Gripla - 2019, Page 45

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S U M M A R Y
Keywords: post-medieval manuscript studies, Icelandic manuscript culture in
North America, scribal communities, literacy as social practice, literary culture of
Icelandic immigrants to Canada, Hecla Island
To date, very little research exists on manuscript culture in Icelandic immigrant
communities in North America. The present article examines the case study of
an immigrant-scribe, Albert Jóhannesson (1847–1921), who left Iceland as an
adult in 1884 and eventually settled in the community of Hecla Island, Manitoba,
Canada. All four saga manuscripts in Albert’s hand remain in Manitoba. Albert
Jóhannesson is one of the last known individuals to participate in manuscript
production as a pastime: he started his oldest saga manuscript in 1889, and
his last dated saga is from 1910. He copied some material from printed books
and periodicals, but he probably worked mainly from manuscript exemplars. At
least one of these, SÁM 35, was brought to Canada by another Hecla Islander,
Grímólfur ólafsson (1827–1903). Far from being an eccentric hermit in the bush,
Albert appears to have been an active participant in a scribal community on Hecla
Island. The study demonstrates that scribes operated in collaboration with others
in their local settlements and made new connections on their arrival to North
America that enabled the continued circulation of manuscript material.
Á g r I P
Albert Jóhannesson og skrifararnir í Mikley: Handritamenning vesturfaranna
Lykilorð: handrit síðari alda, handritamenning vesturfaranna, handritasamfélög,
læsi sem félagsleg iðja, ritmenning íslenskra innflytjenda í Kanada, Hecla Island
(Mikley)
Albert Jóhannesson (1847–1921) var íslenskur skrifari sem flutti til Vestur heims
árið 1884. Tæplega áratug síðar settist hann að á Mikley (e. Hecla Island) í
Manitoba og bjó þar til æviloka. Þrjú handrit í eigu Alberts hafa varðveist á íslandi:
Lbs 3022 4to, Lbs 4667 4to og Lbs 3785 8vo. Aftur á móti skrifaði hann fjögur
sagnahandrit í Vesturheimi sem öll hafa varðveist í Manitoba: Jóhannesson A
(1889–1891), Jóhannesson B (1892+), Jóhannesson C (1900–1901) og NIHM
020012.3301 (1901–1910+).
Reynsla og ritvirkni Alberts er skoðuð í ljósi nýrra rannsókna um hand rita -
menningu síðari alda. Niðurstaða höfundarins er að Albert hafi haft aðgengi að
fjölda íslenskra handrita í Vesturheimi en jafnframt að Albert hafi verið aðeins
einn af nokkrum íslenskum skrifurum sem bjuggu í Mikley um aldamótin 1900.
ALBERT JóHANNESSON AND THE SCRIBES OF HECLA ISLAND