to (1r-86r), which also features a high amount of contextual notes in
the margin. In this manuscript, there are no textual corrections or insertions in Víga-Glúms
saga.
IV.1.c. Others
ÍB 45 4to features no less than 271 contextual notes just for Landnámabók. They may simply
indicate a date related to the narrated events or what the section of the text is about, but also
include references to the Hauksbók version for comparison purposes. Contextual notes are
also to be found in the text of Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu (306r-333v). It is interesting to note
that, in AM 441 4to, whose link with AM 565b 4to has been previously addressed here (I.4),
contextual notes are to be found in the text of Eyrbiggja saga (1bisv-45v), especially in fol.
35r-37v, whose text is the episode of the haunting of Þorgunna. ÍB 45 4to also features
marginalia that are informative in terms of provenance: At the bottom of fol. 1r, Sigurður B.
Sivertsen, the last private owner of the manuscript, has left his name. The manuscript also
features a few pen-trials (140v, 218r).
In other manuscripts, contextual notes may often take the form of a simple "NB" and,
in AM 217b fol. and AM 160 fol., small symbols such as crosses or slanted strokes point out
to elements of the text, often underlined, that must have been of importance to some of the
users, although their precise purpose cannot be assessed anymore. AM 217b fol. features
however a few contextual notes, consisting of a reference to the Annals of Flatey (16r), and
dates (16r, 24v), and AM 565b fol. features two, a reference to another saga (13r) and what
looks like a designation of a textual section ("Lidar Gl.", 18v). In AM 144 fol., Þormóður
Torfason's hand has been identified on fol. 22r.214 In AM 509 4to, one marginal note reads
"þýdinn" (38v). The rest of the marginalia that can be found consists in pen-trials.
214 Kålund 1889: 102.
43
A marginal drawing, which has not been included in the table above due to its peculiar
nature, is to be found in AM 217 b fol. At the bottom of 19r, three angels, figured solely by
their heads and wings, are represented. The sense of this illustration, probably drawn with a
pencil or lead-point and almost faded, is intriguing witness of a past scribe, is a mystery.
However useful the marginalia can be in assessing the human background and milieu
of circulation of the manuscripts, there is only one name, a nineteenth-century one, to be
found in the present corpus. The colophons may tell us more in this regard.
IV.2. Colophons and last pages Among the manuscripts chosen for the present study, three have a colophon. In AM 143 fol.,
it takes the shape of a scribal colophon (34r), with a large, bold and flourished closing
formula to the text, a crossed out Latin inscription ("Omnia tunc bona sunt, clasula (sic)
quando bona est", 24), the initials of the scribe and the formula "m.e.h". The initials "KHS"
are those of Kolbeinn Hannesson, who was active in the South of Iceland in the second half of
the seventeenth century (V.1). The colophons of AM 455 4to and ÍB 45 4to are otherwise
harder to interpret.
AM 455 4to bears a proverbial formula ("Mest vitre enn miog fatt erire mart
frirande"), followed by another small sentence ("umm þad friger Are") and the monogram of
the scribe, Helgi Grímsson. All are in written in a different ink, though, and all seem to be
from a different hand (the second sentence is written in a less slanted script, and the bowls of
the letters are bigger). Fol. 73v bears a lot of inscriptions in different hands that are hard to
read and interpret. One can read at least "Hrÿdurſmadurinn" and "Reyndur penni", maybe
"Sagan" and an upside-down "meh" (figure 3).215 Matthew Driscoll has noted that, sometimes,
empty space in manuscripts could be used for various purposes such as pen-trials and even
writing lessons, and one cannot exclude this possibility in the present case. 216
215 I am grateful to Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir, who helped me decipher these inscriptions. 216 Driscoll 2004: 23-25.
44
Figure 3 (73v)
In ÍB 45 4to, there is a date at the end of every text except Landnámabók,
Samtíningur..., Gunnars þáttur Þiðrandabana, Víga-Glúms saga, Fóstbræðra saga,
Kjalnesinga saga and Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu. These dates range from the 21st of
February, 1683 (fol. 127v) to the 2nd of June, 1684 (fol. 361r), thus showing a reassuring
chronological progression. The last page, fol. 361v, bears the signature of a certain Grímur
Sigmundsson, whose identification is problematic (V.2.). One can also otherwise read, above
the signature, the letters "VOS" (maybe initials), and two faded pairs of initials, probably
"ÞS" and "JJ". At the present stage, I am unable to say more about who these people may be.
IV.3. Foliation Unsurprisingly, the red foliation that is typical of the Arnamagnæan collection can be found
in the majority of the manuscripts studied here. However, several other types of foliation can
be witnessed. When the ink used for the foliation is similar in color to that used for the main
text, one could be tempted to assume that it is original, but it cannot be affirmed. However,
when the foliation is executed in pencil and still well visible, one may assume that it can be
traced back to the two last centuries. On one occasion (AM 164b fol.), the ink foliation bears
witness to the inclusion of the text in a larger book, where it stood as fol. 200-221. When the
45
foliation is not to be found on each folio, one may assume that part of it was lost through
trimming, since it does not reflect errors such as the skipping of a page.
Shelf-mark Brown or black ink
foliation Red ink Other
AM 143 fol. Brown ink (unsystematic)
Yes None
AM 144 fol. Ink of the same color than the text
Yes None
AM 160 fol. Black ink (unsystematic)
Yes None
AM 164 a fol. Black ink (unsystematic)
Yes None
AM 164 b fol. Ink of the same color than the text (200 to 221)
None Pencil
Am 217 b fol. Black ink and grey ink in alternance
None None
AM 455 4to Black or grey ink None None AM 509 4to None None Pencil AM 565 b 4to None Yes None ÍB 45 4to None None Pencil
These paratextual inscriptions show the uses that have been made of the manuscripts,
but provide us with few names of users. However, the information provided by Árni
Magnússon himself allows identify a large number of them.
V. Actors of production and material transmission The task of identifying hands in seventeenth-century manuscripts has been carried on by
collectors, cataloguers and manuscript scholars for more than three centuries now. We owe a
lot of information to Árni Magnússon himself and his informers: on the basis of the data he
gathered, Kristian Kålund and Páll Eggert Ólason were able, through comparison, to associate
names that were known from a few manuscripts to larger corpora,217 that were extanded by
other scholars from the 1960s on:218 all of them mobilized a large number of documents:
manuscript books and their marginal contents, but also letters.219 Nevertheless, not all scribes
are known by name.
217 Kålund 1889, Páll Eggert Ólason 1918. 218 Loth 1960, Slay 1960, Hast 1960. 219 For an example of the use of correspondence to identify the same hand in different script types, see Loth 1960: 126-128.
46
V.1. Scribes Among the scribes whose names appear in the manuscripts studied here, one should not be
surprised to find many individuals who have a strong link to the bishoprics of Skálholt and
Hólar (I.3.c-d). A majority of the professional scribes whose names appear in relation to the
present corpus have received their formation from these two centers, and those who worked
for them are usually the best-known.
Jón Erlendsson
The man who wrote the major part of AM 160 fol., the priest Jón Erlendsson in Villingaholt
(d. 1672),220 is the most famous of seventeenth-century Icelandic scribes. One may simply
recall, among his highest achievements, his two copies of Íslendingabók, AM 113a and b.
Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson,221 his equally famous patron, had him copy it twice for the sake
of textual accuracy.222 The hallmarks of Jón are very close renderings of medieval texts in
terms of morphology and orthography, the folio format and the chancery fractura script, two
characteristics that are more generally typical of the Southern seventeenth-century
manuscripts.223 Árni Magnússon seems to have had mixed feelings about Jón's copying
methods. On one instance, in 1724, he deemed one of his transcriptions so bad that he
destroyed it, and subsequently wrote an angry report about it,224 but the case of AM 160 fol.,
which he used for textual collations of Víga-Glúms saga as has been seen here, shows that he
trusted him on other occasions.
Jón Gissurson
Jón Gissurson (or Gizurarson in the modern spelling), the scribe of AM 164 a fol., was born
in Núpur (Dýrafjörður) in 1590, and died there in 1648. He spent his youth in Hamburg,
where he became an esteemed goldsmith, before returning to Iceland, where he was
lögréttumaður between 1632 and 1647. He was the half-brother of Brynjólfur Sveinsson
through his mother, Ragnheiður, the daughter of the sýslumaður Staðarhóls-Páll.225 This is not
220 Páll Eggert Ólason 1950: 105-106. See for instance Jón Helgason, "Skarðsbók með hendi séra Jóns í Villingaholti", in Stefánsfærsla, Reykjavík: s. n., 1978, pp. 31-33 and Helgi Ívarsson, "Sr. Jón Erlendsson handritaskrifari í Villingaholti", Árnesingur 8 (2007): 157-170. 221 See Jón Pálsson et al. 2006. 222 Springborg 1977: 68. 223 Springborg 1977: 69-70. 224 Már Jónsson 2012: 194. 225 Páll Eggert Ólason 1950: 118-119.
47
his only connection to power and intellectual centers: his cousin Jón Arason in Vatnsfjörður
(1606-1637), the father of Magnús digri in Vigur, was rector of Skálholt, and a major figure
of Icelandic humanism,226 as does his uncle and father of the former, Ari Magnússon in Ögur
in Ísafjarðardjúp (1571-1652),227 with whom Jón Gissurson was an assistant for a long time.
Through Krístin, Ari's wife, who was the daughter of bishop Guðbrandur Þorláksson, they
also had connection to Hólar, and Jón Gissurson could borrow manuscripts from both
institutions for the important work of transcription that he performed in the 1630s-1650s. He
wrote thirty-five manuscripts in the Arnamagnæan collection, whose contents range from
Landnámabók to several different genres of sagas and collections of rímur. The manuscripts
in his hand are both in folio and quarto format, and Peter Springborg suggested that the
quartos may bear witness his borrowing of vellums in the same format from Ögur, while the
folios, that constitute the bulk of his later production, may show the influence of Skálholt,
from which his cousin comes back in 1636.228
Ólafur Gíslason
Ólafur Gíslason (1646-1714), the scribe of AM 565 b 4to, was taken to Skálholt by Brynjólfur
when he was seven years old. At the age of 23, he became a teacher there, and then a priest
three years later. Afterwards, he lived in Vopnafjörður, first in Hof, and then in Suður-Vík
until his death.229 Some twenty-three manuscripts in the Arnamagnæan collection are in his
hand, and he gave two others, one of parchment (Am 713 4to) and one by Jón Erlendsson
(AM 182 fol.) to Árni Magnússon. Árni never went to Vopnafjörður during the years he spent
making the land-register, but Agnete Loth suggested that they would have met at the Alþingi.
His correspondence with Brynjólfur, who appreciated him greatly and esteemed his intellect,
is to be found in AM 268-281 fol.230
Helgi Grímsson
The scribe of AM 455 4to was born in Húsafell in 1622, and died there in 1691. Like his
father Grímur Jónsson, whom he assisted between 1652 and 1654, he became a priest, and
kept this function until his death. He was an assistant to Þórður Jónsson in Hitardalur, where
he had the occasion to copy Olafs saga Tryggvasonar (Papp. 22 fol. in the Royal Library of
226 Pall Eggert Ólason 1950: 41-42, Þórunn Sigurðardóttir 2014: 197-204. 227 Pall Eggert Ólason, Íslenzkar Æviskrár..., vol. 1 (1948), 18-19, Þórunn Sigurðardóttir 2014: 213-214. 228 Springborg 1977: 78-80. 229 Pall Eggert Ólason, Íslenzkar Æviskrár..., vol. 4 (1951), 43-44. 230 Loth 1960: 122-124.
48
Stockholm), 231 from a fragmentary vellum, and to Brynjólfur Sveinsson in Skálholt between
1651 and 1652. Despite that, it seems that his relations with the bishop deteriorated when he
started claiming the autonomy of the churchland of Húsafell. His alleged 1664 expedition to
find Þórisdalur (the wondrous valley of Grettis saga, chapter 61) is recounted in JS 64 8vo, an
alleged autograph soberly titled Hvernig Þórisdalur var fundinn (1680), and AM 253 I-II 8vo,
from the early eighteenth century.232 His hand is to be found in four manuscripts of the
Arnamagnæan collection: among them, one can find transcriptions from AM 66 fol., the
Hulda manuscript (AM 308 and 318 4to), and a few íslendingasögur. AM 455 4to was given
to Árni Magnússon by his widow, Guðríður, who died in Laugarvatn in 1728, at the age of
89.233
Páll Sveinsson and Kolbeinn Hannesson
Although many manuscripts, among which AM 160 fol. and AM 143 fol. (Kolbeinn
Hannesson) in the Arnamagnæan collection are associated with these two scribes, they remain
mysterious. Desmond Slay notes that even Árni Magnússon and his informers would often
confuse them.234 Nevertheless, their hands are distinct in AM 160 fol., and the extent of both
their productions seems to be associated with the intellectual environment of Skálholt. In the
note he left in AM 160 fol., Árni shows the utmost reserve in his identification of Páll
Sveinsson's hand (l. 2). Kolbeinn Hannesson was probably born at Guttormshagi near Hella,
if he was indeed the son of the priest Hannes Tómasson, as Páll Eggert Ólason suggests.235 In
the land register of 1703, an old and impotent man is mentioned in Ásgautstaðir (Árnessýsla),
but it is impossible to draw anything from this information.236
Grímur Sigmundsson and the signatures of ÍB 45 4to
Finally remains the even more mysterious case of Grímur Sigmundsson, who left his
signature at the end of ÍB 45 4to. It is not known for sure if he was a scribe or an owner, but
the part played by this individual in the history of the manuscript must be acknowledged.
There are two other very faded monograms at the end of ÍB 45 4to, one that could be read as
231 Már Jónsson 2012: 12. 232 A few popular works are to be found about this expedition: Fálkinn 48 (14/12/1964, 18-19, Morgunblaðið 5th October 1997, and Þórisdalur og ferð prestanna 1664, Ferðafélagið, 1997. It would be interesting to check JS 64 8vo and compare its script and layout with AM 455 4to. 233 Pall Eggert Ólason, Íslenzkar Æviskrár..., vol. 2 (1949), 334-335. 234 Slay 1960: 146-147. 235 Pall Eggert Ólason 1950: 318. 236 517. See http://manntal.is/leit/P%C3%A1ll%20Sveinsson/1703/1/1703/46561.
49
Þ.S. or H.S., and one as J. J., but they only show that this manuscript needs to be studied more
in depth.
