Gripla - 2019, Qupperneq 33

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and bear their own children, raising the question of whether dog-headed
men and other “medieval” phenomenon belong to a worldview entirely dis-
tinct from Albert’s own: Albert’s version of Margháttaðar þjóðir ends with
the dry comment that Lutherans are evidently a minority in the world.77
No Old Norse-Icelandic material appears after f. 468v. First comes a se-
lection from the short-lived periodical Skemmtileg vinagleði: three accounts
of sailors and explorers – Vasco de Gama (469r–483v), Jacob Heemskerk
(483v–492r) and the Russian “hermits of Spitzbergen” (492r–497v) – and
an Icelandic translation of Jean François Marmontel’s “Lausus et Lydie”
(497v–502v).78 Like many of the romances in Albert’s collection, “Lausus
et Lydie” is cast as an ancient tale of love, duty and male friendship, end-
ing with a dramatic battle with a lion. Following this, Albert added two
tiger adventures translated from English: a report on a dramatic tiger in-
cident in New York (502v–504r) and the Anglo-Canadian short story “A
tiger’s plaything” by Charles G. D. Roberts (504r–507r).79 Next comes
an Icelandic translation of a Turkish folktale, “Nasreddin og munkarnir”
[Nasreddin and the monks] (507r–509v), first published in 1904.80
The final leaves (509v–554r) preserve an assortment of short stories,
anecdotes and information on topics ranging from lifejackets to magic
tricks to the meanings of Icelandic names. It ends with lists of archaic
measurements (552r–553r),81 a table of Roman numerals (553r), a runic
alphabet (553r–553v) and an explanation of changes to the Icelandic mon-
etary system in the 1870s (553v–554r).
Albert Jóhannesson’s exemplars and scribal methods
In compiling his handwritten books, Albert must have worked at least
partially from manuscripts. His own memory could have been a source for
some material, but the presence of items such as Margháttaðar þjóðir are
ALBERT JóHANNESSON AND THE SCRIBES OF HECLA ISLAND
77 “[F]áir eru Lúthernar að reikna á móti öllum hinum,” NIHM, f. 513v.
78 Skemmtileg vinagleði 1 (1797): 126–152; 154–171; 191–218; 251–291.
79 Sögusafn Þjóðólfs 41.37-41 (1889): 123–127; “í klóm á tígris-kettu,” Heimskringla (13 October
1894), 3–4.
80 Þorsteinn Gíslason (trans.), Nasreddin: Fjörutíu og fimm tyrkneskar kými-sögur (Reykjavík:
n.p., 1904).
81 From Jón Guðmundsson, Reikníngslist einkum handa leikmönnum (Viðeyjarklaustur: 1841),
73–77.