Vatnshyrna

Vatnshyrna was a major Icelandic saga codex destroyed in the Copenhagen Fire of 1728.[1] It was copied between 1391 and 1395 by Magnús Þórhallsson for Jón Hákonarson in northern Iceland.[1] The codex was first called Vatnshyrna by Arngrímur Jónsson in his 1609 work, Crymogaea, possibly because it was located at that time at Stóra Vatnshorn.[1]

Arngrímur refers to the codex containing the texts of Kjalnesinga saga, Þórðar saga hreðu, and Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss.[1] A large part of the manuscript subsequently became part of Peder Resen's manuscript collection, and in 1675 this portion of the codex passed to Copenhagen University Library.[1] At this point, the manuscript contained the following texts:[1]

Although destroyed in the fire, copies of all these texts, apart from Króka-Refs saga, had been made by Árni Magnússon and Ásgeir Jónsson.[1] Margaret Clunies Ross has suggested that the manuscript's contents represent the compiler's "taste for the marvellous and the supernatural".[2]

A related codex, Pseudo-Vatnshyrna, which was compiled in the same area and at the same time (c. 1390) as Vatnshyrna survives as fragments in AM 445b 4to, AM 445c 4to and AM 564a 4to.[3] It contained at least the following texts:[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g McKinnell, John (1993). "Vatnshyrna". In Pulsiano, Phillip; Wolf, Kirsten (eds.). Medieval Scandinavia: An encyclopedia. New York: Garland. p. 689. ISBN 0824047877.
  2. ^ Clunies Ross, Margaret (2010). The Cambridge introduction to the Old Norse-Icelandic saga. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 145. ISBN 9780521735209.
  3. ^ a b McKinnell, John (1993). "Vatnshyrna". In Pulsiano, Phillip; Wolf, Kirsten (eds.). Medieval Scandinavia: An encyclopedia. New York: Garland. p. 690. ISBN 0824047877.