V.2. Owners Torfi Jónsson and Jón Torfason
The priest Torfi Jónsson (1617-1689), the owner of AM 143 fol., was the son of the
aforementioned Jón Gissurson. He was taken to Skálholt by Brynjólfur in 1632, and stayed
there for ten years first as a student, then as an assistant of his uncle. From 1642 to 1646, he
studied in Copenhagen where he met Ole Worm and Þormóður Torfason (Torfæus). His
correspondence with these two prominent figure and Brynjólfur has been at least partly
conserved in the Arnamagnæan collection (AM 267 fol., 285b fol., 268-281 fol.). He was a
precious ally of Torfæus and Árni Magnússon in their quest for medieval manuscripts,
although he hardly ever managed to procure them vellums.237 He was heir to Brynjólfur
Sveinsson, 238, and married to his cousin Sigríður Haldórsdóttir, who inherited half of the
manuscript collection of Brynjólfur.239 The hand of Þormóður Torfason can be seen in AM
143 fol., fol. 5v, and the manuscript is also listed in AM 435b fol., so it is possible to assume
that the manuscript has been transmitted directly from Torfi to Þormóður. He is also known as
the main scribe of AM 4 fol., and scribe of AM 205 fol. (Biskupasögur). He is also the author
of a biography of Brynjólfur.240 In 1662, he moved from Hrafnseyri to Gaulverjabær, and
remained there until his death.241 His son, Jón Torfason (1657-1716), gave Árni a "book in
green binding" (c.f. Árni's note) whose contents included AM 144 fol. His name is associated
with nine other manuscripts in the Arnamagnæan collection. He was educated at Skálholt, and
went to Copenhagen, where he studied theology, with a letter of recommendation of Þórður
Þorláksson in 1678. He returned to Iceland in 1681, and taught in Skálholt from 1683 to 1686,
after which he became the assistant of the reverend Magnús Jónsson in Breiðabólstað, with
whom he had relational problems, and moved to Núpur í Fljótshlið.242
Högni Ámundason 237 See Már Jónsson 2012: 38 and 59-69. 238 Springborg 1977: 71. 239 Margrét Eggertsdóttir, personal communication. See Jón Halldórsson, Biskupasögur Jóns prófasts Haldórssonar í Hítardal : með viðbæti, eds. Jón Þorkelsson and Hannes Þorsteinsson, Reykjavík: Sögufélag, 1903-1915. 240 Jón Halldórsson 1903-1915. 241 Páll Eggert Ólason, Íslenzkar Æviskrár..., (vol. 5) 1952, 27-28. 242 Páll Eggert Ólason 1950, 294.
50
Among the children of Torfi Jónsson was a daughter, Þórunn, whom he married to Högni
Ámundason (1649-1707) in Eyvindarhólar, under the Eyjafjallajökull. Högni was the son of a
lögréttumaður, Ámundi Þormóðsson in Skógar, and had studied in Skálholt. He was
consecrated priest in 1686. He gave AM 164a fol. and AM 165b fol. to Árni, as well as
sixteen other manuscripts.
Jón Þorláksson
The sýslumaður Jón Þorláksson (1643-1712), owner of nineteen manuscripts of the
Arnamagnæan collection, among which AM 164b fol., was a prominent figure of late
seventeenth-century and early-eighteenth century Northern Iceland. 243 A son of bishop
Þorlákur Skúlason, he studied in Hólar before going to Denmark to serve the Danish-
Norwegian general Henrik Bjelke between 1661-1664. After a short stay home, he went back
to Denmark, and definitively settled back in Iceland in 1667. He was to become the
landowner of Möðruvallaklaustur, but the property was already occupied by Jón Eggertsson,
with whom he had a bitter conflict on this matter. He lived instead in several different places
before eventually taking residence in Berunes, where he remained from 1704 until his death.
He is known as an author, a scribe, and the translator of Christian V's Norwegian law into
Icelandic. His authorial and scribal work is nowadays conserved in Landsbókasafns
handritasafn.
Sigurður Jónsson
Sigurður Jónsson (1618-1677) is the son of the sýslumaður Jón Sigurðsson in Einarsnes. He
studied in Skálholt, where he served bishop Gísli Oddsson for five years, and became a good
friend of Brynjólfur, with whom he had a correspondence. From 1664 until his death, he was
lögmaður by royal decree.244 He is known as having been the owner of the book which
feature AM 217a-c fol. and AM 111 fol., besides two medieval manuscripts (AM 75a fol. and
AM 544 4to).
Sigurður Magnússon
243 Páll Eggert Ólason 1950, 315. 244 Páll Eggert Ólason 1951, 233.
51
Little is known about this owner, who nevertheless gave some ten manuscripts to Árni
Magnússon. The land register of 1703 presents him as a farmer of Sandhólaferja
(Rangarásýsla).245 Among the manuscripts he donated was AM 509 4to.
Christian Gyldenløve
It is not known for certain when Christian Gyldenløve received AM 160 fol.: Sture Hast
suggested 1706, and Desmond Slay 1692, each using his own identification of the donor as
evidence (see 2.c below). What we know, however, is that the red velvet binding and the edge
gilding that he had made for AM 160 fol. (figure 4) are similar to the treatment of GKS 1002
fol., a parchment manuscript that was offered to Christian V in 1692.246 Ulrik Christian
Gyldenløve (1678-1719), the natural son of Christian V and Sophie Amalie Moth, duchess of
Samsø, from which he retained the title, was the first stiftamtmaður of Iceland.247 Although he
never went to the country, he had a notable influence in the legal quarrel that opposed Árni
Magnússon and Páll Vidalín with the lögmaður Sigurður Björnsson, where he proved to be on
the side of Sigurður.248 The conflict did not compromise the intellectual exchanges between
its different protagonists, though: Árni Magnússon had a copy of Jónsbók made for Sigurður
(AM 1021 4to), and Sigurður gave him a vellum of Jónsbók and Kristinréttr Árni (AM 155 a-
b 4to).249 Sigurður Sigurðsson, his son, who had given Árni a fragment of Stjórn (AM 229 I
fol.), travelled with him to the trial of his father in Copenhagen in 1712, and the two men paid
a visit to Torfæus in Stangeland on the way.250 It is thus not surprising that Christian
Gyldenløve, despite all he heard about Árni as a political figure, would have recognized his
intellectual value.
245 http://manntal.is/leit/sigur%C3%B0ur%20magn%C3%BAsson/1703/3/1703/45310 246 See Lansing 2011: 95 and Susanne M. Arthur, "The Importance of Marital and Maternal Ties in the Distribution of Icelandic Manuscripts from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century", Gripla 23 (2012): 201-33. 247 A succinct biography, centered mostly on his military achievements, can be found in C. F. Bricka, Dansk biografisk lexikon, Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1887-1905, vol. 6, 347-349. 248 For the whole story, see Már Jónsson 2012: 161-173. 249 Már Jónsson 2012: 71 and 150. 250 Már Jónsson 2012: 150 and 170-173. Sigurður Sigurðsson wrote a journal during the journey (Lbs 427 8vo).
52
Figure 4
Sigurður B. Sivertsen and nineteenth-century Útskálar
Sigurður B. Sivertsen (1808-1887) was born at Útskálar, where he returned in 1837 to take
the priestly function that his father, Brýnjólfur Sigurðsson, had occupied there. He is known
as a commissioner of printed books an a translator of religious texts.251 ÍB 45 4to was in his
possession until the fall of 1885, when he gave it to the Íslenska Bókmenntafélag, as attested
by the marginal note in the manuscript.252 Although we do not know the whereabouts of the
manuscript before it reached his hands, it is interesting to note that Útskálar was a center of
manuscript production in the seventeenth century.253 It is thus not totally unlikely that the
manuscript had been there for a while, although it cannot be affirmed with certainty.
V.3. Commissioners No direct information is to be found about commissioners in the manuscripts of the present
corpus, but some scholars have advanced the hypothesis that the most impressive and well
conserved of them, AM 160 fol., was produced at the instigation of bishop Brynjólfur
Sveinsson himself. This idea was first formulated by Guðní Jónsson and Björn K.
