Norwegian, Danish—or French? A Scattered Missal and Its Provenance

• Published in: Digital philology 2024-03, Vol.13 (1), p.91-101
• Main Author: Myking, Synnøve Midtbø
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2162-9544; 2162-9552; 2162-9552
• DOI: 10.1353/dph.2024.a926887

Most books that existed in medieval Norway and Denmark are now lost or exist only in fragmentary form. The fragment collections of the Norwegian and Danish National Archives and the Royal Library in Copenhagen hold thousands of remnants of manuscripts, an invaluable source of knowledge of medieval book culture. The entwined history of Norway and Denmark represents a potential methodological challenge, as fragments from the same manuscript can sometimes be found scattered among collections in the two countries. This article examines such a case, showing how a single fragment from a twelfth-century missal in the National Archives in Norway was matched with several fragments in the Danish collections. The identifications, which were rendered possible by increased access to digital images, provide new insights into the missal’s likely origin and medieval provenance, putting us on the trail of an important Danish scriptorium.