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on 17 december 1842: “gékk eg at Mælifelli” [I went to Mælifell].92 the
Rev. jón noted in his diary, too, that Gunnlaugur came to visit him, and
furthermore that Gunnlaugur lent him a manuscript in octavo containing
lists of vicars.93 this manuscript could be Lbs 485 8vo, which has the year
1840 on its title page. Lbs 1209 4to, written by the Rev. jón between c.
1830 and 1850,94 contains lists of vicars and other church-related inform-
ation, including an extract of Gunnlaugur’s annals 1601–1800.95 this
signifies that Gunnlaugur was an informant of the Rev. jón and an active
member of the network of scribes and historians of his time. It also proves
that Gunnlaugur was not just influenced by others, but that he also exerted
influence on scribes belonging to his network.
scribal network 4: Influence on others
daði níelsson (1809–52), another lay historian, was in contact with both
the Rev. jón konráðsson and Gunnlaugur. daði is described as a scholar
and poet who wrote a large number of manuscripts.96 After the year 1830
he started to write annals, but gave up around 1835 or ‘36 and started work-
ing on biographies of priests instead.97 daði gave the Rev. jón valuable
information and assistance concerning the biographies of priests in the
northern bishopric of Iceland that the Rev. jón was compiling,98 and the
Rev. jón in return helped daði, for example by lending him books and
manuscripts. In a letter dated 1 August 1840, the Rev. jón asks daði to
return a manuscript that he had lent him.99 In addition, the Rev. jón’s
diary contains notes about books and manuscripts that daði lent him. for
1842, for example, there is an entry about a defective list of vicars in the
see of skálholt that the Rev. jón borrowed.100 Concerning Gunnlaugur,
92 Lbs 1588 8vo, fol. 267v:15.
93 see íB 729 8vo, n.p.
94 see Páll eggert ólason, Skrá um handritasöfn Landsbókasafns, 1:471–72.
95 see Lbs 1209 4to, fols. 54r–65v.
96 see Páll eggert ólason, Íslenzkar æviskrár, 1:303; Skrá um handritasöfn Landsbókasafns,
Hand ritasafn Landsbókasafns: 1. aukabindi; and Lárus H. Blöndal, Handritasafn Landsbóka-
safns: 2. aukabindi.
97 see jón jónsson Aðils, “daði níelsson ‘fróði’. Aldarminning,” Skírnir 84 (1910): 117–37.
98 see jón jónsson Aðils, “daði níelsson ‘fróði’,” 134.
99 the letter is now part of the manuscript Lbs 1236 4to.
100 see íB 729 8vo, n.p.
GunnLAuGuR jónsson fRoM skuGGABjÖRG