Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.10.1967, Page 228
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placed in, they will not quite fit together to make a complete codex
of regular gatherings. Something is missing, and from a note of Årni
Magnusson’s discussed by Miss Loth (pp. 119-120) it seems to be
Rorsteins saga Vikingssonar and Vilmundar saga vi&utan.
These two missing sagas, and Karl Magnus krønike (180e) and
Jons saga leikara (588f), must have come in the middle of the
anthology, if the conclusions above about the positions of groups I
and II are correct. As there is no evidence to suggest that anything
else is now missing, the four sagas were perhaps the whole of the
middle of the anthology between the two groups. The order of the
four sagas in relation to each other naturally cannot be determined,
but three small points can be made. 588f could not have been the
first or the last of the four sagas, as its leaves could not immediately
follow group I or precede group II. Secondly, 180e could have come
anywhere in the sequence. Lastly, 588f and 180e would fit together
in that order to make two complete gatherings, but there is nothing
to prove that they were necessarily in that order, or even con-
secutive.
Thus some matters cannot be decided at all, and others only
tentatively. Nevertheless, although examination of the gatherings
and leaves in the way described has led to only small improve-
ments in this particular case, it may give more striking results in
other instances, and clearly cannot be left undone in any work
of this kind.
The improved reconstruction of Jon Torfason’s anthology may
be summarised as follows:
I. The beginning and first part of the anthology, a continuous
run as follows:
Title-page (?), list of contents (?).. One missing leaf
Rémundar saga keisarasonar............ 540
Grænlands chronica.................... 779c III
Håkonar J)åttr Hårekssonar............ 347 (ff. 17-20)
Kroka-Refs saga....................... 554ay
II. The middle part, in unknown order:
Karl Magnus krønike................... 180e
Jons saga leikara..................... 588f
Rorsteins saga Vikingssonar........... Missing
Vilmundar saga vi&utan................ Missing