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and the blank pages of what are now folios 19–21 of AM 544 were filled
with additional texts: the translation of De duodecim abusivis sæculi, the
plan of Jerusalem, the fragment of the Summa decretalium, and Völuspá. De
duodecim abusivis sæculi, the plan of Jerusalem, and extracts from canon law
are also found in the Liber floridus, which suggests that whoever was add-
ing to Hauksbók after Haukr’s death also had access to the Liber floridus
and continued to reproduce it. Furthermore, the inclusion of Völuspá was
arguably inspired by something in the Liber floridus as well. Simek (1991,
112–113) suggested that its proximity to the map of Jerusalem in Hauksbók
was modelled on the proximity of the Sibylline prophecy to the map of
Jerusalem in the Liber floridus.
5. Conclusion
With this information in mind, we are now in a better position to evaluate
the interpretations of Hauksbók. Helgi Þorláksson (2004) offered
persuasive political explanations of why Haukr made his own redaction of
Landnámabók and how much of Hauksbók could have helped him to
political promotion. Like Sturla Þórðarson and Snorri Markússon, who
also made their own versions of Landnámabók, Haukr probably wanted
people — Icelandic upstarts as well as Norwegians seeking offices of royal
administration in Iceland — to be able to consult Landnámabók in order to
find out which Icelanders were worthy of becoming officials there after the
collapse of the Commonwealth in 1262. As Helgi explained, this seems to
have been especially important for the Icelandic aristocracy around 1300,
when certain Norwegian officials were a real threat to them. The son of a
knight, Haukr obviously defined himself as an Icelandic aristocrat and was
able to gain powerful positions, first in Iceland and then in Norway. Helgi
therefore argued that Haukr’s noble ancestry helped him to establish
himself in Iceland and that his Landnámabók helped him to get this
promotion. Helgi acknowledged that the Hauksbók Landnámabók was
probably written down more than a decade after Haukr became a lögmaðr
in Iceland, but there is no obstacle to assuming that he began work on it in
the 1290s. As regards the rest of Hauksbók, Helgi suggested that much of
it attests to Haukr’s learning, both in general and about Iceland and the
PERSPECTIVES ON HAUKSBÓ K