„ HER byriar vpp sogu ok segir fra þeim tidenum “
„ ok hofdu Suiar jaʀll | brok lawsann.“
Fornmanna sögur VIII s. 5-448 Ed. F
Finnur Jónsson, Den Norsk-Islandske Skjaldedigtning A I s. 535-536 Hallr Snorrasons Lausavísur v. 2.1-2. Ed. 81., fol. 19rb:15-23 s. 536-537 Bjarni Kalfssons Lausavísa. Ed. 81., fol. 20ra:24-28 s. 537 Nefaris Lausavísa. Ed. 81., fol. 31ra:18-22 s. 537 Blakkrs Breiðskekksdrápa 1.1, line 1-6, and 1.2. Ed. 81. fol. 34ra:1-4 and 6-8 s. 538 Blakkrs Lausavísur 2.1 and 2.2. Ed. 81., fol. 31rb:23-28 and va:12-16 s. 595 V. 19 and 20. Ed. 81., fols 12ra:35-37 and 13ra:31-33 s. 596 V. 23 og 24. Ed. 81., fols 44vb:22-27 and 28-32 s. 602 V. 2 og 3. Ed. 81., ff 12vb:34-35 and 50va:35-36
Kjær and Holm-Olsen, Det arnamagnæanske håndskrift 81a fol. s. 1-254
Rafn, Antiquités Russes II s. 78-79 Ed. B
Schöning and Thorlacius, Heimskringla edr Noregs konunga sǫgur af Snorra Sturlusyni IV s. 1-334 Ed. F
„ÞAT sama sumar er suerʀir kongr an | waríth ꜳdr war hꜳkon til kongs tekínn “
„Ro|um wer sem wer megum mest “
Thorlacius, Antiqvitatum Borealium Observationes Miscellaneæ
Schöning and Thorlacius, Heimskringla edr Noregs konunga sǫgur af Snorra Sturlusyni IV s. 335-374 Ed. F s. 374-381
Fornmanna sögur IX s. 1-50:21 Ed. F
Kjær and Holm-Olsen, Det arnamagnæanske håndskrift 81a fol. s. 255-291
The text ends abruptly and the remains of fol. 64r is left blank, possibly because the source text had a lacuna.
„ A daugum Jnnocencij paua, þess|er hinn þridi“
„eru fra uidskiptum | þeira jarls ok islendínga margar frasagnir þær er. oss þic|kír eigi naudsynlígt at ríta i þessa. fra sogv. En þo mun sumra getid uera sidar “
Thorlacius, Antiqvitatum Borealium Observationes Miscellaneæ Variants of the poems Hákonarkviða and Hrafnsmál.
Schöning og Thorlacius, Heimskringla edr Noregs konunga sǫgur af Snorra Sturlusyni V s. 1-337:2 Ed. 81
Fornmanna sögur IX s. 229-535; X s. 94:9 Ed. F
Rafn, Antiquités Russes II s. 78-79 Ed. B., excerpts
Guðbrandur Vigfússon, Hakonar saga and a fragment of Magnus saga s. 1-306:19
Finnur Jónsson, Den Norsk-Islandske Skjaldedigtning A II s. 69-70 Snorri Sturlusons Háttartal v. 63-64 and 66. Ed. 81., fols 78rb:9-19 og 35-va:1 s. 78 Snorri Sturlusons Lausavísur v. 4. Ed. 81., fol. 99vb:33-37 s. 79 Guðmundur Oddssons Lausavísur 1. Ed. 81., fol. 75va:21-25 s. 80-81 Játgeirr Torfasons Lausavísa. Ed. 81., fol. 79vb:24-28 s. 87 Snækollr Gunnasons Lausavísa. Ed. 81., fol. 103vb:4-6 s. 92-93 Ólafr Þórðarson hvítaskálds digt om kong Hákon v. 1. Ed. 81., fol. 85vb:10-14 s. 93-97 Ólafr Þórðarson hvítaskálds hrynhent poem. Ed. 81., fols 70vb:27-30; 96va:3-8 and b:9-12; 97vb:9-14; 99rb:2-7; 101ra:39-b:8; 105vb:25-31; 107vb:8-13; 109ra:13-18 and b:41-va:5 and 19-25 s. 98 Ólafr Þórðarson hvítaskálds Lausavísur v.2. Ed. 81., fol. 106ra:33-b:2 s. 102-108 Sturla Þórðarsons Hrynhenda v. 1-19. Ed. 81., fols 113vb:6-10; 116rb:14-19; 117ra:27-35; 118ra:40-44 and b:4-8 and 19-24 and 26-37 and 43-48 and va:11-15; 119ra:30-34 and b:12-16 and 21-25 and 45-va:2 and vb:12-16 and 20-23 and 29-30 and 40-43; 120va:4-8 s. 108-119 Sturla Þórðarsons Hákonarkvíða. Ed. 81. Bl. 65va:7-11; 70vb:31-38; 