Manuscript Detail
AM 544 4to
View ImagesHauksbók; Iceland and Norway, 1290-1360
This special character is not currently recognized (U+f20d).
LATIN SMALL LETTER J WITH ACUTESpecial character shown similar to its original form.
This special character is not currently recognized (U+ef97).
Contents
Geographica qvædam et physica, Theologica qvædam ex sermonibus Augustini, Varia, atqve inter ea Astronomica qvædam — Heimslýsing ok helgifræði
AM 765 4to is Árni Magnússon's autograph copy of fols 1r-4r and 8r-9r.
Fols 1r-14v contain a collection of dissertations and excerpts on geographical, chronological and theological subjects. Ends defectively.
Non
On famous rivers and miraculous springs
“Brunnr er einn i paradiso. er or falla fiorar ar hingat i þenna heim.”
“En ef hia er þeim latet | liggia kleði eða vll eða smo tre. þa verðr alt at steíní.”
Rafn, Antiquités Russes vol. II p. 430-432 Edited in extracts from the copy AM 765 4to
Prologus
A Piece on Paradise
“fra paradiso.”
“Sva er sagt at paradis er hinn ?sti lutr þessarar veraldar”
“oc veria biorg oc hitar at menn skili eigi þangat | komast.”
Rafn, Antiquités Russes vol. II p. 433 Edited from the copy AM 765 4to
A Geographical Compendium
Sermon
How Noah's Sons Divided The World Amongst Themselves
“Fra þuí huar huerr noa sona bygði heíminn.”
“Synir noa voro .iij. þeir skiftu ollum heímí með ser huar kyn huers þeira | skilldi byggia.”
“þa verða tungur alsz .ij. oc .lxx. en þioð | lond. þushundrað.”
Werlauff, Symbolæ ad Geographiam Medii Ævi p. 9 A small extract in the footnotes
On Various Fantastic Peoples
“her segir fra marghattaðum þioðum.”
“Sva segia froðar b?kr at i heímínum se sua marg hattað|ar þioðer beði at vęxti oc at eðli.”
“þeir ero sua við | menn sem olmer hundar.”
Rafn, Antiquités Russes vol. II p. 440-441 Short extracts from the copy AM 765 4to
Sermon
Four Passages From Elucidarius
A Sermon On Embers Day
On The Rainbow
On The Course Of The Sun
Theologica qvædam, videntur esse úr Adamsbók — Heimspeki ok helgifræði
Sagan af Guðs þiónústumaðr
A Conversation Between A Pupil And A Master
A Treatise On The Four Elements And Their Mixture In Man's Blood
“Af natturu mannzins ok bloði.”
“Allzvalltandi guð er af | engu efni gerði alla luti.”
“ok fellr þui vari slefa oruósum | sem bornum”
Möbius, Analecta norræna p. 201-203
On Seth's Journey To Paradise And On the Cross of Christ
A List Of Twelve Unseemly Things In The World
“Þesser eru xíj heíms osomar þeir er tela allt veralldar lif”
“lyðr laga lauss.”
Unger, Heilagra manna søgur p. 301 Footnote 1
Völuspá
“Hlioðs bið ek allar helgar kindir meiri ok minni mǫgu heimdallar villtv at ek vafǫðrs vel | framm telia forn spiǫll fira þau er ek fremzr vm man.”
“Kemr hinn | dimi dreki fliugandi naðr fraann neðan fra niða berr sier i | fiǫðrum flygr uǫll yfir niðhoggr nai nv man hon sǫkk|vaz.”
The text is different from Völuspá in Codex Regius and in Snorri's Edda and represents an independent record based on oral tradition.
Icelandic
Trójumanna saga
Seven Precious Stones And Their Nature
“Ematistvs hefir pvrpvralit sem vindropi”
“ok vtan vm linklæði þa er sagt at hann b?tir riðv ok allzkyns meínsemðer”
Eiríkur and Finnur Jónsson, Hauksbók p. 227-228
Icelandic
Cisiojanus
“Cicio ianus epi cibi uendicat oct fe ma maran”
“Sicca uiris afia curuis rex bustet cauet sic Brito creans stilbon ori | ʀis aud saba uiris as”
Ciciojanus is a versified Latin enumeration for remembering the church festivals throughout the year.
