Gripla - 20.12.2012, Blaðsíða 212
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eiríkur auðgi’s brother-in-law and a powerful farmer and lawman in the
north of Iceland, may have commissioned the writing of Möðruvallabók,
due to their connections to the influential Möðruvellingar and urðamenn
families, which according to Müller are highlighted in the various texts
preserved in the manuscript.30 Magnús Björnsson was the son of Björn
Benediktsson31 and his wife elín Pálsdóttir. elín was the daughter of
Helga Aradóttir (granddaughter of Bishop jón Arason) and her husband
Páll jónsson of the svalbarð family, who was related in turn to eiríkur auð-
gi Magnússon and Þorsteinn eyjólfsson through his mother Ragnheiður
Pétursdóttir á rauðum sokkum (Fig. 1).32
sigurjón Páll ísaksson argues that if Magnús Björnsson is referring
to Möðruvellir in Hörgárdalur in his marginal note in AM 132 fol., then
Magnús potentially received Möðruvallabók from Halldór ólafsson,
son of Magnús’ aunt Þórunn Benediktsdóttir (Fig. 1). Halldór moved to
the cloister at Möðruvellir in 1627, where his and Magnús’ grandfather
Benedikt Halldórsson had been county magistrate and manager. According
to sigurjón Páll ísaksson, Halldór may have received Möðruvallabók as
an heirloom either from his parents or in-laws.33 Halldór’s wife Halldóra
jónsdóttir was the granddaughter of Björn jónsson (son of Bishop jón
Arason) and his concubine steinunn jónsdóttir of the svalbarð family.
Like Magnús Björnsson, Halldóra is directly related to eiríkur auðgi
Magnússon and Þorsteinn eyjólfsson (Fig. 1).
einar ól. sveinsson, however, maintains that Magnús Björnsson more
likely wrote the marginal note at Möðruvellir in eyjafjörður.34 this estate
30 Claudia Müller, Erzähltes Wissen. Die Isländersagas in der Möðruvallabók (AM 132 fol.),
texte und untersuchungen zur Germanistik und skandinavistik 47 (frankfurt am Main:
Peter Lang, 2001), 223–224. Müller mistakenly calls Þorsteinn eiríkur’s son-in-law (Ibid.,
224), but Þorsteinn was married to eiríkur auðgi’s sister Arnþrúður Magnúsdóttir.
31 Björn Benediktsson was related to Björn Þorleifsson riddari, since one of his female ance-
stors, Þuríður Björnsdóttir, was an illegitimate child of Björn Þorleifsson and an unknown
concubine (see fig. 1).
32 eiríkur auðgi Magnússon’s granddaughter sigríður Björnsdóttir, married Þorsteinn eyj-
ólfsson’s grandson Þorsteinn ólafsson. Ragnheiður Pétursdóttir á rauðum sokkum was,
therefore, related to Þorsteinn eyjólfsson through her maternal and to eiríkur auðgi both
through her maternal and paternal side of the family (see fig. 1). for more biographical
information on Magnús Björnsson, see sigurjón Páll ísaksson, “Magnús Björnsson og
Möðru vallabók,” 136–147; cf. fn. 13.
33 for more details on Halldór’s family and in-laws, see Ibid., 130–133.
34 einar ól sveinsson, “Introduction,” 22.