Gripla - 20.12.2004, Blaðsíða 247

MÁLSTOFA
CARL PHELPSTEAD
A NEW EDITION OF BISKUPA S¯GUR1
1
The one thousandth anniversary of the conversion of Iceland to Christianity is
being marked by the publication of a new edition of sagas, flættir and other
short texts dealing with the history of the church in medieval Iceland. The
texts are being included in the Íslenzk fornrit series published by Hi› íslenzka
fornritafélag and constitute a welcome extension of that series beyond the
genres of Íslendingasögur and konungasögur. Three volumes have so far ap-
peared, with editions of the sagas of Bishop Gu›mundr Arason still to come.
The new edition is entitled Biskupa sögur, but the contents of the volumes
are more diverse than this title might suggest. Alongside a history of the first
five bishops of Skálholt there are hagiographic lives of Iceland’s two saint-
bishops, and samtí›arsögur of two later bishops. The new edition also in-
cludes collections of miracle stories, fragments of the Latin life of St fiorlákr,
a saga about the Conversion of Iceland, and several short narratives (not all
involving a bishop) extracted from larger texts. A common aim of all the texts,
however, is to ensure, as the author of Hungrvaka puts it, that readers may
know ‘hvernig e›a me› hverjum hætti at hér hefir magnazk kristnin ok
byskupsstólar settir verit hér á Íslandi, ok vita sí›an hverir merkismenn fleir
hafa verit byskuparnir er hér hafa verit’ (ÍF XVI:4).
1 Biskupa sögur I–III. 1998–2003. General editor Jónas Kristjánsson. Íslenzk fornrit XV–XVII.
Hi› íslenzka fornritafélag, Reykjavík.
Kristni saga, Kristni flættir, Jóns saga helga, Gísls fláttr Illugasonar, Sæmundar fláttr. 2003.
Ed. Sigurgeir Steingrímsson, Ólafur Halldórsson, and Peter Foote. Íslenzk fornrit XV. Hi›
íslenzka fornritafélag, Reykjavík.
Hungrvaka, fiorláks sögur helga, Jarteinabœkr fiorláks helga, Páls saga byskups, Ísleifs
fláttr byskups, Latínubrot um fiorlák byskup. 2002. Ed. Ásdís Egilsdóttir Íslenzk fornrit XVI.
Hi› íslenzka fornritafélag, Reykjavík.
Árna saga biskups, Lárentíus saga biskups, Sögufláttr Jóns Halldórssonar biskups,
Biskupa ættir. 1998. Ed. Gu›rún Ása Grímsdóttir. Íslenzk fornrit XVII Hi› íslenzka forn-
ritafélag, Reykjavík.