Skráningarfærsla handrits

Parchment.

Foliated 1-158 in the upper margin between the two columns by Kristian Kålund. On the verso of the first fly-leaf Kålund has noted: 158 bl. (+ 1 foran indklæbet, beskrevet papirblad) 12.02.1886. The columns are numbered 2-638 on the upper right-hand corner of the recto pages.

Written in two columns of 47 to 48 lines each. Rubrics in red.

The codex is well preserved but not complete; a leaf is missing between fols 98 and 99 and between fols 99 and 100. In places the manuscript has been trimmed to such an extent that the text has suffered.

The main hand wrote fols fols. 1-61vb, 70ra-117ra, 117rb:9-47-158ra and fol. 158rb:5-41). The same hand also wrote parts of e.g. AM 233 a fol., AM 350 fol. (Skarðsbók), AM 325 X 4to & AM 325 VIII 3 a 4to, AM 347 fol. (Belgsdalsbók) and AM 73 b fol. (Bæjarbók á Rauðasandi). For an exhaustive list, see Drechsler 2021, 52 table 5.

Another hand wrote fols 117rb:1-8.

A third hand wrote fols 158rb:1-5.

Fols 62ra-69vb were written by a later hand, possibly from the fifteenth or early sixteenth century.

• Fol. 1va:1-8 (I Genesis 1): Yellow initial A covering 11 lines in a red frame, on a blue lattice background. Majestas Domini (Christ in Majesty) on a blue background surrounded by a mandorla. Christ is sitting on a rainbow with three fingers on his right hand uplifted whilst holding an orb in his left hand. He is dressed in a red robe and has a halo. In the spandrels are four angels holding on to the mandorla which on two sides is linked to the initial by rings. The border panel extends down from the initial and consists of a chain of nondescripts; the top and bottom borders comprise branches with greenery and animals. The bottom extension shows a hunting scene where an archer is taking aim at a bird in a tree. Icelandic Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages Plate 24, Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 102 Figure 55, "God in Majesty").
• Fol. 12rb:1-8 (I Genesis 6); Yellow initial S on a dark red background. Noah wearing a green coat holding an axe in both hands is building the ark. Red and green extensions consisting of branches. Icelandic Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages Plate 2b, Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 103 Figure 56, "Noah builds the ark").
• Fol. 22rb:36-46 (I Genesis 11); Yellow initial T on a blue lattice background. Abraham and a smaller, male figure. Abraham is setting out from a green house with gate and embrasure, spear in hand, and followed by the smaller figure. Halldór Hermansson identifies this figure as Abraham's son Isaac, while Drechsler him as his nephew, Lot. Icelandic Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages Plate 2a., Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 104 Figure 58, "Abraham and Lot").
• Fol. 34va:28-33 (I Genesis 25); Yellow initial N. Dark red background. Isaac, eyes closed, is blessing Jacob with his left hand touching Jacob's head, the three first fingers of the right hand are uplifted in blessing. Rebecca has her left hand on Jacob's head, her right hand on his right shoulder. Icelandic Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages Plate 2c, Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 104 Figur 59, "Isaac, Jacob, and Rebecca").
• Fol. 70ra:1-8 (Joshua 1); Yellow initial E. God talks to Joshua. God wearing a red coat is sitting on the middle bar of the initial, and Joshua, dressed in a green coat, red hat and red socks in lightly coloured shoes, is lying at his feet. The top border has been almost entirely cut off, but we can see a red branch with foliage (oak leaves). On this a centaur is shooting at a bird ( Icelandic Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages Plate 29a, Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 106 Figure 61, "God and Joshua").
• Fol. 72rb:13-16 (Judges 1); An illuminated initial, E, spanning 8 lines was scratched out. However, a red and green bar-border with branches and leaves top and bottom is remaining.
• Fol. 79rb:21-29 (1 Samuel 1); Yellow initial H in a blue frame and on a red background. A warrior, Saul or Elkanah, dressed in a blue gown and a red cloak is sitting on a throne with dragon-heads. He holds a sword in his right hand and a shield with a flower motif in his left hand ( Icelandic Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages Plate 3b, Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 107 Figur 63, "Elkanah or Saul enthroned").
• Fol. 81va:31-39 (1 Samuel 10); Yellow initial S on a dark red background. Samuel is anointing Saul. The borders have branches and foliage, a bird and fabulous animals (one of which has a human face). Icelandic Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages Plate 26, Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 108 Figure 65, "Samuel anoints Saul").
• Fol. 88ra:1-9 (2 Samuel 1); Yellow initial A entwined in red and green acanthus leaves and on a blue background. King David is playing the harp, sitting on a throne with a gaping dragon head, wearing a crown and a flowing red robe over a green kirtle. The extension forms a border of acanthus leaves ending in a fabulous animal ( Icelandic Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages Plate 25b, , Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 109 Figure 67, "David plays the harp").
• Fol. 96va:7-14 (1 Kings 2); Yellow initial A on a red background. King Solomon is depicted sitting on his throne with a big sceptre in his right hand. In front of him is standing a woman, possibly his mother Bathsheba, with her hands in a pleading position. Two extensions ending in branches and fabulous animals, one animal in the top extension and two in the bottom ( Icelandic Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages Plate 27, Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 109 Figure 68, "Solomon and Queen Saba").
• Fol. 110ra:17-25 (beginning of Rómverja sögur); A yellow historiated initial M on a dark red background. In the left arch of the initial we see King Massinissa of Numidia, sword in his right hand, his left hand pointing at a man, who is standing in the right arch, carrying a cup. The top border has been excised. The lower border comprises oak leaves and fabulous animals; a griffin and a unicorn with its young ( Icelandic Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages Plate 28, Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 110 Figur 69, "Massinissa and servant").
• Fol. 129ra:32-40 (beginning of Alexanders saga); A yellow initial D on a dark red lattice frame on a blue background. King Darius, sceptre in his right hand, is sitting on a throne with dragon-heads. The bottom border with leaves and two four-legged animals (wolves? sheepdog and fox?) and a bird of prey. Between the extension and column b a sheep bleeding from its throat is drawn ( Icelandic Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages Plate 29b, Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 111 Figur 70, "Darius enthroned").

