Gripla - 20.12.2008, Page 172

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though Árni Björnsson maintains that the confusion of i/y and ei/ey in
the manuscript points to a date no earlier than 1500.5 As noted above, it is
incomplete and now consists of 52 leaves measuring approximately 30.5
x 22.5 cm. It is difficult to ascertain if the manuscript is written all in one
hand; Árni Björnsson is of the opinion that two scribes were involved.6
The text called “Katrinar Saga” on fols. 5v40–8v36 is not, as the title
suggests, a passio of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, who despised mar-
riage with the emperor because she was a “bride of Christ,” who disputed
successfully with fifty philosophers, and who, when she persuaded the
empress to become a Christian, was tortured on the wheel and eventually
executed.7 Rather, as Peter Foote points out, it is a translation of a ver-
sion of the Sanctae Catharinae Virginis et Martyris Translatio et Miracula
Rotomagensia detailing the translation of Saint Catherine's relics and the
miracles that took place through her intercession in Rouen in the eleventh
century.8
As noted by Árni Magnússon, the text is incomplete. The bottom part
of fol. 6 has been torn or cut, and some lines of text are missing (there are
5 Árni Björnsson, ed., Laurentius saga biskups, xxxi, writes: “[...] má telja heldur ólíklegt, að B
[AM 180b fol.] sé eldra en frá því um 1500.”
6 Árni Björnsson, ed., Laurentius saga biskups, xxviii–xxix, argues that “[e]kki er auðgjört að
segja, hvort ein hönd er á B [AM 180b fol.] eða fleiri. Greinilegur stærðarmunur er víða á
skriftinni, t.d. ef borin eru saman 1. og 41. blað eða efri og neðri hluti á 19r, en stafagerðin
sjálf virðist ekki breytast við það. Í formála sínum að Dunstanus sögu telur Chr. E. Fell
ókleift að fullyrða nokkuð um þetta efni, en bendir á, að sama kæruleysi í frágangi virðist
einkenna ritara Bærings sögu og Dunstanus sögu, og því sé líklegt, að um sama mann sé að
ræða (bls. LXVIII). Við nánari athugun sýnist þó mega staðhæfa, að skipti um hönd á blaði
34r, þar sem Vítus saga hefst. [...] En vart er ástæða til að telja fleiri en tvær hendur á því,
sem nú er varðveitt af bókinni.”
7 The Icelandic legend of Saint Catherine of Alexandria is extant in four manuscripts. It is
preserved in full only in Stock. Perg. 2 fol. (ca. 1425–1445). In AM 233a fol. (ca. 1350–1375)
the beginning is missing, and AM 238 fol. II (ca. 1300–1350) and AM 667 4to II (ca. 1400–
1500) cover only small sections of the text. According to Peter Foote, ed., Lives of Saints.
Perg. fol. nr. 2 in the Royal Library, Stockholm, Early Icelandic Manuscripts in Facsimile 4
(Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger, 1962), 26, the beginning and end of the legend are
based on a text of the Passio auct. Pseudo-Athanasio (BHL 1659) with only the first half of
the epilogue included. Foote notes that many passages within the text suggest that same
source, but observes that some material and wording in the Icelandic legend have parallels
only in other versions of the legend, variously BHL 1657, 1663, and 1667. The legend has
been edited by C. R. Unger, ed., Heilagra manna søgur: Fortællinger og legender om hellige mænd
og kvinder, 2 vol. (Christiania [Oslo]: Bentzen, 1877), vol. 1, 400–21, and Kirsten Wolf, ed.,
Heilagra meyja sögur (Reykjavík: Bókmenntafræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands, 2003), 123–41.
8 Foote, ed., Lives of Saints, 26.