Hagiography and Historiography in Medieval Iceland












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            * Hagiography and Historiography in Medieval Iceland
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            On October the 16th 2014, an open lecture was held at the Faculty of Arts of Charles Unive

            Hagiography and Historiography in Medieval Iceland; the main speaker being Professor Ásdís
            the School of Humanities in the University of Iceland. The lecture proved to be an interes
            the medieval era while successfully outlining the limitations as well as the benefits of t

            and historiography when applied to this particular period.
            Medieval Iceland is an area of interest to both historians and hagiographers alike due to 
            diverse heritage, with peoples from Viking, Irish and Saxon descent living there at this t

            population estimated at forty to sixty thousand. A period when the Christian beliefs were 
            were the Norse. This in turn is of significant interest to hagiographers, who study the re

            and literature, assessing the similarities and differences between each separate source an
            gaining a small insight to what the belief system must have been like at the time. As well
            particular writing styles which accumulated grew and evolved. When the subject of Icelandi

            bought forward, the Icelandic sagas usually come to mind along with the Icelandic national
            Althing.
            However this particular lecture showed that many more texts which originate from Iceland a

            available. These are mostly religious sources, often the lives of saints or particular rel
            often accounts of miracles. Due to the large amount of Icelandic religious sources availab
            author Thomas Heffernan who was referred to by Professor Ásdís Egilsdóttir during the lect

            the term sacred biography to hagiography. This is for a number of reasons, firstly because
            of Icelandic medieval texts are related to religion, secondly the author had the same set 
            the people at that time, and finally each sacred biography or religious hagiographic text 

            specific structure. For example if an event is unknown – such as the childhood of the sain
            would portray the saint as an religious prodigy; a perfect child but always devoted to rel
            As stated by Professor Ásdís Egilsdóttir it is important to understand the difference betw

            and historians. Though they both rely on each other as well as sources of medieval Iceland
            an historian distinctly deals with the narration of the past, linking each event together 
            timeline of proceedings. While a hagiographer in general deals with each piece of literatu

            determining the style of writing and if there are any similarities or differences to any o
            around the same era and location. Despite this through the study of both these disciplines
            Ásdís Egilsdóttir explained that a window can be opened into the past, with aspects of eve

            shown. Such as medical proceedings, belief systems, types of agriculture as well as the ty
            available for the population.
            Why then are the extracts of surviving literature originating from medieval Iceland so imp

            historians and hagiographers? This Professor Ásdís Egilsdóttir explained was due to a lack
            medieval structures within Iceland. The majority being wooden therefore have disintegrated
            time, either through fire, age, or another tragedy. This when compared to other areas of m

            inhabited by the same genre of people such as England and Ireland, where those structures 
            results in a larger amount of sources material and literature are available to scholars of
            Europe. However it shows what sources those studying Icelandic history are lacking. Confir

            that those who study medieval Iceland have on these particular texts.
            The lecture as a whole was extremely interesting and showed an area of history which is li
            within Western Europe despite being an important part of European history. The Charles Uni

            of Arts proved to be an appropriate setting for this lecture, with the University offering
            deals with this era. For further reading a main text associated with this particular subje
            “Sacred Biography, Saints and Their Biography in the Middle Ages, published in 1988 writte

            Heffernan. Many thanks to Professor Ásdís Egilsdóttir, for such an interesting and insight
            the Charles University Faculty of Arts.                                                   
            Suzanna Knuckey is a joint honours student studying music and history with archaeology at 
            Charles University as an Erasmus student. Her interests include history, art, culture and 
            in Prague as well as meet others from different countries and backgrounds.