Hauksbók is associated with an Icelandiclawspeaker namedHaukr Erlendsson: although the work of several scribes, the vast majority is in Haukr's hand.[2] Palaeographical evidence allowed Professor Stefán Karlsson, director of theÁrni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, to date the manuscript to between 1302 and 1310.[3] As long back as it is possible to trace the manuscript it has been called Hauksbók after him. Hauksbók is a compilation that includes Icelandic sagas and a redaction ofLandnámabók. The book contains versions, often the only or earliest extant versions, of manyOld Icelandic texts, such asFóstbrœðra saga, theSaga of Eric the Red,Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, andVöluspá. Haukr tended to rewrite the sagas that he copied, generally shortening them.[4]
In addition, Haukr Erlendsson wrote "Hauk's Annals," which chronicled events of his lifetime and a handbook on Norse law.[5]
Hauksbók is often included as a witness in editions of the individual sagas that it contains. It has been edited as whole in the following:
Hauksbók, udg. efter de Arnamagnæanske håndskrifter no. 371, 544 og 675, 4̊, samt forskellige papirshåndskrifter af det Kongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab, ed. by Finnur Jónsson and Eiríkur Jónsson (København: Thiele, 1892–96)[9]
Hauksbók: The Arna-Magnæan Manuscripts, 371, 4to, 544, 4to, and 675, 4to., ed. by Jón Helgason, Manuscripta Islandica, 5 (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1960) [facsimile]
^"Aldur Hauksbókar", (University of the Faroe Islands "Fróðskaparrit" 13. 1964, 114–21)
^Hauksbók: The Arna-Magnæan Manuscripts, 371, 4to, 544, 4to, and 675, 4to., ed. by Jón Helgason, Manuscripta Islandica, 5 (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1960), pp. x, xii, xviii.
^Knut Ødegård."Hauksbók". Store norske leksikon. RetrievedOctober 27, 2015.
