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Literary Architecture and Meaning in Orkneyinga Saga

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Literary Architecture and Meaning in Orkneyinga Saga Hugvísindasvið Literary Architecture and Meaning in Orkneyinga saga Ritgerð til MA-prófs í Medieval Icelandic Studies Jennifer Grayburn September 2014 Háskóli Íslands Hugvísindasvið Medieval Icelandic Studies Literary Architecture and Meaning in Orkneyinga saga Ritgerð til MA-prófs í Medieval Icelandic Studies Jennifer Grayburn Kt.: 071185-3629 Leiðbeinandi: Torfi Tulinius September 2014 Literary Architecture and Meaning in Orkenyinga saga Table of Contents: Abstract Preface i Introduction ii Chapter 1: Literary Architecture in Orkneyinga saga and 1 Its Relationship to Orkney’s Medieval Landscape Chapter 2: Orkneyinga Saga as a Literary Construction 14 Chapter 3: Churches in Context in Orkneyinga saga 24 Chapter 4: ‘Musteri’ in Orkneyinga saga and Other Sagas 32 Conclusion 39 Bibliography 42 Abstract: This thesis describes and analyses the textual references to architecture that appear in Orkneyinga saga. By distinguishing between literary architecture that exists in the sagas and physical architecture that actually existed in medieval Orkney, this thesis focuses exclusively on how the literary architecture—specifically churches—functioned within the saga regardless of the existence of any real-world counterparts. Rather than merely providing general facts about the Orcadian landscape, these architectural references reinforce the overarching political message of the saga that support the power and legitimacy of Orkney’s jarls. Jarl Rǫgnvaldr Kali Kolsson, as the patron of Magnúskirkja, benefits especially from these references, as they mirror architectural references and activities in other sagas and reinforce his own quasi-royal status by association. Ágrip: Í ritgerðinni er tilvísunum til bygginga í Orkneyinga sögu lýst og þær greindar. Gerður er greinarmunur á “bókmenntalegri byggingarlist” eins og henni er lýst í sögunum og þeim byggingum sem voru raunverulega til í Orkneyjum á miðöldum. Þannig er unnt að beina sérstakleg sjónum að því hlutverki sem “bókmenntabyggingar”, einkum og sérílagi kirkjur, gegndu í sögunni, án hliðsjónar af raunverulegum byggingum sem þær voru fulltrúar fyrir. Þessar lýsingar hafa aðra og meiri þýðingu en einvörðungu að visa til efnislegs raunveruleika Orkneyja, en hún er sú að vera farvegur stjórnmálaviðhorfa sem styðja réttmæti valda Orkneyingajarla. Rögnvaldur Kali jarl Kolsson er frumkvöðullinn að byggingu Magnúsarkirkju og nýtur þess í textanum, ekki síst þar sem vísanir til þessa starfs hans endurspegla vísanir til sambærilegra iðju í öðrum sögum. Þar með styrkist staða hans sem jaðrar við að vera konungleg. Grayburn i Preface This thesis is the product of the intellectual, financial, and personal support of many people. First, I would like to thank my professors at Háskóli Íslands, Torfi Tulinius, Haraldur Bernhardsson, and Steinunn Kristjánsdóttir. Without your support and guidance both in and out of the classroom, this project would not have been possible. I would also like to thank the Medieval Icelandic Studies program for providing me with such an amazing educational opportunity and the Leifur Eiríksson Foundation for so generously supporting my research. Finally, I would like to thank my parents and Nicholas Genau for their endless emotional support while I completed this project. Grayburn ii Introduction Nú er þat mitt ráð at leita þangat trausts, er nógt er til, at sá unni yðr ríkis, er á at réttu, en þat er inn helgi Magnús jarl, móðurbróðir yðvarr. Vil ek, at þú heitir á hann, at hann unni yðr frændleifðar þinar ok sinnar erfðar, at þú látir gera steinmusteri í Orkneyjum í Kirkjuvági, ef þú fær þat ríki, þat er ekki sé annat dýrligra í þvi landi, ok látir Magnúsi jarli helga, frænda þinum, ok leggir þar fé til, svá at sá staðr mætti eflask, ok yrði þangat komit hans helgum dómi ok byskupsstólinum með.1 Now it is my advice to find support there, which is abundant, with he who by rights should grant the realm to you and it is the holy jarl Magnús, your mother’s brother. I desire that you call to him, that should he grant you your inheritance and his familial inheritance and if you obtain that domain, that you make a stone minster in Orkney in Kirkwall so that no one sees another as fair in that land. Grant it to jarl Magnús the holy, your kinsman, and arrange there such wealth that the [ecclesiastical] foundation grows strong and the holy relics [of St. Magnús] should come there and with them the Episcopal See.2 -Kolr Kalason, Orkneyinga saga, Ch. 68 In 1136, Rǫgnvaldr Kolsson was in a difficult situation. He was the maternal nephew of the martyred jarl Magnús Erlendsson of Orkney and had recently been granted the title of jarl of Orkney by King Sigurðr Jórsalafari Magnússon of Norway.3 Yet, his pedigree and royal support were of little help, for his cousin jarl Páll Hákonarson was already in control of the islands and refused to recognize Rǫgnvaldr’s 1 Finnbogi Guðmundson, ed. “Orkneyinga saga,” in Orkneyinga Saga, Legenda de Sancto Magno, Magnús saga skemmri, Magnús saga lengri, Helga þáttr ok Úlfs, Íslenzk fornrit XXXIV, 1-300 (Reykjavík: i íslenzka fornritafélag, 1965), 158-159. 