Gripla - 2019, Blaðsíða 32
GRIPLA32
Ff. Title in NIHM Source(s) in Hauksbók
458r–462v Margháttaðar þjóðir Her segir fra marghattaðum þioðum.69
463r–464r Paradís og vatnsföll a) Fra paradiso. b) no heading70
464r–466v Hversu lönd liggja
í veröldinni
Her segír fra þui huersu lond liggia i
veroldenní.71
466v–467r Frá Nóasonum og
bygging þeirra
Fra þuí huar huerr Noa sona bygði
heíminn72
467r Adam og Eva Vm þat hvaðan otru hofst.73
467r–468r Antikristur Her segir fra Antíchristo.74
468r–468v Um uppruna
skurðgoðavillu
a) Her segir huaðan blot skur guða
hofust.
b) Vm þat hvaðan otru hofst.75
Table 5. Encyclopaedic material from Hauksbók in NIHM.
Given the reliance on learned material (and Hauksbók in particular) in
many medieval Icelandic romances, one could view this section as supple-
mentary to the riddarasögur: background material for readers unfamiliar
with medieval geography and monsters. Adonias saga, for example, begins
with an elaborate prologue on the history of the ancient world and is set in
the ancient Syrian regime of King Marsilius.76 In (re)creating the landscape
of the romances for modern audiences, encyclopaedic texts have relevance
in presenting the worldview from which these works spring.
On closer examination, Albert does not copy his texts directly from the
printed edition of Hauksbók, and his attitude toward the verisimilitude of
these medieval texts is ambiguous. Most notably, the catalogue of mon-
strous races (Margháttaðar þjóðir) has been expanded to include new races,
beginning with the Tatars. These younger additions are hardly less fantas-
tic than those in Hauksbók, including hermaphroditic men who conceive
69 Finnur Jónsson (ed.), Hauksbók udgiven efter de Arnamagnæanske håndskrifter no. 371,
544 og 675, 4 ̊ samt forskellige papirshåndskrifter af Det kongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab
(Copenhagen: Kongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab, 1892–1896), 165–67.
70 Ibid., 152, 150–52
71 Ibid., 153–56.
72 Ibid., 164–65.
73 Ibid., 156–57.
74 Ibid., 170–71.
75 Ibid., 170, 158–59.
76 NIHM, ff. 225r–v.