Morkinskinna. Iceland c. 1275.
GkS 1009 2º

Fol. 11v	Fol. 12r

Frederik III took a great interest in securing old manuscripts from Iceland, the north-western part of his kingdom, for his library. In the previous decades historians in Denmark had become aware of the Icelandic sagas and their importance as sources to Nordic medieval history.
This manuscript is called Morkinskinna which means “rotten vellum”. It contains an account of the Norwegian kings of the period 1030-1157. The manuscript is written in Old Norse in Iceland c. 1275. It was given to Frederik III by the Bishop of Iceland, Brynjólfur Sveinsson, who also supplied the King with several other Icelandic manuscripts.
The collection of Norse manuscripts in the Royal Library also expanded after the period of Frederik III. However, the specifically Icelandic part of these manuscripts, 141 in all, was returned to Iceland by the Danish Government according to a treaty laid down in 1970, but the Royal Library still holds a few of the manuscripts that Frederik III received from Iceland, among them Morkinskinna.

29 x 18.5 cm.

© Det Kongelige Bibliotek 2003