Codex Frisianus or Fríssbók (

shelfmark A shelfmark is a mark in a book or manuscript that denotes the cupboard or bookcase where it is kept as well as the shelf and possibly even its location on the shelf. The closely related term pressmark (from press, meaning cupboard) denotes only t ...

AM 45 fol. in the Arnamagnæanske samling) is a manuscript of the early fourteenth century (c. 1300–1325). Among its 124 folios, it contains ''

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

'' (without the Saga of Saint Olaf) and ''

Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar ''Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar'' ("The Saga of Haakon Haakonarson") or ''Hákonar saga gamla'' ("The Saga of Old Haakon") is an Old Norse Kings' Saga, telling the story of the life and reign of King Haakon Haakonarson of Norway. Content and styl ...

''.

Origins and history

The manuscript might have been written in Iceland and soon moved into Norway or have been composed in Norway.Hollander, Lee M., ''Snorri Sturluson. Heimskringla: history of the kings of Norway'' (Austin: University of Texas Press for the American-Scandinavian Foundation, 2005), p. xxiv. It was found in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

in 1550 and brought to Denmark before 1600, when it was acquired by the collector

Otto Friis Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

, from whom it takes its name. It then came into the possession of

Jens Rosenkrantz Jens may refer to: * Jens (given name), a list of people with the name * Jens (surname), a list of people * Jens, Switzerland, a municipality * 1719 Jens, an asteroid See also * Jensen (disambiguation) Jensen may refer to: People and fictional ...

before being bought in 1695 by

Árni Magnússon Árni Magnússon (; 13 November 1663 – 7 January 1730) was an Icelandic scholar and collector of manuscripts who assembled the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection. Early life and education Árni was born in 1663 at Kvennabrekka in Dalasýsl ...

. The latter gave it at his death (1730) to the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

Facsimiles and transcriptions

* ''Codex Frisianus: (Sagas of the kings of Norway): MS. no. 45 fol. in the Arnamagnæan Collection in the University Library of Copenhagen'', ed. by Halldór Hermannsson, Corpus codicum Islandicorum medii aevi, 4 (Copenhagen: Levin & Munksgaard, 1932) (facsimile) * ''Codex Frisianus: en samling af norske kongesagaer: udgiven efter offentlig foranstaltning'', ed. by C. R. Unger (Christiania: Malling, 1871) * ''Codex Membranaceus Arnamagnæanus nr. 45 in folio ex nomine quondam possessoris Ottonis Frisii dictus Codex Frisianus'', ed. by P. Petersen (Christiania, 1864)

References

{{Commons category-inline, Codex Frisianus 14th-century manuscripts Icelandic manuscripts Manuscripts in Old Norwegian Literary illuminated manuscripts