Íslenzk tunga - 01.01.1964, Síða 55

THE SOURCES OF SPECIMEN LEXICI RUNICI
53
exact in his transcription of quotations. Very often only the words
immediately surrounding the word under discussion are given, while
the rest of the sentence is paraphrased, and sometimes words and
phrases are omitted to make the quotation shorter. Sometimes it is al-
most certain that the quotations have been made from memory, and
not checked with the MSS at all, giving rise to some confusing mis-
quotations.26
The same inaccuracy obtains with regard to the references to the
sources in SLR (see below pp. 113—114 and the list which follows).
There are many quotations which are attributed to the wrong sources,
e. g. those from Laxdæla Saga. In the only case where the chapter
number of the source of a quotation is given (p. 111, s. v. Sax, see p.
45 above), it is wrong. But in this case the error is not due to Magnús
Ólafsson.
Besides this inaccuracy, the spelling of the quotations is always
given according to the conventions of the 17th century, and no at-
tempt is made to reproduce the spelling of the MSS.27
As a result, no conclusions can be drawn from the spelling of the
quotations, nor from the omission of words or phrases which occur
in the MSS. Only where there is a sufficient number of quotations
from a single source is it possible to be certain about what manu-
script was used.
SUMMARY OF THE SOURCES OF THE GlOSSARY. The following is a
brief summary of the sources used for the quotations in SLR, as de-
26 See especially the quotations from Njáls Saga and the Lawbooks. The inac-
curacy of the quotations is best illustrated by the cases where the same passage
is quoted twice in different parts of the glossary, e. g. s. v. Arinliaukr (p. 8) and
Lyngve (p. 73), from Egla 81, verse; s. v. At temia (p. 126) and Skap (p. 115)
from Egla 50; s. v. Afbragd manna (p. 3) and Mikilsvijfur i Skape (p. 85),
from Grettla 104—105; s. v. Apturgongu menn (p. 7) and Ofagnadar kraptur
(p. 95), from Grettla 121; s. v. Qvida (p. 104) and Blendingur (p. 17), from
Grettla 204, verse.
27 This is made clear by the quotations from vellum MSS, e. g. those from
Orkneyinga Saga and Óláfs Saga Helga. The spelling of these does not differ
from that of the quotations from paper MSS.