Detaljer om håndskriftet

Parchment.

Fols 2-142 are provided with a double foliation in the upper right-hand corner of the recto pages: a foliation in black ink from 1 to 139 because two leaves have been numbered 117, and a foliation in red ink by Kristian Kålund from 2 to 141, the fly-leaves bearing the numbers 1 and 142. In addition, an older, incomplete foliation (from the seventeenth century) is found on the verso side of every twentieth leaf up to fol. 80 (in Kålund's foliation fol. 81). The descripion of collation above refers to the red foliation.

17 extant quires. The original first quire, presumably consisting of six leaves, is now lost. Thus, the collation is as follows:

• fol. 1 (flyleaf), presumably added when the codex was bound.
• I: fol. 2-11 (10 leaves), both fols 2 and 11 once formed a conjoint leaf, but they have come apart.
• II-XVI: each quire consists of 8 leaves.
• XVII: one quire of 11 leaves; the first (fol. 132) is a single leaf. Presumably fols 135 and 140 were conjoint but they have now come apart.
• fol. 142 (flyleaf)

The manuscript is written in a single column with 33 lines per page; however, fol. 112v has 32 lines. The initials are either red with blue-green ornament or blue-green with red ornament. These colours are very faded, particularly compared with the black ink which is used for writing. The rubrics are also faded.

The manuscript is in a rather poor condition, not merely because of the wearing and darkening of the parchment, but also because of damp and rot. Considerable portions of the manuscript have crumbled away, especially along the spine, and white patches cover some of the writing. Another result of this is that fols 135 and 140, originally a conjoint pair, are now separate, and that the two innermost pairs in the last gathering, fols 136-139, are only just still connected. In order to repair this decay, parchment strips with Latin text have been sewn into the back of the last gathering, and the text has been filled in by writing on these strips or in the margin. Before fol. 2 there is a lacuna that seems to have consisted of 6 leaves. Fol. 2v is almost illegible because of wear. According to Árni Magnússon's notes in AM 435 a 4to, large parts of the book were already damaged and had begun to rot (vida skiemt og fuin) in the 1670s.

With the exception of two lines at the bottom of fol. 51v,the entire manuscript is written in an Icelandic Gothic bookhand by one unknown scribe. The writing is regular and the orthography is exceptionally consistent.

The last two lines on fol. 51v are written in a hand, not much younger than the first. The hand has been identified as that of the priest Magnús Þórhallsson, one of the two scribes of Flateyjarbók.

There are numerous marginalia in the manuscript but a large part of them are either wholly or partly illegible. Two marginalia can be dated to c. 1500: fol. 5v: Einar oss son a mig seier her and fol. 124v, bottom margin, next to a drawing of a man with a crown(?): her er bardr jon son. Almost all of the remaining marginalia are from the seventeenth century or later. Louis-Jensen EIMF8 s. 19-21 divided the marginalia into five different groups:

• Personal names which do not shed much light on the history of the manuscript - despite the fact that the names can be identified. Included in this group are the marginalia from the time the manuscript was in Snæfellsnes e.g. the note on fol. 74v: Gud were med þier minn gode win Þorður Arnna sonn and 123r: Nikulas Oddsson. These two men are presumably Þórður Árnason who lived at Narfeyri in Snæfellsnes and lögréttumaður Nikulás Oddsson, who lived at Kjallaksstaðir in Dalasýsla and subsequently at Brekkubær, near Hellnar (Snæfellsnes).
• Attempts at filling in lacunae or copying difficult parts of the text.
• Marginalia connected to the text in various ways, including marginalia by Guðmundur Jónsson (1758-1844), the man Árni Magnússon assume might have copied Hulda; headings on fol. 100v, 103r, 118r and 135r and marginalia dating events from the text (bl. 94r and 119r).
• Illegible text on fols 5r, 44r, 49r (before asgrimur ), 54r, 66r, 98r, 104r, 122v and 126r.
• Pen trials and scribbles on the bottom half of 141v and all of 142r, both originally blank. These are for the most part so faded that they are illegible. On 141v, after the end of the saga, written in a hand from the sixteenth or the seventeenth century is a short synopsis of the story of the following period of which only a few words can be discerned. On fol. 142r more pen trials, and an alphabet and two notes (Eiginn hand og haffa ffleire) can be read. Also a list of Norwegian kings, in the same hand, is found in the upper left-hand corner. The hand is similar to the one that wrote the historical synopsis: Suerrer kongur hann var son Sygurdar kongs haralldz sonar | Magnus kongs berfættz Olafs sonur | haralldz sonar Gullkambs | Sygurdar sonar Syrs | haldanar sonar hrijsa | Sygurdar sonar. | haralldz sonar harfaga | sygurdar sonar hiartar.

A large irregular hand from the seventeenth century added a number of rubrics over certain þættir. The same hand wrote: þesse þättur | öskrifadur | ok allt hier efter in the right margin of fol. 86r. This indicates that the marginalia are written by a scribe who at least copied the first part of Hulda or the þættir of the sagas.

