Saga - 2015, Page 71

Abstract
s t e inunn kr i s t jánsdótt i r
HeRMITS AND ANCHoRITeS
Icelandic recluses of the viking and Middle Ages
During the viking and medieval periods, the Roman Catholic Church had
tremendous influence on the daily lives of europeans. Headed by the Pope in
Rome, the Church ensured the fulfilment of its objectives through a dense
organisational network that consisted of archbishops, bishops, cloisters and
local churches in every country. Two bishoprics and at least fourteen cloisters
were operated in Iceland for longer or shorter intervals during these times of
strong Roman Catholic influence. Life in cloisters was complemented by the
lives of religious solitaries, with such recluses becoming common in nearly
every community impacted by Roman Catholicism. At this time in european
history, there were two prominent forms of life as a recluse: eremitism and
anchorit ism. each of these forms was governed by strict rules, just like life in
cloisters. This article tells about eleven men and women, some of them hermits
and some anchorites, who lived in religious solitude from the country's settle-
ment to the end of the 13th century and were named in Icelandic sources. It is
assumed that these sources reflect the views and attitudes of a larger social
context, regardless of whether the sources were built on actual facts and occur-
rences. Icelandic chroniclers were evidently acquainted with Catholic recluse
conventions, both eremitism and anchoritism. Moreover, retreating to a solitary
life seems for both sexes to have been a recognised escape from cohabitation
and marriage during the viking and Middle Ages. In those times, cohabitation
and marriage were mainly based on political and economic motives, so that it
was not necessarily a deep religiosity which brought on the decision to become
a recluse, but the privacy and protection afforded by this option.
ankorítar og hermítar á íslandi 69