Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1943, Page 81

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for the first time in literature, by Bishop Brynjålfur. Descriptions of
the spouting hot springs are found several times in the earlier litera-
ture, from the time of Saxo, but Bishop Brynjålfur is the first to give
the description of an eye-witness of the Geysir. Such an account is
found already in his notes to Saxo which Stephanius embodied in
his Notæ uberiores pp. 23-24. The description in this passage cor-
responds in contents to that in HR, but differs somewhat in details;
and the name Geysir does not occur. It seems to have been used for
the first time in writing in the present treatise. Nor has RS the name,
though the Geysir is meant in p. 1114. In Notæ uberiores p. 26 Bryn-
jolfur mentions the so-called “beer fountains” (mineral waters)
which, strangely enough, are passed over in silence here by the two
bishops. 15 years later Brynjålfur again mentioned the hot springs
and their properties in a letter of 12/8 1662 to Marcus Meibom,
Royal Librarian in Copenhagen1. In this there is also a description
of Geysir partly in the same expressions as in the two earlier descrip-
tions, and without giving anything essentially new.
§ 9. On Ortelius’ map of Iceland various whales etc. are de-
picted in the sea round Iceland, marked by letters referring to ex-
planations in the accompanying text (see Islandica XVII, p. 39
and the plate p. 14). From these explanations Hondius has picked
his names of whales, but he has omitted about half of them and
distorted certain others.
RS has a lengthy explanation about whales. It can be partly
traced to Konungs skuggsjå (Speculum regale), which is in faet
quoted (p. 1226). Notably the narwhale had the special interest of
Bishop borlåkur (pp. i223-i324), and he could indeed describe it
from personal knowledge. Several years before borlåkur had sent
King Christian IV the tooth of a narwhale, and to Chancellor Chr.
Friis a drawing of the whale and its maxillary region. Ole Worm
saw the tooth and the jaw, whereas the drawing was lost. He there-
fore asked Bishop borlåkur for another drawing, which he received in
1639 together with a short description2. The tooth caused Worm to
1 Safn FræSafélagsins XII 144-53; of the hot springs pp. 147-49; of
Geysir p. 148.
2 Wormii Epp. I 104-106. The picture is reproduced in Museum Wormianum
p. 282 (cf. p. 285).
L