Gripla - 01.01.1993, Page 198

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GRIPLA
da, one which King Sverrir made use of when he commissioned a biog-
raphy from Abbot Karl of Þingeyrar. The result, produced under his
close supervision, resembles a vita both in structure and content. It
represents Sverrir as the chosen servant of God and St. Ólafr, thus
countering the claims of Magnús Erlingsson. Þorleifr breiðskeggr, a
subsequent pretender to the throne, paid Sverrir the compliment of
imitating his tactics; he was rumoured to have the same sort of super-
natural luck and wisdom as are attributed to Sverrir.'7 Needless to say,
Sverris saga scoffs at these claims.
If someone resembled a saint during his lifetime, there was all the
more reason for calling him one after he had died. The requirements
for sainthood were minimal; it was often sufficient for an innocent per-
son to die a violent death.58 In 1176 Margaret of Roskilde was mur-
dered by her husband, accused of suicide, and buried in unconsecrated
ground. A light shining from heaven indicated her innocence, and
within the year Archbishop Absalon had translated her body to the ca-
thedral in Roskilde.59 The life of St. Ansgar places a schoolboy slain by
one of his companions among the martyrs because he bore his wound
patiently and loved his slayer no less on account of it.60 St. Hallvarðr,
St. Knútr, and St. Magnús attained their status by dying ‘for righ-
teousness;’ of the last mentioned we are told that a green field ap-
peared at the place of his death:
Sá staðr var áðr mosóttr ok grýttr, en litlu síðarr birtusk verð-
leikar Magnúss jarls við guð, svá at þar varð grœnn vQllr, er hann
var veginn, ok sýndi guð þat, at hann var fyrir réttlæti veginn ok
hann Qðlaðisk fegrð ok grœnleik paradísar, er kallask jQrð lifandi
manna.61
of Sturla Sighvatsson’s death with its references to ‘fiends’ and ‘small devils’ (Stu I 435 /
K I 528-9).
57 Ss 121-2.
58
An early example is Edward the martyr (see entry in Attwater, The Penguin
Dictionary of Saints, Baltimore, 1965).
59 M. Cl. Gertz, Vitœ Sanctorum Danorum, Copenhagen, 1908-12, pp. 388-9.
60 Rudolf Buchner, ed., Quellen des 9. und 11. Jahrhunderts zur Geschichte der Ham-
burgischen Kirche und des Reiches, Darmstadt, 1973, p. 28, chapter 5.
61 Ork 111.