Norse Gods

Norse Mythology and the Lives of the Saints
Author(s): John Lindow

Source: Scandinavian Studies, Vol. 73, No. 3, Scandinavian Folklore (Fall 2001), pp. 437-456
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Society for the Advancement of
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NorseMythologyand theLives
of theSaints
JohnLindow
ofCaliforniaat Berkeley
University
of the ironies ofthestudyofScandinavian mythology

is thatthetextsthatcomprise theobjectofsuchstudyowe
theirexistence to thetechnology of writing on parchment,
whichwas broughtby the Churchand institutionalized afterthe
conversionof Iceland to Christianity. This technologywas not
intended fortheusesto whichSnorriSturluson andthecompiler of
thePoeticEdda putit,butrather fortheneedsoftheChurch.It is,
therefore,notat all surprisingthattheearliest vernacular textsfrom
Icelandareclericalinnature, andthatreligious prose almost certainly
antedated thewriting of thenarratives of thelivesand battlesof
Norwegian kingsandthefeudsofIcelandicfarmers fromtheViking
Age as well as thetalesabout gods and heroes. Such religiousprose
centered forthemostparton materials of foreign provenance and
included historical
writing, the
specifically Veraldarsaga, not
and, least,
livesoftheapostlesandsaints.Thesehagiographie textspresent the
confrontation between paganism Christianityessentially of
and as one
twoproselytizing or missionaryforces.The apostlesandsaintswork
to convert pagansto thenewreligion, butat thesametimetheyare
confronted withpowerful paganswhowouldhavethemworship the
old pagangods.Veryoftenthelifeanddeathofa saintwillturnon
thisconfrontation, andinmanyofthetranslated livesofapostlesand
saintsfrommedieval Icelandas wellas in thehagiographie literature
oftherestofEurope,suchconfrontations arethehighpointsofthe
narratives,as theChristians exposetheemptiness ofthepagangods,
oftenconverting pagansbythisexposure. Manyoftheseholymenand
womenfinally diea martyr'sdeathsteadfast intheiracceptance ofthe
Christian god andrejection ofthepagangods;others, theso-called
confessors, gainsanctitythrough theexample oftheirlives.
438 Scandinavian Studies
Suchworkswouldhavebeenreadaloud andcontemplated especially

on the saints'feastdays. Althoughone assumesthat the episcopal
residencesand monastichouses would have been the centerof such
activity,it is, as everyoneknows,not easy to draw a line between
secularand sacralin medievalIceland. To quote the famouswords
of GabrielTurville-Petre:
The saints'livesand thehomiliesarenot amongthebestor most
interesting ofIcelandicliterature.
Onlyoccasionallydo theyexpress
thethoughts ortheartistictasteoftheIcelandicpeople,andtheytell
littleaboutthetraditions andantiquitiesofthenorth.Buttheywere
moreimportant fortheIcelanders ofthetwelfth
centurythantheyare
forus. Theywerethefirst written which
biographies the Icelanders
cameto know.The Icelanders learnedfromthemhow biographies
andwonder-tales couldbe written in books.Thus,theyhelpedthe
Icelanders styleintheirownlanguage,
to developa literary andgave
themthemeansto express theirownthoughts through themedium
ofletters.In a word,thelearned didnotteachtheIcelanders
literature
whatto thinkor whatto say,butit taughtthemhow to sayit. It
is unlikely thatthesagasof kingsand of Icelanders, or eventhe
sagas of ancient heroes, would have developedas theydid unless
several generations ofIcelandershadfirst
beentrainedinhagiographie
narrative. (1953:141-2)
Although I agree with SverrirTomasson (1993: 281-2) that this
statement seriouslybelittlesthenativemodes of expression,certainly
therehad to be an admixture.However one chooses to regardthe
originsof Icelandic prose narrativewritings,theremust have been
a considerable interactionbetween sacral and secular translating
and audiences,and Sverrirdraws attentionto the skillwith which
translators foundexpressionsthatwould havespokenclearlyto native
audiences. What I wish to propose here is that the hagiographie
materialmayalso havehelpedtheIcelandersfindwhattheywishedto
say about theirown pagan gods, who were in some sense analogous
to the ones encounteredby the martyrsaints of Italy, the Near
East, and Africa,but who also, theologicallyand in some cases
werethesame.
literally,
The theologicalargumentis well-known,and I willnot rehearseit
here at length.It turnson the dualisticnotion of a battlebetween
God and Satan, with the pagan gods being understoodas Satan's
servants, thatis, as demons.Such a theorymakesit possibleto accept
thatthe saintsof earlyChristianity near the Mediterraneanand the
Mythology and the Saints 439
earlyconverts to Christianity in Icelandwereup againstthesame

forces.Onlythenameshavebeenchanged, as itwere,andthosewho
therewereJupiter, Mars,andVenusinthenorthsometimes tooksuch
localnamesas Óòinn,I>órr,and Freyja.Thisis of coursestandard
medievaltheology, butit was greatly relevant to therecordings of
Scandinavian mythology as well.
Writingin generalon religiousprose in the earlyIcelandic
MiddleAges,Sverrir Tomasson(1992:426-9) reminds us thatísleifr
Gissurarson,whowas consecrated thefirst Icelandicbishopin 1056,
haddifficultywiththedhlyÕni [disobedience] ofsomewithinhissee
andtokeeppeopletrueintheirfaith inGod andthesaintshadtogive
instruction
abouttheminthemother tongue.Although Sverrirdoes
notthinkthatsaints'livesweretranslated at thisearlydate,learning
aboutthemhadto be a partoftheenduring processoftheconversion,
andSverrirbelieves thattheunveiling ofthepagangodsas worthless
inChristianhagiography servedto drawpeopleawayfromthenative
pagangods. In other words, thepictureofthepagangodsthatwas
transmitteddownto thethirteenth century, whenthemythology was
recorded,was coloredfromtheverybeginning by thepagangods
whomtheearlyChurchencountered, or,at an absoluteminimum,
thispicture
wasdrawnwithina certain context.
am 655,40 is a setofthirty-one fragments ofreligious andhistorical
material,much of it old.
very Fragment v consists of twopageswith
portionsof the legends of St. Erasmus and St. Silvester.
C.R. Unger,
whoeditedthecorpusofmedieval Icelandiclivesofthesaints, stated
thatthesepages"ereudenTvivlLevninger af en Codex fraforste
Halvdelafdeti3deAarhundrede" (1877:1: xiii) [arewithoutdoubt
remnants of a codexfromthefirsthalfof thethirteenth century].
KristianKâlund(1888-94:2, 58)andHreinnBenediktsson (1965:xv)
putthematthebeginning ofthethirteenth century, andtheycertainly
numberamongtheoldestextantIcelandicmanuscripts. Thus this
manuscript cameintobeingaroundthetime-perhapsbeforethe
time-whenSnorriSturluson wascomposing hisEdda andbetween
thewriting downof thefirst eddicpoemsand thecompilation of
CodexRegiusofthePoetic Edda.The fragmentary textofthelegend
of Erasmusis noteworthy becausethetranslator, who cc[p]robably
based[hiswork]on one oftherecensions oftheLatinPassio...;not
fullyinvestigated" (Widding, Bekker-Nielsen, and Shook1963:309),
hasthebishopandhisgodconfront thecultoftheNorsegodI>orr. In
44O Scandinavian Studies
thisscene,therulerMaximianushasrefusedto bowbeforea crucified

