Gripla - 2023, Blaðsíða 160
158 GRIPLA
signify the enemies that attack her.62 Thus St Magnús of Orkney is here
presented as the defender of the Church and, in a sense, her embodiment.
Notwithstanding this biblical figuration, the most effective way for
Master Robert to associate St Magnús with the Church was by evok-
ing the recent martyrdom of Thomas Becket. As just mentioned, Robert
probably based his work on an older vita of St Magnús, to which he added
not only the prologue but also learned references and theological com-
ments. The rewriting of hagiographic works so as to align them with reli-
gious trends and contemporary interests was common in twelfth-century
England. For instance, early in the century an anonymous author wrote a
Life of St Frideswide, an Anglo-Saxon princess who spurned the advances
of a king and died a virgin. The vita is composed in a simple style and
seems to have been intended for monastic use. Sometime between 1140
and 1170 Robert of Cricklade re-formulated this vita. While Robert fre-
quently retained verbatim the original Latin, he also chose to amplify or
add certain themes of topical importance.63 Whether or not this Robert
was Robert of Cricklade, I argue that something comparable happened in
the early hagiography of St Magnús of Orkney.64
Associating Magnús with the Canterbury martyr, and thus with lib-
er ecclesiae, is also evident in his liturgy. The martyr’s rhymed Office,
which was based on Robert’s 'vita', was tailored to specific music, namely
the score composed by Benedict of Peterborough (d. 1193) for Becket’s
Office.65 Accordingly, when the St Magnús’ Office was sung on his Feast
Day, both the words and the melodies evoked the Canterbury saint. Such
use of pre-existing music both served a practical purpose and, in this case,
established an aural intertextual relationship between Magnús and St
Thomas Becket.66
62 Finnbogi Guðmundsson (ed.), 336–337.
63 For the texts and a comparison see, John Blair, ‘Saint Frideswide Reconsidered’, Oxoniensia
52 (1987): 71–127.
64 It is tempting to speculate that the subtle, yet occasionally notable, differences between
Orkneyinga saga’s and Magnúss saga lengri’s account can be explained by the former work
using the oldest vita rather than the reworked text.
65 Ben Whitworth, ‘Medieval Music for Saint Magnus: From Research to Performance’,
University Campus Oldham. Spark 4 (2021): 21–30.
66 On aural liturgical intertextuality see, for instance, Margot Fassler, Music in the Medieval
West. Western Music in Context: A Norton History (New York/London: W. W. Norton and
Company, 2014), 3–4. An obvious Icelandic example is the matching of St Þorlákr’s Office