Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1957, Page 180

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NOTES
398-9 Equos — conficiunt: From Gemma Frisius, p. 146.
3910 mappå Islandiæ: Ortelius’s map of Iceland in Theatrum
orbis terrarum 1590.
3913 Munsterus: P. 839, in the description of Lapland. Rangi-
feri == reindeer.
3916-22 Cete — cete: From Munster, p. 850 (derived Wholesale
by him from Olaus Magnus, Ain kurze Auslegung).
401-2 Pictoribus etc.: Hor. De arte poet. 9-10.
40s Brandanus: See Heilagra manna spgur I, 1877, PP- 274-5.
It is clear that AJ knew the story of Brandanus, probably from
Icelandic sources (cf. the phrase “veteribus Norvagis”). Only a
single leaf of a Norwegian manuscript of the Brandanus-legend
is now extant, but it is likely that the saga existed in Icelandic
copies. That AJ had little detailed knowledge of the legend, how-
ever, is suggested by his confusion of Brandanus with the arch-
bishop of Bremen, Alebrandus, in Alb. Krantz’s work (Regn.
aqu. Chron., 1546, pp. 592—3, where the sea-monster is not men-
tioned, however). Possibly AJ knew only the story of the great
sea-monster on whose back Brandanus and his followers landed,
and then mixed this up with the account in Krantz’s book and
with Miinster’s words on the gigantic whales.
4116 quidam: Here AJ must be referring to A. S. Vedel, who
in 1585 prepared the map of Iceland which Ortelius published in
Theatrum orbis terrarum 1590. Vedel’s part in the preparation
appears to have been no more than getting a clean copy made or
having it engraved, whereupon he sent it to Ortelius. The map
itself however was the work of Bishop GuSbrandur. See Islan-
dica XVII 14-17; N. E. Nørlund, Islands Kortlægning, pp. 28-
30. The curious faet that AJ here names no names, neither
Vedel’s nor the Bishop’s, must certainly be due to caution on his
part—he was unwilling to attack Vedel openly, who was after all
the Royal Historiographer and enjoyed the highest protection.
We do not know why Bishop GuSbrandur sent Vedel his map,
but possibly Vedel had wished to have it in connection with the
preparation of his history of Denmark, which was to be intro-
duced by a geographical survey. Neither do we know why Vedel
sent the map to Ortelius. It is certain that the Icelandic names
on the map in Ortelius’s volume show signs of having been tran-