Gripla - 20.12.2012, Síða 218

GRIPLA216
Þorleifur’s mother’s side, tracing back his ancestors to the middle of the
fifteenth century leads directly (largely via female ancestors) to Loftur
ormsson, grandson of Loftur ríki Guttormsson.53 these potential female
owners of Oddabók are Þorleifur’s mother, Ragnheiður Hannesdóttir;54
his grandmother Guðrún ólafsdóttir;55 his great-grandmother steinunn
jónsdóttir;56 and his great-great-grandmother Ragnheiður Pétursdóttir
á rauðum sokkum.57 While Þorleifur Björnsson’s maternal side of the
family appears to be the more prominent one and the more likely can-
didate for the ownership of Oddabók, it should nonetheless be pointed
out that even if he inherited the manuscript from his father’s side of the
family, an argument could still be successfully made for the importance
of women forming ties and potentially passing down manuscripts as
family heirlooms. four women in Þorleifur Björnsson’s paternal family
(Ragnheiður Ásgeirsdóttir, Þóra Ásgeirsdóttir, solveig Björnsdóttir, and
ólöf ríka Loftsdóttir) link Þorleifur with his ancestors Björn Þorleifsson
riddari and Loftur ríki Guttormsson.
AM 152 fol. and Maternal ties: Helga, elín, Helga, elín
AM 152 fol. is the most significant sixteenth-century manuscript contain-
ing texts also preserved in Gks 1002–1003 fol. the manuscript, which
has been dated to the beginning of the sixteenth century, contains Grettis
saga, Hálfdanar saga Brönufóstra, Flóvents saga, Sigurgarðs saga þögla, Þórðar
saga hreðu, Göngu-Hrólfs saga, Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar, Ectors saga, Hrólfs
53 stefán karlsson assumes three of Loftur’s illegitimate sons (the aforementioned ólafur,
scribe of AM 162 C fol. (see fn. 49), ormur skáld (see fn. 13), and skúli Loftsson) to
have been scribes during the early and mid-fifteenth century (stefán karlsson, “Ritun
Reykjarfjarðarbókar,” 137–138), and it seems plausible that Oddabók may in fact be con-
nected to these brothers (although I did not conduct a comparison of scripts). It should be
noted that even though the three scribes were illegitimate sons, Loftur ríki Guttormsson
not only acknowledged but also financially supported his illegitimate children by giving
them a substantial amount of property and other possessions (DI 4, 404–406, 515–516).
54 on her mother’s side, Ragnheiður was of the svalbarð family. on the paternal side of her
family, Ragnheiður was a descendant of Björn Hannesson, the brother of the aforemen-
tioned eggert Hannesson (see fn. 13).
55 on the paternal side of her family, Guðrún was a descendant of Bishop Gottskálk
nikulásson of Hólar.
56 see fn. 13.
57 see fn. 13.