Gripla - 20.12.2015, Síða 232

GRIPLA232
this is clearly the case, for example, with some of his annals, such as
Skarðsárannáll, and others of his commentaries, such as that on egill
skallagrímsson’s Höfuðlausn.10 stefán karlsson terms Björn jónsson a
‘sjálfstæður fræðimaður’ [independent scholar], one of few if not the only
such in the Iceland of his time.11 thus in the particular case of the riddle
commentary, we may speculate that it was the result of a request by a
learned superior, although no mention is made of it being commissioned in
the introduction or conclusion to any of the extant manuscripts.12 A letter
written by Sveinn Jónsson (1603–87), a close colleague of Bishop Þorlákur
at Hólar, to the noted danish polymath Ole Worm, dated september 15th
1641, states that a series of explanations pertaining to Icelandic riddles by
an ‘industrious oedipus have still not been finished to perfection’ [oedipo
industrio ad perfectionem nondum sint elaborata].13 Later correspond-
ence reveals that these riddles are those from Hervarar saga (‘Ænigmata
Heidrico’, [‘Heiðrekur’s riddles’]), and we may guess that the oedipus
referred to, the man capable of laying bare the sphinxian conundrum, is
Björn jónsson.14 ole Worm’s interest in the riddles certainly shows that
there was a market for this work, but the letters do not speak of direct
commissioning as such. We must thus balance out this learned interest
with the statement (Björn’s own?) which precedes the commentary in most
of the extant manuscripts that it is ‘almenningi til frekari skilnings’ [to aid
the common man in deeper comprehension].15
If this commentary is not just a commissioned work, but also one
stemming from personal engagement and a desire to educate the com-
mon man, then to a certain extent we may take the commentary itself as
10 jón Þorkelsson, “Þáttur af Birni jónssyni,” 65, 85.
11 stefán karlsson, “skrifarar Þorláks biskups,” 385.
12 In Björn Jónssonʼs autograph text (AM 552 r 4to) of his commentary on Höfuðlausn from
Egils saga Skallagrímssonar, on the other hand, we read (under the heading ‘um afsakanir
útþýðingar vísnannaʼ [on the justification of the interpretation of the verses] at f. 1v) that
the commentary was carried out at the request of Þorlákur Skúlason.
13 Ole Wormʼs Correspondence with Icelanders, ed. Jakob Benediktsson (Copenhagen: Ejnar
munksgaard, 1948), 250.
14 Ole Wormʼs Correspondence with Icelanders, 251 (letters 143 and 144).
15 the fact that the introduction to the commentary refers to Björn in the third person may
lead us to see this statement on composition as a later addition and not representative of
the authorʼs intentions, but in any case it would reveal an almost contemporary view of its
significance.
GRIPLA XXVI. - 12.12.B.indd 232 12/13/15 8:24:56 PM