Distributed for Museum Tusculanum Press
Sixty-Six Manuscripts From the Arnamagnæan Collection
This volume commemorates the three-hundred-fiftieth anniversary of the birth of the Icelandic scholar and antiquarian Árni Magnússon, who served as secretary of the Royal Archives and professor of Danish antiquities at the University of Copenhagen, in addition to building the most important collection of early Scandinavian manuscripts in existence. The book presents descriptions of sixty-six manuscripts from the collection, one for each year of Magnusson’s life, complemented by high-quality color photographs, a comprehensive introduction to Magnússon’s life, and a chapter on book production in the medieval period.
248 pages | 154 color plates, 5 halftones | 7 1/2 x 9 3/4 | © 2014
Literature and Literary Criticism: Germanic Languages
Table of Contents
Manuscripts on the brain—Árni Magnússon, collector
Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir
Codex Wormianus—Nordic mythology
Peter Springborg
Eddic poems and skaldic learning
GudrúnNordal
Edda oblongata
Margrét Eggertsdóttir
A short history of the kings of Norway
Matthew Driscoll
The oldest saga in Iceland—Oddr Snorrason’s saga of Olaf Tryggvason
Annette Lassen
Codex Frisianus
Jonna Louis-Jensen
A fragment of the younger redaction of the lost Skjöldunga saga
Annette Lassen
The first steps of a scholar
Tereza Lansing
A divided codex
Silvia Hufnagel
The oldest fragment of an Íslendingasaga
Alex Speed Kjeldsen
Kentill Jörundsson’s copy of Egils saga
Margrét Eggertsdóttir
Egill Skallagrímsson’s new clothes
Svanhildur Óskarsdottir
Yeykjabók—Njáls saga’s many travels
Ellert Por Jóhannsson
From Gísla saga to dust-jacket
Pórdur Ingi Gudjónsson
The book of Mödruvellir
Gudvardur Már Gunnlaugsson
Brothers in arms
Jóhanna Katrín Fridriksdóttir
The book of Reykjarfjördur
Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
A bishop’s sagas
Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
The book of Icelanders
Margrét Eggertsdóttir
Hauksbók
Emily Lethbridge
Universal history for nuns
Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir
A map of Jerusalem
Soffía Gudny Gudmundsdóttir
A world chronicle in a pastoral manual
Sverrir Tómasson
A handbook for a prince
Jeffrey S. Love
King Magnus the Lawmender’s Code
Vidar Pálsson
AM 28 8vo—Codex runicus
Britta Olrik Frederiksen
The archiepiscopal see’s law code
Britta Olrik Frederiksen
Jyske Lov in folio-format
Britta Olrik Frederiksen
Commonwealth law
Vidar Pálsson
Ancient annals
Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
Ivar Bårdsson’s description of Greenland
Matthew Driscoll
Chronicon Skibyense
Contemporary history from the time of the Danish reformation
Anne Mette Hansen
Helga’s book—catholic songs and Lutheran hymns
Gudrún Nordal
Bishop Gissur Einarsson’s cartulary
Gudvardur Már Gunnlaugsson
The Icelandic land register
Sigurgeir Steingrímsson
A handful of charters
Norwegian crusaders ~ Jeffrey S. Love
Harsh words at Papa stour, anno 1299 ~ Matthew Driscoll
A church charter on a gradual leaf ~ Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
A priest buys land ~ Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
A medieval prenuptial agreement ~ Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
May all good men remember Porbjörg’s soul ~ Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
Title deeds from the St. Clara Convent archive ~ Anne Mette Hansen
Picking up the pieces
Árni Heimir Ingólfsson
The Vatnsfjördur psalter
Jonna Louis-Jensen
The labours of the month
Jeffrey S. Love
Finding the Sunday letter
Hallgrínmur J. Ámundason
The troll-wife’s calendar
Svanhildur Gunnardsóttir
Uncanny beasts
Svanhildur Gunnardsóttir
The Icelandic model book
Soffía Gudny Gudmundsdóttir
Old homilies
Haraldur Bernhardsson
Stjórn, the Old Testament in Old Norse
Haraldur Bernhardsson
A Spanish rarity
Matthew Driscoll
Plácitus drápa—the Oldest preserved copy of a drápa
Jonna Louis-Jensen
Miracles and saints’ lives
Simonetta Battista
The office of St. Porlákr
Árni Heimir Ingólfsson
The saga of St. Nicholas
Sverrir Tómasson
The legend of St. Margaret
Ludger Zeevaert
Kirkjubæjarbók—a picket-sized female legendary
Simonetta Battista
Roman wars on Icelandic vellum
Porbjorg Helgadóttir
Alexanders saga—Alexander the great in Icelandic
Alex Speed Kjeldsen
Charles the great and other champions of the church in Iceland around 1500
Christopher Sanders
Codex Askabyensis
Britta Olrik Frederiksen
From a bishop’s mitre
Peter Springborg
Censored
Sverrir Tómasson
A book of rhymes the thickness of a handbreadth
Rosa Pórsteindóttir
Remembrance of music past
Árni Heimir Ingólfsson
A schoolteacher’s handbook?
