Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana. Supplementum - 01.06.2000, Page 63

SUMMARY CHAP. III
omtalt av andre grunner, gjenfinner vi to av
«Treenighetshornets» bándfletninger, den ovre,
mest kompliserte (HH pl. 78d) og den nedre,
noe enklere HH pl. 78a, jfr. her fig. 21).
I sin presentasjon i Árbók 1969 av Skjald-
fönn-fragmentet (et utskáret trestykke med
ornamentikk i «islandsk stil», funnet pá garden
Skjaldfönn, Nauteyrarhreppur, N.-ísf., i 1968)
ga Kristján Eldjárn sin tilslutning til Björn Th.
Björnsson, som hadde fremholdt at ornamen-
tikk som tegnebokens pá F pl. 21 etter all sann-
synlighet var ment som forbilder for treskurd
og ikke for illuminasjon.73 Pá samme máte
kunne man anta at bandornamentikken i tegnebo-
ken mer var tenkt som forbilder for skurd enn
for bokmaleri, siden den synes sá sjelden i
hándskriftene.
Det vil neppe være naturlig á sammenligne
skrifttypene i hándskriftene og de skárne inn-
skrifter pá hornene, som domineres av höfða-
letur. Det mátte i tilfelle gjores av en skrift-
spesialist.
Várt forsok pá sammenligning for ovrig
synes á vise sá stor parallellitet at en nær til-
knytning mellom middelalderens illumina-
sjonskunst og hornskurd má forutsettes. Igjen
má vi sporre om hornskurd kanskje ble drevet i
klostrene, og om det til og med kan tenkes et
«verkstedfellesskap». Uvanlig var det nok hel-
ler ikke at én og samme mann arbeidet i flere
kunstgrener.74 Av interesse i denne forbindelse
er det kanskje at det er pávist rester av be-
maling pá noen av hornene (se nedenfor s. 108).
SUMMARY
The horn carvers may have used drawings as
models. As well as the patternbooks, individual
pages with drawings may have been in circula-
tion. However, very little has survived of such
preliminary work of medieval art in different
materials. The Icelandic Sketch Book, dated to
the 14th and 15th centuries, has therefore attrac-
ted much attention and has been reproduced
and commented on by more than one author.
A comparison of the subject-matter on the
drinking horns with that in the Sketch Book
shows that none of the scenes on the drinking
horns is a direct copy of any motif in the book,
although one can often point to a similarity in
detail, both in the figurative scenes and in the
ornamentation.
The vine-scroll on the St Michael Horn with
its extensive use of spirals has very close paral-
lels with some of the illustrations (see figs 32 &
52). The decoration in the book is the work of an
illustrator who was probably active circa
1450-1475 and whose themes also included rib-
bonwork. An extensive piece of ribbon decora-
tion from his hand (fig 53) has exactly the same
figure-of-eight knots as the Horn showing
Christ bearing the Cross and the Bishop's Horn
(figs 41 & 46), except they are mirror images.
A couple of well-known carved objects can
also be considered as forerunners for the drink-
ing horns with regard to decoration. One of
them, known as Christian I's portable altar, is a
diptych of walrus ivory with scenes from the
life of St Olaf on one wing (fig 54). If the date of
around 1300 is correct, it would be the best
surviving example in carving of the typical
"Icelandic Style" vine-scroll with its small
leaves. It appears in the central scene on the
bottom row, which shows St Olaf on horseback
(fig 55). The branches grow out of a trefoil arch
at the top and function almost like crockets in
the same way as the trailing foliage on the
gables above the saints on the St Nicholas Horn
(figs 4-5). The diptych has long been regarded
as Norwegian craftsmanship, but perhaps the
St Olaf panel is really Icelandic. It should also
be noted that the carved head of Christ in the
top centre of the surrounding frame (fig 54) is
closely related to the drawings in the Icelandic
Sketch Book.
The other object is the so-called Eric of
Pomerania's bugle or hunting horn in walrus
ivory (figs 56-58). This piece with its high-
quality handwork is of historical interest on
account of the three blazons in relief in the