Inhabited initial on fol. 30va:28-33 (Genesis 25); Green and red initial A on a blue background. A priest in yellow chasuble and green gown is reading a book on a lectern, with his fingers on the book ( Icelandic Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages Plate 25a).

• Initials with human faces and a single manicule:
• Fol. 7vb:40-42 (Genesis 3,The Fall): Green initial H. The extension has flourishing in red ink. Inside the H the face of a bearded man with a drooping mouth is found (possibly Adam).
• Fol. 35vb:12-14 (Genesis 27): Blue initial Þ. The extension has flourishing in red ink. Inside the Þ there is a blessing hand with extended index and second finger.
• Fol. 97rb:7-9 (1 Kings 3, The Wisdom of Solomon): Green initial A. The extension has flourishing in red ink. Inside the A is the face of an angry woman wearing headgear.

• Zoomorphic initials with grylli figures or dogs, all with Romanesque windings:
• Fol. 4va:28-30: Red initial A contains a two-legged dog. The space within the initial is decorated with a dark blue flourishing on a dark blue lattice.
• Fol. 11ra:3-6: Green initial N contains a dog on a blue background. Flourishing in red and blue.
• Fol. 15ra:15-18: Blue, red and green A contains two two-legged grylli figures.
• Fol. 25va:24-26: Red O contains a grylli figure with a human face on a green background.
• Fol. 37vb:7-9: Dark red initial O conatains a wolf or a dog.
• Fol. 44ra:19-21: Dark red initial A contains a dog on a green background.
• Fol. 55ra:5-7: Red initial H contains a winged grylli figure on a blue background.
• Fol. 57vb:41-43: Dark red initial F conatians a two-legged grylli figure on a green background.
• Fol. 61ra:19-21: Blue initial Þ contains a dog on a green background.
• Fol. 78rb:4-8: Blue initial S contains two grylli figures on a green background, one for each part of the S. The extension has flourishing in red ink.
• Fol. 92vb:22-24: Green initial F contains a two-legged dog on a blue background.
• Fol. 93va:13-16: Red initial A contains a winged dog on a green background (Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 113 Figure 72, "Zoomorphic initial").
• Fol. 96ra:14-16: Red initial B contains a two-legged grylli figure on a green background ( Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 156 Figure 117, "Zoomorphic ornamentation" ).
• Fol. 108vb:39-42: Blue initial N decorated with yellow leaves contains a two-legged grylli figure with a human face wearing a yellow pointed hood with dark red lining.
• Fol. 116ra:43-47: Blue and green initial N on a green background that is divided into three triangular sections, with a two-legged grylli figures in each one. The middle grylli has wings.
• Fol. 128rb:15-18: Dark red initial N contains a grylli figure with wings on its head depicted on a green background.
• Fol. 133va:11-14: Initial N contains a sheep (?) that is being attacked by an eagle.
• Fol. 137vb:35-38: Dark red initial A contains a two-legged grylli figure with a human face and pointed hood on a green background.
• Fol. 143ra:24-27: Dark red initial P contains two two-legged grylli figures wrapped in the same piece of cloth.
• Fol. 146vb:28-35: Two dogs chasing parts of the ornamentation (Illuminated manuscript production in Medieval Iceland 112 Figure 71, "Zoomorphic initial")
• Fol. 151va:20-25: Red and blue initial A divided into 3 sections. In the bottom section two arches can be seen, but as the green ink has faded, the picture cannot be made out. The middle section consists of red flourishing and foliage. The upper section contains two arches with a two-legged grylli figures in each on a dark blue lattice background.

