Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana. Supplementum - 01.06.2000, Page 82

SUMMARY CHAP. IV
dated. One is the Paradise Horn, named after
the scene showing the Fall of Man in the
Garden of Eden (figs 74-76). But it is the decora-
tive elements that dominate. Ten of the eleven
surviving zones and bands contain some form
of decoration. Only around the very top of the
mouthpiece is there a simple incised inscription
in Latin majuscules with the exhortation to
drink in peace and not to forget the living God.
There are three bands of highly ornamental
höfðaletur which are almost indecipherable for
the uninitiated, with the letters split up and
partly running into each other. The bottom
inscription also has four parallel ribbons thread-
ed though the letters. The inscriptions are an
adulation of the Lord in Latin.
The narrower bands contain interlaced rib-
bon motifs and there are vine-scrolls in the two
widest fields. In the upper field, the vine-scroll
is inhabited by Adam and Eve with the serpent
at the tree of knowledge, together with animals
which resemble lions. The explanatory text,
taken from Gen. 3, 4-6, is placed on the body of
the serpent and on the stems it crosses (fig 75).
Some diagonal lines at the bottom may indicate
that the missing tip of the horn contained a
twisted section as on several of the medieval
horns.
The other undated horn, the Samson Horn
(figs 77-80), is badly damaged, but the work of
Brynjólfur is easily recognisable. Of the two
broad main zones with figurative scenes the
upper one is in a better state of preservation.
The figurative scenes are set within a frame-
work of knotted and interlaced ribbonwork and
portray stories of Samson and of David, as well
as the medieval Last Judgement motif of the
weighing of souls, with the archangel Michael
weighing souls in a balance. The latter scene is
unfortunately badly damaged. The band of
inscription carries an explanatory text in in-
cised Latin majuscules. The tip of the horn has
been cut off, but a pair of wings at the bottom
suggests that there was a dragon motif also
here.
Some of Brynjólfur's figurative scenes are
wholly medieval, while others are more up-to-
date. It has not been possible to find the models
for them all, but we know that many Dutch and
German woodcuts and copper engravings were
currently in circulation. It also seems that he
was conversant with Christian III's Danish
Bible, which appeared in 1550. Particular men-
tion should be made of the Resurrection on the
title page, showing Christ trampling underfoot
a skeleton symbolising death (see fig 86), which
must have been the model for the motif on the
largest whale bone panel (fig 64). Some of the
figures on the Samson Horn also seem to have
been based on this Bible, such as Samson
struggling with the lion (fig 88, cf fig 80) and
Samson and Delilah (figs 89 & 77, 80).
The depiction of the Baptism of Jesus in the
top left field of the composite whale bone panel
(fig 65) has many European parallels, one of
which is found on the title page of the first
Icelandic Bible, Guðbrandsbiblía, from 1584
(see fig 87).
Brynjólfur Jónsson's figures are depicted in
Renaissance costumes, whereas his vine-scrolls,
dragons and höfðaletur show that he still had
one foot firmly in the Middle Ages.