Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series A - 01.10.2003, Síða 94
76*
f. 8r at head: ‘Ur Eyrbyggia Sögu.’
f. 9ra at foot: ‘Ur Eyrbyggia Sögu.’
M (AM 445 b 4to)
In a different hand (Finnur Jónsson’s?) is written at the foot of f. lr ‘ættar-
tölur og Landnámabók (úr Melabók).’ and under that in pencil, in another
hand, ‘445, b’, possibly written in connexion with the transfer of ff. 1-4
from Addit. 20 fol. in the University Library of Copenhagen to AM 445 b
4to (see Kálund’s KatAM, I, p. 641).
A hand (probably Grímur Thorkelin’s, which is known from the fly-leaf
of AM 449 4to, see below), has numbered some of the leaves at the head of
their recto: f. 5 ‘N° 1 ’, f. 6 ‘N° 2’, f. 7 ‘N° 3’, f. 8 ‘N° 4’; there are traces of
a similar numbering at the head of the recto of ff. 9 and 10. In a further
system of numbering f. 3 is marked, at the head of the recto, ‘I’ and the
following leaves are similarly marked in Roman numerals up to ‘IX’ on f.
11. These systems indicate that at various times the manuscript consisted of
ff. 5-11 (Flóamanna saga and Eyrbyggja saga) and of ff. 3-11 (now with
the addition of the Vatnsdœla saga leaves). There is also a series of page
references. They read as follows: at the foot of f. 5vb ‘Pag 12’; at the foot
of f. 6vb ‘Pag 57’; at the head of f. 7 (below Árni Magnússon’s cut-off
entry) ‘Pag 86 habet seu continet 6 folia’; at the foot of f. 7b ‘Pag 98’; at
the head of f. 8ra ‘Pag 165’; at the foot of f. 8vb ‘Pag 178’; at the head of f.
9ra (most of entry cut away); at the foot of f. 9vb ‘Pag 195’; at the head of
f. lOra ‘Pag 209’; at the foot of f. lOvb ‘Pag 222’; at the head of f. llra
‘Pag 234’; at the foot of f. llvb ‘NB’, ligatured.
These references fit AM 449 4to, with the occasional allowance of a page
number too high or low by one. They were almost certainly written in when
the 1787 edition of the saga was made, edited by Grímur Thorkelin and
published by P. F. Suhm. That AM 449 4to was the basis for that edition can
for example be seen from the omission, in the chapter describing the visit
of Arnkell and his sister Geirríðr to the house of Katla (pp. 80-81 in the
present edition), of the words ‘ok er sen ferd þeira or Hollti’ (MS Aa)
following ‘ridu þeir vt i Hollt’ (c/the present edition, 447 23.6-7). This
haplography corresponds to the text of AM 449 4to. Thorkelin has added a
variant containing the missing words, which he indicated he has taken from
AM 444 4to. - It is surprising that Thorkelin did not base his edition on Aa
rather than on AM 449 4to, which as he well knew7 is a direct copy of Aa
(both copies, like AM 444 4to, were written by Ásgeir Jónsson).
7 On the fly-leaf of AM 449 4to he has written: “Hæc Eyrbyggia ad exscriptum Codicis Resenia-
ni, qvod sub N° 448 4to exstat, scripta est.” C/Kálund’s KatAM.