8 MSS: A (27v) Marcabruns, C (174r) Marcabru (C Reg. marc e bru), D (188v) Marcabruns, and a.j. written in the margin indicates that this is the first pièce in the Marcabruns section, K (102v) Marcabruns, N (270r-v) no heading, R (5r-v) marc e bru, a1 (299–300) Marcabruus, z (2 col. A) heading missing due to damage

Analysis of the manuscripts

The reading of 24 in all MSS suggests a defective archetype, though sharp divergences in the tradition emerge subsequently; see also line 33, The amount and order of material preserved, together with a number of flaws and common errors, show that AKNRz derive from a defective common source (see 28–30, 52, 55-56 and 79 and the notes to these lines; also lines 3-4, 7, 19-20, 36, 46, 54, 57, 64–65, 67), AKNz are suspect in 21 and have further common errors in 29, 56 and 61. C and E) are lacunary, have interverted lines and many isolated readings (see C 2, 6,15, 23 and so on; D 4, 9,16,18 and so on), and D lacks the refrain line ai throughout, except just possibly in stanza II, where 15 would be hypometric were it not for the ai of aizom), Lines 28, 33 and 55 suggest that the version preserved by C had been collated earlier with one belonging to the AKNRz tradition.

Within the AKNRz group, R is often isolated (defective: see 9, 26, 29, 31 and so on; interventionist: see 6, 24, 34, 39, 47 and so on); Nz have a common source (see lines 34, 47, 48, 49, 78 and de Bartholomaeis, ‘Avanzf, p. 176); A is isolated and in error in 10, 41 (missing), 61 and 74, and interventionist in 24, 28, 55 and 70; K is hypometric at 52, lacks 23, is isolated at 28 and 72, and is defective in 24, 30, 37, 57, 63.

a1 preserves superior readings in 20, 30, 39–40, 55 and 69; it has relatively minor errors, many of them scribal, in 2, 12 (hypermetric), 13, 15, 24 (hypometric), 27 (hypermetric), 28, 29, 33, 34, 43, 57, 61, 62, 76 (hypometric); overall it represents a poor copy of a good, full source which was clearly not dependent on the defective source of the AKNRz tradition.