Gripla - 2023, Blaðsíða 204

202 GRIPLA
The composite structure of AM 239 fol. presented in this article offers a
possible explanation for the difference between exemplars used for SÁM
1. It thus highlights the importance of a deeper understanding of the gen-
esis of a codex, obtained through the identification of production units,
and its relevance for related fields such as literary studies as well as the
interpretation of the nature of other related manuscripts. Drechsler has
claimed that the structure of AM 239 fol. suggests that it was not unusual
to produce composite manuscripts at the Augustinian house of Helgafell.64
While this article shows that AM 239 fol. contains three production units
from the late fourteenth century and thus highlights the compositeness
of the manuscript, it is not possible to verify that all parts were, in fact,
produced at Helgafell. Furthermore, the relationship between PU2 and
PU3 does not appear to be the product of meticulous planning, but rather
of convenience. Still, the fact that both of these units were written by the
same scribe might point towards a continuity in the personal and perhaps
even spacial production of at least PU2 and PU3, not consecutively, but
as a continuation of a compilatory work. The investigation of a potential
connection between scribes H1 and H3 is dependent on the relationship
between PU1 and PU2. Yet, due to the likely change of illuminator and the
sudden presence of rubrics, it is unlikely that these units are the result of
close scribal cooperation.
This article has shown that AM 239 fol. in its present form grew over
time. The manuscript that started with Tveggja postula saga Jóns ok Jakobs,
written by H1, was extended twice with texts written by H3, first Jóns
saga baptista and, later, Pétrs saga postula, Andrés saga postula and Viðræður
Gregoríusar. The composite structure of AM 239 fol. strongly suggests that
the manuscript’s users deemed it appropriate or necessary to combine and
add content. The perception of local manuscripts as “interactive”65 objects
open to adjustments and change is akin to their Insular and Continental
European contemporaries and represents a significant aspect of the history
of Icelandic book production. Whether or not all its medieval production
units were written at Helgafell, the ownership note indicates that the book
was most likely housed there, and its content and the two surviving copies
of Tveggja postula saga Jóns ok Jakobs suggest that it found much use there.
64 Drechsler, Illuminated Manuscript Production, 117.
65 Rudy, Piety in Pieces, 10.illuminators, book binders