Gripla - 20.12.2012, Síða 204

GRIPLA202
cious goods.2 upper–class marriages during the Middle Ages until early
modern times were arranged for economic and political reasons. the use of
marriage to expand and strengthen political influence and power occurred
in both Icelandic pagan and Christian societies.3 three important aspects
of marriage arrangements in Iceland were the bride price (mundr) paid by
the groom’s family, the “supplementary gift” (tilgjǫf) given by the groom,
and the dowry (heimanfylgia) provided by the bride’s family.4
the tradition of passing on manuscripts to women, as a gift from
groom to bride (tilgjǫf),5 as part of the women’s dowry, or as family heir-
looms, continued until at least the middle of the seventeenth century, a
time that marks the advent of extensive and systematic manuscript collec-
tion in Iceland.6 Donations (such as js 28 fol.), ownership marks, and mar-
ginal notes in Icelandic manuscripts written by or for women reveal that
2 on the concept of dowry, see e.g. Merschberger, Die Rechtsstellung Der Germanischen Frau,
61, 65–66, and jenny jochens, Women in Old Norse Society (Ithaca: Cornell university
Press, 1995), 26–27. the Icelandic law code Jónsbók makes several mentions of dowry and
contains numerous passages about inheritance. see e.g. Jónsbók. The Laws of Later Iceland.
The Icelandic Text According to MS AM 351 fol. Skálholtsbók eldri, Bibliotheca Germanica,
series nova 4 (saarbrücken: AQ-verlag, 2010), heimanfylgja (dowry): Iv.30, v.1–3, v.5–6,
v.13, Rb. 1314 §9; arfur (inheritance): v.1, v.7–v22. even though written sources are rela-
tively quiet about the specific goods that were passed down as dowry in Iceland, one may
speculate that these precious goods included such things as clothing (see e.g. Ibid., v.1.),
jewelry, homespun (vaðmál), butter (smjör), household items, and manuscripts (see e.g.
Margrét eggertsdóttir, “um kveðskap kvenna.”).
3 see e.g. jochens, Women in Old Norse Society, 27–28.
4 Ibid., 26–27. just like dowry, the concept of the bridal gift (tilgjǫf) is discussed in Jónsbók,
tilgjöf (bridal gift): v.1–3, v.5–6. v.13, Rb. 1294 § 38, Rb. 1302.
5 two ownership entries in the seventeenth-century Icelandic manuscript AM 137 fol., writ-
ten by jón erlendsson of villingaholt, state that “Wÿgfüs Hannesson ä Bokena Anno 1699”
[Vigfús Hannesson owns the book in the year 1699] and that “Gudrÿdur sigurdardotter er nü
eigande þessrar Bökar Anno 1700” [Guðríður Sigurðardóttir is now the owner of this book in the
year 1700]. It seems possible that the manuscript was a wedding gift (tilgjǫf) from vigfús
to his bride, considering that vigfús Hannesson and Guðríður sigurðardóttir married in
1699. see Bogi Benediktsson, Sýslumannaæfir 4, ed. Hannes Þorsteinsson (Reykjavík: Hið
íslenzka bókmentafélag, 1881), 322–326.
6 While early manuscript production in Iceland largely centered around monasteries and
the ownership of manuscripts was likely reserved for monasteries, nunneries, and a few
selected influential chieftains, private ownership of manuscripts presumably became more
common after the Reformation, when manuscripts that originally belonged to the cloisters
ended up in the private possession of clergymen and rich farmers.