Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1980, Qupperneq 178

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More important in this connection are the statutes on penitential
discipline, attributed in the manuscripts to three bishops of Holar who
govemed the see between 1267 and 1331. These statutes contain
eleven paragraphs, of which the first (In quarto gradu consanguinita-
tis uel affinitatis seu in consimilibus), the third (Jtem pro simplici
adulterio uel in tercio gradu consanguinitatis uel affinitatis uel
consimilibus), the seventh (Jtem pro homicidio voluntario), among
other elaborate rulings to be observed by the penitent, prescribe the
singing or the reading of the pater noster (p)saltari, so and so many
times, for such and such a period. One of the more recent manuscripts,
AM 688b 4°, dated c. 1480, containing only the first paragraph, has
salltare af pater noster.14
The expression ‘Pater noster psaltari’ recurs in the heitbréf Eyfirå-
inga, a letter of solemn vows made by the people living in the
Eyjafjorbur region, dated 11 March 1477.15 Their lands had been
ravaged by volcanic eruptions, followed by land-slides and ash-rain. To
stem the tide of tribulations, sensed to be God’s just punishment for
their sins, they made vows to God, St. Mary, St. Michael the Arch-
angel, and all God’s angels; St. John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, John,
and all God’s apostles; Stephen, Thomas, Olav, and all God’s martyrs;
Martin, Nicholas, Augustine, Thorlak, Jon (of Holar), Gudmund,
Benedict, and all God’s confessors; Mary Magdalen, Cecilia, Marga-
ret, Brigid, and all God’s holy virgins, and all God’s saints.
On the first Tuesday in the last winter month of the year 1477, all
the inhabitants should convene at Grund in Eyjafjoråur, there to
celebrate Mass in honour of Our Lady. Everybody should give alms
according to his means for the sustenance of the poor. ‘And with this,
14 Jonsson 2, pp. 188-92, with Latin translation; DI 2, pp. 130-34; Jonsson’s Latin
translation was reprinted by Schmitz, op. cit., pp. 717-19.
15 Jonsson 4, pp. 233-6, with Latin translation; DI 6, pp. 103-07; DI 10, pp. 44-46;
Norges gamle Love. 2nd Series, 2, pp. 536-38.
These deeply moving ‘letters of solemn vows’ or ‘votive letters’ all come from the
diocese of Holar. The earliest one is Bishop Jon II’s letter of February 2, 1365, where,
among others, he enjoins observance of the feast of the Conception of Our Lady (DI 3,
pp. 205-07; see above, p. 126). Two such letters were occasioned by the ravages of the
plague in the early fifteenth century (DI 3, pp. 680-83, dated 25 December 1402 and
16 January 1403). The Reformation made no break in this practice; in faet, eight more
letters are extant, dating from 1562 to 1726. It was abolished in 1744 (see DI 6, pp.
103-04).