Place of origin: Iceland

Date of origin: 1762

Support: Written on paper

Extent: The manuscript's two volumes contain a total of 417 leaves; there are many blank leaves, both at the beginning and end of the each volume and in between the individual items, often two or three, but sometimes as many as 14; these latter leaves are paginated, while the others are not, and appear to be later additions.

Format: The leaves are approximately 31.8 x 17.4 cm in size.

Foliation: Apart from the front matter, i.e. the titlepage, list of contents and the two prefaces, the text-bearing leaves of the manuscript, and those blank leaves coming in between textual items, are paginated, in ink, on the upper left- and right-hand sides of the verso and recto pages, respectively.
Vol. 1 is paginated 1-368, starting with the first poem, Vǫluspá, and Vol. 2. is paginated 369-736. Only the first leaf of the last item in the second volume, Sólarljóð, is paginated in ink; the remainder has been paginated in pencil, seemingly at a later date.

Condition: Apart from some slight water damage on the titlepage, the manuscript is in excellent condition, with virtually no signs of use.

Page layout: The text is written in a single column throughout, with 21 to 24 lines per page. Poetic texts are written as such, with linebreaks after each verse-line. The prose sections are written in long lines.

Writing and hands: The manuscript is written in one hand throughout, that of Halldór Bjarnason Vídalín. The hand is neat and clearly the work of a practised scribe.

Binding: The manuscript is in its current state bound in two volumes, each of roughly the same size (vol. 1 comprises 212 folios, vol. 2 slightly fewer, 205). It may be presumed originally to have been a single volume, however, or possibly unbound.

Main language: The bulk of the manuscript is in Icelandic, but with some parts in Danish or Latin.

Origin of the manuscript: The manuscript was written by Halldór Bjarnason Vídalín (1736-1801), son of Bjarni Halldórsson, sheriff of Húnavatnssýsla. According to the Latin Afterword (Enthymema), the manuscript was written in 1762 at Reykir in Miðfjörður, where Halldór lived for a time, though he is primarily associated with Reynistaður in Skagafjörður, where he lived from 1786. In the Afterword, Halldór states that the exemplar from which he has made the copy was provided by his father, and that he has made the copy for a dear friend, Charles Bertram: optimumque tandem et magno studio emendatum Edda Sæmundianæ Exemplum, in gratiam amici æstimatissimi, exscribendum, ministravit mihi. […] Cam, qua potui diligentia ac nitore, nunc ad finem perduxi, desiderio Doctissimi Amicissimique Viri Domini Caroli Bertrami, Societatis Antiquariæ Londinensis sodalis dignissimi amice satisfacturus; idque /:laus Deo:/ eo successu, ut ille non immerito dicere possit, in suis manibus esse Exemplar hijus hujus libri, quo rectius, perfectius ac pretiosius in toto orbe vix datur. Bertram (1723–1765) was an expatriate British antiquarian resident in Copenhagen, who had, in 1748, successfully petitioned the king that he might be appointed to lecture on the English language and subsequently became a teacher in the Royal Marine Academy in Copenhagen, a position he held until 1762. Halldór Bjarnason spent at least one winter in Copenhagen, 1756-57, and presumably made Bertram’s acquaintance then. Much touted in academic circles in his day, Bertram was a friend and protégé of Hans Gram, the royal librarian and member of the privy council. Sponsored by the prominent English antiquarian William Stukeley, Bertram became a member of the British Society of Antiquaries in 1756. He was, however, later revealed to have been a charlatan and his publications were dismissed as spurious.

Provenance of the manuscript: The whereabouts of the manuscript from the time of its writing in Iceland to its acquisition by the Bodmer Collection is at present unknown. It may be presumed, however, that it was sent to Copenhagen shortly after it was copied and remained there until sold by the Danish antiquarian bookseller from whom Bodmer acquired it.

Acquisition of the manuscript: According to the records of the Bodmer Collection, the manuscript was purchased from Pedersen, Kopenhagen in October 1967. Pedersen was presumably Einar Grønholt Pedersen (1907-1986), who had an antiquarian bookshop in Fiolstræde in Copenhagen from 1934 to 1973.