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Report by Odd Einar Haugen,
group leader
Submitted 20 November
2001
1
Background
The project "Editing medieval manuscripts"
was planned during the spring of 1998 with the aim of developing procedures
for the encoding, interpretation and presentation of Old Nordic texts.
The list of members was drawn up at this stage, and remained unchanged
until the group met in Oslo in August 2000. At the time when the group
participants were invited, a Network for the electronic processing of Medieval Nordic
manuscripts, financed by Nordisk Forskerutdanningsakademi
(NorFA), had already been working on a handbook for the encoding of Medieval
manuscripts for some time. The work on this handbook should have been
concluded by the end of 1998, and the initial purpose of the research
group was to apply these recommendations to a number of Old Norse manuscripts.
However, work on the handbook was not finished, so the group was faced
with the choice between taking over this work or proceeding in another
direction. The group chose to continue working on the handbook, and succeeded
in presenting a first draft by the end of the stay in Oslo. In addition
to the handbook, the group worked on a number of editorial projects, focusing
on Heimskringla and other kings' sagas.
2
The research group
The group included eight
members. Five members, Odd Einar Haugen, Jonna Louis-Jensen,
Karl G. Johansson, Rune Kyrkjebø and Jon Gunnar
Jørgensen, stayed at CAS throughout the academic
year. Jon Gunnar Jørgensen, however, shared his time
between the Centre (three days a week) and the Ibsen Centre
(two days a week). Two members, Hubert Seelow and
Kolbrún Haraldsdóttir, worked full time at the
Centre, but left at Easter due to teaching commitments in
Germany. Espen Ore participated as an IT consultant on a 20
% basis, joining the group one day per week. The group thus
carried out the equivalent of 64 months' work.
In addition to the
permanent members, Tone Merete Bruvik and Vemund Olstad,
both of the HIT centre at the University of Bergen, worked
as consultants for the group in matters of text encoding.
Bjørg Dale Spørck, of the National library in
Oslo, joined the group as a visiting scholar one or two days
a week from the beginning of October.
3
Meetings and seminars
The group held plenary
meetings on average twice a month to discuss text encoding
and manuscript interpretation. Those who concentrated on the
handbook (see section
5 below) held
frequent consultations throughout the period, in certain
periods on a daily basis.
Four scholars were invited
to short but stimulating visits:
- Andrea van Arkel-de Leeuw van Weenen, University of
Leiden
- Peter M. Robinson, De Montfort University, Leicester
- Matthew J. Driscoll, University of Copenhagen
- Tarrin Wills, University of Sydney
4
Editorial work on medieval manuscripts
The group members varied
with respect to how much of their time they spent on
individual editorial projects, but all members submitted
texts encoded in TEI / XML format. A substantial amount of
work was devoted to the kings' sagas, including
Heimskringla. Work was done on both redactions of
Heimskringla, as well as other kings' sagas such as
Hulda-Hrokkinskinna and Flateyjarbók.
The manuscripts varied
from small and partially illegible fragments (e.g. AM 162 E
fol.) to the largest of all Icelandic manuscripts,
Flateyjarbók, GKS 1005 fol. Editorial work was
carried out on the following manuscripts:
|
Signature
|
|
Text
|
|
Dating
|
|
AM 35
fol.
|
|
Ynglinga
saga and Óláfs saga helga
in Heimskringla, in Ásgeir
Jónsson's transcription of the Kringla ms.,
ca. 1700
|
|
ca.
1260
|
|
GKS 2365
4to
|
|
Eddic
poems
|
|
ca.
1270
|
|
Holm B
59
|
|
The older
Västgöta law
|
|
ca.
1280
|
|
AM 162 E
fol.
|
|
Laxdœla
saga
|
|
ca.
1300
|
|
AM 37
fol.
|
|
Haralds saga
hárfagra in Heimskringla, in Jens
Nilssøns's transcription of the
Jöfraskinna ms., 1567
|
|
ca.
1325
|
|
AM 595
4to
|
|
Rómverja
saga
|
|
ca.
1325-50
|
|
AM 127
4to
|
|
Jónsbók
|
|
ca.
1350
|
|
AM 657 a-b
4to
|
|
Clárus
saga og ævintýri
|
|
ca.
1350
|
|
AM 242
fol.
|
|
Snorri
Sturluson's Edda and the four grammatical
treatises
|
|
ca.
1350
|
|
AM 233 a
fol.
|
|
Niðrstigningar
saga
|
|
ca.
1350-60
|
|
GKS 1005
fol.
|
|
Flateyjarbók |
|
