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and 3b) and reads “Helgaaþessa logbok” (Helga á þessa lögbók, Engl. Helga
owns this law book). the second part is written in the lower margin on
the same page (see figures 2a and 2b), with only “Sig...sd...” being clearly
visible and reading, perhaps, “Sigurdsdotter”. the irregularity of the in-
dividual letters, the lack of space between several words and the unusual
use of round s before tall s in “þessa” (instead of the usual tall-s-round-s-
sequence) suggest that the scribe was inexperienced. the script seems to
be from the nineteenth century and the inscription probably dates to the
first decades of the nineteenth century, prior to the Bodleian’s acquisi-
tion of the manuscript.4 unfortunately, Helga—even Helga Sigurðsdóttir/
Sigurðardóttir—is a common name in Iceland.5 It was therefore impossible
to find out who this Helga was, not least because of the unknown prov-
enance of the manuscript.
Dry Point Writing, Drawing and Manuscript Preparation
the first noteworthy point is that the ownership statement was written in
dry point, a technique that has not been studied in Icelandic manuscripts.
When a stylus is used to write with, a liquid such as ink is not applied onto
a dry material surface (parchment or paper, for example) but rather, the
writing surface is deformed by either incising or impressing.6 The former,
incising, is usually done with sharp tools such as styli with metal tips,
while the latter, impressing, is done with blunt styli, for example made
of ivory or wood. Dry point writing is only properly visible in favourable
lighting,7 especially raking light, when the script becomes legible as a nega-
tive relief.
Dry point writing implements were used for various purposes, both for
writing and drawing as well as in the preparation of manuscripts. although
unknown in Icelandic manuscripts, dry point writing was common in
4 Guðvarður Már Gunnlaugsson corroborates my dating (e-mail communication, 26 March
2018). I thank him for help with reading and dating the ownership statement.
5 there are 26 women named Helga Sigurðardóttir in the 1816 census, see Þjóðskjalasafn
íslands, Manntöl, http://manntal.is/leit/"Helga%20sigur?ardóttir"/1816/1/1816 (accessed
5 September 2018).
6 Elvira Glaser and andreas nievergelt, “Griffelglossen,” Die althochdeutsche und altsächsi-
sche Glossographie: Ein Handbuch, ed. by rolf Bergmann and Stefanie Stricker (Berlin: de
Gruyter, 2009), I 207–208.
7 Ibid., 206.
“HELGa Á ÞESSa LÖ GBÓ K”