Njáls saga survives in around 60 manuscripts and fragments, 21 of which – an unusually large number – are from the Middle Ages.[29] None of the vellum manuscripts survives complete, but they tended to be copied conservatively, indicating the reverence which Icelandic scribes have had for the saga and making it relatively easy to reconstruct a complete medieval text. The vellum manuscripts were classified most recently by Einar Ólafur Sveinsson in 1953, en route to his 1954 Íslenzk fornrit edition of the saga, which remains the standard edition.[30] However, a project on 'The Variance of Njáls saga ', based in the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, is reassessing the complete history of the manuscript transmission of the saga.[31]
The first printed edition of the saga, by Ólafur Ólafsson, based primarily on Reykjabók, with reference to Kálfalækjabók and Möðruvallabók, was published in Copenhagen in 1772.[32] A major step in the editing of the saga was the 1875–89 critical edition of Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson.[33] The current main edition is that of Einar Ólafur Sveinsson from 1954.[34]
The known, surviving manuscripts of the saga, most of which are available in digital facsimile, are:[35]
| Number[36] | Classmark | Name | Date | Medium | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2, 20 | GKS 2870 4to | Gráskinna | c1300 | parchment | including younger additions made as repairs, c. 1500×1550, known as Gráskinnuauki. |
| 1a, b | AM 162 b fol. β, δ | Þormóðarbók | c1300 | parchment | fragments, thought to originate from the same codex |
| 3, 44 | AM 468 4to | Reykjabók | c1300-1325 | parchment | folio 7 from C17 |
| 5 | AM 162 b fol. ζ | c1325 | parchment | fragment | |
| 4 | AM 162 b fol. γ | Óssbók | c1325 | parchment | fragment |
| 6 | AM 162 b fol. θ | c1325 | parchment | fragment | |
| 7, 42 | AM 132 fol. | Möðruvallabók | c1330-1370 | parchment | first 11 leaves and ff. 20 and 30 C17 |
| 8 | AM 133 fol. | Kálfalækjarbók | c1350 | parchment | |
| 9 | AM 162 b fol. κ | c1350 | parchment | fragment | |
| 10 | AM 162 b fol. η | c1350 | parchment | fragment | |
| 11, 19 | AM 162 b fol. ε | Hítardalsbók | c1350-1375 | parchment | fragment; first folio probably c1500 |
| 12, 22 | GKS 2868 4to | Skafinskinna | c1350-1400 | parchment | f. 31 C17 |
| 14 | AM 162 b fol. α | c1390-1440 | parchment | fragment | |
| 13, 15 | GKS 2869 4to | Sveinsbók | c1400 | parchment | folio 11 written in a later hand |
| 16 | AM 162 b fol. ι | Reykjarfjarðarbók | c1400-1425 | parchment | fragment |
| 17 | AM 466 4to | Oddabók | c1460 | parchment | |
| 18 | AM 309 4to | Bæjarbók | 1498 | parchment | |
| 21 | AM 921 4to I; Lbs fragm. 2; JS fragm. 4; Þjóðminjasafn I | The Lost Codex | c1600-1650 | parchment | four fragments thought to originate in the same codex |
| 23 | AM 396 fol. | Melanesbók/Lambavatnsbók | c1600-1650 | paper | |
| 31 | GKS 1003 fol. | 1667-1670 | parchment | ||
| 24 | AM 136 fol. | c1640-1643 | paper | ||
| 27 | AM 555 c
4to |
Breiðarbólstaðarbók | c1640-1660 | paper | |