and dead Christand has instructedBishopErasmus to honor the
gods55
"allmighty of
ifhewishestostayinthegoodgraces Maximianus.
Erasmussaysthathe will,if the gods indeedare so almighty as
Maximianus says.
Pá varo¿floorMaximianusokfórmeÔfagnaÒi okmeÖmiklufjòímenni
í borgpuri er Firmitanaheitir.Par
til hofspess,er Pórr var blótabr,
var UkneskiPórsgört ttarligaok tólfalna hátt. Í peiri borgváru
honomhallnirx. helgradaga; par várumargirípróttamenn okmargir
söngmenn. En pá er sdì Herasmuskomfyr pettaUkneski,pá tókhann
at rèttahenarsínar til himinsok mdti: "HeyrÕualmáttigrdróttinn,
skaparihiminsokjarÕar!Bid ek,atpu minntirUkneski pettaaftilkvámu
pinnarstyrköar; brjóttuniörblótpetta,dróttinn minn,er lifirokríkir
mepguÒifeòr ofaliar aldir?En viöbœnguÔsvinarfellUkneski Pórsok
enn
hvarfallt; par var dreki
eftir ógôrligroksardimarga heibna menn.
Pá tókn&rallr lúÔrat halla einsmansmunni:"Mikillergubkristinna
manna,sá ersUkanmáttgefrpjón smum.vPáóaÕiskmjökMaximianus
okfór meomikilliskemÒtil hallar sinnar.En heilagrbiksopmdti viö
alian lúO:"Nú meguÔérsjá máttdróttins mtnsJesusKrists,nú meguÖer
sjá okg'óskuPórs, er ér Litio
haviÒpjónat. ér nú, hvémikillanvirõismaôr
Pórren.v(Unger 1877,i: 367)x
(Then Maximianusgrewhappyand wentwithjoy and witha great

crowdto thattemplewhereI>órrwas worshipped,in thatcitywhich
is called Firmitana.In thatplace was an image of Pórr made with
greatdetail and twelveells tall. In thatcityone hundredholy days
were held forhim; therewere manyaccomplishedmen and many
songsters.But when blessed Erasmus came beforethat image, he
stretchedhis hands up to heaven and said: "Listen,almightygod,
creatorof heaven and earth.I praythatyou show this image the
grandeurof your strength;break down this sacrificialitem [blot],
mylord,who live and rulewithgod the fatherforall time."And at
thatprayerof god's friend,theimageof Pórrtoppledand everything
disappeared,but therewas a horribledragon left behind and it
wounded manypagans.Then nearlyall the people began to cryout
as withone mouth:"Greatis the god of Christians,who givessuch
power to his servant."Then Maximianuswas much afraidand went
with greatdisgraceto his hall. And the holy bishop said to all the
people: "Now you can see the power of mylord JesusChrist,now
you mayalso see thevalue of Pórr,whom you have served.See now,
whata worthlessfellowPórris")
1Hereandthroughout
I have(re-)normalized texts.
Unger's
Thus besidesthematerial thatwas availablein poeticsourcesand
wouldbe codified bySnorriSturluson inhisEdad,thirteenth-century
audienceswould also havehad evidenceof thelargesize of Pórr,
whoseimage,almostcertainly a statue, wastwelveellstall.Thestatue
includedgreatdetail(var... ¿fort itarliga),whichis consistent with
theidea ofmythological detailattaching to thevariousgodsof the
mythology, in thecaseof dorr'spersonand accoutrements likehis
beardandhammer. Erasmus tellsthepeoplethatPórrisanauvirÒismaÒr
[worthless fellow].Thewordcompounds auvirÒi (contempt) andthe
commonnounmoor, whichin thisinstance ascribesto theimagea
bitmoreanimation thanone mightordinarily expect.But whatis
perhaps most interestingabout this passage is thatthecultofPórris
situatedin theHoly Land in theearlystagesof Christianity, when
thereligionwas stillfighting to be established. According this
to
the that
fragment, paganism opposedChristianity was theone that
hadlateropposedthenewreligion whenitcameto thenorth.Since
thisstruggle frequently was understood as a struggle betweenPórr
andChrist, thepassageinErasmus saga makes good sense fromthe
point ofview of thirteenth-century Iceland,which codified the records
aboutthemissionary period and the conversion. In addition,the
textassociates Pórrwitha dragon,justas themythology associates
himwiththeMidgardserpent. Of course,theassociation is different,
sincegodanddragonareantagonists inthemythology andtwoforms,
apparently, of the same demon in the Erasmus fragment, but still
theconnection is there.Bearingit in mind,one maythinkslightly
differentlyofthefinalstanzasoftheHauksbókversion of Vòíuspd. In
thepenultimate stanza,"the powerful one, who rules all,"comes to
power. In the a
closingstanza, dragon, identified as Niohöggr in the
secondhelming, comesflying, withcorpsesunderitswings.In both
cases,as theChristian god is revealed andthepagangodseliminated,
a dragonis setloose,and in bothcases,thedragonharmspeople.
Although I wouldnotinsiston thepoint,in myviewit is certainly
possible a medieval
that audiencemighthaveunderstood Niohöggr's
releaseat the end of Völuspd as moreor less the consequenceof
thedemiseof thepagangods.Theycannotbe eliminated, foras
of the
demons,agents Satan, pagangods always are about. Theycan
changeguise, but theyhave always been and will alwayscontinue
to be dangerous.
The mostwidelycitedcase of a translation of the pagangods
occursinKlemens the of
saga, legend Bishop Clement ofRome,who
was veneratedas the firstof the Apostolic Fathers.The passage

