PÁLS LEIZLATHE VISION OF ST PAULEDITED AND TRANSLATED BY DARIO BULLITTA

VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
2017

VIKING SOCIETY TEXTSGeneral Editors
Alison Finlay
Carl Phelpstead© Viking Society for Northern Research 2017
Printed by Short Run Press Limited, Exeter
ISBN: 978-0-903521-96-3

Cover image: Christ as Man of Sorrow, showing the instruments of the passion(See introduction, p. xxxviii).
Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 683 d 4to, f. 1r (c. 1385–99).
Photograph by permission of the Arnamagnæan Institute, Copenhagen.
Photograph: Suzanne Reitz.

CONTENTSv
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................
ix
Icelandic Manuscripts ................................................................
xii
The Latin Source Text ...............................................................
The Norse Text .......................................................................... xvi
Sins of the Tongue ..................................................................... xviii
xxi
Vocabulary ................................................................................
Páls leizla and Norwegian Texts ............................................... xxiv
Páls leizla and Icelandic Texts .................................................. xxx
Christology ................................................................................ xxxiv
Provenance ................................................................................ xliii
Edition and Translation ............................................................. xlvii
TEXTS
Páls leizla ....................................................................................
De Visione Sancti Pauli ...............................................................

1
2
2

TRANSLATIONSThe Vision of St Paul ...................................................................
On the Vision of St Paul ......................................................
.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS .................................

32

INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL QUOTATIONS ..................................

39

INDEX OF MANUSCRIPTS ........................................................

40

GENERAL INDEX ........................................................................

42

		

3
3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Several scholars and colleagues deserve special acknowledgement for
the valuable suggestions and unwavering support provided throughout
the preparation of this edition. I am particularly grateful to Kirsten Wolf
(University Wisconsin–Madison), Haki Antonsson (University College
London), Alex Speed Kjeldsen (The Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection,
University of Copenhagen), Marteinn Helgi Sigurðsson (Íslenzk fornrit,
Reykjavík), Stephen Pelle (Center for Medieval Studies and The Dictionaryof Old English, University of Toronto), Simonetta Battista (The Dictionaryof Old Norse Prose, University of Copenhagen), Þorbjörg Helgadóttir
(The Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, University of Copenhagen) and Carla
Falluomini (University of Perugia), for discussing with me textual, lexicaland translational matters related to the Norse texts and manuscripts. I am
also most grateful to the Jay C. and Ruth Halls Fund at the University
Wisconsin–Madison, for a visiting scholar fellowship which allowed me topresent a lecture based on the present study at the Department of German,
Nordic and Slavic in Fall 2016. During the preparation of the critical text
and English translation, I have consulted and made use of all the available
editions of Páls leizla and the Visio Pauli and I am especially indebted to
the works of Mattias Tveitane (1965), Jonas Wellendorf (2009) and Lenka
Jiroušková (2006). I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Alison Finlay(Birkbeck College) and Carl Phelpstead (Cardiff University), general
editors of the present series, for their careful amendments of the original
manuscript and for an efficient and delightful collaboration.
Finally, I dedicate this book to the memory of Christopher Sanders (†2013), Associate Editor at The Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, in gratitude
for his precious mentorship, sound advice and renowned generosity.
Turin, Italy
First Sunday of Advent 2017
Dario Bullitta

Introductionv

INTRODUCTION
I know a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know
not, or out of the body, I know not; God knoweth), such a one caught up to
the third heaven. And I know such a man (whether in the body, or out of thebody, I know not: God knoweth), That he was caught up into paradise, andheard secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter.1(2 Corinthians 12:2–4)

In this brief and cogent testimony given by Paul of Tarsus in his Corinthiancorrespondence—undoubtedly one of the most mystifying passages in the
New Testament—there seems to be little doubt that ‘the man in Christ’
referred to is none other than the apostle himself.2 Indeed, Paul was notunaccustomed to using dramatic Christophanies to legitimise his apostolicauthority when confronting opposition during his missionary journeys. In
this case, however, his accidental ascension to Paradise, and especially
his evasiveness in reporting it, greatly bewildered the first Christiancommunities, leaving ample space for theological speculation.3 For centuries,
Christian literature sought solutions to numerous enigmas concerning 2
Corinthians 12:2–4: What were the inexpressible secrets revealed to Paul?
What exactly was the third heaven and how many other heavens were there?
Did he experience a strictly spiritual ascension or was his body also taken
up into heaven? And, perhaps most importantly, did Paul’s otherworldly
journey differ from that awaiting other human souls in the afterlife? Such
metaphysical questions, and several other eschatological and soteriologicalinquiries, first found answers in a New Testament apocryphon that came tobe known as the ‘Apocalypse of Paul’ or Apocalypsis Pauli.4
In all probability the Apocalypsis Pauli was written in Greek in thirdcentury Egypt and may already have been known to Origen of Alexandria(† 253/254), who in the years 240–50 lists a similar text among the
1 ‘scio hominem in Christo ante annos quattuordecim sive in corpore nescio sive
extra corpus nescio Deus scit raptum eiusmodi usque ad tertium caelum et sciohuiusmodi hominem sive in corpore sive extra corpus nescio Deus scit quoniam
raptus est in paradisum et audivit arcana verba quae non licet homini loqui.’ All
quotations from the Vulgate are taken from Biblia sacra iuxta Vulgatam versionem(1969; 5th ed., rev. 2007). All English translations of the Latin text are taken fromthe Douay–Rheims Bible, available at http://drbo.org, accessed on 2 February 2017.
2 Paul refers indirectly to himself in 2 Corinthians 12:1; 12:5; 12:7. See discussion
in Garland 1999, 510–11.
3 On Paul’s visions and revelations in 2 Corinthians, see Blanton 2007, 163–73.
4 In the following discussion I make use of the the latest discussion of the text
available in Jiroušková 2006, 5–17.

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Páls leizla

official documents of the Eastern Church.5 Moreover, a third-century
Coptic analogue, bearing distinctive gnostic idiosyncrasies and in allprobability unrelated to the Greek text, was certainly in circulation among
the ascetic coenobitic communities of Upper Egypt, because in 1945 it
was found extant as Item 2 in Codex V of the Nag Hammâdi Library.6
Two different redactions of the Greek text were soon formed: a moreprimitive and unembellished version and a more recent text, datable tothe beginning of the fifth century, to which the so-called ‘Tarsus preface’
was added.7 According to the latter, during the consulate of the easternemperor Theodosius the Calligrapher († 450) and the consulship ofCynegius († 388), an angel appeared three times to a certain man in Tarsus(Anatolia) in the same house where Paul had once lived. He instructed the
man to unearth an ancient marble box from the foundations of the building.
The mysterious item was uncovered and sent directly to Constantinople
where the Emperor Theodosius unsealed it and, to his dismay, discoveredthat it contained a script transmitting the authentic revelation of St Pauland a report of his otherworldly journey. Subsequently, the emperor
commissioned a copy of the document and had it sent to Jerusalem.8
When the second Greek redaction became available and was in circulationin Western Europe, the first Latin translations were prepared.9 An older,
longer redaction more faithful to the Greek original was first made insouthern Italy in the sixth century.10 Its text, known as the Heaven–Hell
Redaction since it includes both Paul’s journey into the uppermost spheresof Paradise and his visit to the nethermost depths of Hell, is extant today
in seven manuscripts.11 A typical text of the Heaven–Hell type opens with
5 Origen is in turn cited in the thirteenth century by the Syriac Gregory
Barhebraeus († 1286) in his collection of ecclesiastical laws known as Nomocanon.
See Casey 1933, 28.
6 For an English translation of the Coptic text, see Parrot, MacRae and Murdock
1996, 255–59.
7 On the dating of the primitive text, see most recently Rosenstiehl 1990, 199–
207. The dating of the second redaction was proposed by Silverstein 1962, 347.
8 A translation of the second Greek redaction is available in Apocryphal Gospels,
Acts, and Revelations 1870, 477–92.
9 The first reliable edition of the Latin redactions was produced by Brandes 1885.
Subsequently, and until recently, the standard edition of the Latin apocryphon has
been Silverteins’s Visio Sancti Pauli 1935.
10 Rome and Campania have been advanced as possible places of composition.
See Jiroušková 2006, 12–13.
11 See the list in Jiroušková 2006, 29. The following summary is based on
James’s translation of the earliest manuscript of the Latin tradition, Paris, BnF,

Introductionvii

a brief introduction where the sun, moon, stars, sea, rivers and especiallythe earth complain in turn to God about the terrible sins of men, such as
fornication, adultery, homicide, theft, perjury and sorcery. A multitudeof angels speak to God about the souls of mankind and Paul is shown theblessed and the sinful at the moment of death. The actual metaphysicaljourney begins with Paul and Michael’s visit to the third heaven, described
as a golden, luminous palace with blooming and luxuriant vegetation andorchards closely resembling the Garden of Eden.12 They proceed to the cityof Christ where four great rivers flow: one of honey, where Paul sees minor
and major prophets;13 one of milk; one of oil and one of wine, where Paul
meets some of the patriarchs.14 The last magnificent vision is of the tenth
heaven, where King David is on a high altar and is classically depictedsinging the psalms in praise of the Lord with a psaltery and a harp.15
Paul is then taken to the profound darkness and desolation of Hell where
he is shown a series of sinners condemned to lie immersed in a river offire, each according to his offence: heretics up to their knees, fornicators
to their navels, detractors to their lips, conspirators to their eyebrows. He
then encounters another series of sinners and is told the reasons for theirbrutal torments: unbelievers groan and weep in abysmal pits; the soul ofan old man who indulged in gluttony and luxury is constantly piercedwith hooked stakes of iron; usurers are eaten alive by worms and serpents;
slayers of orphans and widows are forced to stand barefoot on icy groundwith amputated arms, and so forth. Profoundly shaken by this unbearable
sight, Paul cries bitterly and asks for divine intervention so that the sinners
may at least have some partial rest from their everlasting punishments.
Finally heaven opens, Christ descends before the astonished crowd and a
Sunday respite is granted to all inhabitants of Hell.16
A second Latin text, drawn from the first Heaven–Hell Recension, wasabbreviated to encompass only Paul’s visit to Hell, and is consequently known
nouv. acq. lat. 1631 (ff. 40v–48v), written in the ninth century at Fleury Abbey,
which transmits the text in its entirety (James 1955, 504–21).
12 The Visio Pauli is the first text to make extensive use of the association of
Paradise with the Garden of Eden; see Kabir 2001, 18–19 and the references there.
13 Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Micah and Zachariah.
14 Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Lot and Job. The image of the four rivers in Paradiseis again borrowed from the description of Eden in Genesis 2:10–14. See vanRuiten 2003, 263–84.
15 On the biblical references to David playing the harp and their subsequentinterpretation in medieval writings, see Fowler and Hill 1992, 330–32.
16 On the Sunday respite, see Willard 1935, 957–83. The theme was particularly
popular in Irish tradition, see Gougaud 1927, 63–72.

