Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.10.1967, Page 244

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(AM 249B, fol.)17 it is recorded in most ambiguous terms—“Sancti
Pauli Primi her”—and nobody but a very learned churchman
could be expected to realise that this did not refer to the Apostle
Paul. A hurried scribe might very easily stop at the first mention of
Paulus, read no further, and work out when the next Friday oc-
eurred—the 17th. A later scribe might then have misread it as
being attached to the 18th, in the same way as has happened in
the errors I have already discussed. This is rather an involved ex-
planation, but should perhaps be adopted until a better can be
found.
This leaves only one date to be discussed, namely the date of
death of Bishop Olafur Hjaltason in 1569. There is a good deal of
confusion on this point among the modern scholars who have
dealt with it, and the date is variously given as January 8th, 9th or
17th18. There are four early authorities to work on, so far as I can
find. One is our Ms., written not more than twerity years after the
event—this gives the date as January 16th. Another is Gottskålks
annåll, again an almost contemporary account, which, however,
suffers from a chronic inaccuracy over the years of events, and
says Bishop Olafur died in 1568. But the exact dating still deserves
notice:
Andadis byskup Olaf Hiallta son heima aa Hofum svnnu dagin
um messo fyrstan j midiuin uetri.1’
The Icelandic Midwinter was the beginning of the month Porri,
which was on the Friday between January 9th and 15th. In the
year 1569, this feli on the 14th20, so the next Sunday was the 16th.
It may have been a misunderstanding of this quotation which pro-
17 The other, AM 249H, fol., does make it clear that this is not Paul the Apostle,
so it is possible that the scribe of AM 249B, fol. did not himself understand the
entry.
18 Por the date January 9th, see Prest. p. 292, t.Æ. 4:62, for January 8th, Påll
Eggert Olason: “Saga Islendinga”, Reykjavik, 1944, Vol. 4, p. 233, and for Janu-
ary 17th “Menn og Menntir”, Vol. 2, p. 603. The last two are probably the results
of inaccurate reckoning of the dates of days of the week in that year.
18 Is.Ann., p. 377.
20 Ob.Is.a : Intro., facing p. VTII.