was noted by Turville-Petre (1953: 129-30), quoted in a sidebar in
SverrirTomasson 8(1992: 427) under the title"Heiõni og kristni,"
and was the subjectof a paper by MatthiasTveitaneat the 1985saga
It runsas follows.
conference.
HeiÒnirmennelskuÒu Klemensafpvtat hannfaldi eigisiÒpeira heldr
syndihannpeimmeomikilliskynsemi ofpeirahokum sjdlfrahversu
ilia ok
peirPórreòa ÓÒinneòa aÒHrasirvdrugetnir,
flerÒsama okhversuilia ok
lißu, okdóusßan vesallega
herßligapeir heÒanórbeimi,okmdpdafpvíat
öngumsannendumguÒ kaila. (Unger 1874:146-7]
(PaganslovedClementbecausehe did notmocktheirpractice but

ratherhe showedthemwithgreatintelligence fromtheirownbooks
howbadlyandtreacherously Pórror ÓÒinnor theotherÊsirwere
mentioned, and how and
badly shamefully theylived,anddiedthen
wretchedly out of theworld, and becauseof thattheycanwithno
proofsbe calleddeities.)
Whateverelse it may do, thispassage invitesthe medievalIcelandic
readerto considerbooks about the nativemythology-thesewould
include the eddic poetryand especiallySnorraEdda- as Clement
considered the books of the pagans around Rome. The dying
"wretchedly out oftheworld"was certainly to be foundin Völuspdand
Snorri'sparaphraseof it in Gylfaginning, whichwould onlymake it
easierto look forexamplesoftreacherous mentionand shamefulliving.
Klemenssaga is found in am 645 40, and it is especiallyinstructive
to considerthe explicitstatementof Turville-Petre (1953: 130) that
the manuscriptwas writtenaround 1220 (others are less specific
and usuallyput the manuscripttowardthe beginningor in the first
halfof the thirteenth century,e.g. Kâlund (1888-94,2: 51), Hreinn
Benediktsson(1965:14; Sverrir Tomasson1992:425)). Snorriprobably
began the composition of his Edda around 1220, by which time
theremay have been a littlepamphletcontainingthe Óõinn poems
VaJpruÖnismdl and Grímnismdl (Lindblad 1954,1977,1980). Although
thecompilationof theprototypeof Codex Regius of thePoeticEdda
was not to come foranothergenerationor so, the idea of the"book"
of Codex Regius (Harris 1985)takeson a somewhatdifferent aspect
in lightof Clemenfswords.
Also noteworthyis anotherpassage fromKlemenssaga, which
cataloguesno fewerthan fourteenof the Êsir whom Clement is
supposedto haveblasphemed.
AÖrirsveitarmenn svoruÒuoksògÔu svd:cAfßolkyngieinnigerirhannsltkt

alt,okeydir hcmnblótom vdrumokalhi dyrÒgoÒa vara. Ok ósozmirhann
svdingöjgugoÖvdr,at hannsegir,at Pórrsé eigigoÒfulltrúivárrokinn
sterksti
áss dmÕisfiíllr,
oker n&rhvarssemhann er blótinn;enpá osœmÔ
okõvirÔing veitirhannÓÒniórlausnafidlumokhvarßemi, atsá Klemens
kallarhannßdnda ok óhreinananda; en hann kveÒr Freyinportkonu
verithafa; fedirhann Frey;en hrœpirhann Heimdali; lastar hann
Loka meo slcegÖ sina ok velar,ok kallar hann ok Ulan; hatar hann
Hœni; bölvar hann Baldri; tefrhann Ty; niÖirhannNjörÖ;Ulansegir
hann Uli; flimtirhann Frigg; en hannfœrGefion;sekjadœmirhann
Siß>(Unger,1874:146)
(Othermenof thedistrict respondedand spokethus:"Through

magicalonehe does all such,and he destroys oursacrificesand all
thegloryofourgods.Andhe dishonors ournoblegodsin thathe
saysthatI>órris notour patrongod and thestrongest of theaesir
and courageous, and is nearwhenever he is sacrificed
to; and that
dishonorand disrespect he grantsto Óõinnfullof answersand a
thatthisClementcallshima demonand an uncleanspirit;
shelter,
andhe saysFreyjahasbeena prostitute; he frightens offFreyr,and
defames Heimdallr;herevilesLokiwithhiscleverness andtricks,and
callshimevilas well;hehatesHcenir;hecursesBaldr;hedelaysTyr,
he defamesNjöror;he saysUllris evil;he lampoonsFrigg;andhe
slightsGefjon;hejudgesSifas wicked.55)
This passage has been studied by Matthias Tveitane (1985) and
SimonettaBattista(2000). The underlying source(or sources)cannot
havehad morethaneightor ninepagangods; theelaboratelistinghere,
withits alliterative mustbe an expansionprovidedby the
sensibility,
translator.Even theshorterversionofam 655xviii a 40, adducedand
commentedon by Battistafollowingthe quotationfromHofmann
1997,whichis "shorterand closerto theLatinsources"(Battista2000:
28), stillhas a greatlyinflatednumberof deities.In otherwords,the
had enoughinformation
translators?) aboutand,we maysurmise,
enthusiasmforthenativegodsto be stimulated to an embellishment
of thematerial
in an artistically
heightened way.As Tveitanenoted,
thenotionofinterpretatio
becomesa bitstrained here:Pórr,Óõinn,
andFreyjamaytranslate Jupiter,Mercury, andVenus,butto which
Romangod arewe to equateHeimdallr, Loki,orNjöror?Thenotion
ofinterpretatio
heremustrefer nottoindividual godsbuttoa pantheon
or rather
a societyof individualdeities,as themythology portrays
them,withvariousindividual characteristics.
Although theprinciple
ofalliteration
clearly themention
drives ofgodsinthelatter partofthe
passage(Battista2000: 28),Loki'scleverness andtricks andultimate
evilagreeperfectly withhispersonin thevernacular mythology. So
too,I think,doestheuse oftheverbníòaforClement5 s defamation
of Njöror.This verbinvolvesaccusationsof physicaland ethical
misbehavior,thatis,ofsexualperversity andcowardice (Meulengracht
Sorensen1983).Njörorlefthimself open to suchchargesbecause
giantessesonce abusedhim as a hostage,evenusinghis mouth
as a chamberpot.
shows,Klemens
As Battista saga alsodisplays theformula Pórreoa
ÓÕinn[I>órror Óõinn]to standfortheentirepantheon. Thesetwo
werefarandawaythemostsignificant oftheJEsir. A formula ofthis
natureshowsboththattherewassomeknowledge ofthemythology
in theschoolsor monasteries wherethetranslations tookplaceand
alsothatthenotionoftheprecedence ofthesetwogodswasavailable
to thosewho wrotedownthevernacular mythology, notjustfrom
butalsofromlearned
oraltradition writing.
In the samemanuscript as Klemens saga and therefore perhaps
also committed to parchment just as Snorri was contemplating his
Edda is a versionof thelifeof St. Martinof Tours.LikeKlemens
saga,itmentions thepaganScandinavian godsandgivesinformation
abouttheirfalseness.
Martin'sdisciplesGallusand Sulpiciushaveheardvoicesfrom
insidea roominwhichMartinoftenspenttimealone,andwhenhe
emergesone day,Sulpiciusaskshimwhatthisspeechmightmean.
Martinfinallytellsthedisciplesthathe hasbeenvisitedbythesaints
and
Mary,Agnes, Thekla, and sometimes too bytheapostlesPeter
andPaul.Buthehasalsobeenvisitedbydevils.
Djöflarkornu okstundumatfrustabanstymsum ltk(j)um,okallra ofiast
i lui Pars eòa ÓÔinseÖaFreyju.En Martinushafôikrossmark at skildi
viÔallH freistnipeira. En hann kendi
pd, i hverjungi sem
ltkju(m) peir
vdru,ok nefndihvernpeira a najh okfekkhverjum peirapá kveÒju, er
(peir)vdruverdir: Por kallaÒihannheimskan,en ÓÔindeigan,en Freyju
portkonu. (Unger 1877,1: 569)
(Demons sometimescame to tempthim in variousforms,and most
frequentlyin the formof I>órror Óõinn or Freyja.But Martinhad
the sign of the cross as a shield againstall theirtemptation.And
he recognizedthem,in whateverformtheytook, and named each
of them by name and gave each of them that greetingof which
theywereworthy. Thorhe calledfoolish, Óõinn"doughy," and

