Interplay between texts in Snorra Edda manuscripts: An attempt to apply a new analytical approach to medieval codices

Abstract

Snorra Edda belongs to the most famous works of medieval Icelandic literature. The main purpose of this thesis is to analyze five medieval manuscripts produced during the fourteenth century transmitting the whole Snorra Edda or only Skáldskaparmál. All these manuscripts contain various texts in addition to different redactions of Snorri’s work. The sources provide evidence that Snorra Edda functioned in various contexts, which all differed significantly from the way it is usually presented in the modern editions and translations. This thesis intends to analyse the manuscripts from a synchronic perspective and the focus will be on the editorial approach and logic behind each compilation. Nevertheless, the diachronic or stemmatic perspective will provide the access to the following analysis. It will supply the foundation for the understanding of the individual characteristics of the texts transmitted in more than one codex. I will mainly focus on the major changes within different redactions. All this information gained through the diachronic perspective and the focus on the transmission process of the works will be further applied to the analysis of the codices from the synchronic perspective. In the main part of this thesis the effects of the earlier mentioned changes will be in focus. These distinctive features of different texts within individual compilations will be contrasted with each other. The constellation of texts and their function within this specific constellation will be analyzed. I will apply the concept of the ‘abstract redactor’ in order to gain a better understanding of the editorial tendencies behind each compilation without neglecting the dynamics of transmission. This thesis presents a model for approaching medieval manuscripts by combining the diachronic and synchronic perspectives.