Constructing a Saint: The Legend of St Sunniva in Twelfth-Century Norway

Abstract

The Irish princess-virgin-martyr St Sunniva is one of the most enigmatic of Scandinavian saints. The site of her martyrdom, the island of Selja on the west coast of Norway, became an important monastic and episcopal centre during the eleventh century. Towards the end of the twelfth century her relics were translated to Bergen, the new centre of the bishopric, and a hagiographical text was written for liturgical use. This article presents a new reading of the Sunniva legend based on the wider hagiographical, political, and ecclesiastical contexts in which it developed. It argues that the legend, drawing from a continental hagiographical tradition of attributing Irish origins to obscure saints, sought to forge an identity for the bishopric of Bergen in its new royal and ecclesiastical environment.