Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1980, Blaðsíða 116

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The Pater Noster Psalter
A Psalter of Fifteen Divisions Used in
the Scandinavian North
As mentioned above, the psalter fragment contained in MSS A and A ’
represents a special kind of psalter. When whole, it was divided in
fifteen parts per decadas. After each group of ten psalms followed the
threefold Kyrie, Pater noster, versicles, and one liturgical prayer; three
liturgical prayers followed each tier of fifty psalms. In the collections
of Icelandic manuscripts of Det Arnamagnæanske Institut, Copen-
hagen, of the Landsbokasafn, Reykjavik, and of Kungliga Biblioteket,
Stockholm, fragments, chiefly used for the bindings of manuscripts and
books, from fourteen more Icelandic psalters of the same description
have been traced, here designated as MSS B-P.
Excerpts by Årni Magnusson from five more psalters of the same
kind are found in his note-books, MS AM 209 8°, ff. 148-224. Once
excerpted, the manuscripts were dismembered by him and, at least to a
certain extent, used for bindings of manuscripts and books. The first
one excerpted by him, ff. 148-75, can be identified as representing
our MS C. In the following it will be designated as MS c, the
remaining four psalter excerpts will be designated as MSS q, r, s, t.
One might expect that these excerpts could be identified with manu-
scripts within our range, but such identifications have not proved
possible; it is not, however, out of the question that Årni’s MS q may
represent our MS L, with identical versicles after ps. 120. MSS s and t
can, on textual criteria, be classed with the more recent witnesses of
our Psalter.
Åmi’s note-books, MS AM 209 8°, also contain, ff. 136r-146v (of which ff.
136v-139v, 142v, 145v are blank), some preliminary notes conceming psalters
and other manuscripts. They begin with a list of fragments from the Church of
Eyri in the Skutilsfjor&ur (Is.):
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