Gripla - 20.12.2014, Page 73

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6. Arngrims Annaler
storm mentions that that there once existed a copy of the b version of the
annals associated with Arngrímur Jónsson, which came into the possession
of ole Worm when Arngrímur sent it to him.41 I would like to concentrate
on these elusive Arngrims annaler, which Storm mentions but does not of-
fer further identifying information for, giving no shelf mark or library.
In his discussion of the lost annals manuscript b, storm mentions that
“A slightly older copy of the lost annals was already previously made at
the initiative of Arngrímur Jónsson. Arngrímur’s copy came to Denmark
by c. 1635–40. ole Worm owned it in 1641… and his son Willum Worm
gave it [i.e., the copy] to P. resen, whose books they had in the old uni-
versity library; in resen’s Bibliotheca they are found (after p. 129) in Caps.
VI ord. III in Qvarto no. 13 under the title: ‘Annales ex Boreali Islandia
transmissi per Arngrimum jonam Islandum.’”42 Peder Hansen Resen,
a scholar and jurist (1625–88), donated his extensive library to the old
university library in Copenhagen, enriching their collection of law books
and books on Nordic antiquities.43 the collection was destroyed in the
library fire of 1728, and it seems that storm came to the natural conclu-
sion that ole Worm’s copy of the northern annals burned with it, along
with so many other books. Jakob Benediktsson, who edited the letters
between ole Worm and Arngrímur, came to a similar conclusion. He
states that ole Worm owned two copies of Icelandic annals; one of these
is now AM 414 4to, but the other copy, which Arngrímur had sent to him,
Arnamagnæan collection had one leaf of these annals, which is now lost]; Islandske Annaler,
xxviii.
41 Islandske Annaler, xxxi.
42 “En lidt ældre Afskrift af de tabte Annaler var allerede tidligere taget paa foranstaltning
af Arngrim Jonsson. Arngrims Afskrift kom allerede c. 1635−40 til Danmark. ole Worm
ejede dem i 1641... og hans Son Willum Worm forærede dem til P. resen, med hvis Bøger
de havnede i det gamle universitetsbibliothek; i resens Bibliothek fandtes de (efter p. 129)
i Caps. VI ord. III in Qvarto no. 13 under titelen: ‘Annales ex Boreali Islandia transmissi
per Arngrimum jonam Islandum.’” Islandske Annaler, xxxi.
43 Harald Ilsøe, “Peder resens nordiske bibliotek katalog, bibliografi og boghandel i sidste
halvdel af 1600 tallet,” Fund og Forskning 30 (1991):27−28. the entry in resen’s Bibliotheca
is on p. 130 no. 13, grouped with a number of Icelandic texts, including another annals ma-
nuscript: Peder Johannes resen, Bibliotheca Regiæ Academiæ Hafniensi Donata cui præfixa
est ejusdem resenii vita (Copenhagen, 1685).
BEInECKE MAnuSCrIPt 508