Manuscript Detail

Paper.

The manuscript was, for some time, a part of the collection of the Royal Library in Copenhagen, catalogued as NKS 1961 4to. In April 1888, the manuscript was returned to the Arnamagnæan Collection.

• Microfilm from 1959.
• A4-photographs (92%) from December 20, 2005.

Paper with watermark (the coat of arms of Amsterdam).

Modern foliation in pencil. The numbers are not consecutive and have been corrected several times.

• I: fols. 1-10 (1+4, 2+3, 5+10, 6+9, 7+8)
• II: fols. 11-24 (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17+22, 18+21, 19+20, 23, 24)

• The manuscript is written in one column with 25 to 28 lines per page and 11 to 15 words per line.
• The written area measures ca. 150-160 mm x 125-130 mm.
• On fol. 20v, only 9 lines were written. The text, however, continues on fol. 21r.

There are lacunae after fols. 2, 4, 10, 24 and possibly more.

The manuscript is in quite poor condition. The paper is very thin and there are many small holes.

Most leaves show older repairs (with paper and Japanese tissue).

This part of the manuscript was written in chancery script by an unidentified scribe.

There are small initials (1-2 lines).

On fol. 20v, there is some writing consisting of two words, perpendicular to the direction of the text. This could be a name or signature.

An AM-slip (183 mm x 143 mm) in Árni Magnússon's hand is found at the beginning of the manuscript: Fra Monsieur Þorleifi Arasyne til läns 1711. i Augusto.

A later hand has addded No 1 in pencil.

Árni Magnússon received this part from Þorleifur Arason in August 1711.

Paper with watermark.

Modern foliation in pencil. One set of numbers counts 1-4, the other 19-22.

• I: fols. 1-4 (1+4, 2+3)

• The manuscript is written in one column with 22 to 28 lines per page and 11 to 13 words per line.
• The written area measures ca. 140 mm x 115 mm.

The paper is very thin and has many small holes.

There are older repairs.

The same unidentified hand as in the previous part.

Paper with two different watermarks (the coat of arms of Amsterdam and a foolscap).

Modern foliation in pencil.

• I: fols. 1-4 (1+4, 2+3)
• II: fols. 5-8 (5+8, 6+7)
• III: fols. 9-12 (9-12, 10+11)
• IV: fols. 13-16 (13+16, 14+15)
• V: fols. 17-20 (17-20, 18+19)
• VI: fols. 21-24 (21-24, 22+23)

• The manuscript is written in one column with 35 to 42 lines per page and 13 to 18 words per line.
• The written area measures ca. 170-180 mm x 130-140 mm.

The paper is thin and has many small holes.

There are older repairs and many stains.

Written in a hybrid script which has been identified as Steindór Ormsson's hand.

There are decorated initials of varying size (1-9) at the beginning of the chapters.

On fol. 24v a large decorated initial ("I") marking the beginning of a new text is found. Unlike the text, the initial is not crossed-out. Its size corresponds to 9 lines of text. An almost identical initial is found at the same location in AM 779 c III 4to (30v).

An AM-slip (194 mm x 147 mm) in Árni Magnússon's hand is pasted to the first page of the manuscript. It says: Grænlands=chronica utlögd af Jone Olafssyne Ost=india=fara. Below, another hand added: Ur bök i 4to sem Eg keypte 1710. af Jörunne i ytra Hiardardal i Önundar firde, konu Jons Steindorssonar yngra. Er med hende Steindors Ormssonar. A.M.

A later hand has added No 2 in pencil.

Árni Magnússon bought the manuscript from Jórunn, Jón Steindórsson's widow, in 1710.

Paper with different watermarks.

Modern pencil foliation.

• I: fols. 1-5 (1+2, 3+4, 5)
• II: fols. 6-13 (6+13, 7+12, 8+11, 9+10)
• III: fols. 14-21 (14+21, 15+20, 15+19, 17+18)
• IV: fols. 22-30 (22+29, 23+28, 24+27, 25+26, 30)

• The manuscript is written in one column with 30 to 33 lines per page and 13 to 15 words per line.
• The written area measures ca. 165 mm x 130 mm.

The paper is thin and has many small holes.

There are older repairs and many stains.

On fol. 1r and 30v the end and beginning of other texts than Grænlands Chronica are crossed out.

The manuscript was written in a kurrent script, probably by Jón Torfason.

There are decorated initials of varying size (2-7 lines) at the beginning of the chapters.

On fol. 30v a large decorated initial ("I"), taking up seven lines, is marking the beginning of a new text. An almost identical initial is found at the same passage of text in AM 779 c II 4to (24v).

• On AM-slip a (193 mm x 154 mm): Grænlands-chronika utlögd ur þeirre Dönsku af Jone Olafs syne ost-india fara. A later hand has added No 4 in pencil.
• AM-slip b (98 mm x 70 mm): Min. feingen fra Stad i Sugandafirdi.

It is unknown when Árni Magnússon acquired the manuscript, but he received it from Staður in Sugandafjörður (see the second AM-slip).

Paper with a large ornamented watermark.

Modern foliation in pencil.

• I: fols. 1-8 (1+8, 2+7, 3+6, 4+5)
• II: fols. 9-16 (9+16, 10+15, 11+14, 12+13)
• III: fols. 17-22 (17+22, 18+21, 19+20)

• The manuscript is written in one column with 27 to 31 lines per page and 14 to 17 words per line.
• The written area measures ca. 170 mm x 130 mm.

There are older repairs and many stains.

Written in a kurrent script by Halldór Guðmundsson á Sílastöðum.

There are decorated initials of varying size (1-3 lines) at the beginning of the chapters.

Parts of the rubrics are written in red ink.

There is a small tail-piece at the end of the text.

At least one later hand added underlinings to the text and markers in the outer margins.

An AM-slip (195 mm x 160 mm) in Árni Magnússon's hand is found at the beginning of the manuscript: Ur bok Sera Þorsteinskels Oddz sonar i Bæ, og heyrer honum til, ä eg og at lata þad festa til samans aptur.

A later hand has added No 5 in pencil.

Árni Magnússon received the manuscript as part of a larger codex from Jón Torfason. Initially, this was a loan, but in 1721 he became the owner of the manuscript (cf. the AM-slip belonging to AM 779 c V 4to).

Paper with watermark.

Modern foliation in pencil.

• I: fols. 1-8 (1+8, 2+7, 3+6, 4+5)
• II: fols. 9-16 (9+16, 10+15, 11+14, 12+13)
• III: fols. 17-20 (17+20, 18+19)
• IV: fols. 21-26 (21, 22, 23+26, 24+25)

• The manuscript is written in one column with 24 to 28 lines per page and 13 to 15 words per line.
• The written area measures ca. 170 mm x 140 mm.

Older repairs and stains throughout.

Written in kurrent script by an unidentified scribe.

There are larger decorated chapter initials (3-5).

At the end of the text, there are three small tail-pieces.

There are some additions in the margins and on fol. 26v in brown ink. The ink is smeared, so the additions are now illegible.

An AM-slip (190 mm x 153 mm) in Árni Magnússon's hand, kept with the manuscript, reads: Grænlandz-Kronika | Ur bok Sera Jons Torfasonar ä Breidabolstad, og heyrir honum til nu 1721 hun mier til.

A later hand wrote No 7 in pencil onto the AM-slip.

Another hand wrote 5 in black ink onto the AM-slip.

Árni Magnússon borrowed the manuscript as part of a larger codex from Þorkell Oddsson in Gaulverjabær (cf. the AM-slip of AM 779 c IV 4to).