Eiríkur and Finnur Jónsson, Hauksbók p. 229-230
Latin
Breta sögur Including Merlínusspá
Two Dialogues
Hemings þáttr Áslákssonar
“seð hafa. loðin svarar sva sagða ek”
“ok andaðiz i þeiri einsetv”
“ok lykr þar | nv fra hemingi at segia”
AM 326b 4to is a copy of Hemings þáttr Áslákssonar written by Ásgeir Jónsson. It was most possibly copied during the winter 1697-98, when Ásgeir was in Copenhagen. This copy is of particular importance because it was written when a leaf which has since disapeared was still to be found before the present fol. 69.
Icelandic
Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks
“her hefr vpp sogv heiðreks konvngs ens | vitra”
“Sva er sagt at i fyrndinni var kallað iotvnheímar norðr | i finnmork en ymis land fyri svnnan ok millim haloga landz”
“en fvglar flvgv yfir havfði þer ok tveimmegin þin þat var þeira vegr þv”
The saga ends in the beginning of the riddle section known as Heiðreks gátur.
Icelandic
Fóstbrœðra saga
“kenningar nafn at þv skallt kolbrvnar skalld heita”
“Nv l?k. sva sem. sagt. var ęfi þormoðar kolbrvnar skallds”
“ok lykr her fra sogn þeiri er ver | kvnvm at segia fra þormodi kappa hins. helga olafs. konvngs”
Pictures of the text describing the battle of Stiklastaðir [fols 78v-79r].
Icelandic
Algorismus
Eiríks saga rauða
“Her hefr upp Sogu þeirra Þor|finnz Karlsefnis oc Snorra Þorbrandz-|sonar.”
“Olafr het her konvngr er kalladr var oloafr hviti”
“veri gvð með ors ameɴ”
Fols 60-83 of AM 1008 4to contains a copy of this saga. The hand is unidentified; corrections by Árni Magnússon.
Added by Árni Magnússon.
Pictures of fols 97v-98r: The description of Wineland.
Icelandic
Skálda saga
“Her hefr sogv skallda Harallz konvngs harfagra”
“HAralldr konvngr harfagri reð fyri noregi”
“ok segir her ecki lengra af hanvm”
- AM 307 4to, AM 67 a fol. and AM 67 b fol. are copies of Skálda saga.
- AM 307 4to has lacunae where the original was indistinct. However, Árni Magnússon has has filled in text corresponding to the bottom lines of fol. 101v. The hand is identical with the one who wrote AM 1008 4to.
- AM 67 a fol. is written by Ásgeir Jónsson, most possibly in the winter of 1697-98, when he stayed in Copenhagen. There are a few lacunae, particularly in the reproduction of fol. 102r.
- AM 67 b fol. is another, almost identical, copy by Ásgeir Jónsson. It has, however, some mistakes which are not in AM 67 a fol., and it is probably a copy of the latter and not of Hauksbók itself.
Icelandic
Af Upplendinga konungum
“af vpplendinga konvngvm”
“OLafr svn ingiallz konvngs illraða af svia ʀiki rvddi ver|maland”
“ok af hans nafni erv ynglingar kallader”
AM 307 4to is a copy. The hand is identical with the one who wrote AM 1008 4to.
Icelandic
Ragnarssona þáttr
“Her seger af Ragnars sv|nvm ok hversv margir konvngar erv komner af þeim”
“Eftir davða rings konvngs tok | ragnaʀ svn hans konvngdóm yfir svia velldi ok dana”
“þeira svn var haralldr konvngr enn harfagri er fystr varð einvallz konvngr yfer ollvm norege”
AM 307 4to is a copy. The hand is identical with the one who wrote AM 1008 4to.
Icelandic
Physical Description
Parchment.
Besides Kålund's foliation in red in the upper right-hand corner, there are two older foliations. The earlier one is from c. 1800 and shows traces of an earlier random order of the gatherings; it includes fols 1r-14v, but not fols 102r-107v. Probably the gathering was lent out, perhaps for the use of the editing of Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, II.
Jón Sigurðsson did the second foliation and it is similar to the order mentioned by Árni Magnússon in AM 435 a 4to, although it has been done without consideration for fols 1r-14v as these leaves were not incorporated in the Reykjavík collection of antiquities until 1887.
The 107 leaves are divided into 14 gatherings:
- I: Fols 1-8.
