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of Gissur as the translator of AM 696 XI 4to are the faet that he based
his known translations on the Low German Bible of 1541, which is also
the source of the AM 696 fragment, and the probability of his having
made other translations from the Old Testament in conjunction with
Oddur Gottskålksson.28
It is possible that the preface to Daniel was translated by itself,
independent of any translation of the book of Daniel. Påll Eggert Olason
points out that Gissur brought back to Iceland in 1543, among other
books, “commentariorum libros quos scripsi”.29 If the word “commenta-
ry” is taken largely, it is at least conceivable that among these “libros”
was a translation by Gissur of Luther’s preface to Daniel.
4.4. Bishop Olafur Hjaltason of Holar (c. 1500-1569) is also said to
have translated some books of the Bible,30 and can thus not be exeluded
as a fourth possible translator of the AM 696 fragment. The question of
the translator’s identity can not be resolved, however, in our present State
of knowledge about sixteenth century scribal practices and about the
differing styles of the early Bible translators.31
28 See PEO, Menn og menntir, II, pp. 562-63, where he argues for Gissur as the translator of Job in
AM 617 4to, later incorporated into Gudbr. There are two facts which, when brought together, provide
possible evidence of a close cooperation between Oddur and Gissur: in the preface to his translation of
Corvinus' Postilla (Rostock, 1546), Oddur States “Giarnan skyllda eg kærir brædur hafa latid prenta
ydur tijl goda adrar fleire frædi bækur heilagrar ritningar, sem eru vtleggingar yfuer Sunnudaga Pistlana,
oc Euangelia de Sanctis kringvm aarit, ef at eg hefda swo efne a penningum haft" (cited from Halldor
Hermannsson, Islandica, IX, pp. 5-6); Gissur’s list of books includes “postillam coruini de sanctis quam
ego transtuli” (Diplomatarium Islandicum, XI, p. 191).
29 Dipi. I si, loc. cit. (note 28 above).
30 PEO, Menn og menntir, II, p. 564. Cf. Haraldur Nielsson, “De islandske Bibeloversættelser",
Studier tilegnede .. . Frants Buhi, ed. by Johannes Jacobsen (Copenhagen, 1925), p. 186: “Nogle af de
Oversættelser, som Biskop Gudbrandur har benyttet, synes at have været Gengivelser fra Dansk,
maaske udførte af Biskopperne Olafur Hjaltason og Gisli Jonsson”
31 I wish to record my thanks to Agnete Loth for first calling my attention to this fragment and
encouraging me to try to discover its source, and to Jonna Louis-Jensen for expert and patient advice in
the preparation of this article. I am also grateful to the American Philosophical Society for a grant
which supported this work.