Recognising Manuscripts from the Low Countries: Cases from Nordic Fragment Collections

The study of book fragments in the Nordic countries often returns to the question of the ‘where and when’ of the making of the original manuscript. This article highlights some of the palaeographical characteristics which over time have been interpreted as evidence of scribes trained in the Low Countries or showing influence from this region. Several cases also treated in previous scholarship have been selected to exemplify some of the different modes of influence from the Low Countries identifiable in the fragment material: book import, scribes travelling north, or local scribes imitating models or teachers from the Low Countries. Among these, the movement of scribes represents the most elusive form of interaction, but also the most rewarding as it testifies to direct contact and collaboration across borders.