Gripla - 20.12.2010, Page 61

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KIRSTEN WOLF
MARGRÉTAR SAGA II
1. Introduction
SAINT MARGARET of Antioch, one of the quattuor virgines capitales and
a member of the group of the Four Holy Helpers, enjoyed immense popu-
larity in the later Middle Ages. The reason is probably twofold: her legend
is highly entertaining and was used as an aid to childbirth.
According to Saint Margaret’s passion, which was declared apocryphal
by Pope Gelasius in 494, she was the daughter of a pagan priest in Antioch.
She became a Christian, was turned out of home, and lived as a shepherd-
ess. Her beauty attracted the attention of the prefect of the city, who tried
to seduce or marry her, but when he discovered that she was a Christian,
he had her tortured and imprisoned. While in prison, she was swallowed
by a dragon (her regular emblem), but the beast was overcome as soon as
she made the sign of the cross. Saint Margaret remained unmoved by fur-
ther torments, and through her preaching she converted large numbers to
Christianity. Fearing that still others would be converted, the prefect gave
orders to execute Saint Margaret. She asked for permission to pray and
prayed devoutly for herself and her persecutors and for all who would
Acknowledgements: I am grateful to the American Scandinavian Foundation for awarding me
a research fellowship to consult manuscripts in the Arnamagnaean Collection at the University
of Copenhagen.
After the article was submitted to Gripla in 2008, Gísli Sigurðsson informed me of unpublished
notes and documents by Peter Rasmussen in the Stofnun Árna Magnússonar not included in
Rasmussen’s “Tekstforholdene i Margrétar saga” (Specialeafhandling til magisterkonferens i
nordisk filologi, University of Copenhagen, 1977). I am grateful to Peter Rasmussen for let-
ting me consult his notes and to Gísli Sigurðsson for providing me with photocopies of them.
The notes (here referred to as “Unpublished materials”) caused me to make some revisions
to the article, especially the discussion of AM 428a 12mo. Gísli Sigurðsson also brought
to my attention Jón Samsonarson’s article, “Ævisöguágrip Hallgríms Péturssonar eftir Jón
Halldórsson,” and kindly provided me with a copy of it.
Gripla XXI (2010): 61–104.