- II: Fols 9-14. Fols 11+14 and 12+13 are conjugate, but fols 9 and 10 are single leaves. After fol. 14 two leaves which were conjugate with fols 9-10 have been excised: a narrow strip of each of the excised leaves remains in the spine of the book.
- III: Fols 15-21. Fols 15+21 are conjugate, fol. 16 was a single leaf from the beginning, fols 17+20 seem to have been conjugate when Finnur Jónsson wrote his description of the manuscript, but are separate now, and so are fols 18+19, which presumably were once conjugate.
- IV: Fols 22-29.
- V: Fols 30-35. Fols 30+35 and 31+34 are conjugate, and so were fols 32+33 at one time, though they are separate now. The gathering never contained more than 6 leaves.
- VI: Fols 36-43.
- VII: Fols 44-51.
- VIII: Fols 52-59. The two outermost leaves are divided by a cut, but were conjugate originally.
- IX: Fols 60-68. Fols 60+68, 61+66, 62+65 and 63+64 are conjugate. Fol. 67 is a single leaf.
- X: Fols 69-76.
- XI: Fols 77-84.
- XII: Fols 85-92.
- XIII: Fols 93-100.
- XIV: Fols 101-107. Fol. 101 is now a single leaf, but it is possible that it has been joined to a now excised leaf at the end of the gathering. The other leaves are conjugate as fols 102+107, 103+106 and 104+105.
There are lacunae in three places in the manuscript: After fol. 14 two leaves have been excised and the narrow strips of the leaves have remained in the spine. After fol. 68 one gathering is missing, and after fol. 76 at least one gathering of 8 leaves has been lost. Several leaves are damaged with tears or holes or they have an irregular shape. Some of the damage does not allow the lines to be of full length, but this damage is apparently older than the script.
The following leaves are torn: fols 2, 9-10, 15-28, 30, 32-35, 37-38, 40-43, 45-47, 49, 51, 53-60, 67-68, 70, 74-80, 82, 86, 88-89, 95, 97-100. On fol. 82 a corner has been torn off, and fols 19, 21 and 59 are only in half size, although a thin slip of the lower part is preserved at the spine. The lower part of these leaves was probably left blank as the trimming has not caused any loss of text. The bottom margin of fol. 63 is trimmed.
Several leaves are in a bad condition due to damp and wear, and they have become dark, faded or crinkled. The script was touched up in the seventeenth century with black ink where the writing had become particularly indistinct.
The restoration of the script on the following folios was done by Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson: fols 1v, 3r, 4r, 5r, 6v, 8v, 9r, 10r, 14r-v, 22r, 30v, 36r-52v, 72v, 77r, 78r, 103r, 104r. According to Árni Magnússon's account in AM 435 a 4to, fol. 113, the lögmaður Sigurður Björnsson told him that the rest of the touching up was done by himself and another lögmaður, Sigurður Jónsson. Sigurður Björnsson did the touching up on the following folios: 46v-47r, 48r, 49r-v, 50r and 52r-v. Sigurður Jónsson did the rest of the touching up in the section 36r-59r containing the Bretasögur.
The manuscript is written in long lines with 30 to 43 lines to the page. The headings and rubrics are red, and the initials are mainly in red.
Hand 1 occurs on fols 1r-14v; the script is Carolingian-insular minuscule. The scribe was possibly Norwegian.
Hand 2 is found on fols 15r-18v:31. The script is early Gothic bookhand.
Hand 3 has only written 4 lines and occurs on fol. 18v:31-35. The script of this hand is Gothic bookhand.
Hand 4 occurs on fol. 19r and the script is Gothic bookhand.
Hand 5 occurs on fol. 19v and the script is Gothic bookhand.
Hand 6 is considered to be Icelandic and occurs on fols 20r-21r. The script of this hand is Icelandic Gothic bookhand.
Hand 7 occurs on fols 22r-34r, 36r-59r, 60r-80r:26, 99r:14-100r:2 and 101v-107v:5. The script is Gothic bookhand and the hand appears to be the same hand as in AM 371 4to and may be identified as Haukr Erlendsson's. The following picture - of fols 25v-26r from Trójumanna saga - is a sample of this hand.
Hand 8 occurs on fol. 35v and the script is early Gothic bookhand.
Hand 9 uses Icelandic othography and therefore the writer has been described as “the first Icelandic secretary”. This handlist is to be found on fols 80r:26-81r:7, 81r:9-85v and 87r:14-99r:14. The script is Gothic bookhand.
