Gripla - 20.12.2012, Side 206

GRIPLA204
exemplars of exemplars) originated in the north and west (Westfjords
and Dalasýsla) of Iceland.10 furthermore, codicological evidence, most
notably ownership marks of manuscripts directly and indirectly associated
with Gks 1002–1003 fol., reveals that these manuscripts are connected
to the descendants of some of the most influential families in medieval
Iceland. these Icelandic dynasties include the descendants of Loftur ríki
Guttormsson,11 including his daughter ólöf ríka Loftsdóttir, as well as her
offspring with Björn Þorleifsson riddari (also called “ríki”)12 during the
fifteenth century, jón Arason (the last Catholic bishop of Iceland), and the
10 this geographical pattern (north-west-south) appears to hold true not only in the case of
Gks 1002–1003 fol. My preliminary research of manuscripts containing Njáls saga sug-
gests that manuscript production shifted from the north to the west and south from the
fourteenth to the seventeenth century. other studies of Icelandic manuscripts, particularly
those concerning manuscripts from the seventeenth century, confirm that manuscript pro-
duction centered geographically around Hólar (north), skálholt (south), and vigur (west).
see e.g. Peter springborg, “Antiqvæ historiæ lepores – om renæssancen i den islandske
håndskriftproduktion i 1600–tallet,” Gardar 8 (1977): 57; tereza Lansing, “Post-Medieval
Production, Dissemination and Reception of Hrólfs saga kraka,” (Ph.D. thesis, faculty of
Humanities, university of Copenhagen), 57–63; Alaric Hall, “Making stemmas with small
samples: testing the stemma of Konráðs saga keisarasonar, and new Media Approaches
to Publishing stemmas,” <http://www.alarichall.org.uk/working_paper_on_stem-
mas_from_small_samples>. silvia Hufnagel (personal communication) confirmed the
importance of western Iceland as a center of manuscript production during the seventeenth
century in her study of manuscripts containing Sörla saga sterka. she does not, however, dis-
cuss the geographical distribution of these manuscripts in her dissertation, since she did not
detect a clear distribution pattern and geographical information was lacking for many of the
manuscripts in question. Hufnagel nonetheless mentions the major centers of manuscript
production in the north, south, and west of Iceland, referencing springborg’s article. silvia
Hufnagel, “Sörla saga sterka. studies in the transmission of a fornaldarsaga.” (Ph.D. thesis,
faculty of Humanities, university of Copenhagen), 11. – [I would particularly like to thank
tereza Lansing, Alaric timothy Hall and silvia Hufnagel for sharing their research with
me.]
11 After the devastating outbreak of the Black Death in Iceland (1402–1404), new influen-
tial families gained power and wealth. Agnes s. Arnórsdóttir points out that Loftur ríki
Guttormsson was likely one of these new patriarchs arising after the plague. Agnes s.
Arnórsdóttir, “‘eigi skal gráta Björn bónda heldur safna liði.’ ólöf ríka, goðsögn og saga,”
Heimtur. Ritgerðir til heiðurs Gunnari Karlssyni sjötugum, eds. Guðmundur jónsson et al.
(Reykjavík: Mál og menning, 2009), 20.
12 Björn Þorleifsson riddari (ríki) received land in vatnsfjörður from his grandmother solveig
Þorsteinsdóttir in March of 1433, and his mother kristín Björnsdóttir (vatnsfjarðar-
kristín) agreed to this gift (Ibid., 20). this transaction from grandmother to grandson, with
the permission of Björn’s mother, is an example of the power and influence that Icelandic
matriarchs held on occasion in medieval society.