Danish-Icelandic Working Group on Old Icelandic Manuscripts – memo April 2021

The working group will focus on ways to strengthen and promote research regarding the manuscripts and the dissemination of the research

On March 11th 2020, the creation of a Danish-Icelandic working group was discussed in a meeting between representatives of the Icelandic Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and of the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science.

The meeting was held because Iceland is stepping up its commitment to the heritage bound in old Icelandic manuscripts and wishes to collaborate with Denmark with regards to manuscript research, promotion and exhibition.

The Arnamagnæan Collection containing both Icelandic manuscripts and manuscripts of other origins, mainly Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Faroese and Spanish,was inscribed in its entirety in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2009, a designation shared by Iceland and Denmark. The inclusion in the register is an expresssion of the international significance of the manuscript collection, and as world cultural heritage, the collection deserves to be preserved, accessible and made internationally known.

A new building now under construction in Reykjavik - The House of the Icelandic Language – will house a permanent exhibition of Icelandic manuscripts, alongside the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies and The Faculty of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies. The building will be finished in 2023.

In 2021, Iceland will commemorate and celebrate that 50 years have passed since the return of the first manuscripts, Flateyjarbók and Konungsbók Eddukvæða, from Denmark. The return of the manuscripts by Denmark was a unique event in international cultural collaboration. This is an opportunity to celebrate past cooperation together and look to the future.

The ministries have determined the following about the working group, based on the discussions held at the meeting:

  1. The working group is made up of representatives from both ministries and universities, including experts on the subject. This is important to allow for both mandate and expertise. The group is formed by six people, three from each country. Of the three nominated by each country, at least one is from the respective ministry and at least one is from the respective institute, the Arnamagnæan Institute in Copenhagen and the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies in Reykjavík. The two ministries jointly appoint the chair of the working group.

  2. The working group will discuss how this important cultural heritage can be elevated, today and for the future. Discussions will be based on how:
    • The bilateral treaty between Iceland and Denmark, signed on 1. July 1965 on delivery of part of the Arnamagnæan Collection to the University of Iceland (Danish: Traktat mellem Danmark og Island om overførelse af dele af Den arnamagnæanske Stiftelses håndskrifter til forvaring og forvaltning af Islands Universitet, Icelandic: Sáttmáli milli Danmerkur og Íslands varðandi vörslu og umsjón Háskóla Íslands á hluta af handritum Árnastofnunar í Kaupmannahöfn) (the Treaty), and;
    • the Danish act ‘Lov om ændring i fundats af 18. januar 1760 for Arne Magnussens Legat’ (passed by the Danish Parliament on 25th May 1965) that implemented the Treaty,

can be utilized constructively in a further development.

    • Among topics under discussion will be:Ways to promote awareness of the manuscripts in the Arnamagnæan Collection and disseminate their content,
    • Ways to strengthen the ongoing digitalisation of the manuscripts (handrit.org) in order to make them more accessible,
    • Ways to strengthen and promote research regarding the manuscripts and the dissemination of the research.
    • How the Arnamagnæan Institute in Copenhagen and the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies in Reykjavík can be supported in their work and collaboration on research, exchange of research and scholarships as well as on Nordic and Icelandic studies. Cf. the existing agreement between the two institutes (extended in January 2020).

3. The working group may also discuss loan of manuscripts for the purpose of the topics of discussions c.f. Clause 2. above. Discussions will be based on the following points:

  • The countries uphold their responsibility to promote the outstanding universal value of this UNESCO recognized cultural heritage.
  • Any loan of manuscripts is discussed within the boundaries of the 1965 agreement.

4. The working group will finish its work and make suggestions in both Danish and Icelandic to the respective governments by no later than December 1st 2021.

5. Representatives of the ministries are responsible for convening meetings, while the members of the working group jointly contribute written material for the meetings.