Gripla - 01.01.1993, Qupperneq 195

SAINTS AND SINNERS
195
martyrs.42 Hákon Þórðarson, under some form of ecclesiastical censure
and therefore prohibited from entering a church, refuses to desecrate
one by seeking sanctuary in it, even though a priest offers to take re-
sponsibility for the action and opens the door in case he should change
his mind.43 In a sense, Hákon gives his life for the Church. The same
may perhaps be said of others, for example Sveinn Jónsson and his
companions, who emerge to their deaths rather than see the church
where they had sought refuge polluted with their blood.44 Similarly,
Kálfr Guttormsson moves from his chosen position by a cross so that
his blood will not fall on it.45 Although Þórðr Sturluson and King Há-
kon Hákonarson die in their beds, Sturla Þórðarson’s descriptions of
their last hours call to mind the deaths of saintly bishops.46 The deaths
of Hákon Þórðarson and Sigurðr slembir resemble the passions of the
martyrs.
Other motifs associated with sanctity include a ‘bright’ and/or
‘pleasant’ (þekkilegr) corpse, for example in the cases of Magnús Er-
lingsson, Sverrir, Hákon Hákonarson, Þorgils skarði, and Njáll.47 The
incorrupt condition of Ingimundr Þorgeirsson’s body, discovered be-
side the bones of his six companions, was considered evidence that his
actions had been pleasing to God.48 Even more striking is the green
field which appears on the spot where Hrafn Sveinbjarnarson was
z Stu 1198 / K I 203 (cf. the first passage from Orkneyinga saga quoted in note 29),
Jómsvíkinga saga, ed. Gustaf Cederschiöld, Lund, 1875, p. 33.
43 Stu I 197 / K I 202.
44 Stu I 253 / K I 288.
45 Stu I 370 / K I 456.
46 Stu I 401 / K I 492. Rerum Britannicarum Medii Ævi Scriptores, lcelandic Sagas,
vol. 2, Hakonar saga and a fragment of Magnus saga, ed. Guðbrandur Vigfusson, Lon-
don, 1887, vol. 2, p. 354.
47 Ss 102,194; Hákonar saga 355; Stu II 221 / K II 298; Ns 343. The body of Haraldr
Godwinson is described thus in ‘Hemings þáttr:’ Tiki'r var fagrt ok þeckileg(t) ok kendv
memt þar sœtan ilm sva at allir vnd/r stoðv þci'r er hia \arv at hann \ar sanheilagr maðr’
(Hauksbók, p. 348). In this context it is interesting to note the description in the Life of
St. Hugh of Lincoln of a particularly noisome corpse, the state of which confirms the
nature of the life led by its owner (Magna Vita Sancti Hugonis: The Life of St Hugh of
Lincoln, ed. Decima L. Douie and Dom Hugh Farmer, O.S.B., London, 1962, vol. 2, pp.
82-3). The fact that Skarpheðinn’s body was not as unpleasant as expected (Ns 344) sug-
gests that the repentance implied by his self-inflicted burns has been accepted.
48 St I 138 / K I 153.