Gripla - 20.12.2016, Page 283

283
BEEKE StEGMann, GottSKÁLK JEnSSon,
NATASHA FAZLIC and ALEX SPEED KJELDSEN
A RECENTLY-DISCOVERED FRAGMENT
PRESERVING TEXT
OF EARLY THIRTEENTH-CENTURY
NORWEGIAN CHARTERS
a unique parchment fragment was discovered in the arnamagnæan
Collection in Copenhagen in november 2015. the staff at the conserva-
tion workshop found three adjacent strips of a fragmented single parch-
ment leaf during restoration of the manuscript aM 22 4to. the fragment
measures ca. 15 x 9 cm and comprises three equally-sized strips with a
width of ca. 3 cm (fig. 1). 22–23 lines of text are preserved on the recto-
side, while the verso-side is blank. the text is in old norwegian, but has
many lacunae as the beginning of each line is missing. Moreover, the last
two lines are severely damaged and more lines may be missing.
the fragment was found under the leather cover of the binding on
the fifteenth-century legal manuscript aM 22 4to. the three strips were
used as lining on the spine where they were placed in between the four
raised bands. the parchment strips were pasted onto the spine and parts
of the boards with the text facing downward (fig. 2). the glue employed,
presumably some kind of animal adhesive, caused small amounts of the
ink to stay on the spine and boards as the parchment strips were removed.
nevertheless, the legibility of the text is fairly good. the parchment itself,
however, has suffered somewhat from its secondary use. Both the top and
bottom edges are damaged and two parallel areas of wear and discoloration
run horizontally over the parchment. these parallel imprints are caused by
the contact with the edges of the boards. In the area of the upper imprint,
which was placed over the edge of the lower board, the damage makes
the text partially illegible and there are several small holes from vermin.
Comparable holes, presumably caused by woodboring beetles, can be
found in the lower board.
the secondary carrier of the fragment, aM 22 4to, is a codex of 245
Gripla XXVII (2016): 283–295