Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1970, Qupperneq 362

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which was probably written cl391-139520. But the uncertainty of
the attribution to J>6rSur DorSarson and the possibility that the
codex was not all written at the same period make it impossible
to rely on this argument.
Pseudo-Vatnshyrna reads 11.5-6 of the second verse in Kumlbua
pdttr thus: enn adr gaf eh dm fædu undgiods sendi/ biodi (4vb24-25)51,
where AM 564c (Årni Magnusson’s copy of Vatnshyrna) has: enn åidr
er elc ai oru \orri\ undgiods setid biodi (Clv23). Since the text in Pseudo-
Vatnshyrna comes doser to making sense than that in the exemplar
of AM 564c, one is tempted to assume that this part of Pseudo- Vatns-
hyrna might be a ‘ ‘sister’ ’ Ms. rather than a descendant of Vatnshyrna.
But the Accusative form årn can hardly be original here (Finnur Jons-
son finds it necessary to emend to the Dative erni in his normalised
text, and E. A. Kock has the Dative plural form drnum). It could be
either a slight corruption or the result of an attempt on the part of the
scribe of Hånd 1 of AM 564a to repair a passage which was already
corrupt in his exemplar, (whether that was directly Vatnshyrna or
not). It therefore provides no reliable evidence as to whether or
not Pseudo-Vatnshyrna is directly descended from Vatnshyrna.
11. The codex which I have called Pseudo-Vatnshyrna contained
at least seven major and two minor hånds, and this seems to
imply the existence of a fairly large scriptorium, not all of whose
members were very experienced (see the hånd in AM 445c,I, 4to)52.
The heading in the hånd of Hoskuldur Håkonarson suggests that
this was probably in the Northern Quarter, perhaps in Skaga-
fjarSarsysla, and the general similarity of spelling between all
seven main hånds may imply that the writers were members of
a common school—but whether it was predominantly lay or
61 See Den Norsk-Islandske Skjaldedigtning (see note 7, above), Vol. IIA,
p. 213, for a diplomatic text of this verse, and IIB, p. 230, for a normalised text
and translation. There is also a normalised text in Den Norsk-Itslåndska Skalde-
diktningen, ed. E. A. Kock, Vol. II, Lund, 1949, p. 119. Finnur Jonsson reads
the last word as flodi, noting AM 564c biodi as a variant, but emends to biodi in
his normalised text; Kock has sendiflådi. But ultra-violet photographs show that
the reading in AM 564a is also biodi.
62 Alternatively, it is possible that it was written gradually over a long period,
as Stefån Karlsson suggests above, 3.3, but this would still imply a considerable
number of scribes working in a common enterprise.