Gripla - 20.12.2008, Blaðsíða 69

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markedly Icelandic character as regards both content and scribal practice,
as Stefán Karlsson (1964, 119) pointed out. His suggestion that this part of
the ma nuscript was written between 1306 and 1308, when Haukr was in
Iceland, seems eminently reasonable.7 Folio 101v of AM 544, at least, was
written no earlier than 1306. Haukr’s continuing interest in clerical texts
is shown by the presence of Algorismus and Prognostica temporum here,
but a new, historical turn appears, with classical, British, Scandinavian,
and Icelandic history being represented by the inclusion of Trójumanna
saga, Breta sögur, Merlínusspá, Heiðreks saga, Þáttr af Upplendinga konun-
gum, Ragnarssona þáttr, Skálda saga, Hemings þáttr, Landnámabók, Kristni
saga, Fóstbræðra saga, and Eiríks saga rauða.8 Perhaps we may see a con-
nection between this interest in kings and the deeds of great men and
Haukr’s appointment to the Norwegian royal council, which we know
had occurred in or by 1306.9 But if these texts were copied in Iceland, then
the fourth part of the manuscript (AM 544, fols. 60–68), dated to around
or after 1310, was probably written after Haukr returned to Norway
(Stefán Karlsson 1964, 119). Containing Viðræða æðru ok hugrekkis and
Viðræða líkams ok sálar, these folios return to theological matters. From
first to last, therefore, Hauksbók is primarily a clerical compilation, but as
Sverrir Jakobsson (2005, 49 and 359) noted, this is one of its most puzzling
aspects. If we did not know that it was compiled by Haukr Erlendsson,
we would assume that it had been compiled by a cleric, yet Haukr was a
layman who received no ordination of any kind.
Two attempts have been made to solve this puzzle. Sverrir Jakobsson
(2005, 49–50) proposed Membrana Reseniana 6 as a possible model for
Hauksbók, and certainly there are resemblances between these compila-
7 Helgi Guðmundsson (1967, 68, nt. 3) suggested that Haukr made use of the library of
the monastery at Viðey, and although Gunnar Harðarson (1995, 178) did not dismiss this
hypothesis, he pointed out that it is equally possible that Haukr was using the library at the
cathedral of Skálholt, because it was with Bishop Árni Helgason of Skálholt that Haukr
founded a hospital at Gaulverjabær for clerics in 1308.
8 Sverrir Jakobsson (2005, 72) stated that various kinds of Hauksbók’s contents, including
Íslendingasögur and fornaldarsögur, are not among those usually counted as a sign of clerical
ideology, but in fact a fornaldarsaga such as Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar could certainly be
informed by clerical ideology (Rowe 2004).
9 Sverrir Jakobsson (2005, 191) remarked on Haukr’s apparently inexplicable interest in the
history of Scandinavia before the settlement of Iceland, but it is arguably related to his
involvement in Scandinavian affairs. Rowe (forthcoming) makes a case for the relevance of
Ragnarssona þáttr for the reign of Hákon V.
PERSPECTIVES ON HAUKSBÓ K