viii

Páls leizlaas the Hell Redaction. This is the Visio Pauli (VP) in the strict sense, which was,despite its brevity, by far the most widely circulated version of the apocryphon in
medieval Europe, as witnessed by its presence in some 102 surviving medieval
codices.17 In all probability, the shorter Hell Redaction first took shape in the British
Isles or in one of the numerous Insular monastic colonies in early ninth-century
Europe, as witnessed by the first four Carolingian manuscripts, which transmit anintermediate stage between the Heaven–Hell and the Hell Redactions.18
The manuscripts of the Hell Redaction have recently been reclassified
by Lenka Jiroušková, who has distinguished three main subfamilies,
each named according to its incipit: A ‘opereret nos’, B ‘interrogandum
est’, and C ‘dies dominicus’ (Jiroušková 2006, 170–99). With its 48
surviving witnesses, C was unquestionably the most popular version of theapocryphon in medieval Europe and the scriptoria of medieval Scandinavia
do not seem to be an exception to this general tendency. Indeed, the only
two translations of the Latin VP to have survived in the Scandinavian
vernaculars, a late fourteenth-century Old Danish translation and the Old
Norse Páls leizla (PLe), transmit details and literary motifs typical of theC group that are absent in both A and B.19 Evidence of this is the fact that,besides the Old West Norse and Old East Norse vernacular legacy, the only
surviving Latin manuscript copied on Scandinavian soil, a late fourteenthcentury codex from Vadstena Abbey, relates to the C group.20 Two
further codices transmitting a text of the B type, copied in Konstanz andPrague respectively, were imported to Sweden in the fifteenth century.21
Regrettably, no medieval manuscript of the Latin VP has to date been
identified in Denmark, Norway or Iceland.
17 The remaining four manuscripts transmit a third hybrid redaction, whichconflates readings of the first two. See Jiroušková 2006, 25–35. In the following
discussion I make reference to Jiroušková’s sigla and dating of the Latin manuscripts.
18 Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek (Bibliotheca Albertina) 1608, f. 6r–v (Le) of
unknown provenance; Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 216,
f. 126v (V2) from Reims; Pal. lat. 220, ff. 56r–60r (V3) from Lorsch; Sankt Gallen,
Stiftsbibliothek, 682, pp. 193–204 (StG1) from Fulda Abbey. See discussion in
Jiroušková 2006, 15–17 and 30 references there on the older classification.
19 On the Old Danish translation see Bullitta 2017.
20 Uppsala, Universitetsbiblioteket, C 22, ff. 130r–131v (U1), from c. 1370–1400,
is ultimately derived from the C group, although it elaborates and rearranges theoriginal scenes. Jiroušková 2006, 129–30.
21 Uppsala, Universitetsbiblioteket, C 77, ff. 91r–93v (U2), copied after 1416,
transmits a text of the B2 type, while Uppsala, Universitetsbiblioteket, C 212, ff.
1v–3r (U3), from the second half of the fourteenth century, is of the B/spec type.
See Jiroušková 2006, 130–32.

Introductionix

Icelandic manuscripts
PLe is extant in two late medieval Icelandic manuscripts, AM 681c 4to andAM 624 4to, dated respectively to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.22
The text is transmitted in fragmentary form in both. Significantly, in both
codices its text has been copied along with that of Duggals leizla (DLe), the
Old Norse translation of the widely circulated Visio Tnugdali (VT), which
was allegedly commissioned by the Norwegian King Hákon Hákonarson(† 1263) in the first half of the thirteenth century for the benefit of his
pious subjects.23 DLe immediately precedes PLe in AM 681c 4to andfollows it in AM 624 4to.
AM 624 is a voluminous codex in small quarto format comprising
170 parchment leaves transmitting numerous Old Norse translations of
Latin and English texts, mostly of a theological, homiletic, catecheticaland moralising nature.24 Lacking its original beginning, the codex
now starts with Ritning Bernharðs, a translation of the Meditationes
piissimae de cognitione humanae conditionis (ff. 1r/1–7v/28), a Cistercian
devotional treatise on spiritual ascent mistakenly attributed to Bernardof Clairvaux († 1153);25 two collections of Ǽfintýr (Ǽf), moralised
22 Unless indicated otherwise, all datings of Icelandic and Norwegianmanuscripts and the occurrences of each lemma are taken from ONP, available at
http://onp.ku.dk, accessed on 2 February 2017. PLe was first edited in En norrøn
versjon av Visio Pauli 1965. Subsequently, a normalised transcription of Tveitane’ssemi-diplomatic text has been offered in Wellendorf 2009, 411–15.
23 The attribution to King Hákon, although dubious, is found in the prologue:‘Hakon k(onung)r j bok sinne er ur latinu snere ok let. nor¶na til um botar monnum
ok huganar at þeir *fagni. er gott giora’ (681c) (DLe, 2/14–15). Its text is transmitted
in three further medieval manuscripts: AM 681 a 4to (ff. 1r–8v) from c.1450; AM
681 b 4to (ff. 1r–4v) also from 1450; and a rather lengthy extract is found within
Mikjáls saga in AM 657 a–b 4to (on ff. 5r/16–6v/19), which dates from c.1350.
24 The codex has been fully digitised and is available at https://handrit.is/is/manuscript/imaging/is/AM04-0624#page/Fremra+spjald+(r)+(1+af+414)/
mode/2up, accessed 2 February 2017. For the sake of consistency, in the following
discussion I refer to the foliation of 624 4to, rather than to the modern pagination
system assigned in previous studies.
25 A transcription of the Old Norse text is available in Leifar fornra kristinnafræða íslenzkra 1878, 188/34–198/39. The Latin text is edited among the texts
attributed to Saint Bernard in PL. See Pseudo-Bernardus Claraeuallensis,
Meditationes piissimae de cognitione humanae conditionis, PL 184, cols 485–508.
The Icelandic text ends in the middle of Chapter 4, and corresponds to PL 184,
cols 486A–493C. On the fortunes of the Meditationes, see especially Bultot 1964,
256–92 and most recently Giraud 2016, especially 155–256.

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Páls leizla

exempla translated from a Middle English expanded version of the Gesta
Romanorum (ff. 27r/5–43r/8 and 149v/1–170v/28);26 a Norse translationof the Joca monachorum also known as Viðrǿða lærisveins ok meistara(126v/1–130v/6);27 and finally DLe (130v/7–146v/25) followed by PLe(147r/1–149r/25). Particularly worthy of note is the presence of early
Norse homilies such as the well-known Stave Church Dedication Homily
or In dedicatione templi sermo (ff. 19r/20–24r/17), extant in both the
NHB28 and the IHB;29 Gregory the Great’s twenty-first Easter homily
about the finding of the empty tomb by the three Marys as related in Mark
16:1–5 (ff. 119v/17–122r/20),30 which has been recognised as one of thesources consulted for the composition of In die sancto pasce sermo ad
populum in the NHB;31 and a section on Mary’s Assumption extracted
from Ralph d’Escures’s († 1112) Homilia de assumptione Mariae (ff.
122r/20–126r/23).32
26 With additional material form Odo of Cheriton († 1246/47) and Robert
Mannyng’s († 1338) Handlyng Synne. The first collection in 624 4to is edited
in Islendzk Æventyri 1882, 26–27, 117–36, 195–96, 307–08, while the second isavailable at 3–4, 50–51, 70–74, 77–94, 194–95, 204–11, 239–44, 246–49, 267–75.
Subsequently, the first collection has been re-edited and integrated with material
from JS 43 4to in Miðaldaævintýri þydd úr ensku 1976 (Ǽf). See also discussionin The Story of Jonatas in Iceland 1997, lxxxvii–lxxxviii.
27 An edition of the text is available in Marchand 1976, 109/1–126/8.
28 AM 619 4to, item 21 (ff. 47r–49v), c. 1200. See NHB 95/6–99/36.
29 Stockholm, Kungliga Biblioteket, Cod. Holm. Perg. 15 4to, Item 30 (ff.
45r–46v), c.1200. See IHB ff. 45r/1–46v/29. Along with AM 237 a fol., the four
texts are printed synoptically in Messuskýringar 1952, 83/1–107/16. On the Stave
Church Homily see especially Turville-Petre 1972, 79–101 and Magerøy 1985,
96–122.
30 See discussion in Bekker-Nielsen 1960, 99–104 and more recently in Wolf
2001, 285. The text is edited in Leifar fornra kristinna fræða íslenzkra 1878,
151/1–154/3.
31 Item 17, ff. 40v–43r. The connection between the two texts was noted by
Kirby 1980, 72. See NHB, 81/33–87/10.
32 The text is edited in Leifar fornra kristinna fræða íslenzkra 1878, 154/4–
158/42. Section 154/15–155/20 is not derived from Ralph d’Escures’s text.
See Conti 2008, 215–38, especially 221–26. The source was first identified by
McDougall 1983, 75–76 (n. 69) and 300–02. Stephen Pelle has recently identified
the Latin sources underlying the Annunciation homily on ff. 118r/1–119v/17,
an adaptation of Absalon of Springierbach’s († c.1200) Sermo Festivalis 22 (Inannunciatione beatae Mariae), and the two homiletic fragments on the ornamentsof the Old Testament tabernacle on ff. 23v–24r and 24v–26v, which seem to evoke

Introductionxi

The manuscript is missing several single leaves, in the section containing
DLe, after ff. 140r, 142r, 144r and 146r. The last leaf must have contained
the final passages of the text; it seems clear however that the exemplar
from which the scribe of 624 was copying was also defective, since DLe
is followed on f. 147r by PLe, the beginning of which is defective, andthe same hand would have needed three more folios, three recto and two
verso sides, to transcribe the entire text of DLe (DLe, xxi). The same
hand that transcribed approximately one third of the codex, including
the beginning of DLe and the whole of PLe, that is ff. 130v–135r and
147r–149r, has been recognised by Stefán Karlsson as that employed incertain documents written by Jón Þorvaldsson († 1514), first officialis
in Hólar (1495–98) and later abbot of Þingeyrar in the last years of hislife (1500–14).33 This identification allows a fairly secure dating of themanuscript to c.1500.34
Considerably more obscure are the vicissitudes of AM 681 c, a single
leaf in quarto format, which on the recto side transmits the last elevenlines of PLe followed by the first nineteen lines of DLe. A precise
manuscript dating is more difficult to assert in this case. While Unger puts
its transcription to around 1500 (HMS, I xii), Kålund and Cahill advancean earlier date of c.1400 (Kålund 1889–94, II 97 and DLe, xxxiii). In
support of this older date for the text, Cahill notes a conservative traitof the transcription in maintaining e and é before gi/gj—which towards
the sixteenth century would be written as ei and ie—but also notes thatthe change of vá>vo and e>ei before ng, which is consistent throughout
the leaf, would contradictorily support a younger dating to c.1500 (DLe,xxxiii). I would tend to agree with the latter dating, considering thepresence of two semi-synonymic verbs blífa ok vera in the last exhortatorylines of the text (41), a particular combination that 681 c and 624 sharewith Icelandic diplomas dating from the fourth quarter of the fifteenthpassages of Bede’s († 735) De tabernaculo and Peter of Celle’s († 1183) Mosaicitabernaculi mystica et moralis expositio. See Pelle 2016.
33 He seems to have written the rekaskrá section of Þingeyrarbók, AM 279 a
4to (f. 9r–v) dating from c.1490, three original letters from c.1490 and three false
letters dated 1401, 1432 and 1436. See discussion in Islandske originaldiplomer
indtil 1450: Tekst 1963, xxiv–xxxiii. The false letters are available as nos 121,
233, 257 with respective facsimile reproductions in Islandske originaldiplomer
indtil 1450: Faksimiler.
34 See also En norrøn versjon av Visio Pauli 1964, 6 and DLe, xxi andxxiv. A somewhat earlier date, of the fifteenth century, is found in Kålund
1889–94, II 37.

