Gripla - 20.12.2014, Page 208

GRIPLA208
appears in js 141 8vo, js 439 8vo, js 643 4to, Lbs 847 4to and thott 473
4to. the odd one out in this group is js 439 8vo, as it is the only one of
these manuscripts to contain a text of the longer version of the hymn. It
also shares the original verse order (1, 2, 3) with JS 643 4to and Lbs 847
4to. When it comes to place of origin, these manuscripts are scattered all
over Iceland. With the exception of JS 141 8vo (from 1760), they were all
written in a narrow time frame of approximately ten years (from 1693 to
1712).
the second reading of these verse lines is “barni skæru / reykelsi kæru”
and can only be found in manuscripts containing a copy of the shorter
version: ÍBr 7 8vo, JS 385 8vo and JS 386 8vo. these three manuscripts
are all part of the so-called heiðra-group. In this reading, the adjectives
“skæru” and “kæru” are reversed in comparison to the previous reading.
this reading appears to be defective, since the reference to frankincense as
“dear” or “beloved” makes little sense, so it is likely that this variant reading
represents a scribal error.
the third reading is “barni skæru / reykelsi tæru”. Tæru is close in
meaning to skæru, meaning “clear”. It occurs exclusively in longer versions
of the hymn.34 Apart from Lbs 1536 8vo, these manuscripts can be dated
and localised with precision. As previously mentioned, JS 208 8vo and
Lbs 1724 8vo are closely related to each other. they were both written
around 1730 in the southwestern part of Iceland. ÍB 380 8vo, Lbs 1422 8vo
and Lbs 1485 8vo originated in western Iceland and were written around
1700. of these three manuscripts, two are connected to the siblings gísli
jónsson and Helga jónsdóttir. strikingly, manuscripts belonging to this
group were all written before Hallgrímur Pétursson’s version of the hymn
was printed in 1773.
the final reading “barni skæru / reykelsi skæru” occurs in twelve
manuscripts and is thus the most common reading.35 It only appears in
the hymn’s long versions. With the exception of Lbs 1568 8vo (written
in 1689) and Lbs 1192 8vo (written in 1700), these manuscripts were all
written in the late-eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth
century, i.e. after 1773, the year Hallgrímur Pétursson’s version of the
34 ÍB 380 8vo, JS 208 8vo, Lbs 1422 8vo, Lbs 1485 8vo, Lbs 1536 8vo Lbs 1724 8vo.
35 ÍBr 104 8vo, JS 138 8vo, Lbs 194 8vo, Lbs 238 b 8vo, JS 272 II 4to, Lbs 506 8vo, JS 509
8vo, Lbs 1192 8vo, Lbs 1530 8vo, Lbs 1568 8vo, MS Boreal 113, EDL a and b 8vo.