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söngr itself could signify the liturgy very broadly in medieval Iceland – es-
sentially every type of liturgical performance can be referred to as söngr22
– and so as a descriptive term söngbók is highly ambiguous and may have
been extremely variable, possibly even more variable than its Old English
parallel.
In certain cases a söngbók seems to be meant as a counterpart to lesbók,
possibly meant to collectively describe a complete set of liturgical books.
The 1318 book list for the great northern church of Grenjaðarstaðr is not
particularly detailed and describes a significant portion of its library sim-
ply as: “Saungbækur oc lesbækur og ad aullu per Anni circulum. og þo ey
secundum ordinem” (Söngbœkr and lesbœkr complete for the full year, but
not following the Ordinal), followed by a vernacular saga of the church’s
patron saint, some Psalters, and some books noted as being old and in
poor condition.23 While the 1394 list for the same church is more detailed
and mentions seven incomplete lesbœkr, there are no söngbœkr or aspiciens-
bœkr there.24 There is a definite dichotomy set up in the 1318 list, but it
is unclear whether it is between choir books and books for the officiant/
altar, between Office and Mass books, or perhaps between books with and
without musical notation.25
This highly generalized usage must be related in some way to how söngr
and les are also used as descriptors for the contents of liturgical books,
including for aspiciensbœkr. The terms seem to indicate how complete a
book is: two aspiciensbœkr in the 1318 lists are said to include both söngr
and les, while a slightly later list, from 1344, has an aspiciensbók that only
includes söngr.26 It is not impossible that these terms refer to the sung and
read parts of the Office, the parts for the choir and officiant, and so an as-
piciensbók that includes both would be more of an Breviary and Antiphonal
early use of antiphonarius, referring to both Mass and Office books, the very ambiguity that
likely first led to the use of the term aspiciens to refer to a category of book.
22 The funeral service, for example, was referred to as líksöngr; Matins was referred to as
óttusöngr. For söngr as musical skill and subject of education, see Ryder Patzuk-Russell,
The Development of Education in Medieval Iceland (Berlin: De Gruyter/Medieval Institute
Publications, 2021), 160–65.
23 DI II, 433.
24 DI III, 580–81.
25 In addition to the Grenjaðarstaðr example, there are hints of söngbók and lesbók as being a
set pairing at the 1318 lists for Grímsey and Árskógr (DI II, 443, 455).
26 At Laufás, Víðimýri, and Sauðanes (DI II, 448, 466, 786).
THE LOST LITURGICAL BOOKS OF ICELAND