Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1973, Side 41

ÞORLÁKSSKRÍN í SKÁLHOLTI
41
30 Sjá Hundrað ár í Þjóðminjasafni, Rvík 1962, nr. 67.
31 Islandske Annaler, útg. G. Storm, Chria 1888, bls. 287.
32 Kulturhistorisk Leksikon XIV, 67, undir Relikvarium.
33 Guðbr. Jónsson, op. cit. bls. 363.
34 Sbr. Gísli Gestsson: Álnir og kvarðar, Árbók 1968, einkum bls. 76.
35 Sama rit, sama bls.
36 Islandske Annaler, sjá víða árið 1292.
37 Magnús Már Lárusson, Dómkirkjan í Skálholti. Samtíð og saga VI, Rvík
1954, bls. 45.
38 Kirkjustóll Skálholts í Þjóðskjalasafni.
39 Blanda I, bls. 213—217.
40 Lbs. 31 fol. bls. 8.
41 Það er eftirtektarvert, hve 18. aldar mönnum fannst lítið til um skrínið.
Til dæmis getur Brynjólfur Sigurðsson sýslumaður þess að engu, þar sem
hann er að lýsa fornminjum Skálholts í Árnessýslulýsingu sinni frá 1746.
nefnir aðeins öxina Rimmugýgi, minnishornin, bagal einn og skjöl. Sjá
Sýslulýsingar 1744—49, Sögurit XXVIII, Rvík 1957, bls. 98—99.
42 Um þau sjá Poul Norlund: Gyldne altre, Kbh. 1926.
43 Kulturhistorisk Leksikon VI, 345—50, undir Helgenskrin.
44 Matthías Þói'ðarson: Róðukrossar með rómanskri gerð. Árbók 1914, bls.
30—37.
SUMMARY
The lost shrine of St. Thorlac.
Þorlákur Þórhallsson (St. Thorlac, see Donald Attwater, The Penguin Dic-
tionary of Saints, 1965) became bishop of Skálholt in the South of Iceland in
1178. He died on 23 December 1193 and was succeeded by his nephew Bishop
Páll Jónsson in 1195. Soon after Thorlac’s death rumours spread that mira-
culous happenings were taking place through him and many people said that
he must have been a truly holy man in his lifetime. After carefully examining
these rumours Bishop Páll decided to have Thorlac locally canonized in
Iceland. The veneration of him as a lawful saint started on 20 July 1198, when
his relics were disinterred and transferred to the cathedral, whereafter he re-
mained the most beloved saint in Iceland up to the end of the Catholic era.
Bishop Páll had a sumptuously decorated shrine made for the relics of St.
Thorlac. The shrine was placed above the high altar in the cathedral, where it
played a central role in his cult. There is a fairly good description of the shrine
in the contemporary biography of Bishop Páll (Páls saga biskups), and from
time to time through the Catholic middle ages we catch a glimpse of it in written
sources, without much being added to this original description. In the Reforma-
tion times the shrine was removed from its old place of honour, deprived of its
ornaments and valuables and set aside in the cathedral. However, it was not
destroyed, and in the middle of the 17th century a bishop, known for his liberal
attitude towards Catholic remains, had it repaired and redecorated to some
extent. In the writings of 17th and 18th century authors it is referred to now