Gripla - 20.12.2012, Page 216

GRIPLA214
of her personal property).46 furthermore, Flateyjarbók physically traveled
from the north of Iceland, where it was commissioned (víðidalstunga) and
written (víðidalstunga, Reynistaður, Þingeyrar?), to the west, where its
later owners, the descendants of Þorleifur Árnason, lived.47 this supports
the geographical distribution pattern (north-west-south) proposed in this
article48 and suggests that most of the earliest Icelandic manuscripts, such
as Möðruvallabók and Flateyjarbók, were produced in the north of Iceland,
but that some of the manuscripts, such as Flateyjarbók, and gradually
manuscript production itself, slowly moved from the north to other parts
of the country.
Oddabók and Maternal ties: Ragnheiður, steinunn,
Guðrún, and Ragnheiður
there are a number of fifteeth-century manuscripts containing texts also
preserved in Gks 1002–1003 fol.,49 but the focus in this chapter is on
46 It is evident that the ownership of Flateyjarbók after Guðný jónsdóttir is dominated by
men. However, the present article does not argue that women were always directly involved
in the distribution of manuscripts but rather that their importance, particularly after the
Reformation, may have been greater than previously assumed.
47 see fig. 2. Björn Þorleifsson riddari and ólöf ríka Loftsdóttir lived at skarð at skarðsströnd
in the Dalasýsla district of western Iceland. from there, Flateyjarbók moved to Reykhólar in
the Westfjords, where Þorleifur Björnsson and later his son Björn Þorleifsson lived. It was
later brought to flatey in Breiðafjörður, where it was in the possession of jón Björnsson,
finnur jónsson, and lastly jón finnsson.
48 see fn. 10.
49 other manuscripts which should be mentioned here briefly are AM 162 C fol. (1420–
1450, containing Finnboga saga ramma), Gks 2845 4to (1440–1460, containing Orms
þáttr Stórólfssonar and Göngu-Hrólfs saga), AM 471 4to (1450–1500, containing Þórðar
saga hreðu and Kjalnesinga saga), and AM 556 a 4to (1475–1499, containing Sigurgarðs
saga frækna and Grettis saga). All of these manuscripts show connections to the north and
northwest (Westfjords and Dalasýsla) of Iceland. three (AM 162 C fol., AM 471 4to, and
AM 556 a 4to) are linked with descendants of Loftur ríki Guttormsson, Björn Þorleifsson
riddari and the svalbarð family. AM 556 a 4to was once owned by eggert Hannesson, a
descendant of Björn Þorleifsson riddari; and Árni Magnússon received AM 471 4to from
Magnús Magnússon of eyri in seyðisfjörður (Westfjords), a great-grandson of Magnús
prúði jónsson of the svalbarð family and Ragnheiður eggertsdóttir, eggert Hanesson’s
daughter (see fn. 13). AM 162 C fol. was – according to stefán karlsson – written by
ólafur Loftsson, an illegitimate son of Loftur ríki Guttormsson. stefán karlsson, “Ritun
Reykjarfjarðarbókar, excursus: bókagerð bænda,” Opuscula 4 (1970): 138. ólafur owned
property in the eyjafjörður and Þingeyjar districts of northern Iceland, and stefán karlsson