Gripla - 20.12.2009, Blaðsíða 190
GRIPLA190
making is the plan of jerusalem.14 It is quite astonishing that out of 15
maps of Jerusalem that survive worldwide from the Middle Ages, three
come from Iceland, and these are practically identical to the flemish source
of all those 15 plans, namely Lambert of St. omer’s mighty encyclopedia
Liber floridus – which I believe was the model for Hauksbók.15
When it comes to the more obscure sides of the Medieval world view,
Iceland was certainly not behind in soaking up knowledge which was fash
ionable and up to date in western Europe, even if it was of limited value to
Icelanders (or humanity as such). Teratology, the lore of the wonderful as
represented by the socalled Marvels of the east, reached Iceland as early
as the 12th century, and the Icelanders showed their characteristic lack of
exact discrimination between the simply odd, like the elephant (as depicted
twice in the Old Icelandic Physiologus in AM 673 a 4to, 7r–7v),16 or the
absolutely fictitious, like various types of fabulous creatures, both zoomor
phic and anthropomorphic.17 As is well known, one of these men even
made it into Eiríks saga rauða, obviously to prove the fact that vinland did
indeed extend from Africa, a point made in the short cosmography in AM
736 I 4to (written around 1300).18
This extensive cosmographical knowledge of the Icelanders extended
even to mythical creatures from Greek and Latin mythography, which is
hardly surprising, seeing that this clerical culture permeated all areas of life.
these depictions are not limited to their representation as the symbols of
the zodiac (as in AM 249 b fol, or in GkS 1812 4to, 3r ff), but are also
found in other contexts outside mere astronomical interpretations of
mythological figures (cf. GkS 1812 4to, 3v).
14 Rudolf Simek, “Hierusalem civitas famosissima. Die erhaltenen fassungen des hoch
mittelalterlichen Situs Jerusalem (mit Abbildungen zur gesamten handschriftlichen Über
lieferung),” Codices manuscripti 16 (1992) [1995]: 121–153.
15 Rudolf Simek, “Warum sind Völuspá und Merlínuspá in der Hauksbók überliefert?” Deutsch
Nordische Begegnungen. 9. Arbeitstagung der Skandinavisten des deutschen Sprachgebiets 1989 in
Svendborg (odense, 1991), 104–115.
16 The Icelandic Physiologus, ed. by Halldór Hermannsson. Islandica. 27. (Ithaca, New York:
Cornell univ. Library, 1938; reprint: kraus Reprints, 1966).
17 Rudolf Simek, “Wunder des nordens. einfoetingar, Hornfinnar, Hundingjar und ver
wandte,” triuwe. Studien zur Sprachgeschichte und Literaturwissenschaft. Gedächtnisbuch für
Elfriede Stutz, ed. by Karl-Friedrich Kraft, Eva-Maria Lill and Ute Schwab. Heidelberger
Bibliotheksschriften 47 (Heidelberg: Winter 1992), 69–90.
18 Rudolf Simek, Altnordische Kosmographie, 429–432.