Kirkjubæjarbók (Codex AM 429 12mo) is an Icelandic manuscript produced in around 1500 containing female saints' sagas.[1] It is notable for being the only extant Old-Norse Icelandic legendary which exclusively deals with female saints[2] and for being the only extant text which contains Old Norse-Icelandic prose and poetic accounts of St Dorothy.[3] The book takes its name from the convent of Kirkjubær, which likely held the codex until King Christian III of Denmark dissolved the Icelandic monasteries in the mid sixteenth century.[4]
The codex contains material in Old-Norse Icelandic and Latin relating to eight saints' legends: St Margaret of Antioch, St Catherine of Alexandria, St Cecilia, St Dorothea of Caesara, St Agnes, St Agatha, St Barbara, and Sts Fides, Spes and Caritas.[5] Apart from the prose and poetry relating to St Dorothy, the legends all exist in other manuscripts written before 1500, though it is the only text which preserves the legend of St Cecilia in its entirety.[6] Wolf suggests that it is likely that the material in the codex was copied from individual lives of saints that were available in Iceland, rather than from another legendary, as the arrangement of the legends appears arbitrary, and is not organised according to the liturgical year.[7]
A gathering of 10 leaves appears to be missing between folios 18v and 19r of the legend of St Catherine and around four leaves from the end of the legend of Fides, Spes and Caritas are also lost. Apart from this, the texts in the codex are complete.[8]
The contents of the codex is given below; unless indicated otherwise, the texts are written in Old Norse-Icelandic:[9]
The codex was collected by Árni Magnússon from 'Páll á Flókastoðum', who was likely Páll Ámundason, the administrator of the Kirkjubær's land from 1681-1708.[10] There is no direct record of the codex belonging to the convent; an inventory of 1397 notes that it held 20 Latin and Norse books.[11] However, based on its specialised contents referring to female saints, some of whom were known to be venerated by the nuns at Kirkjubær, Wolf considers there to be 'little doubt' that it was written for convent.[12] She suggests that rather than by being written by the nuns themselves, it may have been produced at the monastery of Þykkvabær.[13]
Descriptionedit
The codex is formed of 84 leaves of calfskin divided into 11 gatherings, measuring 11.5 cm x 8.8 cm.[14] The codex has been rebound with cardboard plates, but was probably originally bound with a leather cover.[15] Accounting for the missing leaves mentioned above, Wolf suggests that the codex would have originally consisted of 94 or 98 leaves.[16]
The codex was written by at least four scribes and is illustrated using red and blue. There are full-page illustrations of Sts Margaret, Catherine, Cecilia, Dorothy and Agnes, who are distinguished by their attributes.[17] Some of the illustrations may have used those in Teiknibók as models.[18]
Referencesedit
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 532
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 532
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 534
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 534
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 533
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 535
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 534
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 533
^"AM 429 12mo: Legends of Female Martyrs; Iceland, 1490-1510".
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 534
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 534
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 537
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 537
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 532
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 532
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 533
^Wolf, Kirsten (2005) "Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo", in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer (eds.) Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003, Bonn, p. 533-534
^Battista, Simonetta (2015). "A pocket-sized female legendary". In Driscoll, Matthew James; Óskarsdóttir, Svanhildur (eds.). 66 Manuscripts from the Arnamagnæan Collection. Copenhagen and Reykjavík: The Arnamagnaean Institute, Department of Nordic Research, University of Copenhagen; The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies; Museum Tusculanum Press, University of Copenhagen. p. 176. ISBN978-87-635-4264-7.
Further readingedit
Wolf, Kirsten (2011). A Female Legendary from Iceland: "Kirkjubæjarbók" (AM 429 12mo) in The Arnamagnæan Collection, Copenhagen. Manuscripta Nordica: Early Nordic Manuscripts in Digital Facsimile 3. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. pp. 79–91.