The manuscript was written in Eyjafjörður, Iceland, and has been dated twice: Kristian Kålund (KKKat) dated it to the fourteenth century, while Louis-Jensen (BiblArn32s. 14) dated it to the third quarter of the fourteenth century.

The manuscript possibly belonged to Jón Hákonarson of Víðidalstunga. It is thought that he owned Hulda before he commissioned Flateyjarbók.

Einar oss son a mig seier her can be read in the margin of fol. 5v. This man was presumably Einar Oddsson of Hof in Vatnsdalur, who was the sýslumaður for Húnavatnssýsla c. 1500. The next known event in the manuscript's history is when Arngrímur Jónsson lærði (1568-1648) used it for his work on Supplementum Historiæ Norvagicæ at Hólar in 1595-97, but it is not known who owned it at the time.

Árni Magnússon has made various notes about the owners of Hulda in AM 435a 4to, fol. 42v. The first of these that Árni knows of is Gísli Þórðarson lögmaður (✝ 1619) who owned it c. 1600. Gísli's grandson, Jón Steindórsson (1609-72), wrote his name in the book in 1624, from which Árni concludes that his father, sýslumaður Steindór Gíslason (✝ 1668), must have owned it. The manuscript's next owner was, according to Árni Magnússon, Bjarni Pétursson sýslumaður (1613-1693), who lived at Staðarhóll in Dalasýsla. After Hulda had arrived in Bjarni Pétursson's ownership, the most tumultuous period in the manuscript's history began. From Staðarhóll it went to Bjarni's son-in-law, Hákon Árnason of Vatnshorn at Stóravatnshorn in Haukadalur, and from Vatnshorn it was lent further, first openly and then secretly for the next 10-15 years (1660s and 1670s) from farm to farm in Mýrasýsla and Borgarfjarðarsýsla, until Hákon Árnason eventually managed to get it back (for a more detailed account, see Árni Magnússon's description below). Hákon's son Árni Hákonarson was for a short while Torfæus' amanuensis in Stangeland in Norway, and Hákon lent him the manuscript. Árni Hákonarson then sold Hulda to Árni Magnússon in Copenhagen in 1687.

In AM 435 a 4to, fol. 42v can be read: Noregs konunga Sgur, (incipere debent | in Jarozlao Russiæ Rege) folio | minori. bokina hefi eg feing-|ed af Arna Hakonarsyne, enn | hann af fdur sinum, Hakoni Ar-|nasyne ä Vatzhorne. Hakon | eignadizt hana (sem mier er sagt) | fra Stadarhöle. A Spatiunne | stendr i einum stad: Jon Steinþorsson 1624 . þessa bok kll-|udu þeir i Borgarfirde fyrrum | Huldu.