Britta Olrik Frederiksen
Cousin Gudlaug’s calendar
Gudrún Ingólfsdóttir
Life at Árni Magnússon’s childhood home
Margrét Eggertsdóttir
The Arnamagnæan leechbook
Anne Mette Hansen
Marine Jespersdatter’s prayer book
Anne Mette Hansen
A book of verse from vigor
Dórunn Sigurdardóttir
Book production in the Middle Ages
Soffía Gudny Gudmundsdóttir and Laufey Gudnadóttir (with Anne Mette Hansen)
Afterword
Index of manuscripts
List of citations
List of illustrations
Index of persons
Index of titles
Contributors
Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir
Codex Wormianus—Nordic mythology
Peter Springborg
Eddic poems and skaldic learning
GudrúnNordal
Edda oblongata
Margrét Eggertsdóttir
A short history of the kings of Norway
Matthew Driscoll
The oldest saga in Iceland—Oddr Snorrason’s saga of Olaf Tryggvason
Annette Lassen
Codex Frisianus
Jonna Louis-Jensen
A fragment of the younger redaction of the lost Skjöldunga saga
Annette Lassen
The first steps of a scholar
Tereza Lansing
A divided codex
Silvia Hufnagel
The oldest fragment of an Íslendingasaga
Alex Speed Kjeldsen
Kentill Jörundsson’s copy of Egils saga
Margrét Eggertsdóttir
Egill Skallagrímsson’s new clothes
Svanhildur Óskarsdottir
Yeykjabók—Njáls saga’s many travels
Ellert Por Jóhannsson
From Gísla saga to dust-jacket
Pórdur Ingi Gudjónsson
The book of Mödruvellir
Gudvardur Már Gunnlaugsson
Brothers in arms
Jóhanna Katrín Fridriksdóttir
The book of Reykjarfjördur
Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
A bishop’s sagas
Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
The book of Icelanders
Margrét Eggertsdóttir
Hauksbók
Emily Lethbridge
Universal history for nuns
Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir
A map of Jerusalem
Soffía Gudny Gudmundsdóttir
A world chronicle in a pastoral manual
Sverrir Tómasson
A handbook for a prince
Jeffrey S. Love
King Magnus the Lawmender’s Code
Vidar Pálsson
AM 28 8vo—Codex runicus
Britta Olrik Frederiksen
The archiepiscopal see’s law code
Britta Olrik Frederiksen
Jyske Lov in folio-format
Britta Olrik Frederiksen
Commonwealth law
Vidar Pálsson
Ancient annals
Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
Ivar Bårdsson’s description of Greenland
Matthew Driscoll
Chronicon Skibyense
Contemporary history from the time of the Danish reformation
Anne Mette Hansen
Helga’s book—catholic songs and Lutheran hymns
Gudrún Nordal
Bishop Gissur Einarsson’s cartulary
Gudvardur Már Gunnlaugsson
The Icelandic land register
Sigurgeir Steingrímsson
A handful of charters
Norwegian crusaders ~ Jeffrey S. Love
Harsh words at Papa stour, anno 1299 ~ Matthew Driscoll
A church charter on a gradual leaf ~ Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
A priest buys land ~ Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
A medieval prenuptial agreement ~ Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
May all good men remember Porbjörg’s soul ~ Gudrún Ása Grímsdóttir
Title deeds from the St. Clara Convent archive ~ Anne Mette Hansen
Picking up the pieces
Árni Heimir Ingólfsson
The Vatnsfjördur psalter
Jonna Louis-Jensen
The labours of the month
Jeffrey S. Love
Finding the Sunday letter
Hallgrínmur J. Ámundason
The troll-wife’s calendar
Svanhildur Gunnardsóttir
Uncanny beasts
Svanhildur Gunnardsóttir
The Icelandic model book
Soffía Gudny Gudmundsdóttir
Old homilies
Haraldur Bernhardsson
Stjórn, the Old Testament in Old Norse
Haraldur Bernhardsson
A Spanish rarity
Matthew Driscoll
Plácitus drápa—the Oldest preserved copy of a drápa
Jonna Louis-Jensen
Miracles and saints’ lives
Simonetta Battista
The office of St. Porlákr
Árni Heimir Ingólfsson
The saga of St. Nicholas
Sverrir Tómasson
The legend of St. Margaret
Ludger Zeevaert
Kirkjubæjarbók—a picket-sized female legendary
Simonetta Battista
Roman wars on Icelandic vellum
Porbjorg Helgadóttir
Alexanders saga—Alexander the great in Icelandic
Alex Speed Kjeldsen
Charles the great and other champions of the church in Iceland around 1500
Christopher Sanders
Codex Askabyensis
Britta Olrik Frederiksen
From a bishop’s mitre
Peter Springborg
Censored
Sverrir Tómasson
A book of rhymes the thickness of a handbreadth
Rosa Pórsteindóttir
Remembrance of music past
Árni Heimir Ingólfsson
A schoolteacher’s handbook?
Britta Olrik Frederiksen
Cousin Gudlaug’s calendar
Gudrún Ingólfsdóttir
Life at Árni Magnússon’s childhood home
Margrét Eggertsdóttir
The Arnamagnæan leechbook
Anne Mette Hansen
Marine Jespersdatter’s prayer book
Anne Mette Hansen
A book of verse from vigor
Dórunn Sigurdardóttir
Book production in the Middle Ages
Soffía Gudny Gudmundsdóttir and Laufey Gudnadóttir (with Anne Mette Hansen)
Afterword
Index of manuscripts
List of citations
List of illustrations
Index of persons
Index of titles
Contributors