The Hauksbók (Book of Haukr) is an Icelandic manuscript dating from the 14th century. Palaeographical evidence allowed Professor Stefán Karlsson, director of the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, to date the manuscript to between 1302 and 1310.[1]
Hauksbók is associated with an Icelandic lawspeaker named Haukr Erlendsson. As long back as it is possible to trace the manuscript it has been called the Hauksbók after him. Hauksbók is a compilation that includes Icelandic sagas and a redaction of the Landnámabók. The book contains versions, sometimes the only extant versions, of many Old Icelandic texts, such as the Fóstbrœðra saga, the Eiríks saga rauða, the Hervarar saga and the Völuspá. Additionally Haukr Erlendsson wrote "Hauk's Annals," which chronicled events of his lifetime and a handbook on Norse law. [2]
The compilation also contains a section on mathematics called Algorismus. This is the oldest text on mathematics in a Scandinavian language. It is probably a translation from Latin into Old Norse of some pages included in more ancient books such as Carmen de Algorismo by De Villa Dei of 1200, Liber Abaci by Fibonacci of 1202, and Algorismus Vulgaris by De Sacrobosco of 1230. [3]
