SAGA OF ERLING SKAKKE ON HORN

MS 1570
MS Short Title SAGA OF ERLING SKAKKE ON HORN
Text SAGA OF ERLING SKAKKE KING OF NORWAY 1115 - 1179
Description MS in Norwegian on horn, Trøndelag, Norway, 17th c., 1 gunpowder horn, 25x8 cm, 9 lines in runes of the younger futhark, naming the participants in 9 drawings of battle scenes, the last illustrating the battle at Kalvskinnet, where King Erling Skakke fell in 1179. The lid and finial of the horn carved with heads of seals and strapwork decoration.
Binding
Context
Provenance 1. Birgit Buxam (19th c.); 2. Bjørn Smith Collection, Oslo.
Commentary Copied from scenes in Snorre Sturlason's Håkon Herdebrei's Saga and Magnus Erlingsson's saga, which also includes the main parts of Erling Skakke's saga. Any MS record of Norse sagas are of legendary rarity, even this late. This copy is written in runes and illustrated as well. While the other national scripts derive from Roman cursive and half uncial, the runes origin from Roman capitals with influence from Greek and Phoenician. Most of the national scripts were extinct in the 9th c. following the Carolingian reform. The runes, however, lasted until the 18th c. and in ownership inscriptions and magic, they are still in use in Scandinavia, Germany and England.
Published
Exhibited
Mentioned
Boxing
See also

MS 2222/3, Norway, 1647
MS 2222/2, Norway, 17th c.
MS 592/1, France, ca. 1800

Place of origin Norway
Dates 17c AD