77rb:36-37; 85rb:28-30 and vb:5-9; 101rb:8-13; 105vb:31-35; 107rb:31-35 and vb:22-24; 109ra:6-10 and 32-34 and b:21-23 and va:15-17 and b:32-34 and 36-40; 110ra:11-13; 111va:7-11; 113vb:3-5 and 14-18 and 20-23; 114rb:14-22; 115rb:22-27 and va:15-17 and 21-22 s. 124-127 Sturla Þórðarsons Hákonarflokkr 6.1-9. Ed. 81. Bl. 76vb:20-25; 77rb:38-va:4; 83rb:37-va:4; 86rb:29-35; 89ra:5-8; 91va:12-16; 92vb:17-20; 117rb:30-34; 120ra:14-17 s. 141 V. 16. Ed. 81. Bl. 77va:18-21 s. 143 V. 24-25. Ed. 81. Bl. 96va:28-29 and 97vb:3-8
Kjær and Holm-Olsen, Det arnamagnæanske håndskrift 81a fol. s. 292-678
Parchment.
Foliation by Jón Sigurðsson.
The manuscript consists of fifteen quires of eight leaves. A sixteenth quire seem to be missing as the text ends abruptly on the verso-side of the last leaf.
Written in double columns; the lines per column very from 34 to 51 lines. In most of the manuscript the scribe has left blank spaces (two to three lines) for initials - except from fols 73r-112v where some flourished majuscules have been added. The majuscules on fols 31r, 36v, 74v, 76r, 77r, 80r and 116r are inhabited, displaying faces in their counters.
The manuscript is fairly well preserved even though there are some defects. The text ends defectively and the parchment on fol. 1r is badly worn with the consequence that some of the writing is illegible. This shows that the manuscript at some time was left unbound. The last page of the manuscript is, however, almost not worn at all even though the parchment in the inner bottom corners of the last two leaves are darkened due to damp.
Hand 1 wrote fols 1ra-64rb, Sverris saga and Bǫglunga sǫgur. This scribal hand consistently writes 39 lines per column. It is characteristic for this scribe that he sometimes adds words below the text. This occur on fols 8va: et cetera walete, 22rb: liia cs my rhslzxg tybnymbs and 28rb: et cetera wal.
Hand 1a wrote two different passages:
Hand 1b wrote two different passages too:
Hand 1c wrote three different passages:
Hand 1a, 1b and 1c are very similar and at some places it is unclear where one hand stops and the other starts. Holm-Olsen ( AMhaa-KHO s. lx ) suggest that hand 1a and 1b could be the same scribe and Knirk ( JamKni1984a s. 205 ) is uncertain whether 1c is a new hand or identical with 1a or 1b.
Hand 2 wrote 64v-110r.In this part we find many smaller passages written by other hands too and the number of lines varies from, 34 to 42 lines per column. Generally a gathering starts and ends with 39 lines per column with only two exceptions; gathering 12 and 13 with 40 lines per column at the end of each gathering and gathering 14 with 38 lines per column at the beginning of the gathering.
Hand 2a wrote fol. 66ra:28-32 from Eru ver to er kongs
Hand 2b wrote five different passages:
Hand 2c wrote two different passages:
Hand 2d wrote fol. 92va:23-33 from: Um sumarit to ojafnad
Hand 2e wrote fol. 98va:28-32 from ok virde to suaradi
Hand 2f wrote four different passages:
Hand 2g wrote fol. 108va:7-22 from sagdi to manna
Hand 2h wrote fol. 109vb:8-11 from vestra to bad hann
Hand 2i wrote fol. 109vb:11-17: vera to lítli.
