The Lives of the Saints in Old Norse Prose: a Handlist

Widding, Ole; Bekker-Nielsen, Hans; Shook, Laurence K.

doi:10.1484/j.ms.2.306819

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…16 The only extant Norse copy of the vita is late, as are most Scandinavian copies of saints lives, though an even three dozen saints' lives are available in pre-1300 manuscripts. See Widding et al (1963). Marianne Kalinke discusses the Kunigund legend in detail, in (1996, pp.…”

Section: Miracles and God's Favormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…22 The view of Hákon that emerges from the saga is that of a saintly king in the same manner as Ó láfr Tryggvason, which is a deliberate 21 If one only looks at vernacular translations, Hákon's Norway had dozens of saints' lives available. See Widding et al (1963). 22 These titles have been used in part by several scholars, though Á rmann Jakobsson is, to the best of my knowledge, the only one to theorize Hákon's kingship with all three (1997, p. 302).…”

Section: The Construction Of a Saintly Kingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vita Sancti, Vita Regis: The Saintly King in Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar

Oberlin

2010

Neophilologus

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In this paper I present evidence for the pervasive influence of hagiographic themes, including the miraculous, shrines and relics, and unrelenting mercy, on the biography of Hákon Hákonarson, King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. These elements are extant to a greater degree in Hákon's biography than in any saga of the Heimskringla save that of St Olaf. Furthermore, I argue that the saga's portrayal of the king as a saintly figure serves to compare him to the greatest Christian kings of the preceding centuries, even if only within the memorialization of the text itself and not in later memory. Studies of the saga remain largely historical, providing a (sometimes contested) backdrop of factual information over which studies of other literary and historical texts are made. With the current contribution I offer a different view, namely that of a richly textured royal biography that draws on the dominant literary forms of its day.

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Section: Miracles and God's Favormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Construction Of a Saintly Kingmentioning

confidence: 99%