The last page of the manuscript lists three names which likely
represent the earliest owners of SAM 66: Gísli Gíslason (1797 -
1758) from Skörð in Reykjahverfi; St. Petersen, who has not been
identified; and Magnús Guðmundsson, a farmer at Sandur in Aðaldalur.
Magnús' daughter, Elín Sigríður emigrated to Canada in 1876 and took
the manuscript with her. Elín Sigríður's farm near Gimli, Manitoba
was called Melsted which also became the family's surname in
Canada.
The Icelandic counsel to Minnesota, Örn Arnar, bought the manuscript
from one of Elín Sigríður´s descendents, Ken Melsted in Wynyard,
Saskatchewan and donated it to the Ární Magnússon Institute in
Iceland on February 2, 2000.
The manuscript is now known either by the title Melsteð Edda or by its shelf mark SÁM 66 4to.