Þórólfsson.254 Sture Hast took it for granted and speculated on how the manuscript would
have circulated before it came into the hands of Christian Gyldenløve. According to him, the
manuscript would have been given by bishop Brynjólfur to his cousin, Helga Magnúsdóttir:
Brynjólfur had indeed shared his collection between Sigríður Halldórsdóttir in her.255 Helga
married Hákon Gíslason in Bræðratunga, and begot with him Jarþrúður, the first wife of
Magnús Sigurðsson. Magnús remarried Þordís Jónsdóttir and, as is well known, accused Árni
251 Páll Eggert Ólason 1948: 264-265. 252 Páll Eggert Ólason 1918: 743. 253 Springborg 1977: 57 and 81-86. 254 Hast 1960: 155. 255 Margrét Eggertsdóttir (personal communication).
53
Magnússon of having seduced her. It would have been in order to secure the favor of
Christian Gyldenløve that Magnús offered him AM 160 fol. when he travelled to Denmark in
1706.256 Although rich in colors, this speculation is not especially convincing. It is true that
two scribes involved in AM 160 fol.'s production, Kolbeinn Hannesson and Jón Erlendsson,
were closely linked to Brynjólfur and Skálholt, and would often work for the bishop.257
However, in AM 143 fol., Árni Magnússon's note states that the manuscript was collated with
"Güldenlövesbok, ſem Mag. Biorn gaf honum" (ll. 5-6). Assuming that the book in question is
AM 160 fol., which seems rather likely given the fact that it is the only manuscript featuring
Víga-Glúms saga that has, as far as we know, been given to Árni by Christian Gyldenløve,
AM 160 fol. must have been transited by the hands of this "Mag. Biorn", whom Desmond
Slay identifies as bishop Björn Þorleifsson.258 Sture Hast refutes Slay's arguments only on the
basis of his own theory of acquisition, thus proving the weakness of his argumentation.
Some manuscript owners mentioned here could also have been commissioners at
times, but in the absence of direct testimonies, attributing them this function would be
wishful. However, some owners were also well-trained and esteemed scribes, and thus had the
intellectual means and status to supervise the production of manuscripts. This is the case of
Jón Gissurson, Torfi Jónsson, Jón Þorláksson and Ólafur Gíslason. Helgi Grímsson, who had
partially alienated himself from the social network of Skálholt, may not have had the means to
employ another scribe, and is not known to have been in possession of other
contemporaneous manuscripts than his own. Hence, Brynjólfur Sveinsson is the only potential
commissioner here.
VII. Conclusion The codicological information that has been gathered in the first part of this thesis has
provided clues about the origins and uses of a group of seventeenth-century manuscripts in
which Víga-Glúms saga was conserved. This information is corroborated by the
prosopographic data presented in the second part.
AM 160 fol. and AM 143 fol. are precious manuscripts, produced in a wealthy milieu,
by prolific professional scribes. They have been owned by extremely wealthy and politically
influent individuals. This shows that Víga-Glúms saga, and other Íslendingasögur, were read
for entertainment in the highest strata of Icelandic - and even Danish - society. 256 Hast 1960: 156. 257 See for instance Springborg 1977: 69. 258 Slay 1960: 149-150.
54
The codicological analysis pointed out AM 164 a fol. and AM 164 b fol. as scholarly
manuscripts, and they have indeed been used by intellectual personalities with links to the
Danish and Icelandic learning centers. Such individuals would consider the scientific value of
the text, and were interested in history and textual criticism.
AM 144 fol. has been first defined as a private manuscript, which could be used for
personal scholarly research. It was indeed the property of a learned indivdual, who could
appreciate both the literary and scientific value of its contents.
AM 455 4to, and AM 565 b 4to were defined as private reading manuscripts by the
codicological analysis. Their scribes and owners were not the wealthiest people in Iceland,
and lived in marginal areas, but were educated and had a sustained contact with one of the
main learning centers of the country, and probably had a sound knowledge of the text and its
historical background, even if they copied and read for entertainment purposes. AM 509 4to
has also been defined a private reading mansucript: it belonged to a scantly known individual,
who probably came from a less wealthy milieu.
AM 217 b fol., at first sight a plain manuscript, was in fact owned by an affluent
individual. This shows that wealthy Icelanders did not always own lavish manuscripts, and
would not mind reading from book that had no particular material value.
It has been more difficult to assess the provenance of ÍB 45 4to, but from the example
of AM 144 fol. and the other quarto manuscript, one can affirm that it was probably intended
for reading, but owned by a learned individual.
If one considers the corpus chosen here a significant for the seventeenth century, one
can deduce that Víga-Glúms saga circulated mostly in intellectual milieus at the time, and that
wealthy and powerful individuals would enjoy reading it. However, the text was not
exclusively present in those social environmnents, and manuscripts could circulate between
classes and human groups. In the span of just one century, the ten manuscripts that were the
subject of this thesis have all travelled around Iceland, most of them to end up leaving the
country, and passed in many hands. Each time a text is transmitted from a person to another,
through copying or simply the circulation of existing manuscripts, it is re-appropriated by
other individuals or human groups: hence, it undergoes changes in functions and re-
evaluations in the perception of its users.
This thesis may be the basis for further research. It could be the starting point of a
larger study of transmission and reception of the Íslendingasögur in seventeenth-century
Iceland, or of the whole manuscript transmission of Víga-Glúms saga. Each of the
manuscripts used here could also be studied individually, and this would give the possibility
55
to include more parameters, such as paleographic and orthographic features, or the
characteristics of the material support (origins and quality of paper etc.). The information that
have been assessed here are modest, but show that much more can be discovered on this topic.
