Flateyjarbók: The Book of Flatey
Deep within Iceland’s literary heritage lies a manuscript unlike any other - the Flateyjarbok. More than six hundred years old, this vast collection of sagas, poems and legends preserves the voice of a culture balancing pagan roots and Christian faith. It is both a book of kings and saints, and a mirror of the medieval Norse world.
Flateyjarbok, which means “The Book of Flatey”, is the largest surviving medieval Icelandic manuscript. It was written on vellum (which is fine calfskin) between the years 1387 and 1394.
The book contains many Icelandic sagas, short stories (called thættir), poems, and family histories. It takes its name from the island of Flatey in Breidafjordur, western Iceland, where it was once kept.
Today it is one of Iceland’s most important treasures, kept safely at the Arni Magnusson Institute for Icelandic Studies in Reykjavik.
What is it?
Flateyjarbok was created in this spirit, gathering together stories about the Norwegian kings, saints, and explorers. It was made at a time when Icelanders wanted to preserve their history and learning.
The book is large and beautifully made. It has 225 vellum leaves in total, with 202 from the 14th century and 23 added later. It was originally one big volume but is now kept in two. The pages are decorated with coloured letters and small drawings. Each new story starts with a large coloured letter and a heading in red ink.
Among its contents are:
Kings’ sagas, long stories about the kings of Norway, including - Olaf Tryggvason, Saint Olaf, Harald Hardrada, Magnus the Good, Hakon the Old, and King Sverrir.
Short stories and legends, such as “How Norway was Settled” and other tales from Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Orkney.
The Vinland stories, two short accounts of voyages from Greenland to North America. These are called “The Story of Erik the Red” and “The Story of the Greenlanders.” They are the only medieval sources that tell of Leif Eriksson and the Norse discovery of America.
Religious poems and saints’ lives, including “Geisli,” a poem about Saint Olaf.
Altogether, the book joins history, legend, and faith in one grand work.
History
In the late 1300s, Iceland was ruled by the Norwegian crown, but it still had a strong love of storytelling and writing. Wealthy Icelanders often paid priests or scribes to copy books that recorded old tales and the history of kings.
The book was ordered by Jon Hakonarson, a rich chieftain and lawspeaker in northern Iceland - Two priests worked on it. Their names were Jon Thordarson and Magnus Thorhallsson.
Jon copied much of the first part, while Magnus finished the later parts and drew the illustrations and decorations. They wrote the book by hand, using coloured inks for the titles and large letters.
In the 1600s, a bishop named Brynjolfur Sveinsson asked Icelanders to send old manuscripts to Denmark, which then ruled Iceland.
A farmer named Jon Finnsson owned Flateyjarbok on the island of Flatey. In 1651 he gave it to the bishop, who in turn presented it to King Frederick the Third of Denmark in 1656.
The book became part of the Royal Library in Copenhagen, where it stayed for more than three hundred years.
In 1971, after many years of talks between the two countries, Denmark returned Flateyjarbok to Iceland. It was brought home by ship and placed in the Arni Magnusson Institute in Reykjavik, where it is still kept today.
The Flateyjarbok contains the only known copy of the Saga of the Greenlanders, which tells about Norse voyages to North America. It shows how Icelanders in the Middle Ages recorded their history and linked together stories about kings, saints and explorers.
It also helps scholars understand how books were made and written in medieval Iceland.
Lastly, it is a national treasure and a symbol of Iceland’s culture and identity, especially since its return from Denmark in 1971.
Flateyjarbok is not only valuable for historians - its a link between myth, history, and identity. It preserves the only known version of the Greenlander’s Saga, the earliest written record of Europeans reaching North America. It also shows how Icelanders saw their place in the Norse world, uniting pagan legend and Christian belief within one manuscript. For modern pagans, scholars, and lovers of saga lore, it represents the written heart of the old Northern tradition.
What’s inside?
Flateyjarbok is far more than a single story. It is a whole library bound into one enormous manuscript. The book gathers together royal sagas, shorter tales, poems, genealogies and religious works, copied and arranged with great care by Icelandic scribes in the late fourteenth century.
Below is an overview of the main sections and the kinds of writing it contains.
Kings’ sagas -
The heart of Flateyjarbok is a series of kings’ sagas, which tell the history of the rulers of Norway from the early Viking Age to the thirteenth century. These sagas often overlap with those in Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla, but the versions here are longer and include extra stories and poems that appear nowhere else.
