Agnesar saga explained

Agnesar saga is an Old Norse-Icelandic saints' saga that recounts the legend of St Agnes of Rome. It survives in three versions, all based on Pseudo-Ambrose's passion, BHL156.^[1] Agnesar saga I omits the epilogue and is somewhat abridged.^[2] It follows the source text more closely than Agnesar saga II.^[3] Agnesar saga III is significantly abridged and is different from the first two versions.^[4]

Background

Agnes's feast day of 21 January was adopted as Holy Day of Obligation in Iceland in 1179 under Þorlákr Þórhallsson.^[5] This was prompted by a vision of St Agnes which appeared to Guðmundr kárhöfði.^[6]

There was an image of St Agnes at the Kirkjubær convent dating to the second half of the fourteenth century. The nun Jórunn Hauksdóttir of Kirkjubær took the name Agnes in 1344 when she became abbess. Agnesar saga I is preserved in Kirkjubæjarbók (AM 429 12mo), a codex containing lives of female saints kept at the convent.^[7]

Agnes also appears in three medieval and early modern Icelandic poems and in a set of four rímur: Agnesardiktur (ca. 1300-1550); Rímur af Agnesi píslarvotti, composed by Eiríkur Hallsson (1614-1698); Agnesarkvæði (ca. 1725), attributed to Þorvaldur Magnússon; Heilagra meyja drápa, stanzas 30-32 (14th century).^[8]

Bibliography

A comprehensive bibliography can be found in Wolf's The Legends of the Saints in Old Norse-Icelandic Prose.

Agnesar saga I

Manuscripts

• AM 235 fol. - ca. 1400
• AM 238 fol. I - ca. 1300
• AM 238 fol. II - ca. 1300-1350
• AM 429 12mo (Kirkjubæjarbók) - ca. 1500

Editions

• Book: Foote, Peter. Lives of Saints: Perg. fol. nr. 2 in the Royal Library, Stockholm. Rosenkilde and Bagger. 1962. Early Icelandic Manuscripts in Facsimile 4. Copenhagen. Peter Foote.
• Book: Unger, Carl Richard. Heilagra manna søgur. 1877. 1. Christiania. 15–22. Carl Richard Unger.
• Book: Wolf, Kirsten. The Icelandic Legend of Saint Dorothy. Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. 1997. Studies and Texts 130. Toronto. 89–103.
• Book: Wolf, Kirsten. A Female Legendary from Iceland: "Kirkjubæjarbók" (AM 429 12mo) in The Arnamagnæan Collection, Copenhagen. Museum Tusculanum Press. 2011. Manuscripta Nordica: Early Nordic Manuscripts in Digital Facsimile 3. Copenhagen. 122–129.
• Book: Wolf, Kirsten. Heilagra meyja sögu. Bókmenntafræðistofnun Háskola Íslands. 2003. Íslensk trúarrit 1. Reykjavík. 3–10. [Modern Icelandic edition]

Agnesar saga II

Manuscript

• AM 233a fol. - ca. 1350-1375

Edition

• Book: Unger, Carl Richard. Heilagra manna søgur. 1877. 1. Christiania. 22. Carl Richard Unger.

Agnesar saga III

Manuscript

• AM 238 fol. - ca. 1450-1500

Edition

• Book: Wolf, Kirsten. A Female Legendary from Iceland: "Kirkjubæjarbók" (AM 429 12mo) in The Arnamagnæan Collection, Copenhagen. Museum Tusculanum Press. 2011. Manuscripta Nordica: Early Nordic Manuscripts in Digital Facsimile 3. Copenhagen. 42.

Notes and References

1. Book: Wolf, Kirsten. The Legends of the Saints in Old Norse-Icelandic prose. University of Toronto Press. 2013. 9781442646216. Toronto, Buffalo, London. 20–23.
2. Book: Wolf, Kirsten. The Legends of the Saints in Old Norse-Icelandic prose. University of Toronto Press. 2013. 9781442646216. Toronto, Buffalo, London. 21.
3. Book: Wolf, Kirsten. The Legends of the Saints in Old Norse-Icelandic prose. University of Toronto Press. 2013. 9781442646216. Toronto, Buffalo, London. 22.
4. Book: Wolf, Kirsten. The Legends of the Saints in Old Norse-Icelandic prose. University of Toronto Press. 2013. 9781442646216. Toronto, Buffalo, London. 23.
5. Book: Cormack, Margaret. The Saints in Iceland: Their Veneration from the Conversion to 1400. Société des Bollandistes. 1994. 2-87365-006-0. Subsidia Hagiographica 78. Bruxelles. 75.
6. Book: Skórzewska, Joanna Agnieszka. Constructing a Cult: The Life and Veneration of Guðmundr Arason (1161-1237) in the Icelandic Written Sources. Brill. 2011. 9789004194960. Leiden. 43. 891288393.
7. Book: Wolf, Kirsten. Scandinavia and Christian Europe in the Middle Ages: Papers of the 12th International Saga Conference, Bonn/Germany, 28th July—2nd August 2003. Hausdruckerei der Universität Bonn. 2005. Simek. Rudolf. Bonn. 533. Kirkjubæjarbók: Codex AM 429 12mo.. Meurer. Judith. https://web.archive.org/web/20170407142217/http://www.sagaconference.org/SC12/SC12_Wolf.pdf. 7 April 2017.
8. Book: The Saints in Old Norse and Early Modern Icelandic Poetry. Wolf. Kirsten. Van Deusen. Natalie M.. University of Toronto Press. 2017. Toronto, Buffalo, London. 13–18.