Offers an interdisciplinary exploration of historical and political myth-making via the concept of royal sanctity in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Nordic history writing.


In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, writers working in Latin and vernacular genres, from the chronicle and saints' lives to the saga, crafted expansive histories of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. At the centre of their narratives were royal saints, holy kings, princes, and jarls, whose missionary activities and violent deaths had earned them venerated posthumous reputations. For writers such as Theodoricus, Saxo Grammaticus, and Snorri Sturluson, the royal saint in his duality was a powerful historical signifier, embodying both the creation of the young Scandinavian kingdoms and its conversion to Latin Christianity.

The concept of royal sanctity in high medieval Nordic history writing is the focus of this book. It shows how the differing roles and social positions of rulers and princes such as St Olaf of Norway, St Knut of Denmark, and St Magnus of Orkney - viking and war-leader; ruler and missionary; husband, friend, lord, and martyr - offered writers to address a wide range of historical issues. And by exploring important themes such as masculinity, violence, and justice, this book shows how Nordic historians used royal saints to craft canonical and long-lived myths about the building of monarchical and Christian states in medieval Scandinavia.