Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1970, Side 361

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of Flåamanna saga in AM 445b differs very considerably from the
Vatnshyrna tradition of that saga, which is known through AM
516, 4to and AM 517, 4to49. As to whether Melabåk, Gisla saga,
Viga-Glums saga and Hardar saga originally appeared in Vatnshyrna
as well as in Pseudo-Vatnshyrna, and whether the other sagas in
Vatnshyrna (Laxdæla saga, Hænsa-Poris saga, Kjalnesinga saga,
Kroka-Befs saga and Stjornu-Odda draumr) were also included in
the complete form of Pseudo-Vatnshyrna, we know nothing80.
Stefan Karlsson has concluded (see his section 2.1, above)
that Vatnshyrna was not a copy of Pseudo-Vatnshyrna. It is also
clear that the first part of Pseudo-Vatnshyrna (Items 1-4 above)
is not very closely related to Vatnshyrna, and it may be that
only the middle part of this codex (Items 5 to 7) has any close
Ms. connection with Vatnshyrna at all. This part of the codex
could be either a descendant of Vatnshyrna (not necessarily a
direct copy) or a “sister” Ms.
If, as is suggested as a possibility in section 3.1, above, two lines
of AM 445c,I, 4to were in the hånd of Dor&ur E>or5arson, it would
become probable that at least this part of Pseudo-Vatnshyrna was
written before April, 1392, and likely that it should be dated
before December, 1389; Hoskuldur Håkonarson cannot have been
younger than 17 years old in 13864, the date of the earliest of
Dorbur’s documents—quite old enough to have contributed the
heading to Hardar saga in AM 564a, 4to, (which could in any
case have been added in a space left for it some time after the
main text of the codex had been completed). If this date were
applied to the whole codex, it would follow that Pseudo-Vatnshyrna
must be a “sister” rather than a descendant of Vatnshyrna itself,
explanation of this is that the first part of Pseudo-Vatnshyrna (Items 1-4) may
have been copied before the exemplar of Items 5-7 was available (whether or
not that was Vatnshyrna).
49 I am indebted to Mr. Richard Perkins for making available to me his un-
published information about the Ms. tradition of Fldamanna saga.
60 See Stefan Karlsson, 1.1.1, 1.2 above. But if Pseudo-Vatnshyrna did contain
the other items which appeared in Vatnshyrna, they were not all in the same
order. In Pseudo- Vatnshyrna, Bergbua pattr was preceded by Pordar saga Hredu, for
both appear on the same leaf; so if Stjornu-Odda draumr was ever a part of Pseudo-
Vatnshyrna, it cannot have immediately preceded Bergbua pattr there, as it appar-
ently did in Vatnshyrna.