Freyjaa whore.)
I wouldpointoutonceagain,then,thatevenwithout theinvaluable
poeticmaterials and Snorri'smasterful systematization ofthem,we
couldstillgetsomekindofthirteenth-century notion ofthe mythology.
Themajordeitiesareheresaidto be Pórr,Óõinn,andFreyja, andthis
accordswiththeimportance oftheirrolesin themythology. Evenif
we onlyhadthisversionofMartinus saga,we wouldstillknowthat
Pórrwasnotprizedforhiswitsandcouldsurmise, therefore, thathis
brawnmighthavebeenimportant. Perhapswe wouldthinkof the
IcelanderHreiõarrheimski, who was a kindof coal-biter herowho
turned outto havemanytalents. ReadingofÓoinn'stimidity, which
is expressed as doughiness, we mightrecalltheinsultin Kroka-Refi
saga,"deiganskaldeigumbjóõa" [a dullknifeshallbe offered to a
timidman].Although theinsultemploys themetaphorical meaning of
deigr, itturns on the literal
meaning and the concomitant association
withwomen'swork,and thisassociation mightlead us to wonder
whether therewas something unusualaboutthesexuality ofÓõinn.
In turn,we would assumethatFreyjawas sexuallyactiveoutside
of marriage, and thiswe mightunderstand as havingto do with
therealmoffertility.
Interestingly,thesamepassageis includedin muchlaterversions
ofthelegendofSt.Martininmanuscripts from1400andlater. There
thegreetings havebeenomitted, the
although guest listis larger,for
thedevilscomein theformsnot onlyof Pórr,Óõinn,and Freyja,
butalsoofFrigg"eoa annarra heiõinnamanna55 (Unger1877,1: 618)
[or of other paganpeople]. This agrees with the sequencepresented
byJacobusde Voraginein theGolden Legend'.Jove,Mercury, Venus,
Minerva, ifwe associatePórr and Óõinn respectively with the days
oftheweektheytookon.
The takingon of variousformswouldof courseagreeperfectly
withtheeuhemerism thatis to be foundin theLearnedPrehistory,
especiallyas Walter Baetke hasshowninhisfundamental monograph
on thetheology of Snorri'sEdda (1950).The basicview,he argued,
is to be foundin Romans1:18-23:pagansonceknewGod, who is
visibleforalltosee,buttheyturned from himandworshipped instead
idolsornature.ForBaetkethistheology the
provided key to Snorri's
euhemerism. According to it,mencouldbecomepagangods,and
subsequently demonscouldimitate themanddo Satan'swork.Such
euhemeristic wereclearly
notions presentinIcelandwellbefore Snorri
wroteas theubiquity of theLearnedPrehistory clearly shows.The
JEsirof"Gylfaginning" aremen(menofAsia),andthetalesSnorri has
themtellaretheirreligious beliefs
tempered bySnorri's euhemerism.
ThusthedelusionofGylfi concerns notthecontent ofthemyths-for
themenofAsiabelievethem-butrather thegreathallinwhichthe
encounter takesplace and whichlatervanishes.This deceptionis
necessary becauseGylfimustspeakwithmenusingfictitious names
milieu.Gylfi's
in a fictitious ofthemyths
laterretelling how
explains
they survivedthrough time,and the vexingquestion ofhow theÊsir,
whotellthestories, canhavethesamenamesas the"gods"theytell
aboutis answered bySnorri's statement(chapterforty-three)thatthe
menofAsialaterassumedthenamesoftheirancient gods.
Thus Snorriwouldhavethoughtthattherewereindeedmyths
attachedto the pagangods worhshipped in thenorthbeforethe
conversion. Thesegodswerenotjustblocksandstones-indeed,one
seeksinvainforanysignofsucha conception inSnorriorhispoetic
sources.The gods in all of thesesourcesare sentient beings,ones
whoactina worldrecognizable to thosehumanswhoparticipated in
perpetuating the about
traditions them.
The twotextsadducedthusfarfromthelegendsofSt. Clementand

