13th and 14th century manuscripts from The Árni Magnússon Institute have been removed from display in The Culture House, due to insufficient surveillance.
The manuscripts, including King’s Book Poetic Edda, part of The Story of Burnt Njal and The Flatey Book have been on display since 2002, when the Árni Magnússon Institute lent them to the Culture House on Hverfisgata, under the condition that they would be under 24 hour surveillance, RÚV reports.
However, on Monday staff from the Institute removed the scripts and transferred them to the Manuscript Collection department at the institute, where they’ll remain unseen to the public.
Director of The Árni Magnússon Institute Guðrún Nordal, told RÚV that they removed the manuscripts because 24 hour surveillance was not guaranteed anymore, after the Culture House merged with the National Museum in June.
She added that the manuscript would not be put on display again until the House of Icelandic Studies, a new building by the institute, has opened.
Construction work started in March this year but as its financing was temporarily withdrawn in the new budget bill, the project is on hold.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