Where there are no other initials, every chapter in the mansucript has (dark) red, (dark) blue or green Romanesque initials, flourished or with leaves. They all have extensions. All of these lesser initials cover 3 to 4 lines. Generally, the initials have flourishing in a contrasting colour. The later addition, fols 62-69, however, has no initials.

There are few marginal notes. Fol. 158v was originally blank, but some scribblings have been added at a later date. Fol. 95r (top margin) contains a name written in runes: ᚯᚦᚦᚾᛁ ᛒᛂᚾᛂᚦᛁᛎᛐᛋ ᚦᚯᛐᛐᛂᚱ (= øþþni beneþicts þøtter, i.e. Auðni Benediktsdóttir).

There is a slip in Thorlacius' hand saying: Syne Mynum Thorlake Þordarsyne | Gief eg Undskrifadur Þessa Bok | Hvoria Mier gaf Mÿnn Eruverdugur | Konu Fader Gisle Magnusson / og | fieck hann hana ad Erfdum epter synn | fodur Magnus Biornsson Løgmann, | So Bokenn er Vel under komen, og | Vafalaus ad mÿnu vïte. Tilskil eg ad | Thorlakur Þordarson frænde mÿnn fare | vel med þessa bok, og Liäe hana Brodur | sÿnum Brinjolfe Þordarsine./ | Skalhollte þann 2 Decembris | Anno 1689. Þordur Thorlaksson mp.

Below this, Árni Magnússon has added: Anno 1708. sidarst i Majo eignadist eg underskrifadur | þessa bok af Monsieur Brynjolfe Þordarsyne | Arne Magnusson.

Written in Iceland, possibly in the monastery, Helgafellklaustur in Western Iceland. Drechsler (Drechsler 2021, 116) suggested that AM 226 fol. was produced for the monastery itself and served as a history book teaching young pupils about world history up until the birth of Jesus.

It was written and illuminated in different stages: c. 1360-70, s. XV2 and c. 1350-60.

• Fols 1ra-61vb: c. 1360-70 ( Guðmundur Þorláksson 1881 ix and Stefán Karlsson 1967 21 ).
• Fols 62ra-69vb (the later insertion): the second half of the fifteenth century ( Kirby 1986 56 ).
• Fols 70ra-178rb: c. 1350-60 ( Wolf 1986 xvii ).

Kålund's dating ( Katalog I 182 ): last part of the fourteenth century and the fifteenth century (fols 62-69).

The history of the manuscript cannot be traced with certainty further back than to the lögmaður Gísli Þórðarson (c. 1545-1619), its first documented owner. On fol. 158v there is a note, nearly entirely erased, stating: Gÿslle Þordar son á þesa bok.

How the codex was passed from Gísli to its next owners, a family in Munkaþverá, cannot be determined with certainty. Wolf (ibid.) assumes that Gísli passed the codex on to his son-in-law, Magnús Björnsson (c. 1595-1662), lögmaður in Munkaþverá. Árni Magnússon, however, writes in AM 435 a 4to, fol. 3v, that in his opinion the manuscript was passed on to Magnús' son, Björn Magnússon (1623-97), by Eggert Biörnsson of Skarð (1612-81): Magnus Björnsson ætladi Biörn | Magnusson (broder Gisla) bokina fein-|ged hafa af Eggert Biörnssyne ä | Skarde.

