Gripla - 20.12.2005, Page 43

STYLISTICS AND SOURCES OF THE POSTOLA SÖGUR 41
Group B
Andrew (AM 645, 652, 630): The two texts of the saga of the apostle Andrew found
in AM 645 4to and AM 652/630 4to are independent versions of the same source: both
depend for the passio section (the confrontation between the apostle and the earl
Egeas) on the Passio Sancti Andreae Apostoli (BHL 428),51 which in itself is based on
an old Gnostic Acts of Andrew, and which takes the form of a letter sent by the priests
and deacons of Achaia to the Christian community there. The AM 645 4to text is
defective; it contains only the passio and a small portion of the miracle involving
Philopater and the drowned bodies, but the passio section breaks off where Codex I of
the 645 manuscript ends, and the miracle, which actually precedes the passio in
Andrew’s acts, is given at the start of the manuscript’s Codex II.52 AM 652/630 4to
contains, along with the same passio, a partial translation of the Acts of Andrew as
found in Pseudo-Abdias (Book III). The Pseudo-Abdian text is a compilation,
combining Gregory of Tours’ version of the Acts of Andrew, the Miraculis Beati
Andreae Apostoli, otherwise known as the Liber de Virtutibus (BHL 430), and a
version of the passion similar to a sixth-century Latin account called Conversante et
Docente (BHL 429), which is an abbreviated version of the former, epistolary form of
the Passio.53
Bartholomew (AM 652, 630): 652/630 is a nearly verbatim copy of the saga as
found in AM 645, with the addition of a homiletic introduction and a concluding
chapter containing material concerning the translation of Bartholomew’s relics. The
introduction is original,54 and the concluding chapter is an edited version of a separate
account, the Sermo S. Theodori Studitæ de S. Bartholomæo Apostolo (BHL 1004).55
51 The Handlist cites BHL 428 and 430 only for the AM 645 4to and AM 656 I 4to (14th
century) texts, but the AM 652/630 texts should be included.
52 Elliott (1993:232) mentions that Andrew’s Martyrdom often circulated in the manuscripts
separately from accounts of his acts, and it may be that the translator of the passio found in
Codex I of the AM 645 manuscript was working from a manuscript that did not include the
acts. Anne Holtsmark (1938:6) suggests that Codex II of the AM 645 4to manuscript may
have been written as a supplement to Codex I, since the passio of Andrew generally follows
directly after the miracle of Filopater and the drowned crewmen.
53 See Elliott 1993:234-235 and 525, and DAAA I:135-142. The title Conversante et Docente is
taken from the account’s opening words.
Gregory of Tours’ version is based on an original Acts, possibly Syriac or Egyptian,
probably from the early third century, attested to and denounced by Eusebius for its heretical
(Manichean or Gnostic) content; Gregory himself apparently altered and censored the orig-
inal, preserving only the miracles and admittedly paring down ‘excessive verbosity’. See
Elliott 1993:234-6 and James 1924:337.
54 See Collings 1969:18 and Sverrir Tómasson 1988:332.
55 Theodoros Studites’ (759-826) sermon is given in PL 129:730-738, in the Latin rendition of
Anastasius Bibliothecarius (ca. 810-879); Anastasius added the episode concerning the
Grecian monk and the translation of Bartholomew’s relics from Liparis to Benivent, PL
736C-738A (BHL 1006). The concluding section begins with a short summary of Bart-