Íslenzk tunga - 01.01.1964, Page 36

34
ANTHONY FAULKES
The Preliminary Editing by Jón Magnússon. At the time of
Magnús’ death in 1636, the glossary seems to have been more or less
incomplete, and it was finished, and a fair copy made, by his suc-
cessor at Laufás, Jón Magnússon. It is uncertain precisely how much
J ón added to it, but his letters from this time complaining of ill-health
suggest that he in fact did little more than just copy it. One install-
ment was sent to Copenhagen in August 1638, consisting of the letters
A-S. A contemporary letter from Magnús’ son Benedikt states that
there remained the letters T, U, Æ, and Þ (ibid., 101). Jón sent the
rest of the glossary in August 1639, but it would seem that the letter
Æ was never sent, for there are no words under this letter in SLR.3
The Transcript in DG 55. Both Magnús’ draft and Jón’s fair copy
are now lost, but some idea of their form can be obtained from DG
55, which is a copy of the glossary which St. J. Stephanius (1599—■
1650) had made for his own personal use.4 This MS is entitled
Glossarium Priscœ Linguæ Danicœ and is dated “Anno MDCXXX-
VI”, but this date must have been copied from the original MS, which
Jón Magnússon wrote in that year. It can be seen from Stephanius’
letters that he had the glossary in his possession in May 1639, and
again in 1641 (ibid., 347 and 351), and it is probable that he had the
copy made in the latter year, although it may have been begun when
he first borrowed it, and then completed the second time.5
3 There is one word beginning with Æ, Æs, under A on p. 13, but this was
probably added to the glossary in Copenhagen (see below pp. 40 and 108).
4 It is usually assumed that this manuscript was actually written hy Step-
hanius (cf. Apographum Donationis Testamentariœ qua ... Dn. Magnus Gabriel
de la Gardie ... legavit ... (Holmiæ 1672), under item LV: “Glossarium priscæ
linguæ Danicæ confectum a Magno Olai____et manu Stephanii descriptum.”
See also Gödel’s catalogue p. 24), but it is in two hands. The first covers the
letters A and B, and the second the rest of the glossary. According to Kálund’s
catalogue, AM 291 fol. was writlen hy Stephanius, but thc handwriting of this
MS does not correspond to either hand in DG 55.1 have not had the opportunity
of comparing DG 55 with any other specimens of Stephanius’ liand.
5 The inclusion of the entry under Vijglysing in an appendix to DG 55