56
Bibliography Manuscripts: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum: AM 132 fol. AM 143 fol. AM 144 fol. AM 153 fol AM 160 fol. AM 164a fol. AM 164b fol. AM 65b fol. AM 217b fol AM 441 4to AM 445c 4to AM 455 4to AM 508 4to AM 509 4to AM 564a 4to AM 565b 4to AM 582 4to Landsbókasafns handritasafn: Lbs 272 fol. Lbs 747 fol. Lbs 946 4to Lbs 1635 4to ÍB 45 4to ÍB 65 4to Royal Library, Copenhagen: Ny kgl. sml. 1154 fol. Ny kgl. sml. 1249 fol. Ny kgl. sml. 1706 4to Ny kgl sml. 1714 4to Ny kgl sml. 1822 4to Thott collection: Thott 976 fol Royal Library, Stockholm: Papp. 4:o nr. 4 Papp. fol. nr. 54 University Library, Oslo: UB 313 fol. British Library: Ms. Add. 4868
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British Museum: Ms. Add. 1112 4to Bodleian Library, Oxford: Ms. Boreal 119 Ms. Icelandic c. 9 Works cited: ALEXANDER, J. J. G., The Decorated Letter, New York: George Braziller, 1978, p. 27 ANDERSSON, Theodore Murdock, - "Snorri Sturluson And The Saga School At Munkaþverá", in Wolf, Alois (ed.), Script Oralia 51: Snorri Sturluson : Kolloquium anläßlich der 750. Wiederkehr seines Todestages, Tübingen: Narr, 1933, pp. 9-26 - "Víga-Glúms saga and the birth of saga writing", Scripta Islandica 57 (2006), pp. 5-39 - Problems of Saga Origins: A Historical Survey, New Haven; Connecticut; London: Yale U. P., 1964 ARTHUR, Susanne M., "The Importance of Marital and Maternal Ties in the Distribution of Icelandic Manuscripts from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century", Gripla 23 (2012): 201-33 - Writing, Reading, and Utilizing Njáls saga: The Codicology of Iceland’s Most Famous Saga (PhD Diss.), University of Wisconsin, 2015 BAETKE, Walter, "Die Víga-Glúm-Episode in der Reykdæla saga", in Seiffert, H. W. (ed.), Beiträge zur deutschen und nordischen Literatur : Festgabe für Leopold Magon zum 70. Geburtstag 3. April 1957, Berlin, 1958, pp. 5-21 Benedikt SVEINSSON (ed.), Víga-Glúms saga, Reykjavík: Sigurður Kristjánsson, 1924 Björn MARKÚSSON (ed.), Agiætar Fornmanna Sögur, Hólar í Hjaltadal: Halldór Eiríksson, 1756 BOZZOLO, Carla, ORNATO, Ezio, Pour une histoire du livre manuscrit au moyen âge: Trois essais de codicologie quantitative, Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1980 BOUMAN, Arie C. "Observations on syntax and style of some Icelandic Sagas: with special reference to the relation between Víga-Glúms Saga and Reykdæla Saga", Studia Islandica 15 (1970), pp. 1-79 Bragi HALLDÓRSSON et al., Íslendinga sögur og þættir, vol. 3, Reykjavík: Svart á Hvítu, 1987, pp. 1906-1956. BRICKA, C. F., Dansk biografisk lexikon, Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1887-1905 CEDERSCHIÖLD, Gustaf, Kalfdråpet och vänpröfningen. Ett betrag till kritiken af de isländska sagornas trovärdighet, Lund, C. W. K. Gleerup, 1890 CHESTNUT, Michael, "On the Structure, Format and Preservation of Möðruvallabók", Gripla 21 (2010), pp. 147-167 CLEMENS, R., GRAHAM, T., Introduction to Manuscript Studies, Ithaca and London: Cornell U. P., 2007 CLOVER, Carol J., The Medieval Saga, Ithaca; London: Cornell U. P., 1982
COCHRANE, James Alan, Bright dreams and bitter experiences: dreams in six sagas of Icelanders, (PhD Diss.), London: University of London, 2004 Davíð ERLINGSSON, "Eyjólfr has the last laugh : a note on Víga-Glúms saga, chs. i-iii", in Dronke, U. et alii (ed.), Speculum norroenum : Norse studies in memory of Gabriel Turville-Petre, Odense, 1981, pp. 85-88
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DE LEEUW VAN WEENEN, Andrea, Möðruvallabók, AM 132 fol., Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1987 - "Four topics from the morphology of the Möðruvallabók", in Anna Grotans, Heinrich Beck and Anton Schwob (eds.), De consolatione philogiae : studies in honor of Evelyn S. Firchow, Göppingen : Kümmerle, 2000. pp. 615-638 DEROLEZ, Albert, The palaeography of Gothic manuscript books: from the twelfth to the early sixteenth century, Cambridge: Cambridge U. P., 2003 DEVINNE, Theodore Low, Correct Composition, New York: Oswald Publishing & Co., 1921 DRISCOLL, Matthew J., "Postcards From the Edge: An Overview of Marginalia in Icelandic Manuscripts", in Van Hulle, D., Van Mierlo, W., Reading Notes, Amsterdam; New York: Rodopi, 2004, pp. 21-36 - "The Words on the Page: Thoughts on Philology, Old and New ", in Lethbridge, E., Quinn, J. (eds.), Creating the Medieval Saga: Versions, Variability and Editorial Interpretations of Old Norse Saga Literature, Odense: U. P. of Southern Denmark, 2010, 87-104 - "The Long Winding Road: Manuscript Culture in Late Pre-Modern Iceland", in Anna Kuismin, M. J. Driscoll (eds.), White Field, Black Seeds. Nordic Literary Practices in the Long Nineteenth Century, Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2013, 50-63 Drífa Kristín ÞRASTARDÓTTIR. "Skreytingar og sköpunargleði í handritum frá 18. öld." Sagnir 22 (2001): 32-34 Eggert ÓLAFSSON BRÍM. "Um tvö átriði í Víga-Glúmssögu. I. Víg Gríms á Kálfskinni eða Þorvalds í Haga." Tímarit Hins íslenzka bókmentafélags 3 (1882), pp. 100-124 Einar Ól. SVEINSSON. Dating the Icelandic sagas. London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 1958 FAULKES, Anthony (ed.), Snorri STURLUSON, Edda: Skáldskaparmál, London: Viking society for Northern Research, 1998 Finnur JÓNSSON. Den Oldnorske og oldislandske litteraturs historie, vol. II. Copenhagen: Gad, 1920-1924 Geir T. ZOËGA. A Concise dictionary of Old Icelandic. New York: Dover Publications Inc., 2004 (first edition: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910) GENETTE, Gérard. Seuils. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1987 GILISSEN, Léon, Prolégomènes à la codicologie: recherches sur la construction des cahiers et la mise en page des manuscrits médiévaux (collection: Les publications de Scriptorium, vol. 7), Gand: Story-Scientia, 1977 Gísli SIGURÐSSON, The Medieval Icelandic Saga And Oral Tradition: A Discourse On Method (translation: Nicholas Jones), Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U. P., 2004 GREETHAM, D. C., Textual Scholarship. An Introduction, New York and London: Garland, 1994 GRUIJS, Albert, "Codicology or the Archaelogy of the Book? A False Dilemma", Quaerendo 2, vol. 2, pp. 87-108 Guðbrandur VIGFÚSSON, YORK POWELL, F. (ed.), Origines Islandicae vol. II, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905 Guðmundur PÉTURSSON, SUHM, Peter Friederich (ed.), Viga-Glums saga : sive Vita Viga- Glumi. ... Cum versione Latina, Copenhagen: Typis Augusti Friderici Steinil, 1786 Guðmundur ÞORLÁKSSON (ed.), Íslenzkar fornsögur vol. 1, Copenhagen: Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag, 1880 Guðni JÓNSSON (ed.), Íslendinga þættir. Reykjavík: Bókaverzlun Sig. Kristjánssonar, 1935 - Íslendinga sögur, vol. 8. Reykjavík: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan, 1947 - Sturlunga saga. Reykjavík: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan: Haukadalsútgáfan, 1948
