Skráningarfærsla handrits

Parchment.

Written in double columns with 47 linjes per column. Rubrics in red.

Only fragments are left of the original codex, and especially fols 4-6, 9-10 and 13-14 (Maríu saga) are badly damaged.

Fol. 4 is made up of strips of written parchment but it has not been possible to reconstruct the text properly. Fols 5-6 and 10 are cut crosswise and only the upper half of fol. 13 and the bottom half of fol. 14 are left. Lacunae appear between fols 5 and 6, after fols 12, 15 (thus the beginning of Katrínar saga is missing) and between fols 27 and 28 (the end of Margrétar saga is therefore lost) Fol. 28 is cut lengthwise and the second column is therefore missing.

Fols 1va-12rb and 28ra-29vb are written in an Icelandic Gothic bookhand.

Fols 12rb:15-12va:6 are written by another scribe. This hand is not as practiced as the first.

Fols 13ra-14rb are written by a third scribe. Unger ( Mariu1871 s. xxii ) finds that the hand is the same as the hand in AM 240 fol., fragment III and VII and AM 233 a and those two fragments presuably once belonged to the same manuscript.

The sagas about the female saints, fols. 15va-27vb are written in an Icelandic Gothic bookhand.

Fol. 1r, the first page of the manuscript consists of a full-page illustration of a man with a cross nimbus consisting of three crowns. He is draped in a simple fabric, holding an emblem with an Agnus Dei and surrounded by adoring saints: a man in a mitre, and a woman - both with halos. A weeping youth sits at the foot of the central figure. Two different interpretations of this frontispiece exist:

The first interpretation is given by Kålund ( KKKat). He interprets the central figure as John the Baptist. Kålund suggests that the man and woman are a bishop and a nun and that the weeping youth is a monk. The second interpretation is presented by Halldór Hermansson ( CCIsl7 s. 19-20 ). He interprets the central figure as Christ and argues that the Agnus Dei emblem of the illustration is the only feature found in medieval representations of John the Baptist, supporting his with the fact that the face is identical with a face of Christ in an Icelandic sketchbook. He, however, adds that Christ holding the emblem of the lamb is unparalleled. He writes that the composition of the picture is based on the iconography of the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John the Evangelist on each side of the cross and that the weeping youth could be the artist himself or, possibly, the man for whom the manuscript was written.

Hansen (pers.) however, does not not agree with that interpretation. She argues that John the Baptist was often represented with a cross nimbus and an Agnus Dei. Furthermore, she does not believe that the male saint left of John the Baptist could be John the Evangelist as he is dressed in a tunic and a cloak and wears a mitre. She suggests that the two saints could be the parents of John the Baptist, Elizabeth and Zechariah.

Green initials with romanesque foliage and pen-flourishing, œufs-de-grenouille, in red ink.

Only a few scribbles in the margina are found. At times these short notes are concerning the text (e.g. fol. 21v, left margin). Names of owners:

• Fol. 2v, bottom margin Magnus Jonson.
• Fol. 3r, bottom margin fra Magnuse Jons syne.
• Fol. 10r, top margin fra Sr Þorde | Jonssyne 1707.
• Fol. 10r, bottom margin fra Sr Þordi Jonssyne | 1707.
• Fol. 13r, top margin fra Sigurde Sigurdsyne | ä Firde 1707.
• Fol. 15r, midt på siden Ion olafsson a þessa bok.
• Fol. 25v, bottom margin Grimur gunarsson [?] | a bokina þessa.

There are eleven AM-slips (a-k):

• (a) is a list of contents: Ur Sgu Johannis Baptiste. | NB. Epistolam dedicatoriam. | Ur Mariu Sgu. | Af Sophia, og dætrum hennar Fide, Spe | og Caritate. i sida; vantar aptanvid. | af Sancta Katerina, vantar upp hafid. | ur 3 1/2 blad. | af Sancta Martha og Maria Mag-|dalena systur hennar. 6 1/2 blad. | vantar nockud aptanvid. | Aptan af Agnesar Sgu nockrar li-|nur. vantar mikid framanvid. | af Sancta Agatha, er heillt. | af Sancta Margareta, ex opere | Theodimi, framan af Sgunni; | vantar mesta partinn. aptantil. | De inventione Crucis Christi. | Niðrstigníngarsaga 1/2 blað.
• (b) and (c) contain a copy of Bréf Gríms prests for Árni Magnússon.
• (d): þesse Johannis Baptistæ Saga | hefr vered eins og su finnst i | þvi volumine, sem innehelldr | Barlaams Sgu Capite trunca | tam. | Mariu Sgu | Jons Sgu Baptistæ, og | Hieronymi vitas patrum. | hvert Volumen att hefur | Birn Magnusson, nema ad | þar hefr alldri vered dedica-|tio grims prests. | Hun er og su sama sem finnst | mutila i drum minum Ex-|emplaribus.
• (e) contains a transcription of the rubric of Jóns saga Baptista following Bréf Gríms prests and the prologue: Her byriar upp ypp ok | pinslar sogu hins helgazta | Johannis baptiste sonarza.
• (f) is attached to the fragmentary fol. 4 and is concerning this: Þetta blad feck eg i sundur|lausum geirum fra landz-|skrifaranum Sigurde Sigurdz-|syne 1722. | Er ur Johannis baptistæ | Sgu, circa finem.
• (g) contains a copy of the rubric of Maríu saga: Her byriar vpp lifssgu | hiɴar helguztu ok dyruztu | drottningar. meyiar eylifrar. | ok guds modir. fru sancte Ma-|rie. hiɴar millduztu. nęst Gudi.
• (i): þessa 4. bld hefe eg feinged | 1704. fra Sr Olafi Stephans-|syne. enn hann seigest hafa fund-|ed þau i druslum  Mdru|vllum i Eyafirde (nimirum | Birns Magnussonar). | hin sem utanum liggia, hefi | eg feinged annars stadar.
• (k): her hefr vpp ok segher fra þeim hef þui hverssu fa-|nzst kross drottinns vars Jhesu christi ok fra þeim vfridi er | ʀomveriar giordv kristnv folki vm alla verolld. (a copy of the rubric for Inventio crucis), and hereafter the note: fra profastinum Sr Þorsteine Ketilssyne 1727.

