Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series A - 01.06.2003, Page 293
4. Knowledge of Jóns saga: indications
from other sources
4.1. Pre-Reformation sources
1. Máldagar. Church inventories between 1396 and 1550 list the fol-
lowing copies of some form of Jóns saga. None of them can be confi-
dently identified with any of the extant pre-Reformation manuscripts.
(i) At Hólar in 1396, DIIII, 613: ‘jons sagha holabiskups.’ The en-
try is not adjoining the two copies of Guðmundar saga and the one of
Þorláks saga that are also in the list. In the Hólar inventory of 1525,
DI IX, 297: ‘gudmundar saga. jons saga. þorlaks saga.’ appear as a
bunch, and in the 1550 list, DI XI, 850, it is expressly noted that the
sagas of Jón, Þorlákr and Guðmundr (given in that order) were all in
one book.
(ii) At Munkaþverá in 1429, DI IV, 374: ‘jons sagha holabiscups j
latino. onnor j norræno.’ In the 1525 list, DI IX, 307: ‘þessar sogu-
bækur ... jons saga biskups’; next is ‘gudmundar saga’.
(iii) At Möðruvellir in the episcopate of Ólafur Ragvaldsson (elect-
ed 1458, in Iceland as bishop 1460, died 1495; DN XVII B:l, 279), DI
V, 289: ‘jons saga holabiskups’ (in a volume with Dialogus and Basil-
ius saga).
(iv) At Þingeyrar in 1525, DI IX, 314: ‘þessar norænu bækur ...
jons saga holabiskups’; followed immediately by ‘goda gudmundar
saga. þorlaks saga’.
(v) At Reynistaður in 1525, DIIX, 321: ‘jons saga’. The entry reads
‘þorlaks saga og jons saga’, so they were possibly in one volume.
2. Annals. (i) With occasional minor divergences in dating, all the pre-
served annals of medieval origin record Jón helgi’s consecration s.a.
1106, his death s.a. 1121, and s.a. 1200 they mention either his trans-
lation or the official sanction of his cult (“lögtekin Jóns messa” or sim-
ilar) - only Skálholtsannáll combines these two notices (IslAnn., 181,
but cf. Guðms. I, 116/8-10). Konungsannáll differs from the rest in
having a longer passage s.a. 1106, IslAnn., 111: