Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1976, Qupperneq 160

162
ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
SUMMARY
Notes on remarkable objects in some Icelandic churclies.
The present paper is above all to be looked upon as a presentation of 10
written notes, briefly describing objects in a few Icelandic cburches. The per-
son responsible for these notes is the great collector Árni Magnússon (d. 1730).
They are now preserved in the National Library of Iceland. Three of the notes
are written by Árni himself, but 6 out of the remaining 7 are in the hand-
writing of one of his clerks, Magnús Einarsson (d. 1752), who also is thought
to be responsible for a few drawings, accompanying and completing some of the
notes and giving them a welcome additional value. Together notes and drawings
are of considerable importance, because no less than 8 of the objects described
are no longer existing.
Each item is dealt with separately. First there is a literal transcription of
the written text, whereafter the author comments upon it, in order to elucidate
to some extent various aspects of the object in question. The 10 items are as
f ollows:
1. A wall hanging from Vatnsfjörður church; now lost. The hanging was
probably about 14 m long and 85—90 cm wide, made of linen, with 25 printed
and painted figures of holy men, Christ in the middle, on his right side the 12
apostles, on his left two Icelandic and two Norwegian saints, plus 8 wellknown
personalities from the Old Testament. The hanging was probably from the be-
ginning of the 16th century, made in Northern Germany or the Netherlands,
but based on an iconographical program dictated by an Icelandic buyer.-----------
Quite naturally Árni Magnússon’s attention was directed towards the four
Nordic saints. Therefore he asked his clerk Magnús to make the drawings of
them only, see pp. 126—129. Next to Christ is S. Torlacus, i. e. bishop Þorlákr
Þórhallsson of Skálholt, locally canonized in 1199, properly called the national
saint of the Icelanders. Next to him is S. Iohanes, i. e. bishop Jón Ögmundarson
of Hólar, the other Icelandic saint, locally canonized in 1200. The third person is
S. Alauus, whose identity might very well be controversial, but almost inevi-
tably he must be the missionary king Ólafr (Áleifr) Tryggvason, in spite of
the fact that he never reached the status of a saint and consequently is practi-
cally never shown as such in Scandinavian iconography. However, it should be
kept in mind that this king enjoyed great popularity in Iceland, even more than
in his homeland Norway. The last one of the four is S. Olauus, easily recogniz-
able as king Ólafr Haraldsson, St. Olav, the great national saint of Noi*way, also
much worshipped in Iceland and patron saint of numerous Icelandic churches,
among them Vatnsfjörður church.---------Wall hangings are very often referred
to in the mediaeval inventories of Icelandic churches. Hardly any of them have
survived. The note and drawings, presented here, are therefore of particularly
great interest.
2. An altarpiece (triptych) from Vatnsfjörður church; now lost. The altar-
piece was richly gilt and painted, with a crueifixion group on the central panel,