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The Abduction of Iðunn

The Abduction of Iðunn

  • Creator: Jakob Sigurðsson 1727-1779
  • Description: The giant Þjazi, in the form of an eagle, perched on a tree branch, watching Óðinn, Loki, and Hœnir, who are sitting on the ground around a large cauldron. This scene is described in The Abduction of Iðunn myth in Skáldskaparmál in Snorri's Edda.
  • Source: SÁM 66
  • Folio or Page: 73v.
  • Medium: ink drawing on paper with coloured ink wash
  • Date: 1765
  • Dimensions (mm): 135 x 165
  • Provenance:
    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.
  • Rights:
    Images from SÁM 66 are displayed with permission from the Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum in Iceland. Link to E-manuscript Description. E-manuscript illustrations.
  • Bibliography:

    Primary Sources

    • Reykjavik: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum. SÁM 66. 1765. Handcopied paper manuscript.

    Secondary Sources

    • Cleasby, Richard and Vigfússon Guðbrandur. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957. Print.
    • Driscoll, Matthew. The view From the North: Some Scandinavian digitisation projects Review of the National Center for Digitization. 4 (2004): 22 - 30. Print.
    • Sigurðsson, Gísli. The Last Manuscript Home? The Manuscripts of Iceland. Gísli Sigurdsson and Vésteinn Ólason . Reykjavik: Árni Magnússon Institute in Iceland, 2004. 179 - 186. Print.
    • Simek, Rudolf. Angela Hall . Dictionary of Northern Mythology. W Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer, 2007. Print.
  • Identity Number: SAM66-073v
  • Download size: 1.1 MB
  • Related items: Nks1867-099v   
  • Source code of this document: [XML]
Snorri Sturluson   Prose Edda   SÁM 66 4to, SAM 66 4to   Jakob Sigurðsson , Jakob Sigurdsson   Abduction of Iðunn Myth   Þjazi, Thjazi   Óðinn, Odin   Loki   Hænir, Haenir   örn, eagle  

Primary Sources

  • Reykjavik: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum. SÁM 66. 1765. Handcopied paper manuscript.

Secondary Sources

  • Cleasby, Richard and Vigfússon Guðbrandur. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957. Print.
  • Driscoll, Matthew. The view From the North: Some Scandinavian digitisation projects Review of the National Center for Digitization. 4 (2004): 22 - 30. Print.
  • Sigurðsson, Gísli. The Last Manuscript Home? The Manuscripts of Iceland. Gísli Sigurdsson and Vésteinn Ólason . Reykjavik: Árni Magnússon Institute in Iceland, 2004. 179 - 186. Print.
  • Simek, Rudolf. Angela Hall . Dictionary of Northern Mythology. W Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer, 2007. Print.
Jakob Sigurðsson (is.)
Jakob Sigurdsson (en.)
b. 1727
d. 1779
Nationality: Icelandic
Jokob was a tenant farmer, poet, scribe, and illustrator, who created full-page Eddaillustrations in hand-copied paper manuscripts in Iceland in the eighteenth century.
Þjazi (non.)
Thjazi (en.)
The giant who persuaded Loki to abduct the goddess Íðunn.
Óðinn (non.)
Odin (en.)
The chief god of the Æsir is The Prose Edda. However, in Heimskringla he is a mortal who tricks the King of Sweden into believing that he is a god.
Loki (non.)
Loki is counted among the gods but is a giant by birth.
Hænir (non.)
Haenir (en.)
An enigmatic god who gives man his reason in the Creation myth in The Prose Edda. In Heimskringla he is one of the hostages that the Æsir send to the Vanir.
Snorri Sturluson (is.)
b. 1179
d. 1241
Nationality: Icelandic
Snorri was an Icelandic statesman, scholar, and author who is credited with writing Heimskringla, The Prose Edda, and possibly Egil's Saga.
SÁM 66 4to SAM 66 4to SAM 66 4to is also known as Melsted Edda.
Abduction of Iðunn Myth The myth concerning the abduction of Iðunn and the apples of immortality by the giant Thjazi with the help of Loki.
Prose Edda Snorri Sturluson's thirteenth-century prose work concerning Old Norse mythology and poetics.
örn (non.)
eagle (en.)