Gripla - 20.12.2011, Page 42

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the field of medieval studies in general, and the legends of the saints have
enjoyed what can almost be called a renaissance. Historians have exploited
the legends for what they reveal about the social, political, and spiritual
cultures that produced them, and literary critics have examined the theo-
logical and didactic agendas of their authors. Within the field of Old
Norse-Icelandic, the approach has been largely philological, and the focus
has been on the identification of sources for individual legends and the pro-
duction of new, scholarly editions of these texts, for while Unger’s editions
were certainly remarkable for his time, the conventions he adopted are
now dated, and his choice of manuscripts for the various legends included
in his editions does not always withstand modern criticism.5
This article may be said to continue the trend in Old Norse-Icelandic
hagiographical studies in that it is concerned with the transmission of a
particular legend. More specifically, it offers a new and scholarly edition
of the legend of Saints Faith, Hope, and Charity (Saga af Fídes, Spes ok
Karítas) based on a reassessment of Unger's choice of manuscripts.
The transmission of Saga af Fídes, Spes ok Karítas
The legend of Saints Faith, Hope, and Charity tells of the sufferings and
execution of three sisters because of their Christian faith and the death of
their mother Sophia while praying over their dead bodies. It is preserved
in part or in full in four manuscripts.
5 Recent scholarly editions in the form of books (as opposed to articles) of hagiographical
texts include Ólafur Halldórsson, ed., Mattheus saga postula (Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna
Magnússonar, 1994); John Tucker, ed., Plácidus saga. With an Edition of Plácitus drápa
by Jonna Louis-Jensen, Editiones Arnamagnæanæ, Ser. B, vol. 31 (Copenhagen: Reitzel,
1998); Kirsten Wolf, ed., The Old Norse-Icelandic Legend of Saint Barbara (Toronto:
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2000); Kirsten Wolf, ed., Saga heilagrar Önnu
(Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 2001); Peter Foote, ed., Jóns saga Hólabyskups
ens helga, Editiones Arnamagnæanæ, Ser. A, vol. 14 (Copenhagen: Reitzel, 2003); Helen
Carron, ed., Clemens saga: The Life of St Clement of Rome (London: Viking Society for
Northern Research, 2005); Marianne E. Kalinke, St. Oswald of Northumbria: Continental
Metamorphoses. With an Edition and Translation of Ósvalds saga and Van sunte Oswaldo
deme konninghe, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies 27 (Tempe, Arizona:
Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2005); and Kirsten Wolf, ed.,
A female legendary from Iceland: “Kirkjubæjarbók” (AM 429 12mo) in The Arnamagnæan
Collection, Copenhagen, Manuscripta Nordica: Early Nordic Manuscripts in Facsimile 3
(Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2011).