xii

Páls leizla

century.35 As to its provenance, on the bottom recto side of the leaf ÁrniMagnússon notes: ‘fra Oddi Sigurdssyni mier sendt til Kaupmannahafnar.’
Oddur Sigurðsson († 1741) was varalögmaður in the Northwest from1707.36
A comparison of the DLe text transmitted in AM 624 and AM 681c hasrevealed that the two manuscripts must derive from a common ancestor(Cahill’s z) from which they have inherited their common errors (DLe,xxxviii–xli and xliv). Although the brevity of the extant text precludes
lengthy collations, it is evident that 624 and 681c also agree closely
throughout the text of PLe. Their transcriptions diverge five times intotal: in four instances (40) the text of 624 seems to preserve sounderreadings,37 whereas in a single case both concurrent readings could beconsidered correct (39b/add).38 Regrettably, none of these readings finds
a direct parallel in the Latin text.
The Latin Source Text
As seen above, PLe was drawn from a Latin text of the C type. The mostevident proof of this is the presence in both texts of an old interpolation
known as the ‘Bridge of Hell’. The scene describes a frightful bridge(12a), an allegorical pathway that was in all probability borrowed frombook IV, ch. 37 of Gregory’s Dialogi. Here the soul of a Roman soldier
is described in the underworld attempting to cross a bridge spanninga black river that would lead him to the other shore covered with lush
fields and scented flowers.39 Much like Gregory’s soldier, a sinful soul
35 See discussion in the ‘Vocabulary’ section below. The presence of the verb

blífa was first noted by Jonas Wellendorf, although as will be seen below, its
juxtaposition with the verb vera as a formula is even more significant for thedating of the text. See Wellendorf 2009, 144.
36 See Íslenzkar æviskrár IV 1951, 19–20. During the first Icelandic
census of 1703 Oddur was 22; he is said to be attestatus and to live inSyðri-Rauðimelur (Hnappadalssýsla). See https://manntal.is, accessed on 2
February 2017.
37 A ‘declina a malo’/B ‘declina a male’; A ‘við skildir þessar píslir’/B ‘viðskildir frá þessum píslum’; A ‘sem’/B ‘en’; A ‘frá sagt’/B ‘sagt’; A ‘látum af ílluok gørum gótt’/B ‘látum af íllu ok gør gótt’.
38 A ‘tungur vÌri fyrr’/B ‘tungur vÌri en fyrr’.
39 The Norse text lacks its beginning, starting with the following scene: A ‘⟨Ok
brú liggr yfir á⟩na ok ganga þar yfir góðra manna sálir án allri hrÌzlu en synðugra
mana sálir ganga mj†k hrÌddar ok skulu þÌr af falla brúni ok ganga sumar lengra
en sumar skemmra.’ For a Latin text and facing Italian translation of Gregory’s
vision, see Gregorius Magnus, Dialogi 2006, 280/52–285/2. Silverstein was theIntroductionxiii

in the VP is said to be forced to walk on a daunting bridge while fearing
its disastrous fall into the fiery waters of a dreadful river, populated by
all sorts of infernal beasts. The great majority of the C manuscripts also
share other distinguishing features with the Norse text: the descriptionof the soul of a man being beaten and tortured by a group of devils(26),40 a dialogue between Paul and Michael on the exact number of the
tortures of hell (39a–39b)41 and a final conventional homiletical formulaencouraging the listeners to fear the pains of hell and convert to the lawof God (41).42
Within the C tradition, four more subfamilies have been identified:
C1, C2, C3 and C/spec (Jiroušková 2006, 185). Whereas the first threegroups are characterised by a certain degree of accuracy and stability
in the chronological presentation of events, the C/spec group includes
eleven manuscripts, which display a different order of scenes thatvaries within the same subfamily.43 The majority of them are fromfirst scholar to suggest this connection with the Dialogi. See Visio Sancti Pauli
1935, 78–79. However, Dinzelbacher subsequently noted that a similar image
was already known to Gregory of Tours († 594), who in his Historia Francorum
attributes the report of the bridge vision to Sunniulfus, Abbot of Randan monasteryin Auvergne, who seems to have described it around the year 571 (Dinzelbacher
1973, 14–15). The vision excerpt from the Historia Francorum is available in
Visioni dell’aldilà in occidente 1987, 149–65.
40 A ‘⟨Þ⟩á komu þeir í þann stað er maðr stóð við stiku ok tunga hans ⟨var⟩
dregin út inn um kverkr honum ok negld við stikuna ok stóðu við fjándr ok b†rdu
hana meðr járnv†lum.’
41 A ‘Páll postoli spurði eingil hversu margar píslir voru í helvíti. Eingill svarar
þó at vÌri hundrað tungna ok vÌri †rtalin. Þá vinnask þÌr eigi til at telja allarpíslir er í helvíte eru.’ On this particular reading, see section ‘Páls leizla andNorwegian Texts’ below.
42 A ‘Nú h†fum vér heyrt hversu mikit skilr eilífa sÌlu ok eilífa kval gørum sem
David segir í Psalterium. Declina a malo et fac bonum. Látum af íllu ok gørum
gótt. Þá eigum vér vist hjá Kristi ok erum þá við skildir þessar píslir sem nú hefir
verit frá sagt ok sá er Ì sÌll er þar skal blífa ok vera.’ The closing exhortation issubsequently considerably augmented in the Norse text (41/add).
43 See Jiroušková 2006, 189. In roughly chronological order: Munich, Bayerische
Staatsbibliothek, clm 14348, ff. 217rb–218ra, c.1200 (M5); Paris, BnF, lat. 5266,
ff. 16ra–22vb, c.1200 (P8); London, BL, Royal 11.B.III, 334va–vb, c.1300 (L9);Paris, BnF, lat. 3529A, ff. 121ra–122ra, c.1300 (P7); Schlägl, PrämonstratenserStiftsbibliothek, Cpl. 226, f. 206r–v, c.1300–1400 (Sch); London, BL, Harleian
2851, ff. 58r–60v, c.1300–1400 (L4); Brno, Státní vědecká knihovna, Mk 99[I. 29], f. 226r–v, c.1370 (Br); London, St. Paul’s Cathedral Library, Ms. 8, ff.

xiv

Páls leizla

the fourteenth (L9, P7, Sch, L4, Br) and fifteenth centuries (L14, D2,
C6, P6), whereas only two copies (M5, P8) survive from the thirteenth.
Four of them were written in England (L9, L14, D2, C6), two in France(P6, P8), one in Germany (M5) and one in Bohemia (Br). The placeof transcription of three codices (P7, Sch, L4) remains unknown atpresent.
Jonas Wellendorf has proposed that the Norse text might derive froma lost exemplar pertaining to what Jiroušková (2006, 191–96) defines
as ‘singular redactions’, that is to say versions of the VP that cannot beclassified within a specific subgroup, although he notices that both C1
and the Norse text omit two of Paul’s lamentations on the wretchednessof the sinful in hell (15, 27a) (Wellendorf 2009, 129). It should however
be noted that scene 15 is missing in the great majority of manuscripts
pertaining to the C/spec type;44 and scene 27a is omitted in L12, themanuscript identified in the following discussion as the closest variant
text to the vernacular rendition. Although the direct Latin manuscript
source consulted by the Norse compiler is unfortunately lost, PLe shareswith M5, P8, L9, P7, D2 and P6 (all manuscripts of the C/spec group) asimilar erroneous sequence of scenes. After the presentation of sinners
punished for adultery and incest (20c), these manuscripts introduce ascene describing men and women eating their own tongues (18) followedby another reading that describes sinners who have not observed fasts(24) (Jiroušková 2006, 736–46). Similarly, the Norse text first presents
the lustful sinners (20c), then men and women eating worms and serpents(28f) and subsequently the gluttons (24). Both texts introduce two very
similar scenes at the same point in the narrative, describing men andwomen suffering the same torture, a macabre eating of their own tongues(18) and slithering animals (28f) respectively. The disclosed scene (28f)
must already have been displaced in the very Latin manuscript consulted
by the Norse compiler.45
Unsurprisingly, besides this particular rearrangement of the plot, theNorse text shares a significant number of major and minor details withsome of these manuscripts: it agrees with M5 and P6 in some fourteen
188r–189r, c.1400 (L12); Dublin, Trinity College, TCD 277, pp. 335–338, c.1450(D2); Cambridge, Saint John’s College, Ms. D.20 (95), ff. 199v–201r, c.1400–1500(C6); Paris, BnF, lat. 3528, ff. 14r–16r, c.1450–1500 (P6).
44 D2, L9, M5, P6, P7, P8, Mk1, Mk2, Sch, Br.
45 Cf. P 6 (18) ‘Postea vidit Paulus locum tenebrosum plenum viribus etmulieribus, qui comedebant linguas suas’/ P6 (28f) ‘Postea vidit beatus Paulus locum
tenebrosum plenum viris et mulieribus et vermes et serpentes comendentes eos’.

