Möðruvallabók

Möðruvallabók is one of the most important surviving manuscripts of Old Norse sagas. It is a vellum codex written in Iceland in the late 14th century. The manuscript is named after the farm Möðruvellir in Eyjafjörður, where it was kept for a long time. Möðruvallabók contains a substantial collection of Icelandic family sagas, making it a crucial source for understanding the history, culture, and literature of medieval Iceland.

The content of Möðruvallabók is primarily composed of sagas relating the lives and deeds of early Icelandic settlers and their descendants. Among the most notable sagas included are Eyrbyggja saga, a detailed account of the settlement and conflicts in the western part of Iceland, and Njáls saga, considered by many to be the pinnacle of Old Norse saga literature. Other significant sagas present are Laxdæla saga, known for its complex characters and tragic love story, and Gísla saga Súrssonar, which tells of a blood feud and its devastating consequences.

The language of Möðruvallabók is Old Icelandic, and its orthography and dialect provide valuable insights into the linguistic development of the period. The manuscript's preservation has allowed scholars to study the sagas in a relatively complete form, contributing significantly to the field of Old Norse philology and history. Its artistic decoration is minimal, focusing on the content rather than elaborate illumination, which is typical of many Icelandic manuscripts from this era. Möðruvallabók is now housed in the National and University Library of Iceland.