Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1997, Síða 191

Saint Olafs Dream House
189
When discussing the symbolism of the construction of a church the Icelandic
Homily Book (pp. 150-151) explains that the four corner posts of the church
symbolize the four gospels and the four cardinal virtues. The association of the
ember days with the four elements can be seen in the I4th-century manuscript
Hauksbók (ed. Finnur Jónsson 1892-1896, p. 37) where the text from the
Icelandic Homily Book on the ember days is copied with some additions:
The soul has three powers, that is memory, understanding and will. But a body is
created from four elements, that is earth and sea and fire and wind. The one holds
carefully the three days fast of the ember days four times in one year, who in the faith
in one god protects his soul from sin with its three powers, that is with memory,
understanding and will.30
In summary, following the Homily Book and Hauksbók, the triple candles on
the four bedposts may signify the twelve months, the twelve apostles, the twelve
ember days, the twelve hours of the day, faith in the Holy Trinity, the three powers
of the (rational) soul, the four seasons, the four basic events in corn cultivation:
sowing, germinating, ripening and harvesting, fertility, Gods word, the heavenly
Jerusalem, the four parts of the day, the four gospels, the four cardinal directions,
the four cardinal virtues, the four elements and the four ages of man.31 Thus, to
a 13th-century Icelander, the cosmogram of the dream house would have
conveyed a host of spiritual messages. It is worth noting that much of the
symbolism is associated with the daily and annual cycles of the sun.
The Dream House as an Abode of the Sun
Margaret Schlauch (1932) pointed out a resemblance between the palace of the
sun (as Phoebus) in Ovids Metamorphoses (Book 2) and the palace of Hugon of
Constantinople in Le Voyagede Charlemagne. She mentioned a number of parallel
“Abodes of the Sun” (Heliocastra or Regiae Solis) in Greek medieval romance,
many of which have a symbolism which resembles that of the palace of Hugon.
30 Öndin hefir þrjú öfl í sér, það er minni og skilning og vilji. En líkamur er skapaður af fjórum
hófuðskepnum, það er afjörðu og sœ og eldi og vindi. Sá heldur vanlega þriggja imbrudaga fóstu
fiórum sinnum á einu ári er í einsguðs trú varðveitir ónd sína frá syndum meðþremur öflum hennar,
það er með minni ogskilning og vilja. (For the trinity of the mind (memory, understanding and
will) see St. Augustine De Trinitate8-\0 and 14-15 (PL 42 819-1098, ed. Migne 1861). The
four elements are represented on the ceiling of Rauðúlfr’s house in the angels (fire), birds (air),
plants and animals (earth) and sea creatures (water).)
31 Some of these quaternaries are among the Pythagorean tetraktys listed by Theon of Smyrna (cf.
Fideler ed. 1987, pp. 317-319). Maurmann (1976, pp. 194-199) mentions several other
four-divisions incorporated into the Christian symbolism, ofwhich the four evangelists and the
four rivers of Paradise are the best known (e.g. the IcelandicHomily Book, p. 258). One further
well known four-division is that concerning Adam. His name was believed to be formed from
the first letters of the names of the four cardinal directions in Greek: Anathole, Disis, Arctos,
Mesembria (Honorius Augustodunensis ElucidariusX. 64; cf. 12th century Icelandic translation;
ed. Gunnar Harðarson (1989) and Firchow (ed. and tr. 1992), also Fig. 3 in this paper). For
the cardinal virtues see Katzenellenbogen (1964).