In the transmission of classical and medieval texts, a redactor is a person who makes substantial changes to a text, thereby making a new redaction of the text in question. While a redactor typically works with written texts, i.e. manuscripts, the concept can also be applied to people who transferred oral texts to writing. For example, the Eddic poems in the manuscript Copenhagen, Det Kongelige Bibliotek, GKS 2365 4to, is obviously a redaction of Eddic poems, and it is an open question whether these were copied from written or oral sources, or from a combination of both types.
Scribes were sometimes so free in their treatment of their sources that they might be regarded as redactors rather than mere copyists.
See also revision.
In other languages
DE: Redaktor
FR: rédacteur
IT: redattore
OH