According to the slip written by Bishop Þórður Þorláksson (Thorlacius) (1637-97) and fol. 3v in Árni Magnússon's catalogue of Icelandic parchment manuscripts (AM 435 a 4to), the manuscript then belonged to the Munkaþverá family, the lögmaður Magnús Björnsson (1595-1662) and his two sons, Gísli (1621-96) and Björn (1623-97), both of whom were sheriffs ( sýslumenn).

Gísli then gave the manuscript to his son-in-law, Thorlacius, who gave it to his son, Þorlákur Þórðarson (1675-97). Þorlákur lent it to his brother Brynjólfur Þórðarson (1681-1762), who in turn gave it to Árni Magnússon.

In AM 435 a 4to, fols 1v-3v, Árni Magnússon writes: Historia Biblica veteris Testamenti, | vulgò Stiorn. ä 109. bldum. Endast | eins og 4tus liber Regum. Titellenn er | þesse: Her hefr upp prologum epter fyrir sogn virduligs herra Haconar konungs. | Romveria Sogur ä 19. bl;dum. Er | 1°. Salustii bellum Jugurthinum. | 2°. Fra vidskiptum Syllæ og Marii. | 3°. Salustii bellum Catilinarium. | 4°. Lucani pharsalia med stuttre Con-|tinuatione historiæ Romanæ aptan-|vid. Sc: Bello Cæsaris cum Juba Re-|ge: Morte Catonis: Nece Julii Cæsaris: | Bellis Antonii et Augusti: Regno Au-|gusti: og endast so þetta med Nati-|vitate Christi. | Alexandri Magni Saga ä 18. bldum. Historia Judaica ä 11 1/2 bldum. Byr-|iazt eins og liber 1-us Machabæorum, | og innehelldur smu historiu sem liber | primus, þö langtum fyllre, og sumstad-|ar druvïs. Continuerar sidan res Ari-|stobuli og epterfylgiande konunga | alika og Josephus hefur inn til finem | libri xvij. Antiqvitatt. Judaicc. enn | miklu brevius. | þä byriast med nyium title. | Her hefr upp oc segir fra Tirus konungi oc af pilato Syni hans. Er um upp-|runa Pilati, hans promotion og enda-|lykt. Item um Judæ Ischariotæ fæ-|ding og uppelde. allra sidarst hier i | stendur: þessa bok færdi hinn hei-|lage Jeronimus prestr or ebresku mali | ok i latinu. enn or Latinu oc i | Norrænu Sneri brandr prestr Jonsson er sidan var biskup at Holum. ok sva | Alexandro Magno eptir bodi virduligs | herra herra Magnusar konungs son-|ar Hakonar konungs gamla. | bokin er i folio meir enn regali. | Eg eignadizt hana 1708. af Monsenieur Bryn-|iolfe Þordarsyne ä Hlidarenda. hann erf-|de hana epter fdur sinn. Mag. Þordur | feck hana af Gisla Magnussyne. Gisle | epter fdur sinn Magnus Birnsson lg-|mann. Magnus Birnsson ætladi Birn | Magnusson (broder Gisla) bokina fein-|ged hafa af Eggert Birnssyne ä | Skarde.

Árni Magnússon acquired the manuscript from Brynjólfur Þórðarson in 1708.

• 70 mm, 92, s.d. (supplementary photographs, prior to restoration).
• 70 mm, 2, s.d. (prior to restoration).
• Diapositives from mars 1984.
• Diapositives from 22. apríl 1998 (colour photographs of the initials on 22v, 30v, 34v, 70r, 79r, 81v, 88r and 96v).
• Diapositives from 25. nóvember 1998 (4x5" colour diapositives of fols 1r-v, 11r, 12r-v, 15r, 18r, 20r, 22r, 25r, 27r-v, 30v, 34v, 51r, 55r, 61v-62r, 69v-70r, 72r, 78r, 81v, 88r, 96v, 108v, 109v-110r, 129r, 146v, 151v, 156r, 158v. Detail of initial A on fol. 167r).
• Black and white prints from júlí 1964.