The Cult of Saints in Nidaros Archbishopric: Manuscripts, Miracles, Objects (Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe, 33)

Scandinavia has often been considered as a peripheral part of the Christian world, with its archbishopric in Nidaros an isolated outpost of the Catholic Church. This volume, however, offers a reassessment of such preconceptions by exploring the way in which the Nidaros see celebrated the cult of saints and followed traditions that were both part of, and distinct from, elsewhere in Christian Europe. The contributions gathered here come from specialists across different disciplines, among them historians, philologists, art historians, and epigraphists, to offer a multifaceted insight into how texts and objects, sculpture, runes, and relics all drove the cult of saints in this northern corner of Europe. In doing so, the volume offers a nuanced understanding of the development of cults, the saints themselves, and their miracles, not only in the Norse world, but also more widely. Front Matter 1 Ragnhild M. Bø and Jón Viðar Sigurðsson. Introduction 11 Natalie M. Van Deusen and Kirsten Wolf. Epitomes of Saints’ Lives in Two Old Norse-Icelandic Manuscripts AM 764 4to and AM 672 4to 27 Åslaug Ommundsen. The Mass of St Óláfr and a Recovered Sequence for a missa votiva 91 Caitlin Ellis. The Development of the Cult of Magnús: The Interplay between Saints, Bishops, and Earls in Orkney 121 Jón Viðar Sigurðsson. Bergr Sokkason and God’s Dearest Friend St Nicholas 153 Cornelia Spjelkavik Sparre. The Miracles of Medieval Norway 171 Ásdís Egilsdóttir. Telling and Writing Miracles in Medieval Iceland 205 Siân Grønlie. ‘Ok er hann sannheilagr’: The Role of Saints in Remembering and Representing Iceland’s Conversion 223 Ragnhild M. Bø. Saints across Borders: The Cults of St Gertrude of Nivelles and St Clare of Assisi in Late Medieval Norway 259 Noëlle L. W. Streeton. An Afterlife for Cult Sculpture from Norwegian Churches: Tradition, Continuity, and Partial Mutilation after the Reformation 283 Elise Kleivane. Saints in Everyday Life Epigraphy as a Source for the Medieval Cult of Saints 319 Back Matter 345