April 13, 2024
kirkjubæjarbók, codex, 12mo, icelandic, manuscript, produced, around, 1500, containing, female, saints, sagas, notable, being, only, extant, norse, icelandic, legendary, which, exclusively, deals, with, female, saints, being, only, extant, text, which, contain. Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo is an Icelandic manuscript produced in around 1500 containing female saints sagas 1 It is notable for being the only extant Old Norse Icelandic legendary which exclusively deals with female saints 2 and for being the only extant text which contains Old Norse Icelandic prose and poetic accounts of St Dorothy 3 The book takes its name from the convent of Kirkjubaer which likely held the codex until King Christian III of Denmark dissolved the Icelandic monasteries in the mid sixteenth century 4 Contents 1 Contents 2 Provenance 3 Description 4 References 5 Further readingContents editThe codex contains material in Old Norse Icelandic and Latin relating to eight saints legends St Margaret of Antioch St Catherine of Alexandria St Cecilia St Dorothea of Caesara St Agnes St Agatha St Barbara and Sts Fides Spes and Caritas 5 Apart from the prose and poetry relating to St Dorothy the legends all exist in other manuscripts written before 1500 though it is the only text which preserves the legend of St Cecilia in its entirety 6 Wolf suggests that it is likely that the material in the codex was copied from individual lives of saints that were available in Iceland rather than from another legendary as the arrangement of the legends appears arbitrary and is not organised according to the liturgical year 7 A gathering of 10 leaves appears to be missing between folios 18v and 19r of the legend of St Catherine and around four leaves from the end of the legend of Fides Spes and Caritas are also lost Apart from this the texts in the codex are complete 8 The contents of the codex is given below unless indicated otherwise the texts are written in Old Norse Icelandic 9 St Margaret Margretar saga Prayer to St Margaret Latin St Catherine Katrinar saga St Cecilia Ceciliu saga Ceciliu diktur Saint Dorothy Dorotheu saga Dorotheudiktur Dorotheu kvaedi A Verse of St Dorothy Latin St Agnes Agnesar saga St Agatha Agothu saga St Barbara Barbare saga Sts Fides Spes and Caritas Saga af Fides Spes og KaritasProvenance editThe codex was collected by Arni Magnusson from Pall a Flokastodum who was likely Pall Amundason the administrator of the Kirkjubaer s land from 1681 1708 10 There is no direct record of the codex belonging to the convent an inventory of 1397 notes that it held 20 Latin and Norse books 11 However based on its specialised contents referring to female saints some of whom were known to be venerated by the nuns at Kirkjubaer Wolf considers there to be little doubt that it was written for convent 12 She suggests that rather than by being written by the nuns themselves it may have been produced at the monastery of THykkvabaer 13 Description editThe codex is formed of 84 leaves of calfskin divided into 11 gatherings measuring 11 5 cm x 8 8 cm 14 The codex has been rebound with cardboard plates but was probably originally bound with a leather cover 15 Accounting for the missing leaves mentioned above Wolf suggests that the codex would have originally consisted of 94 or 98 leaves 16 The codex was written by at least four scribes and is illustrated using red and blue There are full page illustrations of Sts Margaret Catherine Cecilia Dorothy and Agnes who are distinguished by their attributes 17 Some of the illustrations may have used those in Teiknibok as models 18 References edit Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 532 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 532 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 534 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 534 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 533 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 535 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 534 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 533 AM 429 12mo Legends of Female Martyrs Iceland 1490 1510 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 534 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 534 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 537 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 537 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 532 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 532 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 533 Wolf Kirsten 2005 Kirkjubaejarbok Codex AM 429 12mo in Rudolf Simek and Juith Meurer eds Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference Bonn Germany 28th July 2nd August 2003 Bonn p 533 534 Battista Simonetta 2015 A pocket sized female legendary In Driscoll Matthew James oskarsdottir Svanhildur eds 66 Manuscripts from the Arnamagnaean Collection Copenhagen and Reykjavik The Arnamagnaean Institute Department of Nordic Research University of Copenhagen The Arni Magnusson Institute for Icelandic Studies Museum Tusculanum Press University of Copenhagen p 176 ISBN 978 87 635 4264 7 Further reading editWolf Kirsten 2011 A Female Legendary from Iceland Kirkjubaejarbok AM 429 12mo in The Arnamagnaean Collection Copenhagen Manuscripta Nordica Early Nordic Manuscripts in Digital Facsimile 3 Copenhagen Museum Tusculanum Press pp 79 91 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kirkjubaejarbok amp oldid 1202512266, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
