AM 557 4to : Studier i en isländsk samlingshandskrift från 1400-talet

Sammanfattning: The subject of this dissertation is the Icelandic manuscript AM 557 4to, dated to the 15th century. This volume is mainly known for being one of the main sources to Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu and Eiríks saga rauða. The manuscript today contains eight gatherings, and the make-up of it is characterized by a rather large number of defect vellum leaves and no less than 16 lacunae. In two places the script suddenly changes character, which divides the manuscript into three scribal portions, section 1, 2 and 3 (last gathering) respectively. The lacunae can in most cases be reconstructed, regarding scope and contents as well as when they have arisen. The two former factors are analysed through a comparison with textual witnesses as closely related as possible to AM 557 4to. The age of the lacunae is chiefly assessed with the help of secondary manuscripts. In the process of establishing the typological units in AM 557 4to, the macropaleographic and micropaleographic variation in the manuscript is studied, defined within a graphonomical framework as variation on graph-type and allograph level, respectively. Orthographic variation is defined as variation on grapheme level. The micropaleographic variation shows that several differences on this level exist between sections 1 and 2, which indicates that they were written by different scribes. Section 3 shows great similarities with section 1, and these two portions are probably written by the same scribe. The investigation of the macropaleographic variation strengthens the assumption of different scribes in sections 1 and 2, as some sudden changes occur when the latter section begins. There are also some macropaleographic differences between sections 1 and 3. The orthographic investigation concerns the writing of frequent words, the usage of abbreviations and the representation of the ending -ir. Different orthographical habits are found in sections 1 and 2 regarding almost all the investigated variables, whereas sections 1 and 3 are alike but not identical. This investigation also indicates that section 3 was written before section 1. The different studies show that sections 1 and 3 were probably written by same scribe, but section 2 by someone else. It is likely that section 3 from the beginning belonged to the same manuscript as the other sections, but that it originally was placed before the first gathering of the current manuscript.