Snurðan á þræði Reykjarfjarðarbókar

Abstract

Reykjarfjarðarbók (the book of Reykjarfjörður), AM 122b fol, is one of only two mediaeval manuscripts containing the great compilation known as Sturlunga. Its history from 1594 up to the time it came into the hands of Árni Magnússon is relatively clear. During the winter of 1634-1635 Björn Jónsson of Skarðsá had the manuscript on loan and was making a copy of it for Bishop Þorlákur Skúlason of Hólar. In a letter written by Björn on the 25th of February 1635 he reports that once during his youth at Reynistaður, when compiling an annal, he used either the same manuscript, or another manuscript which contained the same story. Opinions vary on the correct understanding of Björn’s remarks. Reykjarfjarðarbók’s origins have been traced to a scriptorium active in the latter part of the 14th century and located at Akrar in Blönduhlíð in the Skagafjörður district, although scholars have also suggested the monastery at Reynistaður as a possible place of origin. The manuscript is thought to have still been among the books of Akrar in the middle of the 15th century. From that point onward, however, nothing is known of the manuscript’s whereabouts. In this paper an attempt is made to remedy the situation by putting forward a hypothesis to bridge the roughly 150-year gap. This is done by examining the history of Akrar which shows that the farm was owned and occupied by the same family down to 1530, when the property was divided in two. After that this family continued to own and live on their half until the beginning of the 17th century. This, however, only shows that conditions were favourable for the manuscript remaining at Akrar in the family’s possession during that time. This conclusion leads us to the second part of the hypothesis. Sigurður Jónsson of Svalbarð wed Guðný, daughter of Jón Grímsson, who owned one half of Akrar, on the 24th of October 1563. In 1579 they moved to Reynistaður, and three years later took on an eight-year old, fatherless boy by the name of Björn Jónsson, later of Skarðsá. Björn Magnússon who in 1594 claimed to own the manuscript was the son of Magnús Jónsson who, in turn, was the brother of Sigurður of Reynistaður. Magnús died in 1591 but his estate was not divided up between his children until 1594 which, incidentally, is the same year that his son staked his claim. Taking the above-mentioned into account it is, in my opinion, highly probable that Reykjarfjarðarbók continued to remain in the possession of the family at Akrar from the middle of the 15th century until shortly after 1563. In support of this are some entries dating a couple of major battles in Sturlunga saga, which can be found in an Icelandic church calendar in AM 171 8vo and were in all likelihood taken from Sturlunga itself. AM 171 8vo is thought to have been written for or by Gunnar Gíslason who owned and lived on the other half of Akrar, where the information was probably received. I propose that in the following years Reykjarfjarðarbók came into Sigurður’s hands as a result of his relations with the Akrar family. During the manuscript’s stay at Reynistaður a young Björn Jónson tried his hand at putting together an annal using Reykjarfjarðarbók itself. Magnús received the manuscript from Sigurður, his brother, shortly before 1591, perhaps only one or two years earlier, allowing Björn to reach a ripe annalistic age of 15 or 16.