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Guðmundur FINNBOGASON, "Corpus codicum Islandicorum medii aevi. V. Möðruvallabók", Skírnir 107 (1933), p. 214 Guðvárður Már GUNNLAUGSSON, Sýnisbók Íslenskrar Skriftar, Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í Íslenskum fræðum, 2007 GUMBERT, J. Peter, "Fifty Years of Codicology", in Koch, W., KÖLZER, T. (ed.), Archiv für Diplomatik. Schriftgeschchte. Siegel- und Wappenkunde vol. 50, Cologne; Weimar; Wiena: Böhlau, 2004, pp. 504-526 - "Codicological Units: Towards a Terminology for the Stratigraphy of the Non-homogeneous Codex", Segno e testo 2 (2004), pp. 17-42 GÖDEL, Vilhelm, Katalog öfver kongl. bibliotekets fornisländska och fornnorska handskrifter, vol. II, Stockholm: Kungl. Boktryckeriet, 1897-1900 HALLBERG, Peter, "The Concept Of Gipta-Gæfa-Hamingja In Old Norse Literature", in P. G. Foote, Hermann Pálsson, D. Slay (eds), Proceedings Of The First International Saga Conference, University Of Edinburgh, 1971, University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 1973, pp. 143-83. Halldór HERMANNSSON, Icelandic books of the sixteenth century, Islandica 9, New York: Cornell U. P., 1916 - Icelandic Manuscripts, Islandica 19, New York: Cornell U. P, 1929 Halldór K. FRIÐRIKSSON, "Skýringar yfir tvær vísur í Víga-Glúms sögu of eina í Njáls-sögu", Tímarit Hins íslenzka bókmentafélags 3 (1882), pp. 189-208 HAST, Sture, Papperhandkrifterna till Harðar saga, Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana XXIII, Hafniæ: Munksgaard, 1960 Heimir PÁLSSON, "Vísur og dísir Víga-Glúms", Gripla 21 (2010), pp. 169-196 Helgi ÍVARSSON, "Sr. Jón Erlendsson handritaskrifari í Villingaholti", Árnesingur 8 (2007), pp. 157-170 HELLER, Rolf, "Fóstbræðra saga und Víga-Glúms saga", Acta Philologica Scandinavica 31, vol. I (1976), pp. 44-57 Hermann PÁLSSON, "På leting etter røttene til Viga-Glums saga", translation by Gunhild Stefánsson, Maal og Minne 1-2 (1979), pp. 18-26 HILL, Leslie Alexander, A detailed analysis of the word-order in Víga-Glúms Saga, Jersey: Hill, 1982 HUFNAGEL, Silvia, Sörla saga sterka : studies in the transmission of a fornaldarsaga (PhD Diss.), Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, 2012 Jakob BENEDIKTSSON, Arngrímur Jónsson and his Works, Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1957 - "Hróðurskota", Fróðskaparrit (Annal. societ. scient. Færoensis) 13 (1964), pp. 78-83 JAKOBI-MIRWALD, Christine, Buchmalerei: ihre Terminologie in der Kunstgeschichte, Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 1997 Janus JÓNSSON, "Um Klaustrin á Íslandi", Timarit Hins Íslenzka Bókmenntafélags 8 (1887) pp. 174-265 JEFFREY, Margaret, The discourse in seven Icelandic sagas : Droplaugarsona saga, Hrafnkels saga Freysgoða, Víga-Glúms saga, Gísla saga Súrssonar, Fóstbræðra saga, Hávarðar saga ísfirðings, Flóamanna saga (PhD Diss., Bryn Mawr College), Menasha: G. Banta, 1934 Jóhann Gunnar ÓLAFSSON, "Magnus Jónsson í Vigur", Skírnir 130 (1956), pp. 107-126 Jón HALLDÓRSSON, Biskupasögur Jóns prófasts Haldórssonar í Hítardal : með viðbæti, eds. Jón Þorkelsson and Hannes Þorsteinsson Reykjavík: Sögufélag, 1903-1915 Jón HELGASON, Islands Kirke. Fra dens grundlæggelse til reformationen, Copenhagen: Gad, 1925
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- (ed.), Håndskriftet AM 445c, I, 4to. Brudstykker af Víga-Glúms saga og Gísla saga Súrssonar, Copenhagen: Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur, 1956 - "Skarðsbók með hendi séra Jóns í Villingaholti", in Stefánsfærsla, Reykjavík: s. n., 1978 Jón Hnefill AÐALSTEINSSON, "Freysminni í fornsögum : þjóðfræðileg greining á efni þriggja Íslendingasagna", Íslensk félagsrit 2-4 (1990-1992), pp. 69-83 Jón PÁLSSON, Sigurður PÉTURSSON, Torfi H. TULINIUS (ed.), Brynjólfur biskup: Kirkjuhöfdingi, fræðimaður og skáld, Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan, 2006. Jónas KRISTJÁNSSON (ed.), Eyfirðinga sögur, Íslenzk Fornrit vol. IX, Reykjavík: Hið Íslenzka Bókmennta félag, 1956 - Skrá um Íslenzk handrit í Noregi (unpublished), Handritastofnun Íslands, 1967 KÅLUND, Kristian, Katalog over Den Arnamagnæanske Håndskriftsamling, vol. I, Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1889 - Arne Magnussons i AM. 435 a-b, 4° indeholdte Håndskriftfortegnelser med 2 Tillæg, Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1909 Komissionen for det arnamagnæanske legat, Katalog over de oldnorsk-islandske håndskrifter i københavns offentlige biblioteker (udenfor den arnamagnæanske samling), Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandel, 1900 LANSING, Tereza, Post-medieval production, dissemination and reception of Hrólfs saga kraka (PhD Diss.), Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, 2011 LETHBRIDGE, Emily, "„Hvorki glansar gull á mér/né glæstir stafir í línum,“: some observations on Íslendingasögur manuscripts and the case of Njáls saga", Arkiv för nordisk filologi 129 (2014), pp. 53-89 LETHBRIDGE, E., QUINN, J. (ed.), Creating the Medieval Saga: Versions, Variability and Editorial Interpretations of Old Norse Saga Literature, Odense: U. P. of Southern Denmark, 2010 LIESTØL, Knut, "Ingolv-episoden i Viga-Glums saga", in C.W. von Sydow, Sigfrid Svensson, Waldemar Liungman and Åke Campbell (ed.), Nordiskt folkminne : Studier tillägnade C.W. von Sydow, 21/12 28, Stockholm: C. E. Fritz, 1928, pp. 207-214 LOTH, Agnete, "Sønderdelte arnamagnæanske papirhåndskrifter", Opuscula I (1960), pp. 113-142 LOVE, Jeffrey Scott, The Reception of Hervarar Saga ok Heiðreks from the Middle Ages to the Seveenteenth Century, Munich: Herbert Utz, 2013 MAGOUN, Francis Peabody, "Víga-Glumr’s equivocal oath", Neophilologische Mitteilungen 53 (1952), pp. 401-408 MALM, Mats, "The Nordic Demand for Medieval Icelandic Manuscripts", in Gísli Sigurðsson, Vésteinn Ólason (ed.), The Manuscripts of Iceland, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute, 2004, pp. 101-106 MANIACI, Marilena, Archeologia del manoscritto. Metodi, problemi e bibliografia recente, Rome: Viella, 2002 Margrét EGGERTSDÓTTIR, Icelandic baroque: poetic art and erudition in the works of Hallgrímur Pétursson, trans. Andrew Wawn, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2014 Már JÓNSSON, "Recent Trends (or their Lack) in Icelandic Manuscript Studies", Gazette du livre médiéval 36 (springtime 2000), pp. 11-16 - "Skrifarinn Ásgeir Jónsson frá Gullberastöðum í Lundarreykjadal", in Guðmundur Jónsson, Helgi Skúli Kjartansson, Vésteinn Ólason (dir.), Heimtur: ritgerðir til heiðurs Gunnari Karlssyni sjötugum, Reykjavík: Mál og Menning, 2009, pp. 282-297 - Arnas Magnæus Philologus, Odense: U. P. of Southern Denmark, 2012 - "Manuscript Design in Medieval Iceland", in H. ÞORLÁKSSON, Þ. B. SIGURÐARDÓTTIR (ed.), From Nature to Script, Reykholt: Snorrastofa, 2012, pp. 231-243
