The Mappae Mundi of Medieval Iceland

278 Pages·2020·37.357 MB·English

by  Dale Kedwards

D
A
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K
STUDIES IN
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OLD NORSE
W
LITERATURE
A
R
D
S

THE
The Icelandic mappae mundi (maps of the world), drawn between c. 1225
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and c. 1400, are contemporary with the breathtaking rise of its vernacular literary
O H
M A P PA E
culture, and provide important insights into the Icelanders’ capacious geographical F E
awareness in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. However, in comparison with MM
those drawn elsewhere, among them the English Hereford mappa mundi, they have
received little critical attention. This book explores the Icelandic mappae mundi eA
M U N D I
not only for what they reveal about the Icelanders’ geographical awareness, but
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as complex registers of Icelandic national self-perception and imagining, situating
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them in their various literary, intellectual, and material contexts. It reveals fully how eP
Icelanders used the cartographic medium to explore fantasies of national origin,
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their political structures, and place in Europe. The small canon of Icelandic world
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maps is reproduced here photographically, with their texts presented alongside E
English translations to enable a wider understanding. l M e d i e v a l

M
DALE KEDWARDS is HM Queen Margrethe II Distinguished Research Fellow at I
the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages at the University of Iceland,
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and the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle.
e I c e l a n d
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Cover image: Details from the English Cotton map © The British Library Board
a
(London, British Library, MS. Cotton Tiberius B.V., f. 56v, c. 1050).
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Cover design: www.stay-creative.co.uk d
I

DALE KEDWARDS
THE MAPPAE MUNDI OF
MEDIEVAL ICELAND
Studies in Old Norse Literature
Print ISSN 2514-0701
Online ISSN 2514-071X
Series Editors
Professor Sif Rikhardsdottir
Professor Carolyne Larrington
Studies in Old Norse Literature aims to provide a forum for monographs
and collections engaging with the literature produced in medieval
Scandinavia, one of the largest surviving bodies of medieval European
literature. The series investigates poetry and prose alongside translated,
religious and learned material; although the primary focus is on Old
Norse-Icelandic literature, studies which make comparison with other
medieval literatures or which take a broadly interdisciplinary approach
by addressing the historical and archaeological contexts of literary texts
are also welcomed. It offers opportunities to publish a wide range of
books, whether cutting-edge, theoretically informed writing, provocative
revisionist approaches to established conceptualizations, or strong, tradi-
tional studies of previously neglected aspects of the field. The series will
enable researchers to communicate their findings both beyond and within
the academic community of medievalists, highlighting the growing
interest in Old Norse-Icelandic literary culture.
Proposals or queries should be sent in the first instance to the editors or
to the publisher, at the addresses given below.
Professor Sif Rikhardsdottir, Faculty of Icelandic and
Comparative Cultural Studies, University of Iceland,
Aðalbygging v/Sæmundargötu, S-101 Reykjavik, Iceland
Professor Carolyne Larrington, Faculty of English Language
and Literature, St John’s College, Oxford University, Oxford,
OX1 3JP, UK
Boydell & Brewer, PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 3DF, UK
Previous volumes in the series are listed at the end of the volume.
The Mappae Mundi of
Medieval Iceland
Dale Kedwards
D. S. BREWER
© Dale Kedwards 2020
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of Dale Kedwards to be identified as
the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2020
D. S. Brewer, Cambridge
ISBN 978 1 84384 569 0 hardback
ISBN 978 1 78744 791 2 ePDF
D. S. Brewer is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620–2731, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of
URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and
does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate
or appropriate
Cover image: Details from the English Cotton map © The British Library Board
(London, British Library, MS. Cotton Tiberius B.V., f. 56v, c. 1050).
Cover design: www.stay-creative.co.uk
This book is dedicated to Julie Kedwards, Sally Kedwards,
Ida Parker and Max the dog.

Contents
Illustrations ix
Acknowledgements xi
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
1. The Icelandic Hemispherical World Maps 23
2. The Icelandic Zonal Map 63
3. The Two Maps from Viðey 101
4. Iceland in Europe 119
5. Forty Icelandic Priests and a Map of the World 147
Conclusion 179
Map Texts and Translations
The Icelandic Hemispherical World Maps
(Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 736 I 4to, f. 1v,
c. 1300 and Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 732b
4to, f. 3r, c. 1300–25) 187
The Icelandic Zonal Map
(Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, GkS 1812 4to, f.11v,
1315–c.1400) 193
The Larger Viðey Map (Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar,
GkS 1812 4to, ff. 5v–6r, c. 1225–50) 197
The Smaller Viðey Map
(Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, GkS 1812 4to, f. 6v,
c. 1225–50) 231
Bibliography 241
Index 257
vii

Illustrations
1. Macrobius’s celestial-terrestrial zone diagram (Baltimore,
Walters Art Gallery, Walters Ms. W.22, f. 41r, c. 1175–1200) 29
2. Hemispherical world map in the Liber Floridus (Ghent,
University of Ghent Library, MS 92, f. 227v, 1121) (Ghent
University Library, BHSL.HS.0092) 30
3. Zonal map in the Liber Floridus (Ghent, Ghent University
Library, MS 92, f. 24v, 1121) (Ghent University Library, BHSL.
HS.0092) 32
4. The context of the older version of the Icelandic hemispherical
world map (Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 736 I
4to, f. 1v, c. 1300. Photograph Suzanne Reitz. Reproduced with
permission from the Arnamagnæan Institute) 41
5. An Icelandic geographical treatise and text about the three
Biblical Kings (Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 736
I 4to, f. 1r, c. 1300. Photograph Suzanne Reitz. Reproduced with
permission from the Arnamagnæan Institute) 46
6. The Biblical Magi following the star on the Catalan World Atlas
(Abraham Cresques?) (Paris, Bibliothequè Nationale de France,
c. 1375) 49
7. Icelandic map of Jerusalem (Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan
Collection, AM 736 I 4to, f. 2r, c. 1300. Photograph Suzanne Reitz.
Reproduced with permission from the Arnamagnæan Institute) 52
8. The context of the younger version of the Icelandic hemispherical
world map (Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 732b
4to, f. 3r, c. 1300–25. Photograph Suzanne Reitz. Reproduced
with permission from the Arnamagnæan Institute) 54
9. The nested planetary spheres (Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan
Collection, AM 732b 4to f. 3v, c. 1300–25. Photograph Suzanne
Reitz. Reproduced with permission from the Arnamagnæan
Institute) 58
ix