Manuscript Detail
AM 75 a fol.
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Ólafs saga helga; Iceland, 1290-1310
LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH STROKE AND CURLSpecial character shown similar to its original form.
LATIN SMALL LETTER K UNCIAL FORMSpecial character shown similar to its original form.
LATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL R WITH DOT ABOVESpecial character shown similar to its original form.
LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH CURLSpecial character shown similar to its original form.
This special character is not currently recognized (U+ef91).
Contents
Ólafs saga helga
No Title
“gilldrar hriðar. gvnnreifum oleifi.”
“uar þa sannspvrt andlat sveins jarls”
No Title
“skialgs sonar at þeir skylldv sættaz”
“Þeir lan |gfeðgar haufðo þar langa ofi”
No Title
“en su sett sem gior uar segir hann.”
“kas|taði hann ser niðr a snæ. en ueðr var”
No Title
“er tignust er á norðr laundum.”
“þa man ek þo annars á leíta en”
No Title
“sætt okaRri at þu skallt með mer | fara í orkneyiar”
“en nu uar gott korn ár austr”
No Title
“heima at buí síno. ok fara eki á”
“at eigi skylldi þetta fáz. Sá þóra”
No Title
“elska þa fengv af honum fullar hendr | fear.”
“ok þottiz finna huar til konungr”
No Title
“her fara mer í mót.”
“havfðo þeir litinn mat. en sin ein klæði”
No Title
“tal ok raða giorð viðr ᴍenn sina”
“ok sva norðr eptir uikinni”
Rauðulfs þáttr
“mikil tuitugsessa siglir sv hia mer”
“í dagh eptir hamessv hvat draúmr”
Non
Physical Description
Parchment.
The manuscript has been foliated three times.
- The oldest foliation is by Þorsteinn Helgason (1806-39) made to mark the defects of the manuscript is found at the bottom of fols 9v, 20v, 29v and 31v. On fol. 9v Þorsteinn wrote: “XX Blod”, on fol. 20v: “XL Blod”, and on fol. 29v: “LX Blod”. At the bottom of fol. 31v he wrote: “Hier er Bökinn Hälflesjnn”, indicating that the book at that time was three times larger than in its present state.
- Another foliation on the top of the recto pages bearing the numbers 1 to 43.
- A third foliation by Kristian Kålund, from 1 to 42 (42 has been written twice), can be seen written in red ink in the upper right-hand corner of the recto pages.
There are eight gatherings collated thus:
- I: fols 1-2, 3-5.
- II: fols 6-13.
- III: fols 14-17, 18-21.
- IV: fols 22-23, 24-25.
- V: fols 26-29.
- VI: fols 30-37.
- VII: fols 38-41.
- VIII: fols 42, 43.
The manuscript is fragmentary, and the codex was once three times larger than it is today. It both starts and ends defectively, and the vellum is damaged here and there. Þorsteinn Helgason has marked the defects of the manuscript on the previous pages.
The manuscript is written in double columns with 27 lines per column.
The script is a large and regular early Icelandic bookhand with few abbreviations.
The initials are red or green. The headings were once red, but the colour has faded so the writing is indistinct.
On fol. 43r, right margin, there is a verse in Latin that seems to be contemporary with the codex: “nexus ovem geminam. per spinam traxit eqvinam. | Lesvs svrgit eqvus. pendet vtrinqve pecus. | et spargendo focvm se cremat atqve locvm.” All other marginalia are younger.
- Marginalia from before the Reformation include:
- More or less complete versions of the prayer Ave Maria are found on fols 9r, 10v, 15r, 16r and 42r. The prayer on fol. 42r is the most complete and ends with the stanza: “benidicta tu in mulieribus”.
- Fol. 31v has a translation of the Sursum corda in the left margin: “Liptum ver hiortum vorum til himens | ver hefium þaug til drottinns | latum oss þacka drottne gude vorum | þad er makligtt oc riett vijst”.
- On fol. 16v there are a few stanzas of a religious poem (or hymn?): “Gud myskune nu ollum oss | oc gefe bledsan firer sijnn kross. | Fimm amen samsunginn. | Halleluja”.
- Other religious marginalia are found on fol. 17r: “yfer vinn þu þad vonnda med godu”; 24v: “drottinn Gvd þinn skaltv til bidia oc honum einum þiona”; 25r: “Drottinn minn oc Gud minn”; 25v: “Ad BijHallda þui Goda”; 28v: “herra sem mettad hefur nu holld uortt sem enndast ”, and 37v: “Heilagur heilagur | heilagur ertu drottinn | gud”.
- Marginalia concerning the content of the text:
- On fol. 16v the beginning of a verse is placed alongside the Section of the wedding of King Ólafr: “Kong olafur kiende oss þad ad konurnar skylldum ei lijta.”
- The verses on fol. 43v beside Rauðúlfs þáttr concern the fact that the queen did not sleep in the king's bed that night: “Varast konur | vilier þu drauma | vitna. | Er su Von | ad ovart meig|er Svitna. | Þvij konan mæder | manninn og | tapar hann þar fyrer | draumnäme.”
