“Ráð hef ég kennd í kvæði”: Jón Bjarnason's Gnomic Poetry in AM 427 12mo

Abstract

This article discusses the seventeenth-century paper manuscript AM 427 12mo and the gnomic poetry it contains. The provenance of the manuscript is examined, and the manuscript’s structure is analysed using Kwakkel’s concept of production and usage units, with the objective of examining the reception of gnomic poetry and its status in post-Reformation Icelandic society. Jón Bjarnason’s (1560–1633) translation of the gnomic poetry collection Disticha Catonis, which is preserved in the manuscript, is compared to three other proverbial collections: Hugsvinnsmál, a thirteenth-century translation of Disticha Catonis; Jón Bjarnason’s Flokkavísur eða heilræðavísur, which is also copied in AM 427 12mo; and Hávamál. The rela- tionship between the manuscript and the printed textbook Hólar Cato from 1620 is addressed, as well as the use of proverbial collections in Icelandic seventeenth- century manuscripts and printed books. Thus, the aim is to provide insight into the development of the reception of gnomic poetry in Icelandic society and its relationship with the manuscript culture of later centuries.