Introduction

xv

instances, thirteen with P8 and twelve with P7.46 These shared details
represent mostly older and more stable variant readings within the C/
spec tradition that have subsequently been altered in other codices of
the C/spec type. Evidence of their antiquity is their presence in the twooldest manuscripts within the C/spec subfamily, M5 and P8, and the very
provenance of the manuscripts that exhibit them. Significantly, M5, P6, P8
and P7 are all codices written on the Continent, in an area comprising Franceand Germany, where the C/spec tradition seems to have first circulated.
Besides the agreements with the latter four codices, the variant textthat best represents the Norse rendition within the C/spec group is L12, a
voluminous manuscript written after 1400 at Droitwich Priory of Austin
Friars in Worcestershire, containing mostly sermons, exempla and various
texts of a theological nature (Ker 1969, 248–49). The text of L12 agrees
with PLe in some thirty-five instances and eleven of these are readings
shared by L12 and the Norse text alone. Besides minor details, their mostnotable similarities are: the description of a deep place located between
heaven and earth (28g);47 God admitting that, besides Paul and Michael’s
intercessional prayers, the Sunday respite was granted to the sinful thanks
in no small part to his own mercy (34g);48 the souls of the sinful assertingthat a single day of respite in Hell is worth more than a lifetime on earth(36);49 and a concluding statement suggesting that those who hold Sunday
as a holy day shall be with God throughout endless ages (37).50
46 Only two readings are shared with D4 and one with L9. Both codices were

written in England.
47 A ‘Ok voru þÌr sálir í svá djúpum stað sem er í milli himins ⟨ok⟩ jarðar’/
L12 ‘Et erat profunditas loci (emendavi lacus) quasi exaltantur celi a terra.’ Thereading is omitted by the C/spec group. The Norse text further explains that thisregion is inhabited by unrepentant men, who had been excommunicated during
their lifetime (28g/add).
48 A ‘Þá svaraði Guðs r†dd ok mÌlti. Fyrer mína mikla miskunn’/ L12 ‘Et
ait Dominus . . . / . . . maxime propter bonitatem meam et misericordiam.’ The
reference to God’s mercy is absent in the C/spec group; cf. M5 ‘Sed propter
benignitatem meam’.
49 A ‘Er oss ok meiri hvíld at þessum helgum dêgrum en at †llom d†gum lífs
vors’/L12 ‘Plus valet nobis refrigerium unius diei, quam omne tempus vite nostre
super terram.’ The C/spec group does not preserve the comparative construction;
cf. M5 ‘qui dedisti nobis refrigerium in spacio unius diei et duorum noctium superomne tempus vit¶ nostr¶.’
50 A ‘hann skal réttliga með Guði vera utan enda’/L12 ‘habebunt partem cumangelis dei et vitam sempiternam’. The C/spec group leaves out the reference toeternal bliss; cf. M5 ‘habeant partem cum angelis tuis.’

xvi

Páls leizla

The evidence discussed allows conclusions to be drawn on the mainfeatures of the Latin source text from which the Norse translation was
executed. The lost codex seems to have transmitted a text of the VP that
preserved all the characteristics of an intermediate transmission stage of
the C/spec subfamily: it most certainly inherited an old Continental C/spec
sequence of scenes and yet must conceivably have been fairly close in space
and time to the text of L12, since it agrees with it more than twice as often
as with with M5 and P6 and preserves a dozen readings that are exclusive
to it. It is therefore plausible to postulate that the lost copy from which theNorse text was drawn might have been one of the ancestors of L12 that wasin circulation in Western England during the second half of the fourteenth
century in an area not far from the latter’s place of production, the Midlands.
The Norse Text
Besides beginning erroneously in the middle of the ‘Bridge of Hell’scene,51 the Norse text presents the Latin narrative in a highly abridged
form. Fifteen original scenes are omitted in total, greatly exceeding thematerial omitted from any Latin manuscript of the C group.52 Some of thesepassages are quite crucial for the development of the plot, as for instancethe two choral prayers in which the sinful beg for mercy, one addressed toPaul and Michael for intercession (33b)53 and a second to Christ himself,
invoked with his Messianic epithet (34a).54 All the more significant is theabsence of Christ’s descent from heaven (34), a scene that represents oneof the significant turning points of the Latin narrative.55
The focus of the vernacular text seems instead to be largely on thedescription of the sinners and their measure-for-measure punishments.
This particular attention to the infernal tortures on the part of the Norse
compiler can be seen in the repetition of two scenes, originally dedicated
51 The lost beginning included the rubric and readings 1, 2b, 3, 8, 9a, 9b, 9c,
10, 11.
52 There are no traces of scenes 12c; 23; 23a; 24; 30b; 30c; 31; 32b; 32c; 32d;
33b; 34; 34a; 34f; 35.
53 Cf. L12 ‘Et clamaverunt peccatores, qui erant in penis, dicentes: Miserere
nobis, Michael archangele, et tu Paule, dilectissime Dei, intercede pro nobis ad
Dominum!’
54 Cf. L12 ‘Quem ita precabantur, qui erant in inferno, una voce dicentes: Miserere
nobis, fili David excelsi!’
55 Cf. L12 ‘Et vidit celum moveri et subito Filium Dei descendentem et diadema
in capite eius.’

Introductionxvii

to sinners immersed up to their lips (14c/bis)56 and eyebrows (14d/bis),57
used in the Norse text to introduce two new categories of sinners, those
immersed up to their hands (14/c)58 and to their chins (14/d),59 and by thedescription of gluttons who have neglected fasting (14b),60 a scene that
also occurs twice in the vernacular text (24a).61
The most compelling features of the Norse text are the numerous
idiosyncratic additions that, much like the above-mentioned repetitions,find no counterpart in any of the surviving manuscripts of the Latin
tradition. Several adaptations of the Latin text seem to be explanationsof plain catechetical concepts that conceal a desire for greater clarity on
the part of the scribe/redactor, and some show a consistently repetitive
pattern. So, for instance, when the sin of calumny is introduced, the Norse
compiler describes troublesome men who were unable to remain silent
while the holy mass was sung (14a),62 and the very same misconduct
is attributed to sinners who neglect to fast during festivities (24a).63
Contentious sinners who did not hear the word of God are describedas dishonouring their fathers and mothers (14c/bis),64 and the same issaid about the soul of a man who was not chaste with his words (26a).65
This image is repeated a third time and further expanded in connection
with malicious men who took pleasure in the misfortunes of others. In
the Norse text, they are said to have physically beaten their mothers
56 A ‘En þeir er til munns standa lifðu eftir munaðarráði ok ei þyrmdu f†ður okmóður í illum orðum ok fyrirlétu Guðs orð ok helga trú.’
57 A ‘En þeir ⟨er⟩ til brúna standa b†rðu f†ður sinn ok móður ok sóru eiða ranga
ok myrðu menn til fjár sér ok tóku fé illa eðr rÌntu kirkjur ok eigi villdu fyrergefa†ðrum ok eigi vildu til skriftar ganga né yf⟨irb⟩êta.’58 A ‘En þeir er undir hendr standa rÌntu ok stálu jafnkristna sér.’
59 A ‘En þeir er undir h†ku standa svíkja annan til lífs ok fjár.’
60 A ‘[O]k átu ofmikit ok drukku ok eigi vildu láta hungra sik fyrir Guðs sakir.’
61 A ‘Þessir menn átu ok drukku á hátíðum ok sátu í m†rgum drykkjum . . . /. . . ok vildu eigi fasta.’
62 A ‘[O]k óhljóðun gørðu í kirkju þá er hin helga messa var sungin.’
63 A ‘Þessir menn átu ok drukku á hátíðum ok sátu í m†rgum drykkjum ok vildu
eigi hlýða þá er hin helga messa var sungin ok vildu eigi fasta.’
64 A ‘En þeir er til munns standa lifðu eftir munaðarráði ok ei þyrmdu f†ður okmóður í illum orðum ok fyrirlétu Guðs orð ok helga trú’/L12 ‘Qui ad labia hii sunt,qui faciunt lites in ecclesia inter se non audientes verbum Dei.’
65 A ‘[O]k mÌlti við f†ður sinn ok móður brêðr ok sýstur eða presta eða
kennimenn þá er messur syngja ok fóru með lygi ok lausung manna í millum’/L12 ‘[N]on fuit castus . . . / . . . verbo.’

xviii

Páls leizla

and fathers (14d/bis).66 Transgressors of penance or fasts are described
twice as debauchees who have indulged in overdrinking and overeating(14b; 24a),67 and unmerciful men are said to have been unwilling to give
clothes, shoes, food or drink to the poor (24a).68 Unbelievers in Christ aredescribed in a lengthy passage as rejecting or falsifying simple dogmas,
such as the Trinity and the Resurrection (28e).69
Sins of the Tongue
Besides reworking material in the original text, the Norse compiler seems
also to refer or allude to six additional tortures and capital punishments
not mentioned in any of the manuscripts of the Latin VP.
The Norse text describes how a man who bore false witness, and manyothers like him, were punished by devils who nailed his tongue (26, 26a),70
and how the betrayers of God who forfeited people by means of witchcraft
were interred up to their hands and were forced to carry a fiery cauldron

66 A ‘En þeir ⟨er⟩ til brúna standa b†rðu f†ður sinn ok móður’/L12 ‘Qui adsupercilia, hii sunt, qui gaudent super malicia proximorum.’67 A ‘[O]k átu ofmikit ok drukku ok eigi vildu láta hungra sik fyrir Guðs sakir’/L12‘[Q]ui postea non redeunt ad penitenciam; A ‘Þessir menn átu ok drukku á hátíðum
. . . / . . . ok vildu eigi fasta’/L12 ‘Hii sunt, qui solverunt ieiunium ante tempus.’
68 A ‘Þessir menn vildu eigi gefa fyrer Guðs sakir klÌði né skúa ok eigi mat
né drykk’/D2 ‘[A]c etiam eos contra iusticiam oppresserunt et postea cum eis nonconcordabantur.’
69 A ‘Þeir sem eigi vildu trúa á Guð almáttigan ok þeir sem t†luðu lygi at GuðvÌri Faðir ok Sonr ok Heilagr Andi ok því at hann sé af Helgum Anda ok borinn af
Maríu meyju ok ei trúðu burð Krists né upprísu hans ok því at hann vÌri krossfestrok þeir er ⟨eigi⟩ tóku við trú ok kristni ok heldu eigi síðan ok eigi vildu taka holdok blóð Drottins Vors Ihesu Christi ok ⟨eigi⟩ vildu til skriftar ganga’/L12 ‘Hi sunt,qui non credunt Christum Filium Dei venisse in carne nec nasci ex Maria Virgine,
et qui non sunt baptizati nec communicati de corpore Christi.’
70 A ‘⟨Þ⟩á komu þeir í þann stað er maðr stóð við stiku ok tunga hans ⟨var⟩ dreginút ˋinn um kverkr honumˊ ok negld við stikuna ok stóðu við fjándr ok b†rdu hanameðr járnv†lum . . . / . . . ok hverr annara e⟨r⟩ svá eru píndir’/L12 ‘Mox vidit inalio loco unum senem inter quatuor diabolos plorantem et ululantem.’ Wellendorf
notes that a ninth-century manuscript, Sankt Gallen, Stadtbibliothek (Vadiana),
317, ff. 56r–68v (StG L) mentions the nailing of tongues, although it should be
noted that the text transmitted is a hybrid version of the apocryphon that conflates
readings from the VP and the Apocalypsis Pauli and that the nailing of tongues ispractised on men and women, which corresponds to reading 24a, rather than on
the soul of the sinful man, reading 26 (Wellendorf 2009, 135 n. 2).

