Margétar Saga II

Abstract

Saint Margaret of Antioch enjoyed immense popularity in the late Middle Ages, and judging by the number of manuscripts in which it is preserved, the legend of Saint Margaret seems to have been among the most popular saints1 lives in Iceland. The legend is extant in far more late medieval and post-Reformation manuscripts than any other legend, and often in very small exemplars and contexts associated with childbirth. Three different versions of the legend of Saint Margaret, derived from at least two translations, have been preserved. Of these, only one version, commonly referred to as Margrétar saga I, has been edited. This article is concerned with Margrétar saga II. The legend version is extant in AM 428a 12mo and AM 429 12mo, in addition a small portion of Margrétar saga II is found in AM 433c 12mo, which otherwise follows Margrétar saga I. The article presents a diplomatic edition of the legend in AM 428a 12mo and AM 433c 12mo along with a conflation of the texts of AM 428a 12mo and AM 429 12mo, since combined, the two manuscripts present a fairly accurate rendering of the Latin source.