andlati ok jamskiott.” Younger (defective) redaction of Niðrstigningar saga.
[Present volume, 154–7; Odd Einar Haugen, ed., Stamtre og tekstlandskap,
vol. 2, 41–5; Heilagra manna sögur, vol. 2, Tekster og tabellar, 17–20.]
JS 405 8vo
Although it is the only postmedieval manuscript transmitting Niðrstigningar
saga, JS 405 8vo has a high stemmatic value as a direct copy of a medieval
manuscript. Moreover, next to AM 645 4to, it is the only manuscript to trans-
mit the text in its entirety (see Table 1). Evidence that its antigraph may
have
32 Niðrstigningar saga
Table 1. Extant text of Niðrstigningar saga in its manuscripts
AM 645 4to
AM 623 4to
AM 233 a fol.
AM 238 V fol.
JS 405 8vo
Prologue
x
x
XVIII.1
x
x
XVIII.2
x
x
XVIII.3
x
x
x
XIX.1
x
x
x
x
XIX.2
x
x
x
x
XX.1
x
x
x
x
XX.2
x
x
x
x
XX.3
x
x
x
x
XXI.1
x
x
x
x
x
XXI.2
x
x
x
x
XXI.3
x
x
x
x
XXII.1
x
x
x
XXII.2
x
x
x
XXIII.1
x
x
x
XXIII.2
x
x
x
XXIV.1
x
x
x
XXIV.2
x
x
x
XXIV.3
x
x
x
XXV
x
x
x
x
XXVI
x
x
x
x
XXVII.1
x
x
x
x
XXVII.2
x
x
x
x
been a medieval parchment manuscript is suggested by its first two items: the
oldest redaction of Niðrstigningar saga and Viðrœða líkams ok sálar, here ti-
tled Bernharðs leiðsla, a remarkably old text that is also found in the Old
Norwegian Homily Book (AM 619 4to, ff. 75v–78r) from around the year 1200,
where it is wrongly entitled Visio Sancti Pauli apostoli.35
JS 405 8vo is a paper manuscript consisting of 104 pages measuring approxi-
mately 16 by 9.8 centimetres, with twenty-four to twenty-eight lines per page.
Its text was written in Arney (western Iceland) in a neo-Gothic script by a single
scribe, Ólafur Jónsson (†1800), between 1780 and 1791; it is in remarkably
The Manuscript Tradition of Niðrstigningar saga 33
good condition.36 The manuscript was later owned by Þorvaldur Sívertsen
(†1863) from Hrappsey (an island not far from Arney), as recorded on folio 1:
“Bókin er frá Þorvaldison af Sivertsen í Hrappsey” (“The book belongs to
Þorvaldur Sívertsen in Hrappsey”).37 In his introductory colophon on folio 1r,
Ólafur writes that the collection was compiled from old, torn, and possibly
loose leaves containing various sagas and texts:
Einn litill sagnapese og byriar á Nidurstigningu Drottins Vors Jesu Kristi til helvi-
tis og um nafnid Jesu. Samannskrifadur af gỏmlum og funum sagnablỏdum epter
þvi sem riettast hefur ordid af Olafe Jónssyne á Arney árid 1780.
(A little collection of sagas, which begins with the story of the Descent into Hell
of Our Lord, Jesus Christ [ Niðrstigningar saga], and [a text] about the name Jesus
[Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones in Cantica Canticorum, Sermo XV]. Compiled
from old and decaying leaves of sagas as precisely as possible by Ólafur Jónsson
in Arney in 1780.)
After the translation of some miscellaneous narrative material, which in-
cludes extracts from the German Volksbücher, Apuleius’s Asinus aureus, and
Isidore of Seville’s De aetatibus hominum (all possibly translated from Danish),
Ólafur Jónsson also translated about a third of Hans Hanssen Skonning’s
Collegium philosophorum, a 1636 collection of philosophical apothegms and
anecdotes concerning the lives of Greek and Latin philosophers with the addi-
tion of some medieval and early modern thinkers in Aarhus, as he states in the
concluding lines of JS 405 8vo, on folio 103v:
Ei hef eg sied meir af þessari bók, og er þad inntakid ur 12 hennar fyrstu ka-
pitulum, enn hun hefr inne ad halda 38 kapitula. Bokin er samanntekin ur gris-
kum og latinskum sagnameisturum af Hans Hanssyne Skonning ⸌i hans Collegio
Philosophorum⸍ bygjandi til Aarhus anno 1636. Er svo þetta sticki endurklórad á
Arney árid 1791 af Olafe Jónssyne.
