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likely that AM 152 fol. was directly or indirectly used as an exemplar for
the two manuscripts.
seventeenth-Century Manuscripts: Helga, jarþrúður,
Ragnheiður, and kristín
While manuscript production in Iceland seems to have taken place pri-
marily in the north and then west of Iceland during the sixteenth cen-
tury, the trend of increased productivity of manuscript centers in the
west and south continues during the seventeenth century.67 the famous
scribe jón Gissurarson of núpur from the Westfjords copied at least
six of the texts found in Gks 1002-1003 fol. between 1635 and 1643:
Grettis saga (AM 151 fol.), Hrólfs saga kraka (AM 11 fol.), Finnboga saga
ramma (AM 165 a fol.), Kjalnesinga saga (AM 165 m II fol.), Jökuls þáttr
Búasonar (AM 165 b fol., AM 165 m II fol.), and Orms þáttr Stórólfssonar
(AM 165 c fol.).68 He had ties to the svalbarð family and Bishop jón
Arason, since his mother Ragnheiður Pálsdóttir was the daughter of Páll
jónsson of svalbarð and Helga Aradóttir.69 furthermore, his half-brother
was Bishop Brynjólfur sveinsson,70 and it seems probable that Brynjólfur
received manuscripts from jón to be copied in the south of Iceland, for
example by jón erlendsson of villingaholt.71
67 two sixteenth-century manuscripts, AM 571 4to (1500–1550) and AM 510 4to (1540–
1560), which both contain texts preserved in Gks 1002–1003 fol., show connections to
the north and west. AM 571 4to was owned by jón Magnússon of jórvík in útmannasveit
and his father Magnús Hávarðsson of Desjarmýri. their ancestors are connected to the
north and northeast of Iceland. AM 510 4to was written by one Ari jónsson (not to be
confused with the son of Bishop jón Arason) and his sons jón and tómas Arason from the
Westfjords. on Ari jónsson and his sons, see karl ó. ólafsson, “‘Þrír feðgar hafa skrifað
bók þessa...’ um þrjár rithendur í AM 510 4to og fleiri handritum,” (M.A. thesis, Háskóli
íslands).
68 jón Gissurarson also copied Njáls saga (AM 136 fol.), but not the Oddabók version.
69 see fn. 13.
70 Ragnheiður Pálsdóttir was the mother of both jón Gissurarson and Brynjólfur sveinsson.
Her first husband, Gissur Þorláksson, father of jón Gissurarson, was the nephew of
eggert Hannesson on his mother’s side and a descendant of Þorleifur Árnason and kristín
Björnsdóttir on his father’s side (see fn. 13). Her second husband, sveinn símonsson, father
of Brynjólfur sveinsson, was priest at Holt in Önudarfjörður and does not appear to have
had a distinguished ancestry.
71 Conversely, it is also possible that Bishop Brynjólfur sveinsson supplied his half-brother
jón Gissurarson with manuscripts to be copied in the west of Iceland; see e.g. springborg,
tHe IMPoRtAnCe of MARItAL AnD MAteRnAL tIes