- There are also marginalia concerning the content on fol. 28r, 29r, 31v-34r, 40r and 43r-v.
- Names of owners, for the most part from the seventeenth century:
- Fol. 11r, between columns: “Þördur Gudmundzß mijn Eiginn Hand þo jlla Sie”
- Fol. 17r, bottom margin: “Bökarinnar Eigande Er | Sigurdur Jönsson Logmadur | Sunnan og Austan ä Islande | Anno MDCLXV”
- Fol. 29r: “haldor”
- Fol. 29v: “Þessa bök á sera Hallur Halluardsson | j Modru dal, Enn einginn annar | huer sem þad Bannar | anno domini m d lxxxiii”
- Fol. 30v, left margin: “Jon Marteins son m. E. h.”
- Fol. 37v, left margin: “Þesse bok hefur verid lied hingad til Bæiar”
- Fol. 40v, bottom margin: “Hannes Olafsson”. Johnsen and Jón Helgason (Den store saga om Olav den Hellige vol. II p. 904) suggest that this man is next of kin to the wife of lögmaður Sigurður Jónsson.
- Other marginalia:
- On fol. 7v epistolary formulae: “þeim godum monnum sem þett?”, and 13v: “þeim godum monumm sem bref sia edur heyra sender biorn jons son”
- The right side of fol. 13r reads: “Lectio secunda”, indicating that the codex once was used as a reading primer.
- On fol. 18v a comment on the text is found: “ægilega er illa klorat”.
- On fol. 35v four twig runes occur.
Half binding with marbled leather back and corners and covered in olive-green 'elephant skin' from June 1935; 260 mm x 205 mm x 28 mm. Manuscript number, title and serial number are printed along the spine in gold (Carl Lund). On the front fly-leaf, Jón Helgason has noted: “Tidligere indbundet i tarveligt bind fra 1880'erne”.
There are four slips that Kristian Kålund moved from AM 75 d fol. (= AM 68 fol.), concerning Bæjarbók í Borgarfirði and copies made of it. The first two slips concern the copy AM 323 4to. Three of the slips are in octavo, one of them is in quarto.
- 1. Octavo: “Firer 30. ärum ongefer hafa | blod vered teken utan-|um qver ur Olafs-|sogu fragmentenu i | Bæ, membr. hun hefur | langfedga eign vered | Þorvardz ok hans forelldra. | Sira Audun hefr lært | ä henne ad lesa. | Ecki er þesse gunnars bok skrifud | epter þessu fragmento, ok þad | seger Sira Audun vïst vera Sira Audun meinar, ad | þesse bök mune, kannske | vera skrifud epter ex-|emplari chartaceo fra | Reykhollte. | Scripsi circa 1703 vel 4.”
- 2. Octavo: “Uppskrifad i Bæ i Borg-|arfirde. | Olafs Saga Helga, α efter | Bæjar bok | /: id est: efter þeirre membrana in | folio minori, sem eg fieck | fra Sira Þordi /: meinar Sira | Benedict /: hia Gunnare | Þorvards son: Olafs Saga Helga confere-|rud vid membr. hia Sira | Jone i Hitardal | Sira Audun ætlar þetta ei | kunna so vera. nema | mediante alio aliqvo | traduce. Sogubok þessa hefur | skrifad Sira Magnus Þor-|vardz son, sidan hefr | Sira Audun confererad | hana vid Sira Jons | i Hitardal chartam | in 4to.”
- 3. Quarto: “Þetta er Bæjar boken (i | Borgarfirde,) sem Sira Halldör | i Reykhollte hefur brukad, | ok fyrrum ätte Arne Gi-|slason. Eg feck þetta | fragment af Þorde Jons | syne (sidan preste ad Sta-|darstad)”
- 4. Octavo: “Kom fra Jisland med | Admiral Raben, 1720.”
History
The manuscript was written in Iceland c. 1300.
On the bottom of fol. 29v the oldest information concerning the owners of the book is found: “Þessa bök á sera Hallur Halluardsson | j Modru dal, Enn einginn annar | huer sem þad Bannar | anno domini m d lxxxiii”.
Fol. 17r has the next record made 82 years later in Borgarfjörður: “Bökarinnar Eigande Er | Sigurdur Jönsson Logmadur | Sunnan og Austan ä Islande | Anno MDCLXV” (According to Árni Magnússon, this note was presumably written by the priest Hannes Björnsson of Saurbær (1631-1704))
In Ny kgl. sml. 1049 fol. I, which contains a copy of a lost AM-slip (in “manu A. Magnæi”) belonging to AM 75 a fol., Árni Magnússon comments on this: “Þessi Olafs Saga Helga so mutila sem hún er liggr nú í rettri ordu, so mikid sem ordid hefur giort. Enn vída vantar her á milli arkanna ok bladanna, sem eige verdr vidgiort. Bókina hefur fyrrum átt Sera Hallr Hallvardsson í Mödrudal 1583. Sigurdr Jonsson Logmadr sunnan ok austan á Islandi 1665. Þetta stendr á spatiunni, ok þad sídara sem mer virdiz med hendi Sera Hannesar í Saurbæ.”