(I have not seen more from this book, and this is the summary of its first twelve
chapters, but it contains thirty-eight chapters. The book is assembled from Greek
and Latin authors, [extracted] from Hans Hanssen Skonning in his Collegium phi-
losophorum, published in Aarhus in the year 1636. This collection was transcribed
in Arney in the year 1791 by Ólafur Jónsson.)
In a letter dated 28 May 1728 and addressed to the descendants of Páll
Vídalín (†1727), co-author of his Jarðabók (“Land Register”), Árni Magnússon
34 Niðrstigningar saga
claims to be repaid a debt contracted with him by Páll. He therefore compiles
an inventory of eighteen books still in Páll’s family’s possession that he would
like to acquire in order to extinguish the debt. Several manuscripts in Páll’s
collection once belonged to his father-in-law, Magnús Jónsson (†1702), a
wealthy landowner in Vigur. Item 6 in Árni’s list is a manuscript written by
Priest Magnús Ketilsson (†1709), a relative of Magnús Jónsson (who was later
chaplain in Desjarmýri) who worked on his estate as a scribe,38 that begins
with Niðrstigningar saga and, like JS 405 8vo, also contains fragments of
Bernharðs leiðsla.39
Bök i qvarto, med hende Sra Magnuss Ketelssonar. þar ä er Nidurstigningar Historia
Christi, Duggals leidsla, Bernhardi leidsla fragm: Formäle til Ste Margretar Sỏgu,
drauma rädningar, Tungls alldrar, Nockud ur Blóndu, edur rÿme vidvykiande, of
(Book in quarto format in the hand of Reverend Magnús Ketilsson. It contains the
Niðrstigningar history of Christ; Duggals leiðsla and a fragment of Bernharðs
leiðsla; the preface to Margrétar saga; interpretations of dreams; the phases of the
moon; parts of Blanda or material concerning [astronomical] computa
tion; and a
few exempla. The book comes from Vigur.)
As suggested by Jón Helgason, this manuscript is identical to item 28 of
another inventory of Páll Vídalín’s library that was reconstructed from memory
by his foster son Jón Ólafsson from Grunnavík (†1799). In his inventory, Jón
specifies that one of the short tales contained in the manuscript concerned
Psyche and the three daughters of the king. The fairy tale is perhaps identical
with the so-called Gullasni, item 7 of JS 405 8vo, extracted from books 4 and
5 of Apuleius’s Asinus aureus, relating to Psyche and her sisters:
bök med hende Sra Magn(usar) Ketelss(onar). Þar ä Nidurstign(ingar) historia.
Duggalsleidsla. Fragment af S. Bernhardi leidslu. miked stycke aptan af Rimbeiglu.
Tungls alldrar. Nockrer vidburder i ỏdrum londum. Æfentir af Psyche kongsd(ottur)
3m gydium under Jordunne etc.41
(Book in the hand of Reverend Magnús Ketilsson. It contains the story of
Niðrstigningar saga; Duggals leiðsla; fragments of Bernharðs leiðsla; a great
section from the last part of Rimbegla; the phases of the moon [ Blanda]; a few
events in other lands [ Ævintýr um eina stúlku er gaf sig djöflinum; Einn fáheyrður
atburður; Einn tilburður frá 1570]; exempla about Princess Psyche and three god-
desses beneath the earth [ Gullasni], etc.)
The Manuscript Tradition of Niðrstigningar saga 35
It is consequently reasonable that, towards the end of the eighteenth century,
Ólafur Jónsson employed a manuscript similar to that owned by Magnús
Jónsson for the compilation of the first section of JS 405 8vo. Besides being the
only two postmedieval manuscripts of the tradition and being remarkably close
both in date of composition and place of origin, they boast important affinities
in terms of the typology of texts transmitted. For example, in addition to
Niðrstigningar saga, they also share Bernharðs leiðsla and Gullasni, two other-
wise very uncommon texts. It is also worth noting that in his list, Árni refers to
Niðrstigningar saga with the appellative of “historia Christi” (“History of
Christ”). This additional title may indicate that the text included in the manu-
script owned by Magnús Jónsson contained the same lengthy introduction,
which survives exclusively in JS 405 8vo, indicated below as item 1 of the
codex. Its text (extracted from the Gospels) describes Christ’s last hours on the
cross, the miracles attending the death of Christ, and Joseph and Nicodemus’s
preparation of Christ’s body for burial.
