Gripla - 20.12.2014, Blaðsíða 210

GRIPLA210
parameters of dating, provenance and main variants of the texts, in order
to conclude how similarities and differences correlate to these variants.
the material characteristics provide supplementary information about
the manuscripts’ genesis and the hymn’s transmission. In this way, it is
possible to determine what role material aspects played in the transmis-
sion of the text, and how far they behave as independent qualities of the
manuscripts.
5.1 Rubrics
All manuscripts containing Hljómi raustin barna best are hymn collections
with varying compilation patterns, sometimes including other types of
texts as well. thus, none of the witnesses transmits the hymn in an unex-
pected context. the beginning of the hymn is always marked by a rubric, a
heading, usually in display script and introducing the hymn. It sometimes
includes information about the hymn’s title and the name of the author,
directions regarding the melody, or a subsequent number of the hymn
within the book. Consequently, the rubrics can give information about
how the hymn was perceived, transmitted and performed. In the following
charts, the rubrics of the short and long versions are grouped separately,
whereas the rubrics of the longer versions are further subdivided according
to the hymn’s subject matter (short version: group 1, long version: group
2a–c).39 the rubric of the first printed edition will also be included in this
discussion.
Since such rubrics did not function as titles of works in the modern
sense, they were merely descriptive and hence unstable. However, four sig-
nificant groups can be made out when distinguishing between the longer
and shorter versions on the one hand, considering the shorter versions as
a separate group of transmission (Group 1), and, on the other hand, the
variants regarding the given content of the hymn (Group 2a–c). It is not
8vo, ÍBr 104 8vo, JS 138 8vo, JS 141 8vo, JS 208 8vo, JS 385 8vo, JS 386 8vo, JS 439 8vo, JS
509 8vo, JS 643 4to, Lbs 194 8vo, Lbs 238 b 8vo, Lbs 506 8vo, Lbs 1192 8vo, Lbs 1485 8vo,
Lbs 1530 8vo, Lbs 1536 8vo, Lbs 1568 8vo, and Lbs 1724 8vo.
39 the transcriptions of the rubrics follow the same rules as the transcriptions of the two ver-
sions of the hymn, explained in section 6. exceptions to those rules are due to the special
character of rubrics; marked line breaks are not displayed as in the manuscripts, but follow
major changes of script in script type, script size or/and change of colour of the ink, or
visible intentional line breaks by the scribes.