Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1985, Page 158

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some unwelcome effect. Legibility under ordinary illumination seems
unaffected, but experience at the Arna-Magnæan Institute in
Copenhagen suggests that the fluorescence of parchment under ultra-
violet light decreases appreciably, and presumably permanently, with
each lengthy exposure to such illumination. Accordingly the best
result, i.e. the greatest contrast between the parchment which
fluoresces and the ink which suppresses fluorescence, is likely to be
achieved on the first occasion. Hence it is the practice at the institute,
when there is a proposal to use ultra-violet light, to photograph the
manuscript at the start, thus recording its appearance under conditions
of maximum effectiveness of ultra-violet illumination, and as far as
possible to avoid further exposure of the manuscript to such illumina-
tion.
Much else in the fragments is uncertain of course. I read the manu-
script differently sometimes. Where Blaisdell reads ‘suaradi', describ-
ing it as “su with a superscript i (?)”, I read ‘suarar’ (‘su’ with a
superscript ‘ar’ abbreviation - topped by the tail of the ‘y’ in ‘hygdv’ in
the line above). Attempting to distinguish ‘u’ and ‘v’, as Blaisdell
does, I would transcribe with ‘u’ rather than ‘v’ in several places. ‘i’ is
more likely than ‘j’ in ‘uardvejter’; the letter is not long enough in
comparison with its neighbours to justify transcription as ‘j’. ‘bvnndizt’
with ‘n’ is more likely than ‘bvu/rdizt’ with ‘u’; the letter is so uncertain
palaeographically that orthographic probability must prevail (even
though division over the line-end might have caused the mis-spelling
‘bv|undizt’).
More important than such spellings are two places where I can offer
new words.
The first concerns three words in the passage ‘ath hann skylide bidia
dottnr køngs [>yker sia fegurzt par i landi’ (fragment a, recto lines 2-3).
About ‘[ryker’ Blaisdell says:
Only the tall stroke of the p is clear; the rest is very faint or gone, so that the
letter looks very much like a tall s. The tail is gone from the y. The abbrevia-
tion for er is almost completely gone.
I read the alleged ‘Jr’ as a tall ‘s’ followed by a point; the ‘s’ completes
‘køngs’ (which can be abbreviated either way), and the point marks
the end of the clause. The alleged ‘y’ without a tail I read as ‘O’; it is
not perfectly clear, but much of the top of it is visible, as well as the