St. Martincanhelpgiveus a realsenseofhowlearnedmen,at least,
wouldhavethought aboutthepagangodsin somecontexts around
thetimewhentheovertly mythic narratives about the gods were
actuallyfirst
recorded.The popularityof saintslives grew,however,
anditappearsto havepeakedattheendofthethirteenth century and
beginning ofthefourteenth Thereafter
century. the fashionappearsto
havebeentocompileexisting intosinglemanuscripts
translations that
makeup thelogicalpredecessors to Ungeràlatenineteenth-century
Amongthemostimportant
editorialefforts. is skb 2, fol.,which
hastypicallybeendatedto thefourteenth century, although thereis
currentlysome sentiment to puttingin between 1425 and 1445 (see,
e.g. Kalinke1996:38).Alsoofinterestin thiscontext aream 233fol.
fromthemid-thirteenth centuryandam 235,fol.fromca. 1400. It
is perhapsworthnotingherethatthefourteenth century also saw
thecopyingofthemajormanuscripts ofSnorri's Edda. Someofthe
legendsintheselatermanuscripts refer totheScandinavian pagangods
byname,justas was thecasewiththeearlymanuscripts addressed
above. References to the Scandinavian gods occurin theselater
manuscripts eitheras partofa groupofdeitiesas inKlemens sagaor
individually as wasthecasewithI>orrinErasmus saga.
MultiplegodsoccurrinthelegendsofFides,Spes,andCaritas, of
St. Catherine, ofSt. Sebastien, andofSt. Vitus.The groupsarenot
alwaysthesame,however. Fides,Spes,andCaritas, whicharefound
in skb 2,am 233,andam 235,haveÓõinn,I>órr, Baldr,Frigg,Freyja,
and Gefjonin one passage(notin skb 2, however, sincethetextis
defective at thispoint)and Óõinn and I>órrin another. Vitussaga,
whichis foundinam 180fol,a manuscript fromthefifteenth century,
has Óõinn,I>órr,Freyr, Frigg,and Freyja.Katherine saga,whichis
foundin am 233a,and skb 2, has Pórr,Baldr,Freyja,and Gefjon.
Sebastianas saga,whichis foundinam 235andam 238folfragvii)has
ÓõinnandFreyjainonepassage,Óõinnaloneinanother.
One especially interesting caseofthemention ofindividual gods
is providedbythelifeofSt. Agatha,ofwhichtheIcelandicversion
in skb 2 fol.waseditedbyUngerasAgatusagameyiar. The scenein
question is common to numerous lives offemale saints.
It involves the
summoning ofthe a
saint, sponsa Christi coveted bypowerful pagan
men,beforeauthorities, whooffer herthechoiceofworshipping or
sacrificingto their or
gods suffering physical torment (Carle1985).
skb 2 fol.is as I havesaidfromthedecadesjustbeforeor afterthe
beginning ofthefifteenth century, butthetextofAgathusaga may
wellbe older.The narrative is setin Sicily, whichis ruledbytheJarl
The
Quincianus. jarl is of low birth and believesthathe can raise
hissocialstatusthrough Agatha; he also desires her moneyandher
fairperson.He has Agathagivenoverto Afrodisia and hernine
ill-mannered but
daughters, they cannot persuade Agatha.Thereafter
Quincianus hasAgathasummoned before hiscourt.
Beforepresenting thepassage,I wishto comment on thegeneral
context.Thelinguistic translation, from Latin into theliterarylanguage
of medievalScandinavia, is joined by a culturaltranslation. This
involvesnot just the introduction of Norse gods but also social
translation of Quincianusfromprovincial governor, senator to jarl.
Thetranslation occursinopeningthree wordsofthetext:"Quincianus
Sikleyjarjarl" [Quincianusthe jarl of Sicily].A northern social
geography therefore overlays thesouthern geography ofthetextand

itsactionmakingtherulera jarl.Thischoiceof termsis of course
farfromrandom,forthe termjarl was especially associatedwith
the Hlaõirjarls,the rulingfamilyfromaroundTrondheim, who
werefamousintheretained historicaltextsfortheirassociation with
paganism.This association no doubthas in partto do withtheir
struggle fordominion in Norway withtheultimately triumphant kings
oftheOslo-fjord arearepresented mostfamously bythemissionary
king,ÓláfrTryggvason, andthesaint,ÓláfrHaraldsson, whomethis
deathas a martyr notfarfromTrondheim. Theremayalsobe a good
dealoftruth to thenotionas well,sincearguments havebeenraised
associatingsome of the most important extant mythological texts with
thatarea:Völsupd (de Boor 1930)and Snorra edda (Schier 1981).
Húsdrápa,
arguably oneofthemostifnotthemostimportant mythological skaldic
source,mayalso havebeencomposedin association withtraditions
from Hlaõir(Schier 1976;cfStröm1981).Certainly PorgerÕrHòígabrúÕr
standsalonein the sourcesas a compliant and helpfullocal deity,
andFolkeStrömonceindeedadvancedthenotionofa hieros gamos
betweenherand Hákonjarlin theaftermath of Hakon'svictory at
Hjorungavágr, which she so greatlyaided (Ström1983).
Use oftheterm jarl thuswouldassociate Quincianus withthemost
famous centerofnorthern paganism, and he is called onlybythisterm,
notbyhisgivenname,intheopeninglinesofthesagaright up to the
point when he summons Agatha to hiscourt. Even thoughSicilywas
hardlyunknown in the the
north, place name Sikiley iseasilyanalyzed
as Scandinavian- "Sikil-island55-
whichwouldbe a good geographic
fitwiththeareaoftheTrondheim. Although thereis no etymological
connection, medieval readers or listeners mightalsohaveassociated
thefirstcomponent withthe poeticnounsiklingr [prince].There
is,then, a kind of "double scene55here (Lönnroth 1978):theancient
Mediterranean area in whichChristianity originated and whereit
therefore first
metwithotherreligions andthelocalareawherethe
samemeeting occurred centuries Asthetranslation
later. ofthenames
of thegods shows,thetranslator ofAgathusaga could invitehis
audienceto imaginethismeeting as involving northern godsevenin
thecaseofa famousvirgin martyr.
Thisis one ofthesaintslivesinwhichgreatest emphasis is placed
on thedialogue,howevergrislythetortures also are,andAgatha's
remarks areespecially wellturned. Thedialogueinitially takestheform
oftheexamination oftheaccused,butAgathahasa tellingresponse