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MCKENZIE, Donald Francis, Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts, Cambridge: Cambridge U. P., 1999 MCKINNELL, John, "The reconstruction of Pseudo-Vatnshyrna", Opuscula 4 (1970), pp. 304-337 - (translation), Viga-Glums saga. with the tales of Ögmund Bash and Thorvald Chatterbox, Edinburgh: Canongate, 1987 MOGK, Eugen, Geschichte der Norwegische-Isländische Literatur, vol. II, Strassburg. Karl J. Trübner, 1904 MÜLLER, Claudia, "Die Möðruvallabók als Kompilation von Nordland-Sagas", Arbeiten zur Skandinavistik 14 (2001), pp. 379-385 NECKEL, Gustav, Mitteilungen der schlesischen Gesellschaft für Volkskunde, vol. 11, 1909, p. 46 NICHOLS, Stephen G. "Why Material Philology?", in Helmut Tervooren and Horst Wenzel (eds.), Zeitschrift für Deutsche Philologie 116, Philologie als Textwissenschaft: Alte und Neue Horizonte, Berlin-Tiergarten: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1997: 1–30 NORTH, Richard, "Sighvatr Sturluson and the authorship of Víga-Glúms saga", in Heinzmann, W. et alii (ed.), Analecta Septentrionalia, Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2009, pp. 256-280 - "Óðinn gegen Freyr : Elemente heidnischer Religion in der Vígs-Glúms saga", in Dallapiazza, M. et alii (dir.), International Scandinavian and medieval studies in memory of Gerd Wolfgang Weber, 2000, pp. 347-365 ORNATO, Ezio, Lofræða um handritamergð, translated by Már Jónsson, Reykjavík: Sagnfræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands, 2003 Páll Eggert ÓLASON, Skrá um handritasöfn Landbókasafnsins (vol. 2), Reykjavík: Prentsmiðjan Gutenberg, 1918 - Íslenzkar æviskrár frá landnámstímum til ársloka 1940, 6 vol., Reykjavík : Hið íslenzka bókmenntafélag, 1948-1976 PRESTON HOFFMAN, Ann, Violence, Heroism, and Redemption: a Study of Changing Moral Morms in Five Icelandic Family Sagas ( PhD Diss.), Chicago: University of Chicago, 1988 RUMBLE, A. R., "Using Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts", in RICHARDS, M. P. (ed.), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts. Basic Readings, New York and London: Routledge, 1994 SLAY, Desmond, "On the Origins of Two Icelandic Manuscripts in the Royal Library of Copenhagen", Opuscula 1 (1960), pp. 143-150 - The Manuscripts of Hrólfs Saga Kraka, Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana 24, Hafniæ: Munksgaard, 1960 - "Hitherto Unused Manuscripts of Hrólfs Saga Kraka", Opuscula 4 (1970), pp. 260-268 - "More Manuscripts of Hrólfs Saga Kraka", in Dronke, U. (ed.), Speculum norroenum: Norse studies in memory of Gabriel Turville-Petre, Odense: Odense U. P., 1981, pp. 432-439 -"Perhaps the Last Hrólfs Saga Kraka Manuscript", in Strengleikar: slegnir Robert Cook 25. nóvember 1994, Reykjavík: Menningar- og minningasjóður Mette Magnussen, 1994, pp. 59-61 Sigríður STEINBJÖRNSDÓTTIR, Hetjur á heljarþröm : karlmennska og hetjuímynd fimm Íslendingasagna af Norðurlandi, (Master Diss.), Reykjavík: University of Iceland, 2012 SIMEK, Rudolf, "Goddesses, Mothers, Dísir : Iconography And Interpretation Of The Female Deity In Scandinavia In The First Millenium", in R. Simek, W. Heizmann (eds.), Mythological Women : Studies In Memory Of Lotte Motz 1922-1997 (Studia medievalia septentrionalia 7), Wien: Fassbaender, 2002, pp. 93-123. SOMMER, Bettina, "The Norse Concept of Luck", Scandinavian Studies 79 (Fall 2007), pp. 275-294. SPRINGBORG, Peter, "Antiqvæ Historiæ Lepores: Om renæssancen i den islandske håndskriftproduktion i 1600-tallet", in Gardar: Årsbok för Samfundet Sverige-Island i Lund-Malmö 8 (1977), pp. pp. 53-89 Stefán KARLSSON, "Um Vatnshyrnu", Opuscula 4 (Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana XXX), 1970, pp. 279-303
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Steingrímur JÓNSSON, "Prentaðar bækur" (pp. 91-116), Vésteinn ÓLASON, "Bóksögur" (pp. 161-228), in Frosti F. Jóhannson (dir.), Íslensk þjóðmenning VI: Munnmenntir og bókmenning, Reykjavík: Bókaútgafan Þjóðsaga, 1989 - "From the Margins of Medieval Europe: Icelandic Vernacular Scribal Culture", in O. Merisalo, P. Pahta (eds.), Frontiers in the Middle Ages. Proceedings of the Third European Congress of Medieval Studies (Jyväskilä, 10-14 June 2003), Louvain-la-Neuve: Fédération Internationale des Instituts d'Études Médiévales, 2006, 483-491 STEGMANN, Beeke, "The intended and unintended traces of a collector: Studying the history of Arnamagnæan manuscripts based on accompanying slips." Paper presented at the 16th Care and Conservation of Manuscripts conference, Copenhagen, April 13th-15th 2016 Steingrímur JÓNSSON, "Prentaðar bækur", Frosti F. Jóhannson (dir.), Íslensk þjóðmenning VI: Munnmenntir og bókmenning, Reykjavík: Bókaútgafan Þjóðsaga, 1989, 91-116 Svanhildur ÓSKARSDÓTTIR, "Expanding Horizons: Recent Trends in Old Norse-Icelandic Manuscript Studies", in New Medieval Literatures 14 (2012), pp. 203-221 TURVILLE-PETRE, Edward Oswald Gabriel, "The Traditions of Víga-Glúms Saga", Transactions of the Philological Society 1, vol. 35 (1936), pp. 54-75 - (ed.), Víga-Glúms saga, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960 (first published 1940) Valdimar ÁSMUNDARSON (ed.), Víga-Glúms saga, Reykjavík: Sigurður Kristjánsson, 1897 Vésteinn ÓLASON, "Bóksögur", in Frosti F. Jóhannson (dir.), Íslensk þjóðmenning VI: Munnmenntir og bókmenning, Reykjavík: Bókaútgafan Þjóðsaga, 1989, 161-228 WOLF, Kristen. "Old Norse-New Philology", Scandinavian Studies 65, 3 (1993): 338 Ármann JAKOBSSON, Þórður Ingi GUÐJÓNSSON (eds.), Morkinskinna, vol. 1, Reykjavík: Hið Íslenzka Fornritafélag, 2011 Ólafur HALLDÓRSSON, Skrá yfir íslenzk handrit í Oxford (unpublished), Reykjavík, 196- Þorgeir GUÐMUNDSSON, Þorsteinn HELGASON (ed.), Íslendinga sögur vol. 2, Copenhagen: Hið konunglega norræna fornfræðafélag, 1830 Þórdís Edda JÓHANNESDÓTTIR (2016), Medieval Script Types: Scribal Errors and Emendations (PowerPoint) Þórunn Sigurðardóttir, Heiður og huggun. Erfiljóð, harmljóð og huggunarkvæði á 17. öld (PhD Diss.), Reykjavík: University of Iceland, 2014 The British library Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts 1756-1782: Additional Manuscripts 4101-5017, London: British museum publications limited, c. 1977 (Various editors), Íslenzk Fornrit, Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1933- List of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum in the Years 1836-1840, London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1843, Reprinted 1964 by Jarrold and Sons, Norwich Informatics resources: "Handrit.is". Accessed September 3, 2016. https://handrit.is "The Variance of Njáls saga". Accessed September 3, 2016. http://www.arnastofnun.is/page/breytileiki_njalu "Stories for all time: The Icelandic Fornaldarsögur". Accessed September 3, 2016. http://fasnl.ku.dk "Þjóðskjalasafn Íslands. Manntöl". Accessed September 3, 2016. manntal.is
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Appendix 1. Extended prologue of the group B manuscripts, as edited by Guðmundur Þorláksson (1880: x-xi): Helgi hét maðr, ok var kallaðr Helgi hinn magri; hann var son Eyvindar austmanns ok Raförtu, dóttur Kjarvals
Íra konungs. Helgi átti Þórunni hyrnu, dóttur Ketils flatnefs, sonar Bjarnar bunu, hersis í Noregi; hann var ríkr ok
kynstórr, ok bjó í Raumsdal í Raumdœla fylki; þat er milli Suðrmœrar ok Norðmœrar. Helgi hinn magri nam
Eyjafjörð allan frá Siglunesi; bjoggu þau Þórunn hyrna, kona hans, í Kristsnesi í Eyjafirði, ok eru frá þeim
komnir Eyfirðingar. Þau áttu þann son, er Ingjaldr hét; hann bjó at Þverá í Eyjafirði.
