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King Harald I of Norway receives Norway out of his father's hands in this illustration from the Flateyjarbók.
King Harald I of Norway receives Norway out of his father's hands in this illustration from the Flateyjarbók. Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair ( Old Norse: Haraldr hárfagri, Norwegian: Harald Hårfagre) (c

The Flatey Book, (Icelandic: Flateyjarbók 'Flat-island book') is one of the most important medieval Icelandic manuscripts. Icelandic ( is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. A manuscript is any Document that is Written by hand as opposed to being printed or reproduced in some other way It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and Codex Flatöiensis. Sometimes anglicized as Flateyjarbok.

Contents

Description

The Flatey Book is the largest of medieval Icelandic manuscripts, comprising 225 written and illustrated vellum leaves. It contains mostly sagas of the Norse kings as found in the Heimskringla, specifically the sagas about Olaf Tryggvason, St. Olaf, Sverre, Hakon the Old, Magnus the Good, and Harald Hardrada. Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse Kings' sagas. Olaf Tryggvason ( Old Norse: Óláfr Tryggvason, Norwegian: Olav Tryggvason) (960s &ndash September 9 ? 1000 was King of Sverre Sigurdsson ( Sverrir Sigurðarson, c 1145/1151 &ndash 9 March 1202) was King of Norway from 1184 to 1202 Haakon Haakonsson (1204 &ndash December 15, 1263) ( Norwegian Håkon Håkonsson, Old Norse Hákon Hákonarson) also called Magnus I (1024 - October 25, 1047) was the King of Norway from 1035 to 1047 and the King of Denmark from 1042 to 1047 Harald Sigurdsson (1015 &ndash September 25, 1066) later given the epithet Hardraada ( Old Norse: Haraldr harðráði, roughly translated But they appear here expanded with additional material1 not found elsewhere (some material being very old) and with other unique differences. Most, but not all, of the additional material is placed within the royal sagas, sometimes interlaced. Also in the manuscript is the only copy of the eddic poem Hyndluljód, a unique set of annals from creation to 1394, and many short tales not otherwise preserved such as Nornagests þáttr ('Tale of Norna Gest'). Hyndluljóð or Lay of Hyndla is an Old Norse poem often considered a part of the Poetic Edda. Norna-Gests þáttr or the Story of Norna-Gest is a Legendary saga about the Norse hero Norna-Gest

Especially important is the Grœnlendinga saga ("History of the Greenlanders") giving an account of the Vinland colony with some differences from the Eiríks saga rauða ("History of Eirík the Red"). Grœnlendinga saga or the Saga of the Greenlanders is an Icelandic saga. Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norseman Leifr Eiríksson, about the year A Here also is preserved the only Icelandic version of the Orkneyinga saga ("History of the Orkney Islanders") and Færeyinga saga ("History of the Faroe Islanders"). The Orkneyinga saga (also called the History of the Earls of Orkney) is a unique historical narrative of the history of the Orkney Islands, Scotland, from The Færeyinga Saga, the Norse saga of Faroemen, is the story of how the Faroes were converted to Christianity and became a part of the

History

From internal evidence the book was being written in 1387 and was completed in 1394 or very soon after. The first page states that its owner is "Jonn Hakonar son" and that the book was scribed by two priests. One of them, "Jon prestr Þórðar son", inscribed the contents from the tale of Eirík the Traveller down to the end of the two Olaf sagas and the other, "Magnús prestr Thorhallz sun", inscribed the earlier and later material and also drew the illustrations.

Further material was inserted towards the end of the 15th century.

The manuscript first received special attention by the learnèd in 1651 when Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson of Skálholt, with permission of King Frederick III of Denmark requested that all folk of Iceland who owned old manuscripts to turn them over to the Danish king, either providing the original or a copy, either as a gift or for a price. Brynjólfur Sveinsson (1605&ndash1675 served as the Lutheran Bishop of the village Skálholt in the south of Iceland. Skálholt ( Old Icelandic: Skálaholt) is an historical site situated in the south of Iceland at the river Hvítá. Frederick III ( March 18, 1609 &ndash February 19, 1670) was king of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death Jon Torfason, son of Rev. Torfi Finsson, who resided on Flatey ('Flat Island') in Breiðafjörður on the west coast of Iceland, was then the owner of book which was already known as the Flateyjarbók. Breiðafjörður is a large shallow bay about 50 km wide and 125 km long and located in the west of Iceland. At first Jon refused to release his precious heirloom, the biggest and best book in all of Iceland, and Jon continued to refuse even when Bishop Brynjólfur paid him a personal visit and offered him five hundreds of land. But Jon only changed his mind and bestowed it on the Bishop just as the Bishop was leaving the region and in return Jon was exempted from all future ecclesiastical taxes.

The manuscript was given into the keeping of Thormod Torfæus, in 1662, as a present from Bishop Brynjólfur to King Frederick III and placed in the Royal Museum of Copenhagen. (The rest of Bishop Brynólfur's collection was dispersed by his heirs who had no interest in a collection of old mansucripts and most disappeared for ever, though fortunately transcripts to paper had been made from many of them. ) In 1971 the Flatey Book and the Codex Regius were repatriated to Iceland as Icelandic national treasures and are preserved and studied by the Árni Magnússon Institute. Codex Regius (which is Latin for "King's Book" in Icelandic Konungsbók) (GKS 2365 4to is an Icelandic Manuscript ( The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies ( Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum) is an institute of the Ministry of Education Science and Culture

Contents

Flateyjarbók consists of the following texts.

References and external links

Note

Note 1: Such as Norna-Gests þáttr ('the Story of Norna-Gest'), Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa ('Tale of Styrbjörn the Swedish Champion'), Hróa þáttr heimska ('The Tale of Roi the Fool') and Völsa þáttr ('the Tale of the Phallos'). Norna-Gests þáttr or the Story of Norna-Gest is a Legendary saga about the Norse hero Norna-Gest Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa ( The Tale of Styrbjörn the Swedish Champion) is a short story a þáttr on the Swedish claimant and Jomsviking Styrbjörn Hróa þáttr heimska or the Tale of Roi the Fool is an amusing short story from Iceland about a Dane called Hrói the Fool who is helped in a legal dispute by the Völsa þáttr is a short story which is only extant in the Flatey Book, where it is found in a chapter of Óláfs saga helga.

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