Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags

						56                                                                         ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS

style" in her recent great work on Icelandic woodcarving (Bibliotheca Arnamagnæ-

ana, Suppl. V—VI, Copenhagen 1967). To quote Dr. Mageroy: „The expression „Ice-

landic style" denotes a characteristic plant ornamentation which remained oddly

unchanged for centuries. Typical features are that the branches roll up into more or

less complete spirals, and that the small branches cut across the bigger and

curl around them. There are often animals amongst the scrolls. The leaves

are small with several lobes, and are often numerous. A three-lobed leaf is

very common, the middle lobe being broad and rounded, the two outer ones

narrower and more pointed. This type of leaf occurs on both the Grund chairs.

These apart, there is no ornamentation in „Icelandic style" in pre-Reformation

woodwork, though it occurs on drinking horns, textiles and not least among the

miniatures in manuscripts". The absence of the „Icelandic style" in woodcarving

is certainly due to the almost complete lack of preserved woodwork from the 14th

and 15th centuries. Dr. Mageroy did not know any piece which could be dated to the

15th century. The newly discovered fragment from Skjaldfönn helps to fill this

gap since it in all likelihood should be dated to that period. The closest parallels

to the carving are among the drawings in the famous sketchbook in the Arna-

magnaean Collection, a work very likely to be dated to the first half of the 15th

century. The panel shows that the „Icelandic style" was no less fit for decora-

tions on wood than other materials. Though the panel was discovered on an ordinary

farm, the thing of which it is a fragment must certainly originally have belonged

to some rich place, such as for instance Vatnsfjörður.

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