2. Tables of contents of multi-text manuscripts:
In the following lists, the contents of each multi-text manuscript of the thesis' corpus are
situated in the foliation and quire structure. Other texts than Víga-Glúms saga bear their most
commonly used modern titles.259
AM 144 fol.:
- Víga-Glúms saga ("Sagann Af Vyga Glúme", 1r, l. 1), 1r-11v.
Quires I (1-4), II (5-7), III (8-11)
- Svarfdæla saga, 12r-27r. The text of 27r has been entirely crossed out.
IV (12-16), V (17-20), VI (21-24), VII (25-28)
- Hrafnkels saga, 27v-34r.
VII, VIII (29-32), IX (33-36)
- Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls, 34v-40v.
IX
- Þorsteins þáttur forvitna, 40v-41r.
X (37-40), XI (41-44)
- Þorsteins saga hvíta, 41r-44r.
XI
- Þorsteins þáttur Austfirðings, 44v-45r.
XI, XII (45-48)
- Þorsteins þáttur sögufróða, 45v.
XII
- Þorsteins þáttur stangarhöggs, 46r-48r.
XII
- Gunnars þáttur Þiðrandabana, 48r-51v.
XIII (49-51).
259 I. e. as in the Íslenzk Fornrit collection (various editors, Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1933-), and Guðni Jónsson's editions of Sturlunga saga (Reykjavík: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan: Haukadalsútgáfan, 1948) and the Íslendinga þættir (Reykjavík: Bókaverzlun Sig. Kristjánssonar, 1935).
64
AM 160 fol.:
- Svarfdæla saga, 1r-24r.
Quires I (1-8), II (9-16), III (17-24)
- Gísla saga, 25r-54v.
IV (25-34), V (35-44), VI (45-54)
- Orms þáttur Stórólfssonar, 55r-69v.
VII (55-64), VIII (65-74)
- Harðar saga, 75r-114v.
IX (75-84), X (85-94), XI (95-104), XII (105-114).
- Króka-Refs saga, 115r-146r.
XIII (115-124), XIV (126-134), XV (135-144), XVI (145-148)
- Um Grænlands byggð, 146r-v.
XVI
- Víga-Glúms saga ("Her byriar Glums søghú", 149r, ll. 1-2), 149r-208r.
XVII (149-158), XVIII (159-168), XIX (169-178), XX (179-188), XXI (189-198), XXII (199-208)
- Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings, 209r-253v.
XXIII (209-218), XXIV (219-228), XXV (229-238), XXVI (239-248), XXVII (249-257)
- Víglundar saga, 258r-298r.
XXVIII (258-267), XXIX (268-277), XXX (278-287), XXXI (288-297), + bifolio (298-299)
10. Hallfreðar saga, 300r-333r.
XXXII (300-309), XXXIII (310-319), XXXIV (320-329), XXXV (330-335).
- Ölkofra þáttur, 336r-344v.
XXXVI (336-344)
AM 217 b fol.:
- Harðar saga, 1r-11v.
Quires I (1-8), II (9-20)
- Víga-Glúms saga ("Hier byriar Glums ſơgu", 12r, ll. 1-2), 12r-28v.
II, III (21-26), IV (27-36)
- Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings, 29r-42v.
IV, V (37-42)
AM 455 4to:
- Egils saga Skallagrímssonar, 1r-34v.
Quires I (1-8), II (9-16), III (17-24), IV (25-32), V (33-40)
- Kjalnesinga saga, 35r-40r.
V
- Jökuls þáttur Búasonar, 40v-42r.
V, VI (41-42)
65
- Víga-Glúms saga ("Glums Saga : er nefndur er Viga-Glúmur", 43r, l. 1), 43r-50v.
VII (43-50)
- Finnboga saga ramma, 51r-61v.
VIII (51-58), IX (59-66)
- Hallfreðar saga, 61v-66v.
IX
- Bandamanna saga, 66v-70v.
IX
- Ölkofra þáttur, 70v-72r.
X (67-73)
ÍB 45 4to:
- Landnámabók, 1r-86r.
Quires I (1-8), II (9-16), III (17-24), IV (25-32), V (33-40), VI (41-48), VII (49-56), VIII (57-64), IX (65-72), X
(73-80), XI (81-88)
- Samtíningur um konunga, jarla, fornkappa og biskupa, 86r-91v.
XI, XII (89-92)
- Svarfdæla saga, 93r-127v.
XIII (93-100), XIV (101-108), XV (109-116), XVI (117-124), XVII (125-132)
- Valla-Ljóts saga, 128r-139v.
XVII (125-132), XVIII (133-140)
- Arons saga Hjörleifssonar, 140r-163v.
XVIII, XIX (141-148), XX (149-156), XXI (157-164)
- Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls, 164r-175r.
XXI, XXII (165-172)
- Þorsteins þáttur forvitna, 175v-176r.
XXIII (173-180)
- Þorsteins þáttur sögufróða, 176v-177r.
XXIII
- Þorsteins saga hvíta, 177v-183r.
XXIV (181-186)
- Þorsteins þáttur Austfirðings, 183v-184v.
XXIV
- Þorsteins þáttur stangarhöggs,185r-189r.
XXIV, XXV (181-194)
- Gunnars þáttur Þiðrandabana, 189v-196r.
XXV (181-194), XXVI (195-202)
- Víga-Glúms saga ("Sagan Af Vigaglúme", 196v, l. 1), 196v-230r.
XXVI, XXVII (203-210), XXVIII (211-218), XXIX (219-226), XXX (227-239)
- Fóstbræðra saga, 230r-277v.
66
XXX, XXXI (235-242), XXXII (243-250), XXXIII (251-258), XXXIV (259-266), XXXV (267-274), XXXVI
(275-282)
- Kjalnesinga saga, 277v-293r.
XXXVI, XXXVII (283-290), XXXVIII (291-298)
- Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu, 293r-305v.
XXXVIII, XXXIX (299-306)
- Flóamanna saga, 306r-333v.
XL (307-314), XLI (315-322), XLII (323-330), XLIII (331-338)
- Egils þáttur Síðu-Hallssonar, 334r-338v.
XLIII (331-338)
- Þorsteins þáttur uxafóts, 339r-348r.
XLIV (339-346), XLV (347-354)
- Hreiðars þáttur heimska, 348v-354v.
XLV
- Sneglu-Halla þáttur, 354v-361r.
XLV, XLVI (355+356-361)