Introduction

xix

on their shoulders (26/add).71 The excommunicated who were not willingto expiate their sins were burnt at the stake, tormented on a glowing hotstone, boiled and heavily beaten (28f/add).72
It seems evident that the Norse compiler felt compelled to pay particularattention to the sins of the tongue—he defines those who commit them as
illir í tungu (26a)—and to provide a description of the relative torments thatawaited the sinful for their abuse of language. The first great classificationof the peccata linguae was drawn up by William Peraldus († 1271),
Dominican friar and later Archbishop of Lyon, who first gave verbal sins
the status of an eighth capital vice.73 Indeed, the eighth book of his Summade vitiis et virtutibus, written sometime before 1250, is entirely dedicated totwenty-four sins of the tongue, in which each verbal sin occupies a single
chapter.74 The Summa became a standard handbook among Dominican
confessors in the High Middle Ages and it is not unlikely that the Norse
compiler was, at least to some degree, acquainted with it. Six among
the above-mentioned peccata linguae may have been alluded to in the
Norse text: multiloquium ‘loquaciousness’ (14a), convicium ‘wrangling’(14c/bis), periurium ‘perjury’ (26a), blasphemia ‘blasphemy’ (26a/add),
maledictio ‘cursing’ (26a/add) and mendacium ‘lying’ (28e). To this list
bilinguium ‘hypocrisy’ could also be added, although this offence finds
a direct parallel in the corresponding Latin text (14a).75
It should also be noted that some of these tortures are perhaps notentirely the product of the compiler’s fervid imagination, since someof them were indeed capital or temporal punishments that were defined
71 A ‘[Í] þann stað er menn voru grafnir ⟨í⟩ j†rð niðr undir hendr ok var lagðr áherðar þeim eldr ok á ketill . . . / . . . þeir voru Dróttins svíkarar . . . / . . . ok fóru
með galdra ok gørningar eða fyrirgørðu m†nnum eða búfé af fjándans krafti.’
72 A ‘Þeir menn voru brendir á báli ok sindranda grjóti ok aumliga veldir okbarðir með sleggjum . . . / . . . þat voru bannsettir menn þeir sem Guð píndu ok íh†fuðsyndum ok glêpum voru ok vildu eigi afláta né yfirbêta né sÌttask við Guð.’73 On William Peraldus, see especially Dondaine 1948, 162–236.
74 See discussion in Baika 2007, 17–27. A critical edition of the Summa iscurrently being prepared by Kent Emery Jr., Joe Goering, Richard Newhauser
and Siegfried Wenzel, see The Peraldus Project at http://www.unc.edu/~swenzel/
peraldus.html. An edition of the first section of the work, the Summa de virtutibus,
has been prepared by the Institute of Historical, Literary and Cultural Studies
in Nijmegen and is available at http://www.narcis.nl/research/RecordID/
OND1294348. Both links were accessed on 2 February 2017.
75 A ‘Þeir menn sem standa til knjá eru þeir sem bakmálugir voru ok gótt þóttu
margt at mÌla um aðra munnskyldir’/ L12 ‘Hii sunt, qui inmittunt se sermonibus
alienis alios detrahentes.’xx

Páls leizlain law in the High Middle Ages. As a matter of fact, the text mentions
the burning at the stake of heretics once they were excommunicated as aresult of their refusal to recant (28f/add, 28g, 28g/add). Public executionof heretics or transgressors of Church ordinances through burning wasapproved in France as capital punishment by Louis IX in 127376 and by
the English Parliament through a decree that was passed by King Henry IV
in 1401.77 Records of sorcerers and traitors killed by boiling in cauldrons(28f/add) are especially associated with thirteenth- and fourteenth-century
Scotland,78 whereas in France and Germany this practice seems to havebeen reserved for counterfeiters (Ruff 2001, 99). In fourteenth-century
Regensburg false swearers and blasphemers had their tongues extracted
and pierced with an awl or nailed to a pillory (26; 26a) (see for instance
Schwerhoff 2005, 142).
Moreover, within the vernacular text there might be traces of two Norsefire and water ordeals, applied respectively to men and women underclerical supervision. These were particularly common in paternity suits
and were intended to reveal the truth about an alleged misdemeanour.
The aforementioned sindranda grjót or glowing hot stone associatedwith those souls that had committed deadly sins (28f/add) might soundreminiscent of the sindranda járn or glowing hot iron, which according
to the járnburðr practice had to be carried for a prescribed distancewithout any physical consequence by the accused man who wanted toprove his innocence.79 Similarly, the boiling cauldrons carried by the
betrayers of God (26a/add) seem to echo those employed in the ketiltak
ordeal, in which the accused woman was forced to plunge her hand
into a kettle of boiling water and retrieve a stone. If innocent, she was
expected to remain unharmed.80 Although in 1215 the Fourth Lateran76 Formally accepted through the Établissement de Saint-Louis. See for instance

The Etablissements de Saint Louis 1996, 59 n. 90.
77 The text came to be known as De haeretico comburendo. A translation of thedecree is available in English Historical Documents 1969, IV 850–51. See also
the discussion in Loewenstein 2013, 28 and references there.
78 The first such example is that of the farmers of Caithness, who with permissionof Jón Haraldsson, jarl of Orkney, boiled to death Bishop Adam of Melrose at
Halkirk in 1222. See for instance Pinkerton 1809, 58. A certain tradition relates
that the Butler of Scotland William II de Soulis, accused of sorcery, was boiled
alive in a cauldron in 1321. See L’Estrange Ewen 1929, repr. 2011, 30 n. 4.
79 No other instance of a sindranda grjót seems to occur in the Old Norse corpus.
80 It should however be noted that these were already common practices
in early medieval Europe and were imported to Scandinavia at a later stage.
The same ordeal of boiling water was imposed for theft and false witness inIntroductionxxi

Council prohibited clerical participation in such trials, they seem to havesurvived in Iceland throughout the thirteenth century (see for instanceStein-Wilkeshuis 1991, 90). The punishment of beating or húðlát (28f/add), especially reserved for marriage issues and slander against theking, is not mentioned in Icelandic sources until the end of the fourteenth
century (Stein-Wilkeshuis 1991, 95).
Vocabulary
One of the main distinguishing features of the vocabulary selected for PLe
is the abundant use of nominal compounds preceded by the negative prefix‘ó-’ to express failure to abide by the Christian law or concepts opposed
to joy and delight.81 An abundant use of compounds preceded by thenegative particle has been noted in the prose of Tristrams saga ok Ís†ndar,
written in Norway allegedly by Brother Robert during the reign of King
Hákon Hákonarson († 1263) (DLe, lxxxii). A second characteristic of thetranslation is the curious presence of four nominal compounds unattested
elsewhere, which reveal a very distinctive literary licence on the part ofits scribe/compiler.82 In addition to words widely used in the Old Norse
corpus, the compiler’s unique lexicon can be seen in the use of certain
words that did not enjoy wide circulation in the Norse Middle Ages. They
can be classified into two categories according to their geographical andchronological record:(a) a first group represented by words attested exclusively in
Norwegian sources, mainly in diplomas from the fourteenth century;(b) a second group comprising words extant solely in Icelandic
sources dating from the last quarter of the fifteenth century onwards.
To the first group belongs the noun óhljóðun/óhljóðan (f.) withthe variants úhljóðun/úhljóðan (14a) meaning ‘din, noise, racket’,sixth- and seventh-centuries Salic and Ripuarian laws and the ordeal by hotiron is already described in the twelfth-century Textus Roffensis copied frompre-Conquest English sources. See respectively Oliver 2001, 43–44 and Keefer
2009, 355–57.
81 Nine words in total: óhljóðan (14a); ómiskunnsamr (18a; 34d); ósêrr (26a);ósýnja (27a); óþefan (28); óhagligr (30a); óumrêðiligr (32a); óverðugr (34d/add); órêkðr (41).
82 There seems to be no trace of munnskyldan (14a); blótrífr (18a); skjóttvítni(26a); A †rtalin with the variant B †rtali (39b) in the Old Norse corpus. The nomen
agentis hrópari also seems to be a hapax in Old Norse since it is only recorded inModern Icelandic from 1652. See http://lexis.hi.is/cgi-bin/ritmal/leitord.cgi?adg=heim&h=SigJ%F3nssHugvPs, accessed on 2 February 2017.

xxii

Páls leizla

found four times in fourteenth-century sources dealing with legal
matters of direct or ultimate Norwegian provenance. It first occurs in
Gildisskrá, a Nidaros guild ordinance extant in a manuscript written
around 130083 and in order 17 of the Statuta Eilífs erkibyskups, theGreatest Statute of Archbishop Eilif Arnesson Kortin of Nidaros (†1332), transmitted in the last section of the so-called Belgdalsbók
from c.137084 and in the nearly contemporary Skarðsbók or Codex
Scardensis from c.1360–7585. In connection with óhljóðan, Tveitane
notes the presence of the nominal compound óhljóðanseyra (n.) in
the Sermo ad populum of the NHB (ff. 17r–18r)86 and in a letter by
Bishop Hákon Erlingsson of Bergen († 1342) dated 7 August 1339.87
However, the word within the compound has the figurative meaning of‘turning a deaf ear’, a sense noticeably different from the ‘din, noise,
racket within public spaces’ (such as churches or assemblies) of theabovementioned contexts in which the noun is found alone.88 The
compound skr†kvitni (n.) (34d) meaning ‘false witness’ also belongs
to this group since it is found exclusively in Norwegian sourcesfrom the thirteenth and, to a lesser extent, the fourteenth century.
It is seen in the Sermo necessaria of the NHB (ff. 43r–44v)89 andin three Norwegian laws found in fourteenth-century manuscripts:

83 Oslo, Norsk Riksarkivet, 50 c (f. 1r–v). ‘Aller menn skulu . . . / . . . drækka

standande hit fyrsta kiær eða giællde penning firir hvært andvege ok sua ef olioðan
ger⟨er⟩.’ (Storm 1896, 219/16).
84 AM 347 fol. (ff. 85ra–86rb). Belgdalsbók is indicated as G in the apparatus
criticus of DI. ‘Enn ef hann byriar edr ohliodan gerir eyri j huert sinne.’ (DI, II
542/18–19).
85 AM 350 fol. (ff. 145rb–147ra). Skarðsbók has been chosen as the base textof the DI ‘Enn ef hann byriar edr uliodar gialldi eyrifyrir huert sinn er gerir.’ (DI,II 542/18–19).
86 ‘En ìumir menn gera með ollu rangt í guðs husi . . . / . . . ok føra ó-lioðanì
æyru við guðs æmbæte ok halæitri þionaosto’ (NHB, 36/18–21). See discussion
in En norrøn versjon av Visio Pauli 1965, 16.
87 Hákon plays with the assonance of óhljóðan with the word óhlyðni
‘disobedience’. ‘[V]ttan vaarrar ofmykillar abrygdar þuilika vlydni med ifir­
dylmande aughum, eðr vliodans œyrum þeghiande vmlijda’ (DN, IX 134/20–21,
no. 117). See also discussion in McDougall 1983, 329–41.
88 Úhljóðan alone is also attested once as a gloss. See for instance Leiv Heggstad
et al. 1975.
89 ‘[V]ið mandrape ok við hordome. við ìtuldum. við scrøcvitnum. við mæinæiðum’ (NHB, 87/23–24).

