A Handlist of Medieval Scandinavian medical Vernacular Manuscripts

Abstract

This article presents a comprehensive handlist of all vernacular Scandinavian manuscripts (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic) containing medical content, up to the year 1550. The surge of interest in Old Norse medical texts around the turn of the twentieth century led to the publication of most extant editions of Swedish and Icelandic medical texts. This interest also spurred the publication of editions and research on renowned manuscripts such as K 48 (Stockholm) and NKS 66 (Copenhagen), recognised as the earliest copies of the works by Danish physician Henrik Harpestræng (d. 1244). Harpestræng’s Danske Urtebog and Liber Herbarum, along with his lesser-known texts, laid the foundation for medical knowledge across Scandinavia. This prompted Poul Hauberg to compile a book encompassing all manuscripts traceable to Harpestræng’s work within and beyond Scandinavia. However, not all medical manuscripts belong to the Harpestræng tradition. Evidence suggests that other physicians’ works influenced later manuscripts, which have largely been overlooked by scholarship. Therefore, this article compiles all extant manuscripts containing medical advice, regardless of their influences, origins, or relationship to Harpestræng, to provide a more complete picture of medieval Scandinavian medical lore.