Gripla - 2021, Qupperneq 18

GRIPLA16
Canterbury, with some holy exempla).30 This entry is preceded by “Um
ad ráda drauma, er nytt” (About interpreting dreams, is new), which must
refer to an Icelandic translation of Somniale Danielis on f. 33v, written
much later than the rest of the manuscript (c. 1550). Following the entry on
the archbishops is “De Regibus Angliæ non nulla” (About several kings of
England), which probably refers to the text on f. 37v, which is mostly based
on Saga Játvarðar konungs hins helga.31 Nothing matching the description of
the twelfth item in Árni’s list is presently in AM 764 4to, neither between
leaves 33 and 37, where one would expect it to be, nor anywhere else.
The twelfth item does, however, match the contents of the parchment
bifolium in Stowe MS 980 perfectly. And, as it turns out, the bifolium
provides us with a text that seamlessly fits in front of f. 36 in AM 764 4to.
At the top of Stowe MS 980, f. 40r, the text begins with a short prologue.
The compiler then proceeds to tell anecdotes featuring archbishops of
Canterbury, beginning with St Augustine, the first archbishop, and con-
cluding with Stephen Langton in line 13 on f. 41v.32 Then the compiler
goes on to tell the life of St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne. At the bottom of f.
41v, we are told about some of the miracles Cuthbert performed in his life-
time; in the last one on the leaf, Cuthbert heals a sick boy with a kiss.
In AM 764 4to, folio 36r begins with another of Cuthbert’s miracles,
one where he cures a monk of dysentery by praying for him. Even though
the text in Stowe MS 980 ends with a full sentence and the text in AM
764 4to begins with another full sentence that is technically independent
of the previous one, it is clear that these folios were originally consecutive:
in both cases the text follows the same translation of Bede’s Vita sancti
Cuthberti, which is considerably abridged and is similar to a version found
30 Arne Magnussons i AM. 435 A-B, 4to indeholdte håndskriftfortegnelser med to tillæg udgivne for
det Arnamagnæanske legat, [ed. Kr. Kålund] (Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1909), 41. An almost
identical list of contents, written by an amanuensis of Árni Magnússon, is kept with AM
764 4to itself.
31 F. 38 also has text on English kings (an abridged version of Breta sögur, see Svanhildur
Óskarsdóttir, “Universal History,” 241), but Árni cannot be referring to that as he has
already listed Söguþáttur af Jóni biskupi Halldórssyni (“Æfintir, ubi de Jona Halthorio
Episcopo Scalholtensi”), which is also on f. 38, as item no. 3.
32 The compiler does not, however, follow the correct chronological order as he or she consid-
ers St Edmund of Abingdon to be Stephen’s predecessor (see below, section 6.2). Other
archbishops of Canterbury featured in the compilation are St Dunstan, Lanfranc, and St
Anselm; a few more archbishops are briefly mentioned.