The personal names from the seventeenth-century marginalia do not offer much information. The names “Jon Marteins son m. E. h” and “Hannes Olafson” appear on fols 30v and 40v respectively.
On fol. 39v in AM 435 a 4to Árni Magnússon writes: “Olafs Saga Helga, valde mutila. | Folio. komin fra Þorde Jonssyne | til min, enn hann feck. þad ofan ur Borg|arfirde. atti heima i Bæ i Borgarfirde. | Bokina hefr fyrrum ätt Arne Gislason | fra Galltardals tungu. vide alibi.”
The AM-slips moved by Kristian Kålund from AM 75 d fol. also provide information on the book's provenance.
Finally, Árni Magnússon writes in a letter from 1702 (AM 76 b fol., fol. 18r): “Ønnur pergaments bök flæktest | umm i borgarfirde, og var i fyrstu | eign Þorvards Magnus sonar i Bæ, | eignadest eg hana sidan | hun hefur i margt är so mutila | verid, ad þess vegna yrde varla | uppskrifud. Sira Halldor Sal. i | Reykholte skrifade hana upp, þä | heille var”.
From these accounts it would seem that the priest Hallur Hallvarðsson of Möðrudalur was the owner of the manuscript in 1583. Lögmaður Sigurður Jónsson (1618-67) who was the owner in 1665 lived at Einarsnes, and the manuscript most probably was in Borgarfjörður later.
According to Árni Magnússon, the codex belonged to the ancestors of Þorvarður Magnússon and also to Árni Gíslasson. Johnsen and Helgason (Den store saga om Olav den Hellige vol. II p. 906) identify Árni Gíslason as the man mentioned in Sýslumannaæfir vol. II p. 364-365 who was an adult c. 1630. If this identification holds true, the two sets of information are incompatible, and the first is presumably wrong. Johnsen and Helgason (ibid. p. 907) presume that Árni Gíslason perhaps gave the codex to the lögmaður Sigurður Jónsson of Einarsnes. A seventeenth-century marginal note on fol. 37v indicates that the book was lent (probably directly from Einarsnes) to Bær and was not returned: “Þesse bok hefur verid lied hingad til Bæiar.”
Later the codex belonged to Þorvarður Magnússon (1626-84) of Bær in Borgarfjörður. The priest Auðun Benediktsson (1676-1707) of Hestur, an adjoining farm to Bær, used the manuscript as a reading primer about 1680. In the 1670s leaves were removed from the codex to use as a cover for a book (“utanum qver”). The priest Halldór Jónsson (1626-1704) made a copy of the codex at that time (AM 321 4to.), the manuscript was then not as defect as it is now.
The next known owner, Þórður Jónsson, (1672-1720), whose mother lived at Leirá 1672-1702, acquired the manuscript from Borgarfjörður (“flæktest umm i Borgarfirde”). The manuscript was now defective.
Þórður Jónsson gave it to Árni Magnússon presumably in 1697 or 1698.
Árni Magnússon acquired the codex from Þórður Jónsson before 1702, when Þórður became vicar of Staðastaður. Árni mentions this on the third slip, quoted above, and also in AM 435 a 4to, fol. 39v, where he writes: “Olafs Saga Helga, valde mutila. | Folio. komin fra Þorde Jonssyne | til min”. Johnsen and Helgason (Den store Saga om Olav den Hellige p. 906) think that Þórður probably gave the manuscript to Árni in 1697-98, and that Þórður, who had hopes of becoming bishop, had wanted to give the influential Árni a welcome gift.
Additional
Catalogued 9 December 1999 by EW-J.
The manuscript was photographed in 1972.
70 mm 70mm 138 1972 diapositive AM 74 a fol. May 1984 b/w prints AM 75 a fol. 1972
Bibliography
| Author | Title | Editor | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saga Ólafs konungs hins helga, Fornmanna sögur | 1829; IV | ||
| Den store Saga om Olav den Hellige | ed. Jón Helgason, ed. Oscar Albert Johnsen | I: p. 92:8-102:3 | |
| Antiquités Russes | ed. C. C. Rafn | I: p. 431-434 (Ch. 64-65. Fols 4rb:23-va:2, 4vb:20-5rb:25. Ed. I), 434-435 (Ch. 71. Fol. 8va:13-b:3. Ed. I), 435-438 (Ch. 72. Fols 8vb:26-9ra:3, 9va:10-10va:3. Ed. I) | |
| Saga Ólafs konungs hins helga, Fornmanna sögur | 1830; V | ||
| Bogi Benediktsson | Sýslumannaæfir | 1881-1932; I-V | |
| 1972 | |||
| 1984 | |||
| 1972 | |||
| Katalog over Den Arnamagnæanske Håndskriftsamling | ed. Kristian Kålund | I: p. 50-52 |