Gripla - 20.12.2004, Page 26

GRIPLA24
4. MANUSCRIPTS OF STJÓRN
The work known as Stjórn12 is a translation of the historical books of the Old
Testament, from Genesis to the end of Kings, larded with varying amounts of
commentary. It does not represent a single work, but is made up of three parts,
differing in form and origin, referred to here as Stjórn I, II and III.
Stjórn I runs from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Exodus 18
(Unger 1862:1–299; 227, fols. l–70v). According to the prologue, it was com-
piled at the instance of King Hákon V Magnússon (reigned 1299–1319). The
biblical translation is expanded by extensive commentary drawn from numer-
ous authorities, most of it taken from Peter Comestor’s Historia scholastica
and Vincent of Beauvais’ Speculum historiale.
Stjórn II goes from the end of Stjórn I to the end of Deuteronomy (Unger
1862:300–3495). It is a more or less straight translation of the biblical text,
though often substantially abridged; it is virtually free of extraneous matter.
Stjórn III starts with Joshua and goes to the end of Kings (Unger 1862:
3495—654; 227, fols. 71v–129v). The text is augmented with a certain amount
of exegesis, but this is modest in scope compared with that in Stjórn I and the
authorities from which it is drawn are very rarely named.
These three parts are not preserved in a uniform way in the manuscript
sources, and it will be appropriate to give a brief survey of the materials.
There are three principal Stjórn manuscripts, AM 226, 227 and 228 fol.
Only 226 contains all three parts of Stjórn, 227 has I and III. 228 only III. In
226 Stjórn II is a later addition, made in the latter half of the fifteenth cen-
tury;13 no original provision was made for its inclusion, since in the main body
of the codex Stjórn III appears as the immediate continuation of Stjórn I
(Selma Jónsdóttir 1971:56). The situation is rather different in 227. There, as
we saw (p. 9 above), the last leaf of gathering 10 and the first page of gather-
ing 11 were left blank, as though the scribe thought it possible to supply the
section missing between Stjórn I and III, whether that was the result of
speculation on his part or because he knew that such a text existed. In any
12 The name is first attested in 1588 (see p. 11 above); its origin is totally obscure.
13 The hand of Stjórn II is remarkably similar to that of the well known scribe Jón fiorláksson,
but probably belongs to a member of the same school rather than Jón himself. On Jón fior-
láksson see Ólafur Halldórsson 1971:128–144; Stefán Karlsson 1979:36–43. These contain
facsimile examples of his writings; others may seen in Eggen (ed.) 1968, Gjerløw 1980. See
also Andersen 1979:1–35.