Gripla - 20.12.2004, Page 246

GRIPLA244
Richter, Daniel. 1660. Thesaurus oratorius novus: Oder ein neuer Vorschlag, wie man
zu der Rednerkunst nach dem Ingenio dieses seculi, gelangen ... koenne / -
Nuernberg.
Stefán Karlsson. 1997. Skrifarar fiorláks biskups Skúlasonar. Skæ›agrös. Skrif til
hei›urs Sigurjóni Björnssyni sjötugum 25. nóvember 1996:175–200. Reykjavík.
Svavar Sigmundsson. 1977. Handriti› Uppsala R:719. Opuscula II. Bibliotheca
Arnamagnæana XXV. Munksgaard, København.
Svavar Sigmundsson. 1993. Prayer Books. 2. West Norse. Medieval Scandinavia. An
Encyclopedia:515. Garland, New York.
S‡slumannaæfir = Bogi Benediktsson. 1881–1932. S‡slumannaæfir. Me› sk‡ringum
og vi›aukum eptir Jón Pétursson jústitíarius. I–V. Reykjavík.
fiorleifur Hauksson og fiórir Óskarsson. 1994. Íslensk stílfræ›i. Mál og menning,
Reykjavík.
SUMMARY
The Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel possesses a large collection of manuscripts
and printed books from the early modern period. Three Icelandic manuscripts were
known to be there, and a fourth came to light in the summer of 1996 when the author
of this article was in Wolfenbüttel on research leave. When she was invited to examine
an attractive prayer-book from the seventeenth century, registered as Swedish in the
library’s catalogue, she quickly discovered that the prayer-book was Icelandic, and that
its first owner was Elín fiorláksdóttir (1640-1726), daughter of the Hólar bishop
fiorlákur Skúlason. Elín appears to have given the book to her cousin, Elín Hákonar-
dóttir, who in turn gave it to her brother Vigfús. Vigfús died at the early age of 23; an
account of his life, preserved in manucripts, was written by Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson
and delivered at the Bræ›ratunga church on the occasion of Vigfús’s funeral in 1670.
From this account we may infer how the manuscript came to Germany. This article
discusses the owners of the manuscript, as well as its contents and history. It also prints
a passage from the prayer-book and another from the account of Vigfús Hákonarson’s
life.
Margrét Eggertsdóttir
Stofnun Árna Magnússonar
Árnagar›i vi› Su›urgötu
101 Reykjavík
megg@hi.is