Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series A - 01.10.2003, Blaðsíða 91

Provenance and external features
73*
McKinnell’s arguments were based on a meticulous examination of the
binding holes found in 594 vellum manuscripts of Icelandic provenance, as
well as 108 other vellums of non-Icelandic provenance, in the Arnamag-
næan Collection. In AM 445 b 4to, AM 445 c I 4to, and AM 564 a 4to, the
positions of the binding-holes are somewhat unusual in that they are
arranged in pairs, a feature which McKinnell found to be present in only
11% of the vellums available to him in the Arnamagnæan Institute in
Copenhagen at the time he was working (the late 1960s). The argument is
convincing, and McKinnell’s case that these three fragmentary manuscripts
are of common origin seems proven. McKinnell adds supporting argu-
ments, perhaps slightly less compelling, which are partly derived from
linguistic history and partly from orthographic practice. Whilst these
cannot be used to provide a close dating, the evidence does nevertheless
show that the orthographic features of the manuscripts are not incompatible
with one another.
For an estimate of the date when M was written the relation between
Vatnshyrna and Pseudo-Vatnshyrna has to be considered, since a part of
AM 564 a 4to6 is so closely related to Vatnshyrna that it “could be either a
descendant of Vatnshyrna (not necessarily a direct copy) or a ‘sister’ Ms.”
(McKinnell 1970, p. 335). Vatnshyrna, on the other hand, could not be a
descendant of Pseudo-Vatnshyrna (Stefán Karlsson 1970c, p. 284).
An important result of Stefán Karlsson’s investigation is that he
demonstrates that the lost Vatnshyrna was in all probability written by a
well-known scribe, Magnús Þórhallsson, one of the two scribes of Flat-
eyjarbók. By detailed comparison of the orthography and abbreviations of
Arni Magnússon’s diplomatic transcripts from Vatnshyrna with Flateyjar-
bók, Stefán Karlsson is furthermore able to narrow down the probable
period during which Vatnshyrna was produced to the years 1391-95.
The dating of Pseudo-Vatnshyrna is less unambiguous; the MS was
written by a large number of hands (“at least seven major and two minor
hands”, McKinnell 1970, p. 336) and may have originated over a long
period of time (Stefán Karlsson 1970c, p. 287). The two “minor hands” in
Pseudo-Vatnshyrna (AM 564 a 4to and AM 445 c I 4to, respectively) have
been identified as being those of Hgskuldr Hákonarson, sometime priest at
Miklibær (Skag.) (Stefán Karlsson, p. 285), and Þórðr Þórðarson, priest
at Höskuldsstaðir (Hún.) (McKinnell, p. 312). These two priests were
active as scribes of documents at least during the periods 1386/7-1395 (ÞÞ)
and 1407-08 (HH). Unfortunately the passages in Pseudo-Vatnshyrna
6 The relevant part of AM 564 a 4to includes Bárðar saga Snæfetlsáss, Þórðar saga hreðu,
Bergbúa þáttr, Kumlbúa þáttr, and Draumr Þorsteins Síðu-Hallssonar.