The main kings’ sagas in Flateyjarbok include:
Olaf Tryggvason’s Saga - one of the largest works in the book. It tells the life of Olaf Tryggvason, who ruled Norway from 995 to 1000 and helped bring Christianity to the country. The version in Flateyjarbok adds many shorter tales, prophecies, and miracle stories that are not found in other manuscripts.
Saint Olaf’s Saga (Olaf Haraldsson) - the life of Olaf the Holy, who ruled from 1015 to 1030. It describes his battles, his conversion of Norway to Christianity, and his death at the Battle of Stiklestad. The text includes hymns, visions, and miracle tales that helped build his cult as a national saint.
Harald Hardrada’s Saga - telling of Harald’s travels, his time as a warrior in the Byzantine Empire, and his final attempt to invade England in 1066.
Sverrir’s Saga, Magnus the Good, Hakon the Old, and others - shorter royal histories that carry the story of Norway’s rulers through the later Middle Ages.
Short tales (þættir) -
Between and within the longer sagas, the scribes placed dozens of short stories called þættir (singular þáttr).
These short tales often describe remarkable events, wise sayings, or adventures of ordinary people who meet famous kings.
Some examples include:
Hversu Noregr byggðist (“How Norway Was Settled”) - a mythic tale of Norway’s first families and how the land was divided among their descendants.
Thorleif’s Tale and other anecdotes that show the wit, courage, and humour of Icelanders in the royal courts.
The Vinland stories -
One of the most famous parts of Flateyjarbok is its account of Norse voyages to North America.
Within Olaf Tryggvason’s Saga appear two unique texts:
Erik the Red’s Tale (Eiríks þáttr rauða)
The Tale of the Greenlanders (Grœnlendinga þáttr)
These describe journeys from Greenland to new lands across the western ocean. They tell of Leif Eriksson, who discovers Vinland, and of later voyages by Thorfinn Karlsefni and others.
These are the only surviving medieval stories that give details of the Norse discovery of America, making Flateyjarbok a key source for this part of world history.
Genealogies and origin legends -
At several points, the manuscript includes lists of ancestors and legendary beginnings.
These genealogies trace the descent of Norwegian kings from gods and heroes, blending mythology with early history.
Such material helped the compilers link the sagas into one grand line of descent, showing that the rulers of Norway came from divine or heroic stock.
Poems and songs -
Scattered throughout the book are Old Norse poems, often inserted to mark important events such as battles or deaths.
These verses include court poetry (known as skaldic verse), religious hymns, and pieces of epic storytelling.
One important poem is Geisli (The Ray of Light), which praises Saint Olaf and describes his miracles.
The poems show that Icelandic scribes valued not only history but also the artistry of words, sound, and rhythm.
Religious and moral texts -
Flateyjarbok also contains saints’ lives, visions, and moral stories, reflecting the Christian faith of the time.
These texts remind readers that history was seen not just as a record of kings and wars, but also as part of God’s plan.
Some stories describe heavenly visions, miracles at Saint Olaf’s shrine, and the spread of Christianity across the North.
The structure and arrangement
The scribes did not simply copy texts one after another.
They organised the material carefully, using large coloured initials and headings to mark the start of each saga or new section.
Some sagas were divided by smaller stories, showing how the compilers wished to create a flowing, linked narrative of the past - a kind of medieval encyclopaedia of Norse history and legend.
Extra additions and later inserts
In the fifteenth century, about fifty years after the main book was finished, another scribe added 23 new leaves with more stories and religious material.
This shows that Flateyjarbok remained valued and was used for reading and teaching long after it was first made.
Studying Flateyjarbok Today
Modern scholars study Flateyjarbok in many ways.
Some study the texts, comparing them with other saga versions to find differences and new material. Some look at the art and decoration to learn how medieval Icelandic scribes worked. Others study the political and religious ideas behind the stories.
Researchers such as Elizabeth Ashman Rowe have shown that the book was planned to tell a story about kingship and faith at a time of great change.
The whole manuscript has been copied digitally and can be viewed online at the Icelandic website handrit.is under the code GKS 1005 folio.
Printed editions and photographs of the pages (called facsimiles) have been made. Parts of it, including the Vinland sagas, are available in English translation - A full modern English translation is being prepared by the Saga Heritage Foundation.
Flateyjarbok is one of the greatest treasures of Iceland’s medieval past.
It gathers together the stories and beliefs that shaped the Norse world.
Written more than six hundred years ago by two skilled priests, it still tells us about the imagination, faith, and curiosity of medieval Iceland.
It is not just a book, but a window into how people in the Middle Ages saw their own history and the wider world.