Manuscript Detail

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hauksbók was written in Iceland and Norway in the period 1290-1360. Most of the manuscript was written in Iceland by Haukr Erlendsson and other Icelandic scribes, while 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, however, difficult to answer, as medieval sources for the Faroese language are very scanty.

Kristian Kålund ( Katalog 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 January 28, 1302 and October 12, 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 described Hauksbók as a single codex.

• Plate, plade 14, s.d.
• 70 mm, 70mm 196, s.d. (supplementary photograph of fol. 100r).
• Plate, plade 110, s.d. (supplementary photographs of fols 96v-97r).
• Black and white prints from August 11, 1999