Guðvarður Már Gunnlaugsson, Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies

Latin manuscript fragments related to Iceland

In this paper I will discuss Latin manuscript fragments from the Middle Ages (until the late 16th century) which are related to Iceland in some way, concentrating on fragments of books preserved in Iceland or that have been in Iceland at some point. Many of these books were undoubtedly written in Iceland, but others were certainly imported. I will also discuss where these fragments originated from before they came into manuscript collections and where they are now preserved.
I will also evaluate sources that shed light on libraries and books owned by churches, convents and others, and make an attempt to map how many books Icelandic churches, monasteries and episcopal sees must, at the minimum, have had. Since it is known how many churches, monasteries and episcopal sees there were in Iceland in the late Middle Ages (ca. 1200-1550), such calculations are not simply a shot in the dark, but can have real value for our understanding of Latin book culture in Iceland.