Hand 10 occurs on fol. 81r:7-9. The script is Gothic bookhand.
Hand 11 occurs on fol. 86r:1-7. The script is Gothic bookhand.
Hand 12 occurs on fols 86r:7-87r:13. The script is Gothic bookhand.
This writer has been described as “the second Icelandic secretary” and the hand occurs on fols 100r:3-101r. The script is Gothic bookhand.
Hand 14 occurs on fol. 107v:-5-42. The script is Gothic bookhand.
At the beginning of new sections larger flourished initials in various colours occur.
On fol. 19r there is a drawing of Jerusalem including the most important buildings.
There are several marginalia in this manuscript. Some consist of single letters and others are figurative. Fol. 8v, for example, has a drawing of a man's head wearing a hat.
- At times sentences occur:
- fol. 5v: “Her er skrif andres isslendin”.
- fol. 19r: “þeim go”.
- fol. 21r: “amen med aund ok munn halla rei|knar hofud summu allir huad batar | þad mælgi ok mal”.
- fol. 21v: some runic letters, the beginning of Ave Maria “aue maria gracia plena dominus” and the statement: “þessa bok a Teitr Palsson | skal urentr vera”.
Among the scribblings on the originally blank fols 34v-35r there are statements about Christ, an alphabet in runes, a religious Latin verse and a drawing of a face.
Fols 6r, 7, 8r, 13v, 28v, 42v, 70r, 74v, 75r and 99r have corrections and references written in a contemporary hand.
Árni Magnússon, his archivist Jón Sigurðsson and others have at several places added chapter headings.
In 1730, Jón Ólafsson described the manuscript as “skinnalaus”, or without any outer covering, and “med hampreimum”, which refers to the thongs of hemp across the spine to which the gatherings were fastened. The manuscript was not bound at this time. About a century later, in 1828, Möbius (Edda Sæmundar hinns fróða vol. III) wrote that there was a wooden board belonging to the binding of the book on which there was a runic sign: “In tabula lignea, ad ligaturam voluminis pertinene, incisus est character insignis, e Runis variis compositus, et priscum aliqvem libri possessorem indigitans”. But when Kristian Kålund (Katalog, I, 687) described AM 544 4to in 1889, this wooden board had disappeared.
AM 544 4to was bound in 1909 and again in 1967. The latter is also the manusript's present binding, a modern standard half-binding. The dimensions are: 248 mm x 183 mm x 72 mm.
History
The largest part of Hauksbók was written in Iceland by Haukr Erlendsson and other Icelandic scribes, although fols 1r-18v:31 were written in Norway. There has been some discussion whether fols 1-14 were written by a Norwegian scribe or a native of the Faroe Islands, cf. Kristensen 1925. This is difficult to answer, however, as medieval sources for the Faroese language are very scanty.
Kristian Kålund (Katalog vol. I p. 683) dated AM 544 4to to the beginning of the fourteenth century. Different parts of the manuscript were dated more precisely by Jón Helgason and Stefán Karlsson, respectively. The datings are as follows:
- Fols 1r-18v:31: c. 1290-1334 (Jón Helgason, Hauksbók 1960 p. xx).
- Fol. 18v:31-35: c. 1350 (Stefán Karlsson pers. 1988)
- Fol. 19v: the first half of the fourteenth century (Stefán Karlsson, pers. 1988)
- Fols 22r-33v, 36r-49r:10, 53r:7-59r, 69r-107v: c. 1302-10 (Stefán Karlsson, Aldur Hauksbókar 1964 p. 119)
- Fol. 34r: c. 1302 (Stefán Karlsson, Aldur Hauksbókar 1964 p. 118)
- Fols 60r-68v: c. 1310 (Stefán Karlsson, Aldur Hauksbókar 1964 p. 119)
Hauksbók has been divided into 3 parts in the AM collection: AM 371 4to, AM 544 4to and AM 675 4to. Among other unknown scribes, the manuscript was written by Haukr Erlendsson. Letters from 28 January 1302 and 14 October 1310, written by Haukr Erlendsson himself, serve as evidence for this, as the script in the letters is similar to the main hand in Hauksbók. After Haukr Erlendsson's death in Norway in 1334, it is presumed that the codex passed to his successors in Iceland and was then passed on as an heirloom for about the next 300 years.
