Möðruvallabók
Encyclopedia
Möðruvallabók or AM 132 fol is an Iceland
ic manuscript
from the mid-14th century, inscribed on vellum
. It contains the following Icelandic sagas in this order:
Many of those sagas are preserved in fragments elsewhere but are only found in their full length from Möðruvallabók, which contains the largest known single repertoire of Icelandic sagas of the Middle Ages
. It was brought to Denmark
in 1684 and incorporated into the Arnamagnæan Collection
. It was returned to Iceland
in 1974 after the collection's division into an Icelandic and a Danish section.
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
from the mid-14th century, inscribed on vellum
Vellum
Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...
. It contains the following Icelandic sagas in this order:
- Njáls saga
- Egils sagaEgils sagaEgils saga is an epic Icelandic saga. The oldest transcript dates back to 1240 AD. The saga is centered on the life of Egill Skallagrímsson, an Icelandic farmer, viking and skald...
- Finnboga saga rammaFinnboga saga rammaFinnboga saga ramma is an Icelandic saga that tells about the life and growing up of Finnbogi hinn rammi. The story takes place in Flateyjardalur in Suður-Þingeyjarsýsla and in more places in Iceland, as well as in Norway. It is supposed to happen in the 10th century-External links:**...
- Bandamanna sagaBandamanna sagaBandamanna saga is one of the sagas of Icelanders.The story starts with the relationship between Odd son of Ufeig and Uspak son of Glum; Uspak is the nephew of Grettir. Odd, with little help from his father, became rich and Uspak was known for his difficult character...
- Kormáks sagaKormáks sagaKormáks saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It tells of the tenth-century Icelandic poet, Kormákr Ögmundarson, and Steingerðr, the love of his life. The saga preserves a significant amount of poetry attributed to Kormákr, much of it dealing with his love for Steingerðr. Though the saga is...
- Víga-Glúms sagaVíga-Glúms sagaVíga-Glúms saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It tells of a chieftain who kills several people and tries to cover his guilt. It is believed to have been written in the 13th century.-External links:****...
- Droplaugarsona sagaDroplaugarsona sagaDroplaugarsona saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas, probably written in the early 15th century. It tells the story of Grímr and Helgi sons of Droplaug as grown men. These are a pair of brothers who also appear in Fljótsdæla saga, and in fact some of the storyline of Droplaugarsona saga overlaps...
- Ölkofra þáttr
- Hallfreðar sagaHallfreðar sagaHallfreðar saga vandræðaskálds is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It relates the story of Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld, an Icelandic poet active around the year 1000. The saga has some resemblance to the sagas of other poets, such as Kormáks saga and Gunnlaugs saga, but in Hallfreðar saga there is less...
- Laxdœla sagaLaxdœla sagaLaxdæla saga ; also Laxdœla saga, Laxdoela saga, Laxdaela saga, or The Saga of the People of Laxárdalr) is one of the Icelanders' sagas. Written in the 13th century, it tells of people in the Breiðafjörður area of Iceland from the late 9th century to the early 11th century...
- Fóstbrœðra sagaFóstbrœðra sagaFóstbrœðra saga or The Saga of the Sworn Brothers is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It relates the deeds of the sworn brothers Þorgeirr and Þormóðr in early 11th century Iceland and abroad....
Many of those sagas are preserved in fragments elsewhere but are only found in their full length from Möðruvallabók, which contains the largest known single repertoire of Icelandic sagas of the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. It was brought to Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in 1684 and incorporated into the Arnamagnæan Collection
Arnamagnæan Collection
The Arnamagnæan Institute is a teaching and research institute established in 1956 to further the study of the manuscripts in the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection, the collection bequeathed by the Icelandic scholar and antiquarian Árni Magnússon to the University of Copenhagen in 1730.On July 1,...
. It was returned to Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
in 1974 after the collection's division into an Icelandic and a Danish section.
External links
- Images of manuscripts at the Árni Magnússon Institute site (Möðruvallabók is the second from the top in the list)
- Text in Icelandic at the Árni Magnússon Institute site
- Entry at Sagnanet
- Árni Magnússon and the Collecting of Icelandic Manuscripts