| 25 | AM 134 fol. | Hofsbók | c1640-1656 | paper | |
| 26 | AM 470 4to | Hvammsbók | c1640-
1660 |
paper | |
| 28 | AM 137 fol. | Vigfúsarbók | c1640-1672 | paper | |
| 29 | AM 163 d fol. | Ferjubók | c1650-1682 | paper | |
| 30 | AM 465 4to | c1650-1699 | paper | ||
| 32, 43 | AM 555 a 4to | 1663-1665 | paper | folios 1 and 2 in a different hand from the main one | |
| 33, 41 | AM 163 i fol. | Saurbæjarbók | 1668 | paper | folios 1-3 in a different hand from the main one |
| 34 | Stockholm Papp. 9 fol. | 1684 | paper | ||
| 36 | BL Add 4867 fol. | 1690 | paper | ||
| 35 | AM 135 fol. | c1690-1697 | paper | ||
| 37 | AM 464 4to | 1697 | paper | ||
| 38 | Lbs 222 fol. | Rauðskinna | 1698 | paper | |
| 40 | NKS 1220 fol. | Vigursbók | 1698 | paper | |
| 39 | Lbs 3505 4to | 1698 | paper | ||
| 45 | SÁM 33 | 18th c | paper | 1 folio | |
| 57 | Trinity College Dublin, MS 1002[37] | c. 1750? | paper | ||
| 46 | AM 469 4to | Fagureyjarbók | 1705 | paper | |
| 51 | NB 313 4to | 1711 | paper | ||
| 48, 49 | KB Add 565 4to | c1707-1722 | paper | folios 22r-25r in a different hand | |
| 50 | ÍB 421 4to | c1707-1722 | paper | ||
| 47 | AM 467 4to | c1707-1722 | paper | ||
| 52, 68 | ÍB 261 4to | Lágafellsbók | 1740 | paper | Folios 1-5 and 134-35 added, probably in the nineteenth century, in two different hands |
| 53 | Thott 1776 4to III | c1742-1800 | paper | ||
| 54 | Thott 984 fol. III | c1750 | paper | ||
| 55 | Thott 1765 4to | c1750 | paper | ||
| 58 | Kall 612 4to | 1753 | paper | ||
| 56 | ÍB 322 4to | c1750-1770 | paper | ||
| 59 | NKS 1788 4to | Bjarnarstaðarbók | 1760 | paper | |
| 61 | Handrit í eigu Landakotskirkju | Landakotsbók | c1760-1780 | paper | |
| 60 | NKS 1219 fol. | c1760-1780 | paper | ||
| 62 | SÁM 137 (handrit úr safni Jóns Samsonarsonar) | The Younger Flateyjarbók | 1767-1769 | paper | |
| 63 | AM Acc. 50 | 1770 | paper | ||
| 65, 70 | Lbs 1415 4to | c1770 | paper | Folios 225–26 added in the nineteenth century | |
| 64 | ÍB 270 4to | Urðabók | c1770 | paper | |
| 66 | NB 372 4to | 1772 | paper | ||
| 67 | Lbs 437 4to | 1773 | paper | ||
| 69 | Lbs 747 fol. | 1871-1875 | paper | ||
| 70 | SÁM 168 | Seattle Fragment | c.1800-1900 | paper | 3-folio fragment |
| translation | GKS 1021 fol. | 1660-64 | paper | Danish translation in the hand of Þormóður Torfason. | |
| summary | AM 576 a 4to | 1660-95 | paper | Two-folio summary by Einar Eyjólfsson. | |
| summary | Biörner’s Swedish summary | c. 1720-30 | paper | Swedish summary (with some Icelandic text) written for the Swedish Antikvitetskollegiet. | |
| summary | Rostock Mss. philol. 78/2 | c. 1730? | paper | 5-folio German summary | |
| translation | Stockholm papp. 93/96 fol. | 1733-63 | paper | Swedish translation by Þorvaldur Brockmann | |
| translation | Stockholm papp. 93 fol. | 1733-63 | paper | Carl Hagelberg's clean copy/revision of Þorvaldur Brockmann's Swedish translation. | |
| translation | Lbs 4855 8vo | 1772-1900 | paper | A copy of the 1772 edition with partial manuscript translation into German |
