Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1977, Page 141
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Maurer thought that Hænsa-Boris saga was used in Landnåma-
bok (viz. Sturlubok and Hauksbok). He reckoned that the saga
had already influenced the lost Styrmisbok, an opinion shared by
Bjorn M. Olsen. On the other hånd, Sigurbur Nordal points out
(Islenzk fornrit III, p. xxix) that the entire influence of Hænsa-
Boris saga on Landnåmabok can be most easily explained by as-
suming that Sturla Borbarson used the saga, whereas Haukur Er-
lendsson used Sturlubok — as he himself said that he did.
The start of Maurer’s consideration of the influence of Hænsa-
Boris saga on Landnåmabok was the account of the settling of
Ornolfsdalr. In Sturlubok-Hauksbok (Isl. fornr. I, p. 84), it says:
Ornolfr hét mabr er nam Ornolfsdal ok Kjarradal fyrir norb-
an upp til Hnitbjarga. Ketill biundr keypti land at Ornolfi
allt fyrir neban Klif ok bjo i Ornolfsdal. Ornolfr gerbi Joå bu
upp i Kjarradal, jmr er nu heita Ornolfsstabir. Eyrir ofan
Klif heitir Kjarradalr, jrvi at Jiar våru hriskjorr ok småskogar
milli Kjarrår ok Bverår, svå at jiar måtti eigi byggja. Blund-
Ketill var mabr storaubigr. Hann lét rybja viba i skogum ok
byggja.
On the other hånd there is a different account in Bbrbarbok, ob-
viously originating in Melabok:
Ornolfr hét mabr er nam Norbtungu alla å milli Kjarrår ok
Bverår og bjo i Ornolfsdal. Hans son var Blund-Ketill, fabir
Horkels er Hænsa-Borir brenndi inni. Haban af gerbisk deild
jieira Horbar gellis ok Tungu-Odds. En Hauksbok hefir svå ...
- and then follows the account just quoted from Hauksbok and
Sturlubok.
The explanation offered by Maurer and subsequent scholars for
the differences between these texts is as follows: Here Melabok
has kept the original text of Landnåmabok. Sturla (Maurer: Styrm-
ir) changed the Landnåmabok text to conform to Hænsa-Boris
saga, which says that Blund-Ketill the son of Geirr lived in Ornolfs-
dalr. These points are expressed in a short passage by Sigurbur
Nordal (introd., p.x):
E>a3 er au3sé5, a3 texti Sturlubokar er hér målami31un milli tveggja
heimilda, og hafa t>eir Maurer og B.M.O. synt fram a, a3 Sturla hafi
haft fyrir sér eldri Landnåmu-ger3 og Hænsa-lPoris sogu. Hann tekur