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kIRsteN WOLF
LOW GeRmAN LeGeNds
OF tHe APOstLes
IN ICeLANdIC tRANsLAtION
1. Introduction
Björn Þorleifsson (d. between 1548 and 1554) has left behind a remarkably
extensive oeuvre. Reykjahólabók, the largest legendary preserved from
medieval Iceland, is Björn’s main claim to fame.1 In addition, twenty-six
charters dating from 1501 to 1539,2 a fragment of the Revelations of Saint
John (Am 667 X 4to),3 and two fragments containing legends of the apos-
tles and a section of the Origo Crucis (Am 667 v 4to and Am 667 XI 4to)
are in his hand.4 this article is concerned with the legends of the apostles
in AM 667 V and XI 4to, the only writings by Björn Þorleifsson that have
not hitherto been edited.5 Whether or not Björn is also the translator of
the legends in Reykjahólabók and Am 667 v and XI 4to is a matter for
speculation. mariane Overgaard mentions that Björn Þorleifsson travelled
to Denmark and norway, where he had “opportunity to learn foreign lan-
guages and to come into contact with the most recent literature.”6 Agnete
1 edited in Reykjahólabók: Islandske helgenlegender, ed. Agnete Loth, Editiones Arna magn­
æanæ, ser. A, vols. 15–16 (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1969–70). For a study of Reykja­
hólabók, see Marianne E. Kalinke, The Book of Reykjahólar: The Last of the Great Medieval
Legendaries (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996).
2 For a list of the charters, see Loth’s introduction to Reykjahólabók: Islandske helgenlegender,
xxii–xxviii.
3 Edited in Agnete Loth, “Et islandsk fragment fra reformationstiden. AM 667, X, 4o,”
Opuscula 4 (1970):26–28.
4 The Origo Crucis fragment is edited in The History of the Cross­Tree Down to Christ’s Passion:
Icelandic Legend Versions, ed. Mariane Overgaard, Editiones Arnamagnæanæ, ser. B, vol. 26
(Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1968), 53–58.
5 It appears that Loth planned to edit the fragments. In her introduction to Reykjahólabók,
she writes that “Da apostelsagafragmenterne slutter sig nær til helgensagaerne i Stockholm
3... vil det være naturligt at optage dem som et appendix til nærv. udgaves 2. bind,” 1:xxii.
6 The History of the Cross­Tree, cx.
Gripla XXVI (2015): 139–183
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