to eachquestion.Quincianus
begins:
"Hverrarkindarertpú?vHeilugAgathasvarabi:"Tiginnamannaemek,
svdsemalltfrandliÔ mittvdttar?Quincianusmalti:"Efpú ertgöfugok
tigin,fyririm synirpú piksemambdtt?"HonsvaraÒi:"Afpvísyni ekmik
semambdtt,at ekem ambdttKrists?Quincianusmdti: "Tiginsagbizk
pú dÒr,hversu segiztpúnú ambdtti"Heilug marsvarabi:"Sú erhinhasta
tign,atpjóna GuÒi." Jarlinnmdti: "Erumvèreigitignir, erneitumhans
pjónustu?" Agatha svaraÒi:"TignyÒrer svdófijdls,at per eruÒeigi at
einssyndapralar, heldrpjónitperstokkum oksteinum?"Iptslumskalallt
heimtaafpér"had karlinn,"paterpúlastargobvdr.En póttpúfyrr segir
enpú sérpínd,hvípú hafnarblótum goÖanna?HeilugAgatha svaraÒi:
"Kalla pú pat heldrdjöflaengob,pvtat djöflarerupat, sempergeruÖ
ItkneskieptiróreiriokgylHÖ andlitpeira."Quincianusmdti: "Kjóspúnú
en tvdkosti,annathvdrt at pú sertfind mörgum ptslumsvdsemheimsk,
eÖapú blótarsemspökokpú hefir &tttil okgöjgargoÖvdralmdttig, pau
ersannreynd eruatgoÒdómi." Heilug marsvaraÒi:"VerpúsemgoÖpinn
ÓÒinn,enkonapínsemEreyjagyÒja pínPQuincianusreiddizk oklétberja
hnefum íandlíthenniokmdti: "Ldtafcpú,at mala illtviömik?Agatha
svaraÒi:"Pú sagÖirgoÖptn verasannreynd atgoÒdómi.Verpúokpdsem
en
ÓÒinn, konapín sem Ereyja, pit megitverbahöß í tölugoÒanna."
at
"Nú ersynt"kvadQuincianus,"atpú villtheldrverapínd,erpúendrnyjar
pín viÔmik?Hon svarabi:"Undrumzkekpat, erspakrmaÒrskal
illyrôi
veraoltinnísvd miklaheimsku, erpú kallarpatgoÖpín,sempúvillteigi
lífpitteòa konu pinnarpeim Idta líktvera.EfgoÖpín erugob,pd bao
ekpergóOs,at pitt Itfvaripeira Ufilût, en efpú rakirsamlagpeira,
pd malumviteittbaÒi.Segpú afpví satt,ok kallapau eigigoÖ,heldr
inar verstuvattir,svdat pú biÔirpat eittpeim Itktverba,at pú villtat
(Unger1877,i: 2-3)
bò'lvatsé."
("Of what familyare you?" St. Agatha answered:"I am of noble

people, as all my kin will attest."Quincianussaid: "If you are high
born and noble, why do you show yourselfas a bondswoman?"
She replied:"I show myselfas a bondswoman,because I am the
bondswoman of Christ."Quincianus said: "Previouslyyou called
yourselfnoble,how can you sayyou are a bondswoman?"The holy
maidenanswered:"It is the greatestnobilityto serveGod." The jarl
said: "Arewe not noble who rejecthis service?"Agatha answered:
"Yournobilityis unfreein such a way,thatyou not onlyare slavesof
sins,but you serveblocksand stones.""In torture,it will all be got
fromyou,"said thejarl,"thatyou blasphemeour gods. And even so
you may say beforeyou are torturedwhyyou refuseto sacrificeto
our gods."SaintAgathareplied:"Call themdemonsratherthangods,
45O Scandinavian Studies
fordemonstheyare,ofwhichyoumakeimagesandgildtheirfaces."
Quincianussaid:"Choosenowwhether youwishto betortured with
numerous torments likea foolish
personoryouwillsacrificelikea wise
personand as yourstationdemandsennobleour allpowerful gods,
whosedivinity has beentrulyproved." The holymaidenanswered:
"Be youlikeyourgod ÓõinnandyourwifelikeyourgoddessFreyja."
Quincianuswasangeredandpunchedherinthefaceandsaid:"You
aretostopspeaking illofme."Agathaanswered: "Yousaidthedivinity
ofyourgodshasbeentruly proved,so be youlikeÓõinnandyour
wifelikeFreyja,so thatyoumaybe elevated intothenumber ofthe
gods.""Now itis clear,"saidQuincianus, "thatyouwouldrather be
sinceyourenewyourspeaking
tortured, illofme."Sheanswered, "I
wonderthata wisemanshouldbe roiledin suchgreatfoolishness,
thatyoucallthatyourgods,whichyouandyourwifedo notwishto
haveyourlivesemulate. Ifyourgodsaregods,thenI askedforgood
foryou,thatyourlifeshouldbe liketheirs, butifyou rejecttheir
then
society, we are both sayingthesame thing. Speaktrulyaboutthat,
andcallthemnotgodsbuttheworstspirits, so thatyouwouldask
thataloneto be likethemwhichyouwishto be cursed." Quincianus
answered:"Whatisthepointoftalking, sacrificetoourgodsorI will
haveyougivenoverto torments")
The passage repeatsseveralfamiliarthemes.The Christianis of high
social statusand her pagan tormenterof low status.The Christian
is able to confoundthe pagan in debate. The pagan gods are idols,
blocksand stones,whose faceshave been gilded,and the aim of the
pagan is to forcethe Christianto sacrificeto them{biota).However,
some verystrikingquestionsare raisedhere about the nature,role,
and identity of thepagan gods.
First,what are the pagan gods? Agatha tells Quincianus that
they are blocks and stones, gilt about the faces, and this would
accordwiththegeneralnotionof thepaganismthatconfronted early
Christianity-also earlyJudaeismand Islam- that the pagan gods
were idols. This conceptionwas to leave its markin Iceland too, as
passages fromthe ískndingasòjjur,referring to idols as ¿fob,clearly
show. However,Agathastatesclearlythattheyare more thanidols:
theyaredemons(djöflar)^ theworstspirits(inarverstuvœttir).
Agatha's
speech,however,is all about the distinctionbetweenhumans and
gods. It is one thingto worshipblocksand stones,anotherto behave
likethe beingstheystandfor,to imitatethemin one's life.Although
it mightbe possibleto readAgatha'sinvitationto Quincianusand his
wifeto behaveliketheirgods as an invitation to behavelikeinanimate
idols,sucha readingseemshighly unlikelygivenAgatha'sstatement