Introduction

xxiii

Magnus Lagabøters Norske Landslov,90 Borgarþingsl†g,91 Réttarbêtr
Magnúss Hákonarsonar92 and in a post-medieval manuscript of the
Frostaþingsl†g.93
The second group includes the compound adjective forst†ðulauss (24a)‘without protection’, which other than in PLe, is employed once in an
Icelandic diploma dated 1486,94 twice in the first half of the sixteenth
century in an Icelandic diploma and in Reykjahólabók,95 and once ina post-medieval manuscript transmitting Fljótsdœla saga.96 The verb
blífa, a Danish loan word of ultimate Low German origin, is employedin the final hortatory conclusion (41) in juxtaposition with the verb
vera.97 Whereas blífa is first found in two Norwegian letters dated
1370 (DN, I 312) and 1389 (DN, XVIII 32), the first Icelandic source
to record it is the máldagi of the Augustinian monastery of Viðey, dated
21 July 1413, which attests it with the same redundant juxtaposition of
the two semi-synonymous verbs blífa ok vera.98 However, as Veturliði
Óskarsson has pointed out, this dating should be taken cautiously, since
the manuscript that transmits it was copied around 1570.99 As a matterof fact, the blífa ok vera cluster becomes widespread some seventy
years later than 1413. It occurs in two other Icelandic diplomas fromthe fourth quarter of the fifteenth century and in three sources from the
90 AM 60 4to (21va–81va; 98va–100ra) from c.1320. ‘[Þ]a sem huarke se aðrrœyndir at rognum eiðum ne skrœkuitnum’ (NGL, II 173/14).
91 AM 31 8vo 13 (ff. 3ra–7b, 8r) from c.1325–50. ‘Sa madr er læit hæfir
skrœkvithni han er ìœckr .vj. morkum silfrs’ (NGL, I 356/25–26).
92 AM 58 4to (3ra–84v) from c.1325–50. ‘En þæir men er i hordome liggia.
man­drapom eda mæinæidum. skrœkvithnum eda adrum ferlegum lutum’ (NGL,
II 454/4–5).
93 GKS 1155 a fol. (17v–68r) from c.1700. ‘Um ræði móti scröcvitnum áfimtarstemmu’ (NGL, I 239/37).
94 ‘[Þ]ar sem hvn nu l¶gi verndarlavs ok forst¹dvlaus og j avdn sett’ (DI, VI 570/1).
95 In an Icelandic diploma from 1513. ‘[Þ]etta fatækt forstavdvlavst skattland’(DI, VIII 443/10). Within Gregors saga byskups in Holm perg 3 fol. (ff. 83a–86vb;
31ra–33v), better known as Reykjahólabók, from around 1530–40. ‘[S]amt er ydart
rike forstavdv lavst nv sem fyre’ (Reykjahólabók 1969, 18/3).
96 In the longer version of Fljótsdœla saga, transmitted in Kall 616 4to (ff.
41r–60v) and copied in the eighteenth century. ‘Nu mun þad sanast. qvad Iórun,ad vær erum forstödulausar, þá bónde er ecki heima’ (Fljótsdœla hin meiri 1883,
127/27–8).
97 A ‘[O]k sá er Ì sÌll er þar skal blífa ok vera.’
98 ‘Enn þeir rekar . . . /. . . blifi ok veri epter þeirre skẏring’ (DI, III 750/7–8, c.1570).
99 AM 238 4to, ff. 35r–36v. See Veturliði Óskarsson 2009, 195–96.

xxiv

Páls leizla

sixteenth.100 Perhaps significantly, this particular combination is neverfound in Norwegian sources.
It seems clear from the evidence discussed that PLe includes a colourful
mélange of terms. Some nouns and compounds find a counterpart in
Norwegian laws and were especially widespread in the first half of the
fourteenth century. Later words or combinations of words are recorded
solely in Icelandic sources, attested from the fourth quarter of the fifteenth
century and throughout the sixteenth century. This great variety would
naturally suggest a late fifteenth-century Icelandic scriptorium as a possible
place of composition and an Icelandic or Norwegian scribe well acquainted
with fourteenth-century Norwegian laws.
Páls leizla and Norwegian Texts
In his critical edition of DLe, Peter Cahill suggested that the expression ok
brixlodo henne synda brixle ‘and [they] upbraided her with reproaches’
might originate from a passage in PLe (30) in which seven devils are said
to torment the soul of the sinful: ok b†rðu hana ok brugðu brigslum ‘and[they] beat her and upbraided [her] with reproaches’ (DLe, liii). Textual
evidence seems to suggest, however, that the author of PLe had knowledgeof and borrowed from DLe, rather than the other way around. In fact, whilethe verbal ‘reproaches’ of DLe do find a counterpart in the Latin VT,101
they do not have a direct correspondence in the Latin VP, where the soulis simply said to leave its body daily.102
Dependence of some sections of PLe on DLe is further supportedby the presence in the former of several details typical of the
100 ‘[H]afi hér verið og blifið með heiðr og æru’ (DI, VI 292/4–5 from 1480).
‘[S]em allra annara yfferbodara skal blijffa og vera epter riettu og settu l¹máále’(DI, VI 462/9–10 from 1482). ‘[H]vor vier lietvm svo blifa ok vera hvorke nytt nie
onytt’ (DI, VIII 151/15–16 from 1507). ‘[Þ]essa savmv vatzfiardar kirkiu vera oc
eiga ad blijfa’ (DI, VIII 162/25–6, from c.1507–14). ‘[A]d þær Collationes skylldi
fullmyndugur vera og blijfa’ (DI, X 569/4–5, 1540).
101 A ‘[Þ]uinæst sem dioflar sªu att hon uar þeim iatud hurfo þeir um hana ok
brixlodo henne synda brixle ok jllyrda hana med ferligum ordum og slitv hanaalla j svndur med t¢lum er uier fyrr gªtum’ (DLe 49/21–50/11). W ‘Demones
autem videntes animam sibi concessam, circumvenerunt eam, et magnis conviciis
exprobantes cum supradictis instrumentis in frustra dissipaverunt’ (DLe 50/19–21).
102 A ‘Ok þá sá postolinn borna sál syndogs manns til helvítis ok fylgðo VII
englar fjándans ok fóru með hana illa ok b†rðu hana ok brugðu brigslum’/ L12 ‘Etpostea aspiscebat inter celum et terram et vidit animam peccatoris ululantem interseptem diabolos deducentes eam, cotidie de corpore egressam.’Introductionxxv

latter. These are especially concentrated towards the end of thenarrative and find no counterpart in any of the manuscripts of theLatin VP. So, for instance, where the Latin VP mentions a certain
location in Hell in which the souls of condemned men and women
eat worms and serpents (28f),103 the Norse text adds toads to thelist of crawling creatures.104 DLe enumerates these three as thevenomous creatures inhabiting Ireland, a sentence that corresponds
perfectly with the VT.105 The same can be said about the descriptionof men being eaten alive by hounds, wolves, worms and adders(28f/add),106 a scene that is nowhere to be found in the Latin VP
but is present in both DLe and VT.107 Additionally, no mention
is made in the Latin VP of the church robbers referred to in thevernacular adaptation (26a/add),108 whereas DLe and its Latin
source describe the profanation of churches committed by robbers
who steal books, liturgical vestments and chalices.109 A further
detail that may derive from DLe, possibly through memory rather
than by juxtaposition of passages, is the description of a great housein which a group of sinful souls are condemned to suffer (24a).110
103 L12 ‘Et vidit in alio loco viros ac mulieres et vermes et serpentes commedentes

eos. Et erant anime vive . . . / . . . alteram quasi oves in ovili.’
104 A ‘Þá komu þeir í þann stað er menn átu forska p†ddur ok n†ðrur ok allskyns
kvikvendi.’
105 A ‘[E]iturkuikendum ormmum pauddum ok froskum’ (DLe 4/21); W ‘[S]erpentium, ranarum, bufonum et omnium animalium venena ferentium’ (DLe
3/25–26).
106 A ‘En suma rífu vargar ok hundar í sundr. En suma hjoggu ormar ok n†ðrur.’
107 A ‘[Þ]ar þolde sw enn auma sªl. hunda bit ok warga slit. barnijngar okbiarnar bit ok leona ok fleiri annara dyra. orma haugg ok eitr naudror ok margra
annara grimligra ok ogurligra dyra’ (DLe 36/20–37/10); W ‘Passa est enim ibidem
canum, ursorum, leonum, serpentium seu innumerabilium aliorum incognitorum
monstruosorum animalium ferocitatem’ (DLe 36/32–37/1).
108 A ‘Þeir voru Dróttins svíkarar rÌntu heilaga kirkju drápu biskupa ok lÌrða
menn aðra.’109 A ‘[Þ]a mællti salin huad kallar þu kirkiu stuld eingellinn mællti þad sem
stolid er ok uikt til *Gwds þionozstu er haft. bækr edr messo klædi ok kalekar
edr annad þess konar þijng edr þo at oheilagt sie þegar ur kirkiu er stolid’ (DLe42/10–14); W ‘Tunc anima: Quid, ait, vocas sacrilegium? Respondit angelus: Quisive sacratum sive de sacrato aliquid furatur, hic sacrilegii reus judicatur, maxime
vero, qui delinquunt sub tegumento religionis’ (DLe 42/22–25).
110 A ‘⟨Þ⟩á gengu þau en ok fundu hús mikit ok sá í því menn marga ok
alla nøkta ok voru sumt konur en sumt karlmenn ok voru illa píndir af frosti
ok eldi.’xxvi

Páls leizla

The sentence is absent in the VP but present in the VT and in its
vernacular translation.111
Ole Widding and Hans Bekker-Nielsen, followed by Mattias Tveitane,suggested that the text of the VP must have been known to the scribe/
redactor of the NHB, written around 1200 in the Munkeliv Abbey of the
Benedictine order,112 and that the vernacular translation contained in 624
4to and 681 c 4to had perhaps a longer textual history than that suggestedby the date of its surviving manuscripts.113 In support of this suggestion,
they noted that the Old Norse Viðrǿða líkams ok sálar einn laugardag at
kveldi, a translation of the Latin poem Nuper huiuscemodi visionem somni,
possibly compiled from its Old French rendition Un samedi par nuit, wasrubricated in the NHB (f. 75v/16) with the mistaken title Visio sancti Pauliapostoli.114 This seems to be rather circular reasoning, however, since one
could argue, on the contrary, that the scribe’s erroneous rubrication may
reveal his unfamiliarity with any of the Latin or vernacular versions of
the VP, or that he must have had a very cursory knowledge, if any, of its
features and plot.
Another piece of evidence advanced by Tveitane in support of an earlyknowledge and employment of the VP in thirteenth-century Norway is
the presence of the well-known Virgilian literary cliché of the hundred
tongues of iron (39b, 39b/add)—that are almost unable to account for all
the devilry of Hell115—in a sermon on the Nativity of the Lord, extant in

111 A ‘NW sem þau geingu um myrkuan ok hardann ueg. þa syndiz þeim hus
opit ok suo mikid sem hit mesta fiall’ (DLe 47/12–13) W ‘Cum autem irent per
tenebrosa loca et arida, apparuit eis domus aperta. Domus autem ispa, quamviderant, erat maxima, ut arduus mons pre nimia magnitudine, rotunda vero erat
quasi furnus’ (DLe 47/21–23).
112 Sancti Albani on Selja or at the Augustinian house of Jónskirkja have also
been suggested as plausible scriptoria. See McDougall 1993, 290 and most recently
Berg 2010, 35–77.
113 See Widding and Bekker-Nielsen 1959, 276 and En norrøn versjon av Visio
Pauli 1964, 14.
114 NHB 148/17–153/23. The relationships of the Norse text with the Latin
poem and the Old French translation have not been satisfactorily explained. The
Old Norse rendition is edited in Widding and Bekker-Nielsen 1959, 280–89. On
this subject, see Henningham 1939, 43–49.
115 In the Latin text the pains of Hell are said to be 144,000 (that is, 12x12x100),
a number borrowed from Revelation 7:4 and 14:1, where it refers to the Jewish
evangelists descended from the twelve tribes of Israel. See for instance Blount
2009, 144–48.