Content of JS 405 8vo
1 2r–3r “Wier vilium ꜳ vísa góder brædr fyrir ydr um nockur stórmerke
Vors ens liúfa Lausnara píningar … / … Sídan er ecke almennelega
þess getid hvad Kristr vann í Guddómenum þá er hann stie nidr ad leysa
mannkinid. Enn þo finnst svo skrifad i annálum ad tveir menn segia frá ni-
drstigningu Dróttins oc munum ver þa her greina ef Gudi vill.” Additional
Introductory chapter to Niðrstigningar saga, a harmonization of passages
in the Gospels describing Christ’s crucifixion and entombment (Luke
23:39–46; Mark 15:33–6; Luke 23:46; Matthew 27:51–2; John 19:38–42).
[Odd Einar Haugen, ed., Stamtre og tekstlandskap, vol. 2, Tekster og
tabellar, 46–8.]
2 3r–10r “Karinus er madr nefndr annar Leusius syner Simeonis … / …
þa skulum ver so segia. Dírd sie Gude Fødr oc Syne oc Heløgum Anda
oc svo sem hun var ad upphafe er enn nu oc iafnann oc um allar alder.
Amen.” Older redaction of Niðrstigningar saga. [Present volume,
133–53; Odd Einar Haugen, ed., Stamtre og tekstlandskap, vol. 2, Tekster
og tabellar, 48–59.]
3 10r–11v “Svo seger hinn heilage Bernhardus ad nafnid Jesus þad upplyse
lof giỏrdina … / … viltu upplýsast þá er hann liósed viltu nærast þá er
hann fædslan etc.” Excerpts of Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones in Cantica
Canticorum, Sermo XV. [The Icelandic text is unedited; the Latin text is
available in PL 183, 843D–848C.]
4 11r–16r Rubric “Her biriast Bernhardi leidsla.” “Einn vis og vellærdr
madr Bernhardus ad nafne var i einum stad á Einglande … / … hvỏria ad
36 Niðrstigningar saga
sỏnnu veiti hann oss med syninum oc Heilỏgum Anda. Amen.” Bernharðs
leiðsla. [This text, here entitled Bernharðs leiðsla, is the Old Norse
translation of the Latin poem Nuper huiuscemodi (also known as “Royal
Debate”), possibly through mediation of its Anglo-Norman rendition
known as Un samedi par nuit. The same Old Norse translation is trans-
mitted (fragmentarily) in the Old Norwegian Homily Book (ca. 1200)
under the mistaken title Visio Sancti Pauli apostoli.42 (Gustav Indrebø,
ed., Gamal norsk Homiliebok, 148–53. The Icelandic text transmitted
in JS 405 8vo is edited in Ole Widding and Hans Bekker-Nielsen, eds.,
“A Debate of the Body and the Soul,” 280–9.)]
5 16v–17v Rubric “Ævintu⟨r⟩ um eina stúlku er gaf sig djỏflinum.”
“Svo bar til i þeim stad er Printzlaw nefnist í Berlinum um striðstið … /
… So ad andlítid horfde á bak aptur, þángad sem fyre var hnackin oc
so aumkunarlega hefur hun ut endat sitt vesæla líf. Giætum vor fyrer
Guds sakir. Amen.” Ævintýr um eina stúlku er gaf sig djöflinum. [This
is possibly an exemplum extracted from one of the Teufelsbücher by the
Gnesio-Lutheran theologian Andreas Musculus (†1581). See for instance
Johannes Janssen, Geschichte des deutschen Volkes, vol. 8, 238. The same
text, still unedited, is also extant in Reykjavík, Landsbókasafn Íslands,
714 8vo (ff. 72r–72v) from 1790.]
