Íslenzk tunga - 01.01.1963, Blaðsíða 124
HREINN BENEDIKTSSON
A Note on Gks 1812 4°
Section IV (pp. 47-—68, 11 leaves) of the Codex 1812 4° in the
Old Royal Collection of the Royal Library, Copenhagen, is, it is
well-known, among the earliest Icelandic manuscripts extant. It is
considered to have been written at the end of the twelfth century.1
This section has generally been considered to be the work of one
hand.2 Recently, however, F. W. Blaisdell, Jr., has suggested that this
part was written by two hands, which in what follows will be de-
signated I and II.3 According to Blaisdell, there is “a sharp break
between pages 50 and 51 both in the context and in the color of the
ink, which suddenly becomes very much darker on page 51.”4 There
1 Possibly about 1192; see N. Beckman, “Islándsk och medeltida skandina-
visk tiderákning,” Tiderakningen (Nordisk Kultur, vol. XXI; Stockholm, Oslo
and Copenhagen 1934), pp. 13—14.
2 See, e. g., Jón Sigurðsson, Diplomatarium lslandicum — íslenzkt jornbréfa-
safn, vol. I (Copenhagen 1857—76), p. 181; L. Larsson, Aldsta delen aj Cod.
1812 4‘° Gml. kgl. samling p& Kgl. biblioteket i Kflbenhavn (Samfund til Ud-
givelse af gammel nordisk Litteratur, vol. IX; Copenhagen 1883), p. ii; Kr.
Kálund, Katalog over de oldnorsk-islandske H&ndskrijter i det store kongelige
Bibliotek (Copenhagen 1900), p. 41; H. Spehr, Der ursprung der islándischen
schrift und ihre weiterbildung bis zur mitte des 13. jahrhunderts (Halle (Saale)
1929), p. 125.
3 “Some Notes on Gks. 1812 4°,” Opuscula, vol. I (Bibliotheca Arnamagnæ-
ana, vol. XX; Copenhagen 1960), pp. 300—306. — Blaisdell further refers to
A. Holtsmark, En islandsk scholasticus jra det 12. árhundre (Skrifter utgitt av
Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi i Oslo. II. IIist.-Filos. Klasse. 1936. No. 3;
Oslo 1936), p. 12, who appears to agree with the usual assumption of one hand
only, but suggests the possibility of a co-operation between two scribes of the
same school.
4 “Some Notes,” p. 300.