Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series A - 01.06.1997, Blaðsíða 9

PREFACE
This book has been a long time in the making: partly because of the nature of
the subject, partly because there was a period of several years when adminis-
trative duties left me little or no time for research, and partly because in many
other years useful research opportunities were in practice limited to the Uni-
versity Easter and Summer vacations. Three periods of Study Leave, though
short, were much appreciated.
Most of the study of the manuscripts themselves has been done in the Arna-
Magnæan Institute in Copenhagen, some in the Arna-Magnæan Institute in
Reykjavík, and some in the British Library, London, the Library of Trinity
College Dublin and the National Library of Iceland. I am grateful in the first
instance to these Institutes and Libraries for access to the manuscripts and the
support of their staff, and to other libraries and to private owners of manu-
scripts who allowed me access to their manuscripts under the aegis of the In-
stitutes in Copenhagen and Reykjavík. I am also grateful for frequent access
to the citation slips of the Arna-Magnæan Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, and
occasional access to the materials held by the dictionary project of the Uni-
versity of Iceland and by the National Archives of Iceland.
My thanks are due to the University of Wales Aberystwyth for frequent
grants towards the cost of travel to Copenhagen; to the British Academy for a
European Exchange Grant in 1976 and an award from the scheme for Small
Grants in the Humanities in 1984; to the Leverhulme Trust for an Emeritus
Fellowship in 1991; and to the Arna-Magnæan Commission for encourage-
ment afforded me from the Ejnar Munksgaard Legat in 1993.
Jón Helgason suggested the subject, and gave invaluable advice as the
work progressed; Agnete Loth provided some information early on, and en-
couragement; Grímur M. Helgason sent me information and photocopies
from Iceland; Foster Blaisdell and Helle Jensen discussed matters of common
interest with me, to our mutual benefit. I gratefully acknowledge my debt to
these departed friends.
I am grateful also to Kristmundur Bjarnason for a photocopy of a manu-
script and information about it; to Einar G. Pétursson for sending me photo-
copies and information, discussing some of the late manuscripts with me, and
helping me with access to privately owned manuscripts; to Christopher
Sanders for discussing some manuscript problems with me; and to Matthew
Driscoll for discussing some of the latest manuscripts with me.
My chief thanks must go to three people in particular. Olafur Halldórsson
and Stefán Karlsson have been very kind and generous with their time and
outstanding expertise over many years. So also has Jonna Louis-Jensen, the
Arna-Magnæan adviser for the edition, whose quick eye and penetrating