Gripla - 2023, Side 164

162 GRIPLA
probably concluded with a re-dedication and a public show of Ketill’s
donation. Such an occasion, conducted for the benefit of the country’s
highest royal official, called for the participation of the Skálholt bishop. St
Magnús’ inclusion alongside major universal saints is notable, and, as with
St Dominic, an influence here from the Skálholt bishopric seems likely.
This assumption is supported by an event reported in the annals
for 1308. In that year, Bishop Árni Helgason of Skálholt and Haukr
Erlendsson (d. 1334) established a spítali, an institution for the elderly and
infirm clergymen (‘lærðir menn’), in Gaulverjabær in southern Iceland.81
Although St Magnús is not specified as the hospital’s patron, this is re-
corded in a separately preserved Latin oath seemingly intended for the
institution’s foreman.82
Haukr Erlendsson’s involvement is noteworthy. He appears to have
served as a Lawman briefly in 1294.83 Haukr left for Norway in 1299, and
by 1303/4 he had been knighted and made the Lawman of the Gulathing,
a position he held until (at least) 1316. Haukr, however, retained close links
with Iceland, and during one of his visits, he joined Bishop Árni in found-
ing Gaulverjabær hospital. In 1308 Haukr held no formal office in Iceland,
so his participation probably involved a donation. If so, the hospital can be
considered alongside another of Haukur Erlendsson’s prestigious projects,
namely his production of Hauksbók (which in 1308 was still ongoing).
These undertakings aimed at enhancing Haukr’s stature both in Iceland
and in Norway.84 But it was undoubtedly Bishop Árni Helgason who
chose St Magnús as the patron saint of Gaulverjabær hospital, and this
choice attests to the saint’s close association with the Skálholt diocese in
the early decades of the fourteenth century.
This is the context for the composition of Magnúss saga lengri. The
arrival of his relics in Skálholt in 1298 elevated the interest in the Orkney
81 Gustav Storm (ed.), Konungsannáll, 149; Skálholtsannáll, 291; Gottskálksannáll, 341;
Flateyjarannáll, 391.
82 Diplomatarium Islandicum II, 507. Margaret Cormack, The Saints in Iceland. Their
Veneration from the Conversion (Brussels: Société Bollandistes 1994), 120–121.
83 Haukr’s father, Erlendr Óláfsson (‘digri’ according to Árna saga) (1312) held the position of
lawman in northern and western Iceland from 1283 to 1289, and in 1290 he became a royal
representative in the Western-Fjords. In the latter stages of Staðamál, Erlendr was arguably
Hrafn Oddsson’s most important ally against Árni Þorláksson.
84 For an introduction to Hauksbók and the manuscript’s historical context, see Sverrir
Jakobsson, ‘Hauksbók and the Construction of an Icelandic World View’, Saga-Book 31
(2007): 22–38.