Norse Hagiography Network

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The Norse Hagiography Network is an international, interdisciplinary network with the aim of bringing together scholars with similar interests for collaboration

Section of a display case in a museum, containing several wooden items with runic inscriptions.
Lower half of a thirteenth-century manuscript page containing the feasts of July & August. Important feasts are written in red ink, while less important feasts - such as the Seven Sleepers on July 27 - are written in black.
Woodcut vignette at the lower left-hand corner of a page. The vignette shows a young man dressed in royal robes with a halo around his head. His hair reached to his shoulders, and the palms of his hands are pressed together as in prayer. He is lying against a rugged boulder. Above him, and on the right-hand side, an executioner is standing. He has smitten a curved scimitar against the young royal, and the blade of the scimitar is cleaving the royal's head from ear to ear.
Thirteenth-century calendar page showing the feast for June. The most important feasts - such as the Nativity of John the Baptist on June 24 - are written in red ink. The translation of Knud Dux appears to be added by a second hand. This addition is written in black ink.
Rubric heading that marks the beginning of the liturgical office of St Petronilla. The heading translates as: In the feast of St Petronilla, virgin, not a martyr.
Fragment of a medieval calendar, showing the lower part of the months of May and June. Important feasts are written in red ink, while the less important ones, like Petronilla's on May 31, are written in black. The fragment shows a lot of wear and tear, and contain postmedieval inscriptions, probably having been used as the binding of an account book.
Wooden sculpture showing St. George in armour standing on the dragon's back, piercing its mouth with his spear.
Mural showing a green field with St. George in the centre, astride a horse and wielding a lance. The lance is piercing the mouth of a red dragon. Behind George, Princess Alexandra is praying. The scene is hemmed by floreate patterns.
Full-page illumination showing the scene of George killing the dragon. The dragon is crouching in the right-hand corner of the image - almost lost due to damage on the margin of the page - while George is riding a horse, piercing the dragon's mouth with his lance. Behind him is the princess - often named Alexandra in the legends - and a lamb. In the background we see a harbour city with many ships and fishing boats afloat on the water. The sea is shown curving towards the horizon, with masts of distant ships appearing above it.
Statue carved in oak, depicting a man in armour. He is holding a shield in his left hand, and his right arm is missing. He is wearing a cloak. His hair is flowing freely almost down to his shoulders. Courtesy of Lennart Karlsson, Medeltidens bildvärld.
Blurry picture of a woodcut vignette from an incunable. The vignette shows an executioner with his back turned towards the viewer, with a drawn sword ready to strike off the head of a kneeling man in armour. A royal figure stands to the left, watching. The scene is set outdoors.
Calendar fragment showing the feast of February. The fragment shows water damage and the beginning of the calendar entries are folded around the page for which the fragment served as a cover. The feast of St. Peter's Chair is seen in red letters with the rank to[tum] d[uple]x.
Door of a altarpiece. On a red background, Peter is standing atop a band of vine tendrils. He is barefooted and is clad in a white kirtle and a grey-brown cape. In his left hand is a book, signifying the New Testament letters attributed to him, and in his right hand are the keys to Heaven and to earth. He is tonsured and haloed. The door seems to imitate the doors of contemporary Norwegian churches. (Kulturhistorisk Museum, Oslo, C3006)
Full-page illumination of a crowned woman holding a book in her right hand and a spear in her left. The text above the framed illumination states that this is Saint Agnes.
Page of a late-medieval Icelandic manuscript, with slightly darkened vellum. An florid initial A for 'Ambrosius' is visible and might show traces of coloured ink.
Wooden sculpture of Agnes with her hair hanging down over her shoulders. She is holding a book in her right hand with the flat side upwards, and a lamb is resting on top of the book. Traces of red and green paint can be seen in the folds of her dress and mantle.
Detail from a fifteenth-century Old Norse manuscript. Stock. Perg. Fol. no. 2, f. 1r - Thomas saga erkybiskups (c. 1425-45).
Detail from the Lyngsjö baptismal font, showing two knights charging at the praying archbishop and Edward Grim. Thomas is bent forward in prayer, and the sword of the hindmost knight is cutting his pate, while the sword of the foremost knight is hitting the right hand of Edward Grim, the same hand which is holding a processional cross. The standing figures are placed within rounded arches just below the rim of the font. Traces of red paint can be seen in the arches at the top-right-hand corner of the photograph.
Page from the manuscript AM 645 4to (f. 41r), containing the opening of the saga of Saint Andrew. The saga begins with a simple large initial H - for 'heilagr', holy - in green ink.
Bälinge altarpiece, a rectancular altar with one central niche featuring Saint Catherine of Alexandria and an episcopal saint, surrounded on each side by twelve niches, eleven of which feature episodes from the legends of various saints, arranged in rows of three. Andrew is depicted in the middle nich in the top tier on the right-hand side.
Stock. Perg. fol. no. 2. Beginning of the chapter on St Dionysius, showing a large capital P in red ink.
