Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1975, Page 321
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identifies itself as being the abbot’s original soul which he had sent
to Heaven with the rich man fourteen years earlier. It informs
him that it has been sent by God to tell him that the sinful soul
which Johannes had taken from his foster-father has entered Hea-
ven, so that he now can moderate his own hard life. The abbot
gives a prayer of thanks and spends the rest of his days leading
an exemplary life.
The exact relationship between the three extant texts of this
tale cannot be determined since section 3, the only one found in all
three manuscripts, comprises but a few scant lines in which three
readings agree in 238 XXVII and 657b against 238 XXI and two
where 238 XXVII and 238 XXI correspond against 657b:
vpp j fra 238 XXVII, 657b; med 238 XXI
sælliga 238 XXVII, 657b; sæmiliga 238 XXI
j pessvm londvm 238 XXVII, 657b; hier j londum 238 XXI
meS ordi ok verki 238 XXVII, 238 XXI; lacking 657b
sem (hinn.) ynniligzta 238 XXVII, 238 XXI (damaged); sem pinn 657b
In all these cases it seems probable that the readings supported by
two manuscripts are more original. That 238 XXI is not a copy of
238 XXVII is clear because the source of 238 XXI at lr30 must
have been defective, while 238 XXVII has the complete text.
A calculation of the amount of text lost in the lacuna must be
based on 238 XXVII, the only manuscript which has the end of
the tale. Two leaves of 238 XXVII are extant and are edited below.
One of them contains 62 printed lines, the other 60 lines in the type
of this edition. The text of The Abbot and his Foster-Father must
have spanned five leaves in 238 XXVII, of which three are lost
(here marked with an asterisk). Leaf *lr contained (the end of)
some unknown preceding tale. The Abbot and his Foster-Father be-
gan in the top lines of the verso, perhaps (if there was a heading)
on the top line itself:
*lv: 27 edn. lines, the beginning of the tale, text preserved in
238 XXI, lrl-17
2; =238 XXVII lr-v, 62 edn. lines
*3: ca. 62 edn. lines, text preserved in 657b, 92r3-92vl7
*4: text of 22 edn. lines preserved in 657b, 92vl7-33
text of ca. 40 edn. lines lost
5: = 238 XXVII, 2r-v, 60 edn. lines
Opuscula V — 20