Introduction

xxvii

the NHB under the rubric De natiuitate domini sermo.116 Subsequently,
Cahill has noted that the same graduatio is also found in DLe within apassage that corresponds perfectly with the Latin VT.117
Regarding the connection between these texts, it should be noted thatthe three seem to employ two different uses of the same Virgilian cliché.
The reference to the hundred tongues is already an integral part of the plot
in the respective Latin sources of DLe and PLe. Towards the end of thetwo otherworldly peregrinations, the formula is used to introduce the many
pains of Hell precisely when the two narratives reach their climax; that is,soon after Duggall sees Lucifer in the sombre depths of Hell118 and whenPaul, at the very end of his journey, worn out by such macabre sights, asks
Michael the precise number of the tortures of Hell.119 The formula in the
NHB, on the other hand, is employed as a rhetorical device that adds colour
to the warnings of the homilist and provokes an emotional response fromthe audience, rather than being a crucial passage for the logical developmentof the discourse. After a paraphrase of Gabriel’s reassuring words to the
Virgin during the Annunciation in Luke 1:28–38, the Norse homilist
strongly encourages the audience to perform righteous deeds during thisearthly life in order to dwell with God in heaven, rather than in Hell. In
Hell, he maintains, the fire is seven times hotter than any fire on earth andthe mass of evil besieging one there is so great that if a hundred heads hada hundred tongues of iron and could speak from the first day of Creation
until Doomsday, they could never embrace it all with human speech.120
116 Item 2 (ff. 15r–16v). The sermon is edited in NHB, 31/24–35/15. The presenceof this reference in the NHB was first noticed by Moltke (1927, 233 n. 1). The
hundred tongues of iron were an extremely popular topos throughout the Middle
Ages and several texts refer to it. See for instance Courcelle 1955, 231–40 and
Cameron 1967, 308–09. Dependence of the NHB on PLe has since been doubted
by Wellendorf (2009, 141–42).
117 DLe, lii. See collations below.
118 AM 681 a ‘Nu k(uat) hann skal eg syna þier en uersta anskota mannkyns og
gek þa engillinn fyrir hene og er þau komu at heluit[i]s gardz hlidum þa mællti
hann kom q(uat) hann og see og uit at sonnu at þeir er augu hafa megu hier ecki
sia. En þo skalltu sia þa er hier eru enn eigi megu þeir sia þig sem salin nagladiz*sa hon j diup heluitis’ (DLe 74/9–13).
119 See collations below.
120 ‘Ðæir er her a veroldo lofa of-drycciu eða of-fylli. ok vilia æigi til yfir-bota
ganga. ok una í þæim ìyndum til dauða-dagì. þa hafa þæir ængi lut í himnum meðguði. ok þæim er ætlat hælviti með dioflum. þar er óp. ok gratr. ok hungr. ok þorìte.
ok ìvælgiande ældr .vii. lutum hæitare en á veroldo mege hinn hæitaìta gera. Oc
þar er æi myrcr µn lios. ælli fyri utan øìko’ (NHB, 33/31–/34/2).

xxviii

Páls leizla

Significantly, these two stereotyped descriptions of the evil and fireof Hell with this specific 7/100 numerical graduatio are commonplace
motifs in insular homiletics.121 In this regard, Christopher Abram has
demonstrated how the text of De natiuitate domini in the NHB has aformal parallel in an Anglo-Saxon homily edited under the name Be
heofonwarum and be helwarum (BHH). 122 Its text is transmitted in two
manuscripts copied at the turn of the twelfth century and employs the verysame graduationes of the fire and evil residing in Hell.123 The presenceof both motifs within a single Anglo-Saxon text naturally corroborates
the idea that the reference to the hundred tongues of iron may alreadyhave been included in the original insular homily, whether in Latin or
Old English, from which the Norse text is derived. As a consequence, thepresence of the Virgilian cliché in the NHB does not necessarily imply adirect or comprehensive knowledge of the VP in early thirteenth-century
Norway. Moreover, it seems clear from the collations below that theVirgilian graduatio in the NHB cannot possibly have been borrowed
from the corresponding passage of PLe, which, on the contrary, shares asignificantly more similar lexicon and wording with DLe:NHB 34/2–5(AM 619)

DLe 74/13–16(AM 681a)PLe 39a–39b (A)PLe 39a–39b (B)Páll postoliOc þo at hværr
En huilikar e(da) spurði eingilmaðr hæfði
huersu miklar og hversu margar
hundrað hofða.
hardar pislir er
píslir voru í
ok í hværiu hofði hon sª þar þoathelvíti. Eingillvære .c. tugna or c tungna uæri þar svarar. Þó at vÌriiarne. ok þær al- j hueriu hofdi þa hundrað tungna
lar mælte fra up- mundi eigi getaok vÌri †rtalin þá
hafe hæimì þeììa. up talt *fatt er þat vinnask þÌr eigi
alt til veraldar
sem hann sagdi
til at telja allar
enda. þa mætte
os.
píslir er í helvíteþær ægi ìægia
eru.
allt þat hit illa erí hælviti er.

[inc B]píslir voru íhelvíti. Eingillsagði. Þó at vÌrihundrað tungna
ok vÌri †rtali þá
vinnask þÌr eigi
til at telja allarpíslir er í helvíteeru.

121 See for instance Wright 1993, 145–48 and 219–21 on the iron tongues andthe fire of Hell respectively.
122 Abram 2004, 33 and Abram 2007, 442–43. The connection was first suggested
by Johnson 1993, 414–31.
123 London, BL, Cotton Faustina A.IX and Cambridge, Corpus Christi College,
302. Both manuscripts were transcribed in south-east England. The text is edited
in Teresi 2002, 211–44.

Introductionxxix

BHH 229

DLe 74/27–28 (W) VP 39a–b (L12)

VP 39a–b (L12)Þeah ænig manhæfde .c. heafda
and þæra heafdaæghwilc hæfde
.c. tungan and hiwæron ealle isene
and ealle spræcon
fram frymðe
þyssere worulde
oð ende ne mihton
hi asecgan þæt
yfel þe on helle is.

[E]t quanta vel
qualia et quam
inaudita ibi viderit
tormenta, si centum capita et in
uno quoque capite
centum linguas
haberet, recitare
nullo modo posset.

Et interrogavit
Paulus angelum,
quot pene essent
in inferno. Cuis
ait angelus: Suntpene centum
quadraginta
tria mila. Et siessent centum
viri loquentes
ab inicio mundi
et unusquisquecentum linguas
ferreas haberet,non possent
dinumerare penas
inferni.

Et interrogavit
Paulus angelum,
quot pene essent
in inferno. Cuis
ait angelus: Suntpene centum
quadraginta
tria mila. Et siessent centum
viri loquentes
ab inicio mundi
et unusquisquecentum linguas
ferreas haberet,non possent
dinumerare penas
inferni.

Whereas PLe and DLe employ the verb (upp)telja ‘to count, to enumerate’,translating the Latin enumerare of the source,124 the NHB has the verb
segja ‘to tell, report’ that corresponds exactly with the Old English
asecgan ‘to tell, report’. In turn, the Old English form is in all probability
derived from the Latin narrare/enarrare rather than enumerare, as five
manuscripts of the VP transmitting a text of type C, mostly of English
provenance, seem to suggest.125 Additionally, both DLe and PLe omit
the description of the iron metal of which the tongues are composed, andwhereas Paul and Duggall wonder about the precise number of the pains
or torments of Hell (VP ‘quot pene essent in inferno’/VT ‘quanta vel qualia
et quam inaudita ibi viderit tormenta’), the NHB and BHH speculate on
all the wickedness of Hell (BHH ‘þæt yfel þe on helle is’/NHB ‘þat hit
illa er í hælviti er’). The latter uncountable noun, along with the adjective,
are in all probability an anticipation of a reading yet to come, ‘omnia istamala’, which is typical of the last homiletic ending of the C group (41).
124 The Latin source text behind DLe might have also had the verb narrare/enarrare rather than the recitare ‘recite, declaim’ found in W.
125 Narrare is found in Padua, Biblioteca Antoniana, 473, Scaff. XXI, ff.
147v–149r (Pa), A2 group, northern Italy, c.1200; Dublin, Trinity College, TDC
519, ff. 95ra–96rb (D3), C3 group, England, c.1450; Oxford, Merton College, Ms
13, ff. 63vb–64vb (O5), C3 group, Oxford, c.1400–50; enarrare is found in London,
BL, Royal 11.B.III, f. 334va–vb (L9), C/spec group, England, c.1300; Paris, BnF,
lat. 5266, ff. 21vb–23va (P8), C/spec group, unknown provenance, c.1200.

xxx

Páls leizla

Some passages in PLe that find no correspondence in the VP might,
on the other hand, be indebted, at least through mnemonic repetition
or distant echoes, to some of the sermons collected in the NHB or
might have arisen from similar texts circulating in the same monastic
environment. Interestingly, the three possible borrowings are all added
towards the end of the narrative and inserted into Christ’s own speech.
There are strikingly similar verbal parallels in Christ’s description of
his crucifixion with three nails (34c),126 which echoes a similar formula
employed with reference to Christ and the Trinity by the homilist of In
die omnium sanctorum sermo extant both in the NHB and in the IHM;127
in Christ’s rebukes to humankind (34d)128 with the admonitory words ofthe homilist in the Sermo necessaria of the NHB;129 and possibly soonafter in Christ’s additional remark in which he laments humankind’s
ingratitude for his mildness (34d/add)130—a passage that reminds thereader of his words in the aforementioned De natiuitate domini sermoof the NHB.131
Páls leizla and Icelandic Texts
Tveitane further suggested that two medieval Icelandic texts might owe
some of their literary motifs to the text of the VP. He points to two passagesof Páls saga postola II, a composite text written during the second halfof the thirteenth century, and Mikjáls saga, drawn from a great variety
of sources by the priest Bergr Sokkason, fourteenth-century abbot of
Munkaþverá († c.1370) (En norrøn versjon av Visio Pauli 1964, 22–23).
As I shall try to demonstrate below, however, textual evidence does notseem to support his assertions.
126 A ‘[E]k var þremr nauglum negldur.’ See section on ‘Christology’ below.
127 ‘[Þ]rimr nÃfnum næmdr í ìkilningu. faðer. ok. ìonr. ok ande heilagr’ (NHB
144/5 and IHB 18v/16).
128 A ‘En þér létud í móti koma lygi ok lausung dramb ok manndrap ok ágirni
ok †fund, skr†kvitni ok munneiða, hórdóm ok lostasemi hlátr ok skelki ofát ok
ofdrykkju leti ok líkamsmunuð mikillÌti.’129 ‘Sia við mandrape ok við hordome. við ìtuldum. við ìcrøcvitnum. viðmæin-æiðum. við ráne. við rÃngum dome . . . / . . . við lygi. við lauìung . . . / . . .
við gÃldrum. við gerningum. við mykillæte’ (NHB, 87/23–30). This affinity was
already noted in Tveitane, ed., En norrøn versjon av Visio Pauli, 16.
130 A ‘En þér villduð ekki gefa til minna þakka hvorki mat né drykk.’
131 ‘Hvat gerðu þer fyrir mic á veroldo ìiðan ec þolda ìva mykit fyrir yðr. Ec gaf
yðr ìol-ìkín. ok rægn. ok iarðar blóm. mat ok clæðe. lif ok hæilìu. en þér kunnuð
mer ænga þoc’ (NHB, 34/25–28).

