Gripla - 20.12.2014, Page 226

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origin, scribal and provenance information. Furthermore, this division is
supported by the fact that these findings correspond nicely with the four
variant readings of the phrase “barni kæru / reykelsi skæru.” Additionally,
based on an analysis of the hymn’s rubrics, the various witnesses of the
hymn Hljómi raustin barna best show a great deal of cross contamination
that was perhaps based on oral transmission or common knowledge.
the choice of rubric and the page layout highlight the scribe's authority
within the writing process of the individual copies of the hymn. All the
aspects discussed in the analysis of the extant manuscripts containing the
hymn come together in the so-called “academic” manuscript, Lbs 238 b
8vo, which records many variants that also correspond to the manuscript
groups established by a comparison and close examination of the extant
manuscripts.
* * *
the transcriptions and their translations
for this edition, we have chosen not to select a best text, but rather to
present three versions of the Christmas hymn that are discussed in more
detail in the article. the texts presented are taken from ÍB 525 8vo, JS 386
8vo and Lbs 238 b 8vo.
the Latin version and the shorter Icelandic version are presented side
by side, in order to illustrate the translation of the hymn from Latin to
Icelandic. the Latin text is taken from ÍB 525 8vo, which is, to our knowl-
edge, the only extant copy of the Latin text in an Icelandic manuscript.
For the Icelandic translation of the hymn, js 386 8vo serves as an example.
Both js 386 8vo and Lbs 238 b 8vo may be taken as the most representa-
tive examples of the development of the Icelandic translation of this hymn
from its earliest attestation to the most recent one, since JS 386 8vo – writ-
ten in 1684 – is the oldest extant copy, whereas Lbs 238 b 8vo (1860) is the
youngest. While the former represents the hymn’s shorter version, the lat-
ter is chosen as an example of the longer version. Furthermore, js 386 8vo
is one of the manuscripts belonging to the largest distinguishable group of
the shorter versions, namely the heiðra-group. It was written at the cathe-
dral school of Hólar, whereas the Latin text was written at the cathedral