Gripla - 20.12.2017, Qupperneq 184

GRIPLA184
c. 1300–25. In 1340, the text of aM 671 4to was apparently completed, and
it was possibly transferred to Helgafell directly afterwards.42 At the same
time, the obituary Membr. res. 6 (Helgafellsártíðaskrá) from Helgafell
was used as an exemplar for aM 399 4to (Codex resenianus) from the
Barðastrandarsýsla group, and two scribes from the two groups collabo-
rated on aM 122 a fol. (Króksfjarðarbók) some ten years later.
It is tempting to believe, though unverifiable, that the style of the two
illuminators of the Kringla group also originated from the Breiðafjörður
area, or even the convent of Helgafell. Evidence for a scriptorium at
Helgafell in the thirteenth century exists in the form of the aforemen-
tioned Helgafellsártíðaskrá. nothing links this manuscript with the
Kringla group, however, as the obituary features no illuminations. at the
same time, no indication exists to suggest that the scribes of the Kringla
group collaborated with other workshops until H Kri 5, the potentially
fifth scribe of that group, wrote nra 78, and collaborated with a Bar 1,
a main illuminator of the Barðastrandarsýsla group, which may have not
happened before the turn of the fourteenth century. as there was no direct
sharing of ornamental models between the main illuminator of the Kringla
group, a Kri 1, and a Bar 1, the main artist of the Barðastrandarsýsla
group, it is highly unlikely that both workshops were situated at the same
site. However, the collaboration between the two workshops as exempli-
fied in nra 78 might indicate a provenance of the Kringla group similar
to the Barðastrandarsýsla group: western Iceland. accordingly, on the basis
of geographical location, texts such as Kristinréttr hinn forni found in the
two Grágás manuscripts GKS 1157 fol. and aM 334 fol. from the Kringla
group might have come to Helgafell.
Most of the manuscripts of the Kringla and Barðastrandarsýsla groups
were likely produced for secular clients, since the textual contents of the
42 Soon after completion in c. 1340, aM 671 4to was bound by Snorri andrésson, a wealthy
farmer from Bjarnarhöfn near Helgafell on Snæfellsnes. In exchange for land that he sold
to Helgafell, Snorri became a próventumaðr of the house of canons regular in the 1360s,
possibly until his death in 1380. He was probably involved with book production at that
site soon after. On Snorri Andrésson, AM 671 4to and Helgafell, see Guðvarður Már
Gunnlaugsson, “Voru scriptoria í íslenskum klaustrum,” 184–89, with further references.
on the sale and purchase of land by Snorri Andrésson and Helgafell, see Diplomatarium
Islandicum III, 144–45 and 313–14.