Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series B - 01.10.1965, Page 27
XXV
text, while the remainder of the heading is more normal.
There is a large initial—varying in size and ornateness—
for the first word of the text of each chapter. The chapter
divisions agree with those in A, except that the division
for Ch. II (in A) is lacking, and there is consequently a
discrepancy of one in the chapter numbers from there on.
The MS is written in a very clear hand. Abbreviations
are practically nonexistent; only the nasal stroke occurs
sporadically, e.g. min (8:15), leikurin (15:20); honummm
(30:21), for example, is written out in full in the MS.
It is a pecularity of the MS that dots and strokes of
various sizes and shapes are scattered liberally through-
out the text. In the line ok eirn af þeim var son Jlax
(4:20-21) there are short strokes between var and son
and between son and Jlax which are almost identical
with the dots for the i in eirn and þeim. In the line Þetta
sier hiisböndinn ok (11:24) the same occur between Þetta
and sier and between husböndinn and ok. Several may
occur close together. Since the normal indication of vowel
length in the MS is two strokes, it is sometimes difficult
to be sure whether two strokes in the vicinity of a long
vowel are intended as a sign of length or not. There is
no apparent system to these marks and no particular
purpose; they may merely be an attempt at ornamenta-
tion. In punctuation I have generaily followed the MS,
but I have occasionally omitted what seems to be a comma:
after þar (5:32), þviat (7:22), rgdu (65:19), ok1 (69:24).
There are two strokes, somewhat like a colon, after
mcellti (54:20) and ma (57:22; plus a comma!). The hy-
phen, a single or a double stroke, is also omitted when
it occurs at the end of a line, but within a line it is
always reproduced. There is a clear attempt throughout
to fill up as much space as possible—the absence of
abbreviations is only one indication of this. There are
numerous paragraph breaks—e.g. at Hann (4:23), Ok
(4:33), Þau (6:21), Þessu (6:24), Drottning (6:27)—as