Gripla - 20.12.2008, Blaðsíða 54

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compiled to prove to the king’s men that Haukr not only possessed a pro-
found understanding of Icelandic matters but also had a vast knowledge of
the North Atlantic area in general, including the north of Norway,
Greenland, and even Vinland. Such knowledge would have made him a
good man to confer with on matters concerning the northern regions. In
contrast, Sverrir Jakobsson (2005, 49–50) sought Hauksbók’s Icelandic
roots. He proposed Membrana Reseniana 6 as a possible model for
Hauksbók, with parallels for the contents of both compilations to be found
in foreign medieval schoolbooks rather than in encyclopedias.2 Continuing
his argument for a pedagogical element to Hauksbók, he recently con-
tended that its redactor be regarded as an interpreter and teacher of a
world-view (Sverrir Jakobsson 2007, 22). I, too, suspect that—as big as
Hauksbók is—there must be “more to it”. The present essay offers a critical
discussion of these perspectives on the problem, in an effort to evaluate the
various explanations that have been put forth.
2. The Codicology of Hauksbók
A helpful starting point is a review of Hauksbók’s codicological com-
position.3 In addition to the extant fragments of the manuscript, the mate-
rial reviewed includes the texts of some of the now-lost leaves, which are
preserved in the extracts that Björn Jónsson of Skarðsá copied from
Hauksbók in the first half of the seventeenth century.
AM 371 4to is believed to have originally been comprised of six quires,
but one is now missing, and none of the others is complete:
The first quire is largely lost. What is now folio 1 was folio 4 of the •
beginning of Landnámabók.
The second quire is also largely lost. What is now folio 2 was the •
fourth leaf of this quire. The contents continue Landnámabók.
2 With respect to medieval compilations, the word “encyclopedic” can be used in a general
way to indicate the presence of subjects such as astronomy, computistics, and geography,
so that “encyclopedia” becomes almost synonymous with “schoolbook”. However, there
is no evidence that Hauksbók was actually used for teaching. For a stricter definition of
“encyclopedic”, see Section 4, below.
3 Where not otherwise noted, this information is drawn from Finnur Jónsson (1892–1896,
v–cxxxvi), Jón Helgason (1960, vii–xxii), and Gunnar Harðarson and Stefán Karlsson
(1993, 271).