Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1997, Page 181

Saint Olaf’s Dream House:
A Medieval Cosmological Allegory
ÁRNI EINARSSON
In every building there are three things that call for primary consi-
deration, the order, the arrangement, and the precise measurement
- that is to say, exactly where it starts and where it finishes. And so
it remains for us to find out what sort of order and arrangement
there should be in our thoughts, so that a house for God may be
built out of them.
Hugh of Saint-Victor De Arca Noe Morali 3
Introduction
In I4th century manuscripts of Saint Olaf’s Saga there is a narration of King
Olaf’s visit to a man called Rauðr or Rauðulfr.1 The story is known by the name
Rauðúlfsþáttr and is believed to have been composed around 1200 or in the first
half of the 13th century (J.E. Turville-Petre 1947, Faulkes 1966, but see Widding
1968). Rauðúlfr and his two sons proved exceptionally skilful, i.a. in astrology,
astronomy, dream interpretation and prophecy. During his visit the king went to
bed in a newly built house where no one had slept before. His dreams during that
night were supposed to be of great significance. The design and decoration of the
house is described in detail and so is Rauðúlfr’s interpretation of the king’s dream.
In studies on the story J.E. Turville-Petre (1947) and Faulkes (1966) focused on
parallels between St. Olaf’s dream and the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar in the Book
of Daniel and they also pointed out a resemblance to the French Le Voyage de
Charlemagne á Jérusalem et á Constantinople (ed. and tr. Picherit 1984). In this
paper the design of St. Olaf’s dream house is studied, especially the ground plan.
The conclusion is that the ground plan is a cosmogram based on late-classical
Neoplatonic cosmology and that the entire house is a replica of the universe. The
position of the king in relation to the geometry of the house indicates that the
purpose was to demonstrate King Olaf’s holiness by letting him represent the sun
and at the same time equating him with Christ.2
1 Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga, edited by Johnsen and Helgason (1941, pp. 655-682). The main
part of the saga is by Snorri Sturluson. The story of Rauðúlfr is of unknown authorship.
2 I am indebted to dr. Gunnar Harðarson for constructive criticism at various stages of the work
and for much needed encouragement. Dr. Davíð Erlingsson, professors Eyjólfur Kjalar Emils-
son, University of Oslo, Arnþór Garðarsson, University of Iceland, and Mary-Jo Arn, Blooms-
burg University, Pennsylvania read earlier drafts of the manuscript and made many valuable
comments which are gratefully acknowledged. Prof. Stefán Karlsson at Árnastofnun assisted
with the reading of the text of G.k.S. 1812, 4to in Fig. 2. This paper owes to Einar Pálsson the
idea that allegorical interpretation of old Norse literature might be worthwhile.