Hand 2j wrote three passages of text:
Hand 3 wrote fol. 110va:1-11 from NV to oslo
Hand 4 wrote fols 110va:11-111rb:37 from Erl|íngr til foru
Hand 5 wrote fols 111va-120vb, even though various minor hands occur here too. In this part of the manuscript the number of lines per column increases from 42 lines per column on fol. 111va to 51 lines per column on fol. 120va 120va (and 50 lines per column on fol. 120vb).
Hand 5a wrote fol. 116ra:13-26 from HAkon to ritat.
Hand 5b wrote fol. 117vb:1-5 from uoru to finna hann
Hand 5c wrote fol. 118ra:31-39 from ok bidu to lid.
Hand 5d wrote fol. 118rb:10-32 from BArrtholomeus to hiallma
Hand 5e wrote fol. 118vb:35-41 from hakoni kongi to tyna
Hand 5f wrote fols 118vb:48-119ra:1 from dvalldiz to Vikinna
Hand 5g wrote four passages:
Hand 5h wrote fol. 120vb:1-5 from sendingum to sumarid ok
In the margin of fol. 35r the name arnor is found. The writing are large and uneven, like it was written by a child and it is followed by three unidentifiable letters. Two other names occur in the margin: Sigurdur Magnusson on fol. 12r and Bergsueirn | Grijmsson on fol. 64r. Many other marginalia are found but they are more or less indistinct. Drawings occur in the bottom margins of fols 91r-93r, 95r and 96r and foliage in the bottom margins of fols 115v and 116v-117r.
The manuscript is bound in a dark brown, almost black, parchment binding with a blind-stamped frame. The size of the binding is: 316 mm x 235 mm x 70 mm. The remains of two copper clasps are still attached to the binding. When it was bound it was given two parchment flyleaves at the front and the back, respectively. According to Jón Helgason ( JonHelg1958 s. 77 ) the manuscript was bound in Skálholt at the time Þórður Þorlákson was the bishop of Skálholt (1674-97). Other similar manuscript bindings from Skálholt with the same tooling include: AM 227 fol. (Stjórn), AM 351 fol. (Skálholtsbók eldri) AM 354 fol. (Skálholtsbók yngri) and Holm Papp 9 4to. The blind-stamped framing motive is known from Germany since 1545.
Written in Iceland. Kålund ( Katalog ) dated the manuscript to the fifteenth century, whereas Holm-Olsen ( Holm-Olsen 1987 s. xi, xcix ) dated it more precisely to the third quarter of the fifteenth century.
Arnór Jónsson of Öndverðanes gave the manuscript to the cathedral of Skálholt at the beginning of the seventeenth century and prior to that it belonged to the bishop Oddur Einarsson and his children. AM 416 a 4to, which was commissioned by Oddur Einarsson in 1612, is a list of books belonging to Skálholt at that time. On fol. 7r it says: Arnor Jonsßon j Øndverda|nese hefur gefid bornunum | hier ejna gamla Bok þar | er a Suerrers saga og | nockud flejra. han liede | mier hana fyrst enn gaf mier | hana sejrnna og sagde ad | bornen mætte ejga hana.
On fol. 57v in Árni Magnússon’s catalogue of Icelandic parchment manuscripts, AM 435a 4to, he confirms that the manuscript belonged to the cathedral of Skálholt: Sverris Saga. | Hakonar Saga Sverris sonar etc. | Hakonar Saga Hakonar sonar. | Bokin er in folio, illa skrifud og ecki | riett. Vantar nockud sidarst. | hefur fyrrum tilheyrt Skalholltz kirkiu.
In AM 79 fol., containing a transcript of Sverris saga from c. 1700, an AM-slip with a list of all the manuscripts in which the saga occur, the manuscript is described thus (no 7, fol. 1r-v of the slip): 7. Codex meus, olim (ut videtur) | Ecclesiæ Scalholtensis in Islandiâ. nulli priorum comparan|dus, nec magnæ ætatis, nec | bonitate præstans.
Árni Magnússon acquired the codex from Jón Vídalín in 1699. A note on the acquisition of AM 81 a fol. together with other smanuscripts is found in AM 435a 4to, fol. 190r: ỏll þesse | volumina komu sidan til | skila, og sende Mag. Jon | mier þau 1699.
Catalogued 10. febrúar 2000 by EW-J.
Lent to Christian Westergaard-Nielsen from Vestnordisk Institut in Aarhus .
Lent to Ludvig Holm-Olsen from the University Library in Bergen .