thatthegods- whether idolsor menn-zrcevilspirits. Whatsheis
suggesting,then, is thatQuincianus andhis wifebehave as thegods
do in narrative.
I amnottrying to enforcethisreadingforanylives
ofAgathaotherthantheone beforeus,fromskb2. Whatmakesthe
readingseemmostlikelyhereis thetranslation ofthenamesofthe
idolsandpresumably thegodstheyrepresent fromJupiter andVenus,
who arefoundnotonlyin theLatinversions ofthelifebutalso in
translationsintoothervernaculars, suchas English,to theNorse
gods Óõinn and Freyja.
Eventhesaurlifr jarl [dissolutejarl]Quincianustakesas a great
insultthesuggestion thatheshouldmodelhislifeafter thatofÓõinn.
Thusintheputative of
paganism Agathusaga, even an evilpagan,one
whowillshortly ordertheworsttortures to be visitedon thebodyof
thevirginsaint,cannotbringhimself toemulate theheadoftheNorse
pantheon. Reading the textfrom theperspectiveofOld Scandinavian
and
society religion, may we wonder whether thetranslator chose
Óõinnhereforhisassociations withseiÕr andtheunmanly behavior
associatedwithit,behavior thatcouldopenup persons to accusations
ofergi.
Sucha strategymightalsohaveled thetranslator to Freyjawhen
he encountered Venus in his source, Freyja had a strong
for too
association andherdossier,
wixhseiõr, likethatofOõinn,isfullofitems
andincidents thathardlyinspireemulation, notleastin thiscontext
thehighly chargedsinofincestwithherbrother.
BeforeleavingAgathusaga,itis interestingtolookatthefragment
of it foundin nra fragment 70, a fourteenth-centuryNorwegian
manuscript. Here the effectof the Sicilian-Nordic"doublescene55
is considerablyvitiated,forQuincianusis called keisarinn, and
bitsof dialogueare givenin Latinwhichis subsequently glossed.
The fragment containssome of the dialogueunderconsideration,
whichrunsas follows.
stórumoko'nytumorÖum.Hon svaraÔi:"Han kveÖrjjoÖ
sinverapau sem
enßi¿foÖdomr Varihúsfreyja
fylßir. hanssvásemTrigggyÒja sé
bans,sjdlfr
bann semÓÔinnjjoÔbans."KeisarinnreiÖiztpdmjökokbaÖmeynaupp
bengjaokbyÖaokfastlega
pina. (Unger 1877,i: 13)
(withgreatand worthlesswords.She responded,"He saysthat
his gods are thosewhomno divinity
accompanies.Werehis wife
likeFrigghisgoddess,mayhe himself
be likeÓõinnhisgod."The
angryand had hersuspendedand lashedand

kaisergrewgreatly
tortured.)
thoroughly
The effect ofAgatha'ssuggestionis somewhatattenuatedbyheruse of
thethirdpersonand theshiftfrompastto presentsubjunctives. What
is strikingin thiscontext,naturally,is her reversalof the usual order,
Jupiterand Venus, and the use of FriggforVenus. The suggestion
alone enragesQuincianussufficiently to lead himto beginthetorture
of Agathawithoutfurther dialogue indeed any further
or ado. The
reversalof the male and femaledeitiesforegroundsthe latterand
directsthe insultfirsttowardQuincianus'shusfreyja. By using Frigg
insteadofFreyjaforassociationwiththisperson,thetranslator passed
up an opportunity forsome wordplaybut also restoredto each other
the two consortsatop the Scandinavianpantheon.And of course
Friggreceivedthe day of Venus when the Roman days of the week
wererenderedintoGermanic.
It is worth noting that the translationis incomplete. Before
summoningherto his court,QuincianussentAgathato Aphrodisia
and her nine ill-mindeddaughters,whose dutyit was to turnher
fromChristianity and towardQuincianus.Needlessto say,theyfailed.
ThatAphrodisia'sname is in thesourcetextalsongsidethatofVenus
remindsus thatGreekwas all butunknownin theMiddle Ages,even
such common mythologicalnames as Aphrodite.The learnedmen
and women of theNorthclearlyunderstoodthenameAphrodisiaas
no morenoteworthy thanthatof Quincianus.
ofÓõinn aredebatedin Ceciliusaga. Althoughit
The characteristics
too is foundin skb 2, thetextis defective,and Ungerfilleditout with
othermanuscripts. The passage in question is fromam 429, i2mo,
ca. 1500 (Widding, Bekker-Nielsen,and Shook 1963: 305). Set in
Rome, it involvesa debate betweenValerianus,the chastehusband
of Cecilia who has convertedat her instigation,and the prefect
Almachius (Roniaborjjarjjreifi).
Almachiusmdti: "Hverrereinnguòsd,erpitpjóniõ?vValerianus svaraòi:

"Engi er annarrguÒ nema sa einn? Almachius malti: "SegiÒpit nafit
pessinseinaguÖs,erpitg'ófyuÒ? Valerianussvaraòi:ccNafaguÒs muntu
eigifinna,póttpúmegirfljúga.y}Almachiusmdti: "Er eigi ÓÔinngud?"
Valeraniussvaraòi: "Hórdómsmaòr var hann ok manndrdpsmaòr ok
at
óddÒamaÒr,pvi erskald
yÖrsegja. En ekundrumzkpat, afhvípú hallar
hannguò,pvi at engimdguò kallask,nemasd ersyndalauss er okallra
ddàa erfallr"(Unger 1877,1: 287)
(Almachiussaid,"Whoisthatonegodwhom youserve?" Valerianus

