Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series A - 01.06.1997, Síða 48
XLVI
When the text in A4-A7 does not have a variant in this manner, it agrees
with A rather than any of B, C, D and F, where comparison is possible; hence
their sigla. This much is easily seen, since A-F differ greatly from each other.
More difficult is the narrower question of the relationship of A4-A7 to the
other A-texts, A1 in the first place, and then A2 and A3.
Historical information and textual evidence combine to show that A2 (=
179) and A3 (= 18lg) are derived from A1 (= S6), the first almost certainly a
direct copy of it, the second probably so. In the case of the lost common ori-
ginal of A4-A7, the only evidence available is that of the texts. Places where
the reading of A4-A7 might be preferable to that of A1 on grounds of sense,
might be due to correction or improvement, consciously or by chance in the
course of some other alteration, and would not necessarily be evidence that
A4-A7 have retained an older reading and are derived from a predecessor of A1
or a sister-manuscript to it. Support is needed from another text. But in the
part of A1 where B provides a parallel text (i.e. from A 950 where B begins, to
A 1188 where A1 ends), and the part where C provides a parallel text (i.e. A 252-
1149), no instance has been found of a reading in A4-A7 which would indicate
that they are not derived from A'.
Instances where A4-A7 do agree with B or C are few and explicable as co-
incidence. In the part where A' and B overlap, comparison of the texts is pos-
sible for A 950 76 and 1025-1188 (A4 7 diverge too much in between), and here,
while there is ample agreement between A4-7 and A1, there are hardly a dozen
points of agreement between A4'7 and B, and they are insignificant, e.g.
9.56 hann A'; Adam B] Adam A4-5-7 (but hann A6)
9.65 j brott A'; -r B] -r A4'7
11.10 veroldina A1; heiminn B] heiminn A4'5’6 (variant A7)
11.19 mætti ok A1; = B (also C)] = A4'7
11.21 landtiolld sinn A1; herbuder sinar B] herbúdir A4'7
11.22 heidingia A1; -t- B] -r A4'7
11.48 skada A1; bana B (also C)] bana A4’7
Then, where A' and C overlap, points of agreement between A4'7 and C are
even less frequent, in proportion to the length of text, and they are equally in-
significant, e.g.
5.3 radi A1; tilskipan C] skipan A4"7
5.24 margmenna ok gofug menna A1; fiólmenna og gödmenna C] fiplmenna oc
gódmenna A4"7
7.26 Ja sagdi hann A1;-r C]-r A4"7
7.35 Gud A1; sjalfur Guds son C] Guds sonur A4-5'7 (A6 defectivé)
7.36 þau2 A1; þeirra skaplynde (in partial variant) C] þaug ... ad skaplindi A4"7
8.19 ok er þeir ero bunir A1; ~ C] Sidan A4-5-7 (A6 defective)
11.19 mætti ok A1; -r C (also B)] -r A4"7