Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series A - 01.06.1997, Page 148
VI. THE E-TEXT
1. Primary manuscript
BLAdd. 4859
Add. 4859 has been described above, p.LVii. It was written for Magnús Jóns-
son of Vigur, most of it by Jón Þorðarson, including Mírmanns saga, and the
rest by Magnús Ketilsson. Evidence is given there that the greater part of the
text of Mírmanns saga in 4859 is secondary, either copied directly or at least
derived from 181g, ff. 1-10, text A l'-2494. Here consideration turns to the
ending.
At the point on f. 29v in 4859 which corresponds to A 2494, the sentence
which ends incomplete in 181 g is carried on and completed without any sign
of difficulty or unusual action. The text then continues to the end of the saga.
This ending added by Jón Þorðarson or someone before him, is too like the
other known endings to have been freely invented. But where it came from is
unknown. It differs too much from the other endings to have been derived
from them in the form in which we know them (bearing in mind that in the
earlier part of the saga 4859 is a fairly good copy of its exemplar).
The ending in 4859 has been added to make good the lacuna that had oc-
curred in S6 before 18lg was copied from it. It seems unlikely that it is itself
derived from that missing text. It would be a remarkable coincidence if that
were the case. For this reason, the ending in 4859 is dissociated from the A-
text in this edition, and called the E-text. (This also accords with the view that
the ending of the A-text may be represented in 1000 and other closely related
manuscripts, see above, p.XLvm.)
Capital letters are common in the manuscript, but have been transcribed as
such only at the beginnings of sentences and in proper names, where they
have also been supplied if necessary. Manuscript commas and full stops have
been interpreted according to context, and full stops have been supplied at the
ends of sentences if wanting in the manuscript. A comma has been added af-
ter ‘vnned’ 2665 and ‘Rogerus’ 2717, and omitted after ‘orda’ 277, ‘Rögerus’
2717 and ‘hpfdingium’ 2737'8.
2. Secondary manuscripts
633 and others
The whole text of the saga in 4859, consisting of a secondary copy of the A3-
text plus the primary copy of the E-text, is the source from which are derived
a large number of secondary copies of the saga, beginning with 633, see