answered,"There isno othergod save one
that alone."Almachius said,
"Saythenameofthisonegodwhom youhonor." Valerianusanswered,
"Youwillnotdiscover thenameofGod,evenifyouwereabletofly."
Almachius said,"Is Óõinnnota god?"Valeranius answered, "He
wasan adulterer anda murderer andevil-doer, according to what
yourpoetssay.AndI wonder howyoucancallhima god,since
no onemaycallhimself god,except thatonewhois freeofsin
andfidiofalldeeds.")
Severalpointsdeservemention, ofwhichthemostimmediate is the
portrayal ofÓõinnas an adulterer, murderer, andevil-doer. It would
certainly be possibleto readthesecharacterizations ofÓõinnoutof
Scandinavian mythology: killerof giants,masterseducer,giverof
victory to theweaker, andso forth, eveniftheethicalcontext might
not be quitewhatValerianus wouldmakeof it and evenif,more
to thepoint,theunderlying textagainhasJupiter, notÓõinn.But
thereis more.As Unger'snotepointsout,herethecorresponding
texthas"Jovisergonomennon estdeus"(287,fn.3). WhatUnger
meansbythecorresponding textis theLegenda AureaofJacobusde
Voragine or rather the source that Jacobus used. Bychanging "Then
Jupiter is not a name of God55 (Ryan 1983,2: 322) to "Is Óõinn not
a god,"thetranslator has madethequestionfarmoredirect.The
answeris correspondingly moredirect.The LegendaAureahas,"It
is thenameofa murderer anddébaucher." Especially to be notedis
theshiftto thepasttensein theIcelandic.Thisdialoguenow takes
on a kindoftemporal doublingthatis missingin theoriginal, even
though forthe late medieval audiences who consumed the Legenda
Aurea,Jupiter canhardly havebeenmorepresent thanÓõinnwould
have been.The past tensemaywell implyan acceptanceof the
euhemerism of theLearnedPrehistory: sinceÓõinnwas a man,a
mortallongdead,he mustbe referred to in thepasttense.Support
forthissurmisemightbe locatedin the mediopassiveinfinitive
kallask[no one maycallhimself god],forwhichthecorresponding
is in
passage lacking Legenda Aurea. Whatis perhapsevenmore
interesting, and also not to be found m Legenda Aurea,is theappeal
to textualdocumentation thatValerianusmakesin the Icelandic
version:"according to whatyourpoetssay."Thisdefinitely appears
to be a reference to skaldicand eddicpoetryand couldalso apply
to Snorri,who so openlybaseshis presentation of themythology
on poeticsources.If I am rightin thisreading,thetranslator has
madea veryinformative addition,forhe has explicitly drawnthe

mythological texttraditionintothedemonization oftheNorsegods
whichcharacterized themissionary periodandmusthaveremained
somepartofchurchdoctrine. Of course,finding theactualsources
of theNorse saints'livesis a notoriously trickybusiness,and we
cannotruleout thepossibility of an appealto textsin theoriginal,
buttheeffect wouldbe thesame.
thisdialogue,Almachius
After hasValeranius andhisbrother,also
led to thetempleofÓõinn[ÓOins
a convert, hof],wheretheyareto
be compelled [biota]andkillediftheyrefuse.
to sacrifice Theyengage
theexecutioner Maximusin another dialogue,andhe andhisentire
householdare convertedto Christianity. Finallythe brotherson
themainroadfourmilesfromRomepass a templeto I>órr(again
thewordhof 'isused).
okvarhverrpindr, ereigivildibiotaPor.StaÖrvarkallaÒrPagus,sá var
forarmüurfrd Par
Rómaborg. ìdpjóÒgata ígegnum ÓÔinshof,enmenn
vdrufengnir tilatpinahvernpann, erpargekk inn,svá(at) eigiblótaÒi
skurògoÒum eòaofraÖi peimnökkuru. En erhelgir brœOrkomu pangat
okvildueigiblótaskurÒgoÒinu, pá várupeirpar teknirokgrimmliga
ptndir oksverÖi slegnirokskilduskviÕItkamligt
Ufc októkupeirviÒeiltfa
dyrÒ.(Unger1877, i: 289)
(Andeachone was tortured, who wouldnotsacrifice to I>órr.The
placewascalledPagus,itwasfourmilesfromRome.Themainroad
was acrossfromÓoinn'stemple,andmenweresetthereto torture
eachone who wentin and did not sacrifice to theidolsor offer
themsomething. Andwhentheholybrothers camethereandwould
notsacrificeto theidol,thentheyweretakenandhorribly tortured
and struckwitha swordand partedfromthelifeof thefleshand
receivedeternal glory.)
Legenda Aurea has no temple,onlya statueto Jupiter atthefourthmile
post from Rome, am 439 has the
only temple to Pórr.In eithercase,this
passage offered the medieval audience the picture competingcults
of
locatedrelatively nearto one another,in otherwords,of a pantheon
broughtto thelivesof men and womenon earth.
The most obvious question concerningthe translationof pagan
gods into native gods in the Icelandic lives of the saints is the
correspondance ofone god withanother,and on thispointa summary
is to be foundin Battista(2000: 33) in two forms:the Roman gods
who correspondto Óõinn,I>órr,and theotherScandinaviangods,and
the Scandinaviangods who correspondto Mercury,Jupiter, and the

otherRoman gods. Although,as Battistasays,thesecorrespondances
"do not add any new element to our knowledge of Old Norse
mythology55 (2000: 33), theirveryexistencethrowslight on the
culturein whichthemajorpartof our knowledgeof that
intellectual
mythology was preserved.As we have seen fromtheexamplesI have
cited,the Norse gods were found in both earlyand late medieval
Icelandiclivesof saints.We maynot read theselivesveryfrequently
today,and theversesthatare the primarysourcesof our mythology
were takendown fromoral tradition,but the expectationsof the
medievalwriters who recordedand systematizedtheversesandoftheir
audiencesmay well have been partlyshaped by the pious literature
thatalso had thingsto sayabout thepagan gods.
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How did writing technology impact the preservation of Norse mythology texts?

How did writing technology impact the preservation of Norse mythology texts?

What types of early Icelandic texts are discussed?

What types of early Icelandic texts are discussed?

Norse Mythology and the Lives of the Saints

Author(s): John Lindow

of the ironies ofthestudyofScandinavian mythology

Suchworkswouldhavebeenreadaloud andcontemplated especially

earlyconverts to Christianity in Icelandwereup againstthesame

thisscene,therulerMaximianushasrefusedto bowbeforea crucified

(Then Maximianusgrewhappyand wentwithjoy and witha great

was veneratedas the firstof the Apostolic Fathers.The passage

(PaganslovedClementbecausehe did notmocktheirpractice but

AÖrirsveitarmenn svoruÒuoksògÔu svd:cAfßolkyngieinnigerirhannsltkt

(Othermenof thedistrict respondedand spokethus:"Through

theywereworthy. Thorhe calledfoolish, Óõinn"doughy," and

The twotextsadducedthusfarfromthelegendsofSt. Clementand

geography therefore overlays thesouthern geography ofthetextand

oftheexamination oftheaccused,butAgathahasa tellingresponse

("Of what familyare you?" St. Agatha answered:"I am of noble

idols,sucha readingseemshighly unlikelygivenAgatha'sstatement

angryand had hersuspendedand lashedand

Almachiusmdti: "Hverrereinnguòsd,erpitpjóniõ?vValerianus svaraòi:

(Almachiussaid,"Whoisthatonegodwhom youserve?" Valerianus

madea veryinformative addition,forhe has explicitly drawnthe

the Scandinaviangods who correspondto Mercury,Jupiter, and the

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