Gripla - 20.12.2013, Blaðsíða 252

GRIPLA252
judging from the codicological and palaeographical evidence, Gunn-
laugur jónsson did not write his diary entries every day, but rather, once a
year. the script and colour of ink are consistent within the annual entries.
It therefore seems likely that he jotted down notes every day or every few
days somewhere else, perhaps in a notebook, printed almanac or any scrap
of paper that was at hand. unfortunately nothing of this kind is extant. It
also seems possible that he did not start this manuscript in 1801, but rather
a few years later, and copied somebody else’s weather notes for the first
few years in retrospect. there are only three personal entries for the year
1801, three for 1802 and two for 1806. for the years 1807–10, the only
personal notes that Gunnlaugur kept are his descriptions of his fishing
trips to the south of Iceland in spring. It is not until 1811 that he starts
writing down information about journeys in his local district or other
personal information. the palaeographichal features suggest that he wrote
the diary over the span of years, but does not allow for a precise dating.
there are several people, contemporaries of Gunnlaugur, who kept
similar almanac-diaries and who could have inspired him to keep his own,
although it ought to be mentioned that keeping a diary was, while not
as usual as today, not uncommon in the eighteenth and nineteenth cent-
uries. Printed Icelandic almanacs were available already at the end of the
sixteenth century, and personal diaries developed from almanacs with
information about the weather.71 In the eighteenth and nineteenth cent-
uries it was mostly clergymen and officials who kept diaries, usually in the
form of almanacs with short entries.72 there are, however, a large number
of extant diaries written by laymen, without an official post.73
It is possible that Gunnlaugur used the diary of jón espólín, Lbs
696 8vo, as inspiration. jón espólín started his diary in 1797, when he
was still in the West of Iceland, and usually wrote one line of notes per
day, although not for every day. the entries are about the weather, farm-
ing and guests and include symbols for moon phases and references
to other entries, but no calendar. He wrote his entries every day, as
codicological and palaeographic evidence, such as individual letter shapes
and ink colour, prove. He also included lists of deceased persons, sorted
71 see davíð ólafsson, “Bækur lífsins,” 76 and 82.
72 see davíð ólafsson, “Bækur lífsins,” 83.
73 see davíð ólafsson, “Bækur lífsins,” 87.