Abstract
This thesis compares Stjórn I and de Rijmbijbel, two medieval vernacular translations of the Bible mediated through Historia Scholastica. Rita Copeland has studied medieval translation strategies and come to the conclusion that appropriation was a much used medieval method when translating Latin texts into vernacular languages. Stjórn I and de Rijmbijbel are at a first glance very different from each other, and also written in two different environments; one close to the medieval European centre of learning, one in the periphery of Europe. The comparison aimed to uncover which translation strategies the respective writers used, and if these strategies differed. A closer study of the chapters Genesis 1 and 2 shows that the two texts has surprisingly many similarities, and when compared to their source-text Historia Scholastica and a medieval English translation of the same source, the similarities are even more obvious. Both use the same translation strategies and both seem to use appropriation, adapting the material to their respective audiences. A study of the prologues of Stjórn I and de Rijmbijbel, together with their respective strategies, language and treatment of the material, makes a tentative hypothesis on their intended audience possible. Stjórn I seems, as is said in its prologue, to have been written primarly with a male audience, probably at the king s court, in mind. De Rijmbijbel seems primarly to have been written for an educated secular mainly female audience.