Gripla - 01.01.1982, Síða 193

AN OLD ICELANDIC DIALECT FEATURE 189
Halldórsson 1963:99, 102; ed. Stefán Karlsson 1963:XXXIX; Stefán
Karlsson 1970:127-28), or — at least the annals of 764 — in Möðru-
vallaklaustur, Eyjafjarðarsýsla, northern Iceland (ed. Storm 1888:XX).
Thus 764 is clearly a northern manuscript.
(20) Perg. fol. nr. 5 (bishops’ sagas and other material belonging to
church history). Hand l’s part, of relevance here, can be dated ‘with a
high degree of certainty’ to 1350-60 (ed. Stefán Karlsson 1967:47).
The part contains viænan 33ral0, uiænligarr 33rb34. A check of ten
pages before, and ten pages after, 33r, where the above examples occur,
brought no other pertinent material to light. The home of 5 is the
Breiðafjörður region (ed. Stefán Karlsson 1967:46).
(21) Perg. 4:o nr. 16 (Nikuláss saga erkibiskups II; for other ma-
terial see below). Written about 1400 (Gödel). Contains nærliægum
15r2, biæiar 16v29, siækia 23r27, 56r31, biægia 27rl8, liægia 27vl7,
liækium 42r6-7. From inventories and other material written in 16
about 1400 and in the fifteenth century it can be seen that 16 was the
property of the church at Helgastaðir, Reykjadalur, Þingeyjarsýsla,
northern Iceland (Gödel:57, ed. Stefán Karlsson 1963:IL, L), so that
16 is very likely of northern origin.
(22) Lbs. fragm. 5 (fragment of Guðmundar saga). Written in the
middle of the fourteenth century (Jakob Benediktsson 1951:183). Con-
tains vuiæna (=‘úvænna’) 2r29 = 187.12 (the reference is to the
manuscript and to Jakob Benediktsson 1951; cf. also ed. Stefán Karls-
son 1967:24). The hand of 5 is that of Möðruvallabók (Jakob Bene-
diktsson 1951:183), see (14) above, and thus 5 is like the latter of
northern origin.
Conclusions concerning tlie manuscripts that can be located. All in
all twelve manuscripts containing iæ-spellings can be located. Their
contents are typical of Old Icelandic literature: many types of sagas,
among them a number dealing with church history; law texts; annals;
etc. All the manuscripts were written in the middle or in the latter half
of the fourteenth century.
Most instances of iæ-spellings in the twelve manuscripts occur where
stem-initial ‘bæ’ and ‘væ’ would be expected. In fact, ten of the eleven
manuscripts contain such examples only. AM 132 fol. stands apart
with its instance of an iæ-spelling in ‘sæmd’, and Perg. 4:o nr. 16 with
iæ-spellings in ‘(nær)lægr’, ‘lægja’, ‘lækr’, twice ‘sækja’. Thus there are