Punitive Miracles in the Old Norse Bishops’ Sagas

Sammendrag

This article studies instances of divine retribution performed by God through his bishops in medieval Scandinavia. It focuses on the miracles performed by the bishops of Iceland –both saints and non-saints– as recorded in the Biskupa sögur and the miracle collections of the native bishop saints. Such divine retributions can be admonitory acts whose effects are not permanent, as well as supernatural retaliations with permanent effects. While scholars generally agree on the benign nature of the bishop saints of Iceland in comparison to their colleagues on the Continent (Whaley 1994), this study draws the attention to a large number of miraculous punishments than those considered so far. This overview thus unveils the multifaceted nature of the ecclesiastical officials of the northern world and questions the various purposes pursued by saga authors in including these miracles in their narratives.