Gripla - 2023, Blaðsíða 195
THE GENESIS OF A COMPOSITE 193
AM 239 fol.’s genesis
The identification of the three production units from the late fourteenth
century is invaluable for understanding the production of AM 239 fol.
However, it is the relationship between these three units that truly sheds
light on the genesis of this manuscript. The fact that fol. 1r was initially
left blank gives reason to believe that fol. 1 was intended to be the first leaf
of PU1 (and, consequently, of the manuscript as a whole), as first rectos
tend not to carry writing, probably because of the higher exposure to wear
and damage.42 Due to the lacuna that occurs between fol. 35, the last leaf
of PU1, and fol. 36, the first leaf of PU2, it is impossible to define their
relationship with any certainty. A closer connection between PU1 and PU2
cannot be ruled out, but it is not possible to determine whether they were
written together, since H1 and H3 do not occur on the same leaf or in the
same quire. Fols. 35 and 36 are not connected, nor do they mark the actual
end or beginning of the texts they encompass. Therefore, it is impossible
to say whether the two units were physically connected at some point.
One could argue that PU1 and PU2 are somehow related, as the color
scheme and pigments used in these two units are essentially the same.
However, the colors alone do not necessarily confirm a closer relationship
between PU1 and PU2, as the pigments in question, red ochre and green
earth, were widely available, cheap and also used in PU3. Other features
point towards a discontinuation between the two first production units:
The pen-flourishing changes from fol. 35v to fol. 36r,43 which suggests that
not only a change of scribe but also a change of illuminator (likely “cum
ornemaniste”) occurs at this location. In addition, the sudden presence of
rubrics in PU2 indicates that these two sections were not part of the same
project and are, therefore, two separate production units. Perhaps PU2
was once connected with PU1 through the writing support, thus fulfilling
the criteria for a production unit C-MC, as described above. The dating of
42 Ryan Perry, “The Sum of the Book: Structural Codicology and Medieval Manuscript
Culture,” in The Cambridge Companion to Medieval British Manuscripts, eds. Orietta
Da Rold and Elaine M. Treharne, Cambridge Companions: Literature (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2020), 110. Blank first rectos in Icelandic manuscripts from
the fourteenth century can for example be observed in GKS 1005 fol., SÁM 1, AM 61 fol.,
AM 156 4to and AM 350 fol.
43 Liepe, Studies in Icelandic Fourteenth Century Book Painting, 163.