2 Unless otherwise noted, all translations are my own. I have sought a literal translation, adding only minor grammatical and syntactical changes to produce a smooth English translation. For clarity, I have also bracketed additional content that either appears in earlier passages or can be determined through context, but that does not appear in the given passage itself. 3 Orkney is often referred to as a medieval Norwegian “earldom” and scholars present varying views of what this title really means politically. Although some suggest that Orkney was completely subjugated by Norway, it is more common today to recognize Orkney as “semi-autonomous” and capable of working outside the control of any Norwegian kings wishing to claim procession. Orcadian historian William P.L. Thomson notes that “Orkney was never a loyal Norwegian colony, nor yet was it simply a peripheral outpost of the Kingdom of Scotland. It has always been a place apart. At one time it possessed its own language and political institutions and, on that basis, it may be regarded as one of the forgotten sub- nations of Europe.” While Ronald Miller has suggested the term “prince” as a better translation of the title jarl than earl, yet both translations superimpose anglicized meaning where it is perhaps inappropriate. For this reason, I have chosen to retain the original Old Icelandic term jarl throughout the thesis. L. Dietrichson and Johan Meyer, Monumenta Orcadica: The Norsemen in the Orkneys and the Monuments they have left (Kristiania: A. Cammermeyyers Forlag, 1906). William P.L. Thomson, The History of Orkney (Edinburgh: The Mercat Press, 1987), xiii. Ronald Miller, Orkney (London: B. T. Batsford Ltd., 1976), 70. Grayburn iii claim to half of his domain. With one failed campaign behind him, Rǫgnvaldr rallied as many Norwegian supporters as possible and prepared for one final attempt to claim his inheritance.4 Rǫgnvaldr’s father, Kolr Kalason, did not think that this support was enough and urged his son to appeal to higher powers: namely, his uncle St. Magnús, who was by that time a popular local saint in Orkney. In exchange for divine support, Rǫgnvaldr vowed to build a grand church in Kirkwall, Orkney and dedicate it to St. Magnús. The divine powers of St. Magnús, indeed, seemed to assist Rǫgnvaldr during this second campaign, for Rǫgnvaldr overcame his cousin and became the sole ruler of the semi-autonomous Orkney Islands. As a result, Rǫgnvaldr fulfilled his powerful vow and built the magnificent Magnúskirkja in Kirkwall dedicated to his uncle.5 Or, so this is what Orkneyinga saga tells us. Undoubtedly, this twelfth-century saga is the most extensive and important account of Orkney’s medieval history and, without it, almost all of Orkney’s early recorded history would be lost. The saga chronicles the jarls of Orkney from the conquest of the islands by the Norwegian jarl Rǫgnvaldr of Mœrr (Møre) to the reign of araldr Maddaðarson (c. 800-1200). Even if some of the content seems historically unviable, it is an invaluable resource for historians of the medieval Orkney. While Orkneyinga saga was compiled in its entirety around 1230, up to some 400 years after some of the events supposedly occurred, historians have been able to compare its content to other medieval documents and archaeological evidence in order to determine what in the narrative actually occurred. With an extant medieval church in Kirkwall dedicated to St. Magnús (known today as St. Magnus Cathedral), there seems to be little reason to doubt Kolr’s advice to his son and the patronage of Rǫgnvaldr’s subsequent construction of Magnúskirkja.6 4 It is important, of course, to recognize that modern nation-states did not exist in the middle ages. When I refer to modern national entities and what appear to be nationalities (such as Norway and Norwegian), I do so for convenience in order to communicate a region and location of residence, rather than to imply the existence of a nation or kingdom as we understand them today. A helpful resource on the fluid and fragile political structures of the medieval British Isles (to which Orkney belongs) is Robin Frame, The Political Development of the British Isles 1100-1400 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990). 5 These events appear in Orkneyinga saga, Chapters 68-76. 6 Often, structures in the saga are not explicitly named. For Rǫgnvaldr’s church, however, we learn that is was called Magnúskirkja. Orkney has been part of Scotland since the fifteenth century, however, and its landscape has been anglicized to reflect its English speaking residents. As a result, the church that survives today is called St. Magnus Cathedral. Since this thesis will draw a clear distinction between the textual architecture described in saga and the physical architecture that survives in the landscape, I will use Magnúskirkja when referring to the former and St.
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