Gripla - 20.12.2004, Page 256

GRIPLA
and died in Norway in 1298. His saga, however, ends in the winter of 1290–
91. This edition of Árna saga biskups is a normalised text based on the dip-
lomatic edition by fiorleifur Hauksson (1972), with a selection from the tex-
tual variants he prints. Five vellum leaves survive, two in AM 220 VI fol, mid-
fourteenth-century, and three in AM 122 b fol (Reykjarfjar›arbók), not later
than 1375. All the many surviving paper copies descend from Reykjar-
fjar›arbók.
In her introduction Gu›rún Ása Grímsdóttir provides helpful orientation in
the historical and church historical contexts which are vital to an under-
standing of Árna saga. Árni’s life spanned a crucial turning point of Icelandic
history, during which the island submitted to Norwegian rule and new laws
were introduced; this saga is an invaluable historical source for the period
with which it is concerned. Árni’s support is enlisted by King Magnús when
he sends Iceland a new law book, Járnsí›a (chapter 18), and later in the saga
Árni is involved in the implementation of another new law code, Jónsbók
(chapter 57). Much of the saga chronicles Árni’s involvement in the sta›amál,
the dispute over ownership of church property. The narrative is very detailed,
often providing an almost day by day account of events. By the end of the
saga, when Árni is in Norway in 1290–91, the dispute remains unresolved, but
this edition helpfully provides an appendix containing annal entries which
outline the remainder of Árni’s life and the resolution of the conflicts in which
he was involved.
Árna saga’s content and style indicate that the author was a cleric, well-
informed about canon law and acquainted with Árni’s contemporaries, clerical
and lay, in Iceland and Norway. The saga seems to have been composed after
the conclusion of the dispute over church property which figures so pro-
minently in the text (i.e. after 1297) and before 1309, so during the episcopate
of Árni’s namesake and nephew, Árni Helgason, and possibly by him (ÍF
XVII:xxii–xxvii).
Gu›rún Ása Grímsdóttir examines the saga’s intertextual relations with the
Icelandic annals, letters, Jónsbók, Sturlunga saga, and Oddaverja fláttr. Espe-
cially in relation to the annals and letters, she acknowledges the importance of
the work of the text’s earlier editor, fiorleifur Hauksson, whose views she
largely follows. Letters are ubiquitous in this saga: though not always quoted
verbatim, they are constantly said to be going back and forth between Iceland
and Norway and copies of the letters must have been an important source for
the saga-writer.
254