Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.2007, Page 64

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2 The history and provenance of Kringla
tions by previous scholars, she finds that Kringla may possibly have
been in Vedel’s possession but has not left traces in any of his works:
Vægtigst er argumenterne for, at Esp [Eirspennill] har tilhørt
Vedel. Det er muligvis også tilfældet for Kringla, der er indgået
meget tidlig i Universitetsbiblioteket, men hvoraf der ikke er
påvist spor i Vedels værker og notater.
(The arguments that Esp. [Eirspennill] belonged to Vedel carry
most weight. This may also be the case with Kringla, which
came to the University Library very early, but of which there
are no proven traces in Vedel’s works and notes.)
(Nielsen 2004: 236)
In addition to the historiographers’ collections the Library also re-
ceived saga manuscripts in Old Norse along with the book collection
belonging to Henrik Høyer, a physician and scholar, originally from
Germany, who had lived in Bergen all his adult life. After he died his
book collection was expropriated by the king in 1619. None of the
entries in the records of this collection lit Kringla, however. A vellum
in folio containing kings’ sagas is “Kong Haldans Historiebok” (‘King
Hålfdan’s history book’) but this has been identified, undoubtedly cor-
rectly, as Fagrskinna B (KålKatKB xi).
The list of books at the end of Arild Huitfeldt’s term (dated 1618)
contains three Old Norse chronicles in folio on vellum, “Chronicæ
Norvegicæ, Norvagice tres” (‘Three histories of Norway in Norwe-
gian’, Birket Smith 1882: 129), together with two in quarto, “Norske
Kronnicker, Tvende” (‘Norwegian Chronicles, Two’, Birket Smith
1882: 131). Despite their titles, one of the folios must have contained
Knytlinga saga (KålKatKB x); another may have been Kringla, but it
is difficult to decide whether it came from Vedel or whether it became
part of the collection in Huitfeldt’s time. Vedel’s position as historiog-
rapher was terminated, and he had to hånd back his material in 1595.