Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series A - 01.10.2003, Blaðsíða 63

Date and subsequent history
45*
- frequent use of spellings <æi>, <æy> for ei, ey. See Diphthongs, p.
56*-57* below.
Other alleged Norwegianisms are either rare or absent:
- the spelling ‘uox’ occurs 27.76, 48.55, 60 (but not ‘uorðin-’,
‘uurðu’).
- use of the privative prefix ú- is relatively slight (x 17, ct x 112 of ó-).
- absence of h in initial hl-, hr- does not occur.
- absence of the labial mutation of a in two-syllable words does not
occur.
The MS contains a few geographical errors in the text of Eyrbyggja (see p.
8*), as well as ‘Griss aa’ for Grímsá in Egils saga,10 which may suggest that
it was not written by anyone who knew well the district where the action of
these sagas took place. By 1500 the MS was probably in the north-east of
Iceland since the owner of the book, named on f. 48v, can be reasonably
identified with the Auðun Sigurðsson who was a lögréttumaður in the first
half of the sixteenth century, and was born ca 1470. In the Law-court of the
Alþing Auðun represented Þingeyjarþing, where he lived.* 11
It is next known to have been copied for Þorlákur Skúlason, bishop of
Hólar 1628-54.12 Bishop Þorlákur’s name appears on AM 404 4to: ‘Þessa
Sogu Bok a eg Thorlakur Skulason Anno 1641. Thorlakur Skulason Egh
(Eigin hendi)’. AM 404 4to is one of four volumes into which Árni
Magnússon divided what was once a single book containing copies of
Laurentius saga (now AM 404 4to), Hungrvaka with Þorláks saga (now
AM 380 4to), Eyrbyggja saga (now AM 446 4to, referred to in this work as
Th) and Egils saga (now AM 458 4to). The version of Eyrbyggja saga was
copied from W, as can be clearly seen from its wording (see further under
Copies of W, pp. 49*-50*). Though it is not directly stated that Bishop
Þorlákur instigated the copy of W now in AM 446 4to, it is highly likely,
the more so since the hand of the scribe is familiar from other MSS that
owed their existence to Bishop Þorlákur.13 The scribe obtained the missing
first quarter of Eyrbyggja saga from two other MSS, and it is clear that in
his day W contained no more of the saga than it does now.
10 Man Isl III, p. x and f. 37r, 1. 24.
11 Man Isl III, p. x and p. xii n. 3.
12 Man Isl III, p. xii.
13 Referred to in Man Isl III, p. xi, but without further details. Stefán Karlsson 1970a, pp. 95 and
106, suggests that the scribe is to be identified as Jón Pálsson, priest at Hólar and other churches in
Skagafjörður. Further details about this scribe are given in Stefán Karlsson 1997 (2000), pp. 393-7.