Gripla - 20.12.2004, Side 258

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ency to divide the biskupa sögur into two kinds: sagas of saints and sagas of
contemporary church history (p. xxiv). But if some of these texts are sam-
tí›arsögur and others are heilagra manna sögur, what justification is there for
grouping them all together as biskupa sögur? Especially, one might add, when
in Kristni saga and the conversion flættir from Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en
mesta the central character is not always actually a bishop. Gu›ni Jónsson
included Kristni saga in the first volume of his edition of Íslendinga sögur, not
in the volumes devoted to bishops’ sagas. It can, however, be valuable to read
these diverse texts about the early history of the Icelandic church as a group,
precisely because of, rather than in spite of, their differences of approach and
subject matter.
In producing normalised ‘reading editions’ of the biskupa sögur the editors
have been mindful not only of the requirements of native Icelandic readers but
also of the international body of scholars who use the Íslenzk fornrit series.
One innovation here that will be particularly welcome to scholars is the
provision of proper bibliographies and references. Other features of value to
both general readers and scholars — genealogies and maps — have appeared
in earlier Íslenzk fornrit volumes but have not always been as copious or as
handsomely presented as here. When the introductory and other editorial
material in these volumes is taken together it constitutes a very considerable
contribution to the study of the biskupa sögur: the introductions alone
provide nearly 700 pages of well-informed scholarship. The reader is also sup-
plied with extensive notes, and lists of popes, bishops and kings with regnal
dates. Some, but not all, the texts are helpfully provided with marginal dates
for the events recounted.
The production values informing these volumes are of the very highest:
each book comes in an attractive colour dust jacket, employs a large, easily
readable type for the main texts, and is adorned with a series of sometimes
stunningly beautiful and always immaculately reproduced colour plates.
These illustrations are a vast improvement on some of those provided in
earlier Íslenzk fornrit volumes and they provide a valuable visual context for
reading the texts. Great care has evidently gone into the selection of appro-
priate images, which include photographs of medieval Icelandic manuscripts,
ecclesiastical furnishings, Lincoln cathedral, and many Icelandic saga-sites.
One of the most arresting images is a monochrome photograph of Bishop Páll
Jónsson’s skeleton in his stone coffin, taken during archaeological excavations
in 1954 that powerfully confirmed the saga’s account of his burial. High pro-