6 17v–19r Rubric “Einn fáheyrdur atburdr.” “Var so til ut í Italia á dogum
þess virdviglega keisara Rudolphi anno 1578 … / … þá Gidinga dómurin
ad Guds ráde vard eydelagdr af Tito oc Vespaciano. Gud gefe oss ollum
[The source is unknown.]
7 19r–23v Rubric “Apuleius skrifar eina dæme sỏgu i sinne fiórdu og fimtu
bók sem han kallar Gullasna sohjódande.” “Konungr oc Drottning voru
þa fordum, er atta sier dætr þriár … / … Af Psyche lærum vier, ad margr
hvỏr sie ordfolk til sinar cigin olucku, oc so sem Psyche systr reindu, ad
vond rad verda þeim optast vest sem vit gefa. Ender.” Gullasni. [Excerpts
from the fourth and fifth books of Apuleius’s Asinus aureus. The Icelandic
text is unedited.]
8 24r Rubric “Einn tilbu⟨r⟩dur sem skede 1570.” “I Líneborg var mikid
fólk samann i eine kró til dryckiuskapar Jonsmessu kvỏld … / … oc litid
sticke af ỏdrum skorsteine þess sama húss var komid út ad valbitorum
hálfa mílu frá Kaupenenhafn.” Einn tilburður frá 1570. [The source is
unknown.]
9 24v Rubric “Um aldrdóm mannsins.” “Soó er ritad ad sex eru aldar
mannsins á jardríki. Hinn fyrste aldr mannsins heiter Infantia … / … A
hinum siỏtta aldre sníst mannsins líf i daudann sorg oc sút og mỏrg hatur
The Manuscript Tradition of Niðrstigningar saga 37
fáande oc full scidinda etc.” Æviskeið mannsins. [A translation of Isidore
of Seville’s De aetatibus hominum, extracted from the eleventh book of
the Etymologiae. The Icelandic translation is unedited.]
10 Rubric 25r–56v “Nockrar eptertakanlegar smáhistoríur samantíndar til
fródleiks 1783.” “Ad foreldranna elska er stærre til barn⸌n⸍a enn bar-
nanna til foreldranna, þad kann madr skynia af þrem historiu sem skede
i Fianderen … / … Merker þiónsins skiótleik ur einum stadi i annan
sjúlfbóndanum til gagns og ábata.” Eftirtakanlegar smáhistoríur.
[A translation of ninety-four short stories including quotations of numer-
ous Greek and Latin authors from Antiquity (e.g., Herodotus, Plutarch,
Aristippus, and Valerius Maximus), Late Antiquity (e.g., Sozomenus,
John Xiphilinus, and Caesarius of Arles), the Middle Ages (e.g., Saxo
Grammaticus), and the Renaissance (e.g., Iovianus Pontanus). The source
is unknown and the Icelandic text is unedited.]
11 Rubric “Nockur spekmæle heidinna manna og vísdómsfullra spekinga
saman hendt úr griskum oc latinskum bókum.” 57r–103v “Um Gud seger
so Arestotelis … / … þa má ecki þar fyrer forkreinkia lỏg oc riett oc hann
undir fótum tróda. Tantum.” Spekmæli heiðinna manna og vísdómsfullra
spekinga. [A collection of aphorisms, proverbs, and commonplaces
ascribed to eminent Classical philosophers and extracted from Hans
Hanssen Skonning, Collegium philosophorum. The Danish collection
was first published in Aarhus in 1636. The Icelandic text is still unedited.]43
Table 2. Dissemination of the manuscripts of Niðrstigningar saga
Manuscript
Date
Scriptorium / Region
Scribe
1
AM 645 4to
1220–1250
Skálholt (Suðurland)
–
2
Garður’s máldagi
1315
Garður (Suðurnes)
–
3
AM 623 4to
1325
Mælifell (Skagafjörður)
–
4
AM 233 a fol.
1350–1375
Helgafell (Snæfellsnes)
–
5
Möðruvellir’s máldagi
1461
Möðruvellir (Hörgárdalur)
–
6
AM 238 V fol.
1400–1500
–
–
7
Magnús Jónsson’s
1675–1700
Vigur (Vestfirðir)
Magnús Ketilsson
library
(1675–1703)
8
JS 405 8vo
1780–1791
Arney (Vesturland)