Statue showing the holy bishop carrying his head on his fingertips. The bishop is bearded and his eyes are closed to demonstrate that he is dead. On his head, he is wearing a mitre. The statue is placed within a niche on the front of the cathedral. The niche is a product of modern masonry modelled on medieval exemplars.
An image showing parts of three pages from different Icelandic manuscripts containing redactions of Máritíuss saga, all showing sign of wear and grime, being at times difficult to read. The initials of the top and lower right pages are modest yet intricately decorated with floral patters in tones of red and blue. Top image: AM 655 4to X (ca. 1250–1300). Lower left-hand image: AM 235 fol. (ca. 1400). Lower right-hand image: Stock. Perg. fol. no. 2 (ca. 1425–45, defective).
In the background, a page from Necrologium Lundense, containing an inscription for September 22 with the text "Mauritius, our patron, and companions". In the foreground are two images of late medieval fresco cycles. On the left-hand side is a roundel showing an armoured knight with white skin, holding a spear with a banner. On the right-hand side is an armoured knight with black skin, holding a spear with a banner. They are both seen against a floral pattern. The sources are as follows: Necrologium Lundense fol. 160v, Vittskövle church mural, Roskilde Cathedral mural.
AM 233 a fol., f.15v (Handrit.is), containing the start of the Saga af Fídes, Spes, ok Karítas. A dark manuscript page with two columns of text in black ink. A large green majuscule thorn (þ), with red decoration, begins the first line of the left-hand column. A drawing of some figures can be seen within the thorn, but it is difficult to see because of the damage and darkening of the page. The three sisters and the Emperor Hadrian are drawn inside the illuminated initial.
AM 235 fol, f23v (handrit.is), containing the start of the Saga af Fídes, Spes, ok Karítas. The picture shows a dark manuscript page with two columns of text written in black ink. A large red magiscule thorn (þ), with some decoration, begins the seventh line of the right-hand column.
A selection of gemstones and copper pieces.
Thirteenth-century calendar page where the left-hand side shows the feasts to be celebrated - with the translation of Saint Swithun in red, signifying its high liturgical rank - and the right-hand side containing the text and notation for a liturgical chant.
Page from The Old Norwegian Homily Book, written in Old Norse. A rubric in Latin marks the beginning of the sermon for John the Baptist. The text of the sermon is initiated by a large initial B for 'bvrðartið', birthday. The initial is decorated with floral patterns and is drawn in green, red, and blue ink, with green being the dominant colour.
Folio from a thirteenth-century medieval calendar showing the feasts for June. The most important feasts are marked in read, including June 24, whose entry reads Natiuitas Sancti iohannis baptiste, the birth of John the Baptist. The calendar page contains later additions in at least one other hand, as well as some postmedieval numbers added from when this fragment was used as a binding for an account book.
Detail from MS AM 764 4to 36r. The picture shows two sections demarcated by rubrics and initials in faded ink.
Flateyjarbók, MS GKS 1005 fol. 32v. The picture shows a section from a manuscript page written in Old Norse. The section is marked by a rubric that says "Frásagnir af Beda presti", which means "Account from Bede, the Priest". The passage opens with a large initial S in light green ink. The bottom of the S sprouts into a symmetrical display of tendrils in the left margin.
AM 667 V 4to, f.5v. A damaged manuscript page. A green majuscule G is visible in the left-hand column. The edges of the page are damaged, and the text is blackened in many places, making it difficult to read.
AM 667 V 4to, f.5r. A damaged manuscript page. A large majuscule J is visible in the left-hand column. The edges of the page are damaged, and the text is blackened in many places, making it difficult to read.
Top of a calendar page that has been folded so that the text is only legible upside down. The month of March is written in red ink on the top of the page, and in the folded section, only Lucius's feast is included. Here he is identified as pope and martyr. His feast is written in black ink, signifying that his feast did not have a high liturgical rank.
Extract from the printed Roskilde breviary (1517). The extract contains the texts of antiphons for Vesper. Abbreviated rubrics identify the texts as antiphons.
The picture is of 61v in the manuscript AM 672 4to (c. 1400-1499, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, Copenhagen). In the middle of the photo is the beginning of a rendition of Blaise’s Life, which is marked by the faded red title that reads “Af Blasius”.
Extract from Necrologium Lundense fol. 156v which records the dedication of the altar of St Vincent and St Alban in Lund Cathedral. The dedication is attributed to Gislo of Linköping, and an interlinear gloss marks Linköping as belonging to "Ostgotie" or Östergötland.
Stock. Perg. Fol. no. 2, f. 51v: incipit of Vincencius saga. The initial is coloured red and decorated with a non-figurative pattern.
Detail from a thirteenth-century wooden ciborium, with scenes from the Nativity story. On the left-hand side is the Nativity with Mary lying in bed and attended by a maid, with Joseph sitting at the foot end. Beside the bed is the swaddled Christ-child in a manger, with an ox and an ass inspecting. Above the scene is a drawn curtain with a lamp hanging from its midpoint. On the right-hand side we see Mary enthroned and crowned, with the Christ-child on her left knee. From the right comes an angel holding a thurifer, and on the ground are two of the three holy kings bearing gifts.