Fols 47r-52r, which are later additions, contain further information about the manuscript, principally about its earlier owners and copies of it (footnotes are given in square brackets): Noregs konunga Sgurnar (Huldu) feck | Hakon Arnason ä Vatzhorne, til | eignar frä Stadarhole. Liede þær | sidan Sira Þorde i Hitardal. Sira | Þordur liedi ut af sier Sigurde Jonssyne Lgmanni, hver bokinne | eigi villde leinge aptur skila, hver-|ki Hakoni nie Sira Þorde. Relatio Jons Hakonarsonar.# [ # Hier um anno 1663 utvegade þessa | bok Sira Hannes Birnsson þä prestur | ä Myrum, og liede hana Sira | Halldore Jonssyne i Reykhollti. Hann Sira= | =Helga Grimssyne ä Husafelle, hver | hana uppskrifade 1664. Epter | Exemplare Sira Helga skrifade Sira | Halldor i Reykhollte, annad Ex-|emplar Anno 1666. Allt þetta um | bökar länen, var i pukri, og atti æred | hliott ad fara. Mag. Bryniolfur hefur lated Sira Jon i Villingahollte afskrifa þessa | bok, og ä eg þad Exemplar | in folio. | Jon Hakonarson skrifadi og eitt | exemplar af bokinne, adur hun | siglde. Þad eignadizt Gudrun Hakonardotter (Pall Amundason) | og af Gudrunu feck eg (Arne | Magnusson) bokena, er in 4to.] | Anno 1671. Þä Þormodur Torfason var | sidarst ä Islandi, sä hann þessa kalf skinns bok hia | Sigurde Jonssyne, Lgmanne, hver ed | hana kallade: Huldu. Kannazt ok | ennnu nockrer i Borgarfirde vid þetta | hennar bokarinnar nafn. Seint ä dgumm Sigurdar Lgmanns kom bok-|in aptur i hnd Hakoni Arna-|syne, og var þä vida skiemd og | fuin. I minu (Arna Magnussonar) | ungdæmi var hun til läns i Hvammi | i Hvamms sveit. Sidan liedi Hakon | Arnason þessa bok, til Noregs, syne | sinum Arna Hakonarsyne, sem þä | var Amanuensis Þormodar Torfa-|sonar. Arne færde fra Norege | med sier bokina til Kaupenhafnar | og selldi mier 1687. | Þessa bok (Huldu) hafde fyrrum ätt Gisle | Þordarson Lgmadur. Jons Steindorssonar nafn stendur ä henne, og | mun hann hafa þottst hana eiga epter | Steindor Gislason. Gisle Magnussson ä Hlidarenda villde nä til | bokarinnar, ex Jure Gudrunar | Gisladottur, modur sinnar. | Biarne Petursson mun hafa ord-|ed handhafe ad bökinne under | Jkle, þä hann hafde Stapaum-|bod. Noregs konunga Sgurnar | ä pergament in 4to, liedi Biar-|ne Petursson Sigurdi Jonssyni | lgmanne, Sira Hannes Birns-|son, þä prestur i Borgarþingum, | näde bokinne i Einarsnese, | (volente vel inscio Sigurdo) | og liedi hana Sira Halldore | i Reykhollte, Sira Halldor | feck hana i hendur Sira | Helga ä Husafelle, og kllu-|du þeir bokina, ut ur þessu, | Huldu. Sira Helge skrifadi | bokina upp fyrer sig (α) [ α] þad exemplar var in 4to. | Og ä eg þad nu, feinged af | Gudride Stefansdottur.] og epter þvi exemplare | skrifadi Sira Halldor fyrer sig annad exemplar (β.) [ β.] er in 4to. og ä þad nu 1711 | Sira Hannes Halldorsson.] Gudmundur Jonsson, broder Sig-|urdar lgmanns, skrifade og | eitt exemplar fyrer sig, (| δ.] er övist hvert hann skrifad hafi | epter kalfskinnsbokinne, eda | bok Sira Helga). [δ.] Exemplar Gudmundar | seiger Sira Hannes gaud-|rängt vered hafa, ok þad | er so i sannleika. Epter | þvi skrifadi Sira Magnus | i Hvamme sitt exemplar | in 4to. Og er þad eins onytt. | Exemplar Gudmundar er i Saurbæ ä Kialarnese.] Þegar | Sira Helge bokina afskrifad | hafde, var henne aptur-|skilad til Einarsness. Og | tandem tok Hakon ä Vatz-|horne hana þar (γ) [ γ.] i Einarsnese meinar | Sira Hannes Hakon bokina | teked hafa.] ap|tur vegna Biarna Peturs | sonar. Relatio Sira Hann -|esar i Reykhollte 1711. Eg liet asgeir Jonsson upp-|skrifa pergamentsbokina i | Kaupenhafn, med llum bnd-|unum eins og þar stendur. og | gaf eg sidan þad exemplar | Sira Þordi ä Stadarstad, Er | in folio. | Copiu af þessu, Sira Þordar Ex-|emplare ä lgmadur Pall Jonsson Widalin med hendi Ögmundar Ögmundzsonar, er og in folio. Af Noregs konga Sgunum | er Bordfirdingar fyrrum | klludu Huldu ä Lg-|madurenn Sigurdur Birnsson Copie, skrifada med | hendi Gudmundar Sal. | Jonssonar. er in 4to. | vidi 1703, i Saurbæ ä Kia-|larnese, er vïda rangt | skrifud og stundum af-|lagislega oriett in no-|minibus propriis. | Efter þessu Sigurdar lgmannz exemplare hefur skrifad | Sira Magnus Magnusson | i Hvamme, er þad hans | exemplar og i 4to. (vidi) | ocorrect eins ok hitt, | og likast nockru verra. | Sira Magnuss Exemplar | eignadest epter hann | daudann Jon sonur hans | hæc ultima scripsi 1723. Annadhvórt Hulda eda Copi-|an Sira Helga sem ur henne | deriveradist mun vera upp-|rune til Husafellsbökar Nafnz-|ins, og so allt vera i villu umm | þessa nafngipt, sem fyrst er | komin frä Svïum.

Árni Magnússon acquired Hulda in 1687 from Árni Hákonarson, according to the information given in AM 435 a 4to.

• Microfilm (master), Neg. 1023, from 21. december 2000 (before restoration).
• Microfilm (archive), Neg. 922, from 23. januar 2001 (fols. 8v and 53r are missing).
• Black and white prints from 5. januar 2001 (A4 103%).
• Microfilm, Neg. 1016, from 3. maj 2001 (supplementary photographs of fols 8v and 53r).
• Black and white prints from 3. maj 2001 (A4 1:1).
• Diapositives, pocket no 2, s.d.
• 70 mm, 26, s.d. (during restoration?)
• Plate, pl. 58 neg, s.d. (during restoration. Fols 2r, 20r, 27v).
• Plate, pl. 58 pos, from 10. juni 2004 (during restoration. Fols 2r, 20r, 27v).
• Plate, TS pl. 58, from 10. juni 2004 (during restoration. Fols 2r, 20r, 27v; security copies to Terkelskov).
• Diapositives, 107 + 108, from 13. april 2000 (6x6" standard portraits; opening: 1v-2r; fols 36r, 60r, 100v, and 136r).
• Black and white prints from 13. april 2000
• Microfilm, TS 107 + 108, from 13. april 2000 (security copies to Terkelskov).