Written in Iceland, c. 1350-1360, s. XIV and s. XIV3/4. The dating is based on ONP's indices:

• Fols 1va-12vb and 28ra-29vb are written c. 1350-1360 ( Stefán Karlsson 1967 s. 21 ).
• Fols 13ra-14rb date from the fourteenth century (Kålund. Katalog)
• Fols 15va-27v are written in the third quarter of the fourteenth century ( Ólafur Halldórsson 1966 s. 18, 32 )

Kålund dated the entire manuscript to the fourteenth century ( Katalog ).

Árni Magnússon got the manuscript of various owners in the period 1704-27.

• In the bottom margin of fol. 3r a note reads: fra Magnuse Jons syne.
• The AM-slip (f), concerning fol. 4 (put together from strips of parchment) reads: Þetta blad feck eg i sundur|lausum geirum fra landz-|skrifaranum Sigurde Sigurdzsyne 1722.
• In the bottom margin of fol. 10r a note says: fra Sr Þordi Jonssyne | 1707. , this note is repeated in the top margin: fra Sr Þorde |Jonssyne 1707.
• Another note is found at the top of fol. 13r: fra Sigurde Sigurdsyne | ä Firde 1707.
• A fragmentary letter (dated 1700), inserted between fols 15 og 16, tells about ten of the leaves of the manuscript, presumably fols 2, 15-19 and 24-27, which Árni Magnússon acquired in 1701: bld tyu eignadest | eg J sumar in folio og stőru former Hvar a er 1/2 blad | um Pysl Sophiæ og hennar þriggia dætra Fidei, Spei et Charita-|tis under og af Adriano Romverskum Keysara. Katrinar sa-|ga 3 1/2 blad. deest initium. Af Martha og Maria Magdalena | 2 1/2 blad incomplet. 13 lynur ur Agnesar sógu, ad eg meina. | Agathæ saga 1 1/2 blad, complet, ad synist. Upphaf Margretar sógu, | Nærre eitt blad. i.e. 1/2 Joh. Baptistæ idranar predikan mikid amplificerud, 1 blad: Mun vera ur hans sógu. Mier hefur lofad ve-|red meira af þeßum blódum ef fst kinne.
• According to AM-slip (i) Árni Magnússon acquired fols 20-23 in 1704 fra Sr Olafi Stephanssyne, enn hann seigest hafa fund-|ed þau i druslum  Mdru|vllum i Eyafirde (nimirum | Birns Magnussonar).
• And fols 28-29 fra profastinum Sr Þorsteine Ketilssyne 1727.

• Plate, plate 116, s.d.
• Plate, plate 109, s.d. (supplementary photographs of fols 5r, 26v, 28r and 28v. The pictures were taken when the old cloth strips were still attached to the manuscript).
• 70 mm, 70mm 196, s.d. (supplementary photographs of fols 16r-19r).
• Black and white prints from júní 1965 (of plate 116).

Parchment.

• The opening initial for Jóns saga Baptista, following Bref Grims prests and the prologue on fol. 1vb is a historiated initial A depicting John the Baptist. He is represented with a plain nimbus, is scantily clad and carrying an Agnus Dei. The extender goes down the left margin.
• The opening initial for Maríu saga on fol. 5ra is a historiated D showing the crowned Virgin as the Queen of Heaven, seated on a throne with the child on her right arm and the index finger of her left hand pointing towards his forehead. She is surrounded by her parents, Joachim and Anna, one on each side of her. All three of them are represented with nimbuses.

Parchment.

• The saga Fídesar saga, Spesar ok Karítasar starts on fol. 15va with the historiated initial Þ representing the three female saints; Fides, Spes and Caritas and Emperor Hadrian seated below on his throne. In front of Hadrian the executioner, a miniature person with his sword raised over his shoulder is seen. The extender goes down the margin.
• The beginning of the second chapter of Marthe saga ok Marie Magdalene on fol. 19va starts with the historiated initial A representing Maria Magdalena and Martha with their dead brother Lazarus between them. The extender ends in a foliate motive runs down the left side of the margin.
• The opening initial for Agathu saga meyjar on fol. 26ra is a historiated initial K representing St. Agatha holding a large pinchers with her cut-off breasts in front of herself.

Parchment.