The next known owner, Bjarni Einarsson, states on fol. 59v: “ Biarni Einarsson a Hamr a þessa | bök med rettu og hefur hann lied mier hana | i bokaskiptum og skal hann fä hana | aptur þad firsta eg kann heim med skilum”. Bjarni Einarsson who was a prosperous and notable man knew the county-sheriff (sýslumaður) Ari Magnússon of Ögur (1571-1652). In 1635, after Bjarni Einarsson had died, Ari Magnússon lent Hauksbók to Skagafjörður and the manuscript passed on to two men with antiquarian interests, the priest Arngrímur Jónsson (1568-1648), and then on to the farmer Björn Jónsson of Skarðsá (1574-1655). A third person, the Bishop of Hólar Þorlákur Skuláson (1597-1656), mentioned in his letter to Ole Worm (1588-1654) in Copenhagen in 1636 that Björn Jónsson had obtained the manuscript. From 1660 to 1670 Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson owned the manuscript and touched up the script.
In AM 435 a 4to, fols 111v-114v Árni Magnússon wrote: “Ur landnama bok (α) og | Kristindoms Sỏgu, | fragmenta nokkur, | Geographica qvædam et physica. | Theologica qvædam ex Sermonibus Au-|gustini. | Varia, atqve inter ea Astronomica | qvædam. | Theologica qvædam, videntur esse | ur Adams bok. | Delineatio urbis Hierosolymorum. | Vỏluspa. | Trojomanna Saga. | De gemmis nonnulla. | Bretasỏgur. vïda ölæsar (β). | Vidræda likams og salar. [112v] aptan af Hemings Sỏgu, þar ï um lika | Lodin. | Saga Heidreks konungs ens vitra, vantar vid | endann. | aptan af Sỏgu Þorgeirs Havarssonar, | og Þormodar Kolbrunar skallds. | Algorismus (er de Arithmetica. | Saga Þorfinns Karlsefnes oc Snor-|ra Þorbrands sonar. | Saga Skallda Harallz konungs Harfagra | af nidium Ragnars Lodbrokar | fragment. | Lucidarium. | Bokin er i 4to [113v:13-17] β] I þessum Bretasỏgum er vida dreged i | stafena med nyu bleke, seiger Sigurdur | Biỏrnsson lỏgmadur þad giỏrt hafa | Sigurd Jonsson lỏgmann, sem i bokena | brukad hafe. [114r] Merlinus Spä in membra|nâ, i bok þad er bokenn sem eg nu | ä 4to sende Mag. | Bryniolfur Sigurde Jons | syne lỏgmanne, og bad | hann /: so sem vel lesande | mann /: ad draga i þä | öskiru stafena. Þad | giỏrde lỏgmadur, ad | samverkande Sigurde | Biỏrnssyne lỏgmanne, | sem þä ätte heima | i Einarsnese, post 1664. | enn adur enn hann vard landskri|fare. Ret. Sigurdar Biỏrns | sonar lỏgmanns 1707.”
Árni Magnusson acquired AM 544 4to and AM 675 4to after the death of Brynjólfur Sveinsson, as the Bishop's manuscript collection came to Gaulverjabær. When Árni Magnússon wrote his catalogue of Icelandic parchment manuscripts, now known as AM 435 a 4to, he describes Hauksbók as a single codex.
Additional
Catalogued 17 February 2000 by AWS.
Accessible for use.
From 8 September to 20 October 1958 the manuscript was exhibited at The Royal Library, Copenhagen (Det kongelige Bibliotek). The exhibition was arranged by R. Edelmann.
From 17 April to 4 June 1968, the manuscript was exhibited at The Royal Library, Copenhagen (Det kongelige Bibliotek). The exhibition was arranged by R. Edelmann.
From 7 December 1977 to 26 May 1978 the manuscript was exhibited at The Royal Library, Copenhagen (Det kongelige Bibliotek). The exhibition was arranged by Svend Gissel.
From 10 March 1992 to 15 March 1993 the manuscript was lent out to The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) for the exhibition Viking og Hvidekrist arranged by Nordisk Ministerråd.
The manuscript was restored and rebound by Birgitte Dall from 13 August 1966 to 23 February 1967.
plate plade 14 s.d. 70 mm 70mm 196 Supplementary photographs of fol. 100r s.d. plate plade 110 Supplementary photographs of 96v-97r s.d. b/w prints AM 544 4to 11 August 1999