Daily and Divine Affairs in Langidalur

The content and context of AM 461 12mo

Abstract

The manuscript AM 461 12mo was likely written in the 1530s. It contains fragments of a liturgical calendar and Easter table along with information on the church year and the calculation of dates, as well as individual clauses from Jónsbók and Kristinréttur Árna biskups. the manuscript also contains many prayers and appeals, in Latin and Icelandic, particularly of the kind that invoke the power of holy names. The last quire of the manuscript contains religious songs in Latin with music notation. In this article, particular attention is given to the prayers and songs, and they are examined in the context of the manuscript’s other material. Attention is given to how this material is related to the everyday lives of those who used the manuscript, and how it sheds light on religious life in Iceland in the final decades of the Roman Catholic era.