Introduction

xxxi

After a paraphrase of 2 Corinthians 11:24–31, a passage describing
the dangers and deprivations of Paul’s apostleship, the compiler of Páls
saga postola II continues his commentary following the natural orderof Paul’s letter. First, he quotes Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2–6 on hisotherworldly experience132 and subsequently speaks in the first person,
briefly introducing a short passage describing Paul’s ascension into thethird heaven (Páls saga postola II 1874, 268/2–27):
Her er umræða, hvert Pall var þa hafiðr, er hann var uppnuminn til ens þriðia
himins, ok skilia þat sva helgir feðr, at honum væri þa synt himinriki, fyr þvi
at þat er himinn kallaðr i helgum ritningum, sem Moyses vattar i upphafi
sinnar bokar . . . / . . . En þvi er himinriki enn þriði himinn, at þat er yfir þeimtveim, er aðr voru nefndir, ok sa Pall postoli himneska dyrð ok leynda luti
eilifrar sælu, þeirar er vera skal eptir domsdag. En þat er hann segir, at hannvar leiddr i paradisum, þa glosa þat sva helgir feðr, at honum hafi syndir verit
hvilldarstaðir, er rettlatra manna andir skolu hafa til domsdags.

As the compiler of Páls saga postola II himself makes clear, thispassage is an exegetical treatment of 2 Corinthians 12:2–6, in which thename tertium caelum or third heaven is identified with the emphyrium
caelum or elldligr himinn that was made during the first day of Creation,
here described along with the first and second heavens.133 In pointof fact, there seems to be no explicit reference to the text of the VP
itself nor to its Old Norse adaptation. As already mentioned, the Hell
Redaction—from which groups A, B and C and ultimately the Norsetext are derived—is centred exclusively on Paul’s travel to Hell andentirely omits his journey to Paradise. Furthermore, it seems clear that
if the author of Páls saga postola II had indeed some knowledge ofthe VP, he could have referred to it within his subsequent description
132 ‘Veit ek mann fyr xiiii. vetrum hafðan upp til hins þriðia himins ok sia þar

leynda luti almattigs guðs; en guð veit, hvart hann var bæði með aund ok likama,eða var aundin ein saman, en þat veit ek eigi, segir postolinn, at sa enn sami maðrmeð þvi moti, sem aðr var sagt, var leiddr i paradis ok heyrði þar þau orð, er manni
er eigi leyft at mæla her i veraulldu. Fyr þessa sauk, segir Pall postoli, mætta ek
hellzt dyrkaz, en ecki fyr minar sakir; ok þo at ek giorða, þa mætti mer eigi virða
til ovizku, fyr þvi at ek munda sannedi segia, en ek mun þo við vægiaz, at eigi
beri sva i moti, at ne einn, sa er mik ser eða min orð heyrir, ætli mik umfram þat,sem hann ser með mer eða heyrir’ (Páls saga postola II 1874, 267/24–268/1).
133 Respectively, the festingarhiminn or firmamentum with the fixed stars,
created on the second day of the week, and the hvilldarstaðr or the place of rest,
in which the souls of the just abide until Doomsday (Páls saga postola II 1874,
268/6–269/12). For explanations of the three heavens in Páls saga postola II, seeespecially Collings 1969, 48–50.

xxxii

Páls leizlaof the third location of Hell, the puteus inferni or pyttr helvítis, thus
further achieving a mirror image of the tripartite outlook of heaven andHell, for which he seems to be aiming in this section of the text.134 The
third Hell is indeed the very location to which Michael accompanies
Paul according to the VP,135 yet Páls saga postola II describes it onlyin passing as a place inhabited by the souls of the capital sinners,
from which it is impossible to escape.136 A similar description of theotherworldly levels of heaven and Hell that includes both the caelum
emphyreum and the puteus inferni, though listing five rather than six
locations, is given in the near-contemporary theological summula
Rotulus pugillaris, written by the Dominican Augustine of Dacia (†1282) around 1260.137
Tveitane also notes a vision connected to Roland’s death, allegedly
experienced by Archbishop Turpin of Reims († 800) and described in
Mikjáls saga, that might be directly indebted to the VP.138 In a shortpreamble, Bergr Sokkason declares that the source consulted for thefollowing exemplum is Vincent of Beauvais’s Speculum historiale (†1264)139 and subsequently goes on to recount how, while Turpin wascelebrating mass at the very moment in which Roland and King Marsirium
died in battle, he saw the latter’s soul being seized from aloft by a groupof black devils and taken to the agonies of Hell, whereas Roland’s soul
134 The other two being the limbus inferni, from which Abraham was fetched by

Christ, and the hreinsanastaðr or purgatorium, inhabited by the repentant sinners(Páls saga postola II 1874, 269/16–270/2); see discussion in Collings 1969, 51.
135 The puteus/pyttr hosting the unbelievers in Christ is mentioned in scenes
28, 28a, 28d.
136 ‘Enn þriði staðr i helviti heitir puteus inferni, þat þyðiz pyttr helvitis, okfara þangat þeira manna salur, er i haufuðsyndum lataz ok rekningar eru fraguði, ok leysiz engi or þeim stað, sa er þangat kemr’ (Páls saga postola II 1874,
269/34–270/2).
137 Within a section on penance, Augustine clarifies: ‘Et nota quod quinque suntloca animarum exutarum usque ad iudicium sclicet caelum empyreum, limbus
patrum, sinus puerorum non baptizatorum, purgatorium, de quo dictum est, etputeus inferni’ (Augustinus de Dacia, Rotulus pugillaris, 563/27).
138 See Tveitane 1963, 106–111 and En norrøn versjon av Visio Pauli 1965,
27–28. Subsequently doubts on this attribution have been expressed in Wellendorf
2009, 141–42.
139 ‘Su bok heitir Speculum Historiale, er þat vattar, at virðuligr herra Turpin
erkibyskup Reinsborgar var eigi i þeim bardaga, er giorðiz i Runzival . . . / . . .
Þvi vattar þat fyrr nefnd bok, at ª sama dag sem orrostan var i Runzival, sǫngh
Turpin erkibyskup sªlumessu’ (Mikjáls saga, 692/3–8).

Introduction

xxxiiiwas guided into the eternal bliss of heaven by Michael himself (Mikjáls
saga, 692/10–29):140
Ok er erkibyskupinn stendr i messuembættinu, er hann upptekinn i andar syn
ok litr i loptinu, hvar fara haleitir flokkar heilagra hirðsveita með sǫngh oksætum hlioðum, meðr birti ok bloma miklum, sva at byskupinum gefr ª atlita ok heyra, þar til at su himneska ferð firriz sva miogh iarðrikit, at honum
hverfr at syn upp i loptið. Hann hugleiðir með ser, hvat þesse syn mun hafa
at þyða, ok litlu siðarr ser hann ferd aðra miog olika; i þessarri ferd eru
svartir dioflar hardleitir ok helvitlegir asyndum, þeir eru margir saman ok
hafa nockut meðferdar, þat er þeir þysia at ollum megum sem dioflar at agnidauðans. Turpin erkibyskup verpr ordum ª þa ok segir sva: ‘H(v)at dragiþer eða starfit.’ Þeir svara: ‘Ver drogum felagha varn Marsirium konung til
eilifðar kvalar i helvitis herað, en Mikhael styrir þeiri ferð, er leidir luðrþeytarayðvarn upp i himnana.’ Af þessari birting vissi erkibyskup tiðendi ok sagði
konunginum, hvat guð hafði synt honum. Ok litlu siðar kom Balldvini broder
Rollanz ª mæddum vapnhesti váttandi sǫmu tiðendi, sem aðr voru greind,hvaðan ver munum fra venda, þviat nu er vitni borit, at Mikael fylgir vǫldum
monnum til eilifra fagnada.

The closest possible source proposed by Tveitane for this passage is
an Early Middle High German poem, written in rhymed couplets andextant in codex unicus in the thirteenth-century Vienna, Österreichische
Nationalbibliothek, Ser. Nova 388, f. 2r–v, a bifolium dated to around
1300, which describes the souls of a sinner and a just man sharing
fates similar to those of Roland and King Marsirium.141 In this context,
however, the good soul is allegorically described as being chosen by acertain unnamed angel as his own wife and accompanied to heaven where
they shall reside together (Deutsche Sprach-Denkmale 1846, 112/6–20):
Der tivel in lat die ìele. Zv dem grabe niht mere. Er wuret ìi wider in die not.
ìolich iìt der ìunder tot . . . / . . . Der guten vn̄ der rechten. In diner beìschowede
trechtin . . . / . . . Der engel durch ìin gvote Der ìi ìschol behvten. So iìt derengil ìo der man Der ime eine vil liebe gemalen gwan. Er ìamenit ìich wilwiten. Durch willen ìiner brute. Mit vrunden ioch mit magen. Er in lat ìichez niht betragen. Mit menigen kumet er wur daz huì. Die vrowen ladit er dar
vz. Er halìet vn̄ cuſſet ìin trout. Dan wuret er die brut.

While one might notice a distant resemblance between the two texts, theassociation of the Vienna bifolium with the text of the VP is based onan old misconception. As Volker Mertens has shown, the Early Middle
High German verses, subsequently named Von der Zukunft nach dem
140 On this passage, see especially Foote 1959, 23–24.
141 The text is edited in Deutsche Sprach-Denkmale 1846, 109/1–112/24.

xxxivPáls leizla

Tode, draw on a variety of twelfth-century sources, including Honorius
Augustodunensis’s († 1154) Elucidarium and various homilies, in which
the same topos of an evil soul captured by the devil is found. Confusion
in previous scholarship has arisen because the High German verses
draw on the same ancient body–soul topos, which enjoyed enormous
popularity throughout the Middle Ages and on which numerous Latin
and vernacular texts are based.142 However, the most important literarymotif, the allegorical description of the soul as an angel’s bride, sharedby the VP (32a),143 Von der Zukunft nach dem Tode and the Elucidarium,is completely absent in Mikjáls saga. Moreover, and perhaps mostimportantly, there is no deliverance of the souls to heaven on Michael’s
part either in the Hell Redaction of the VP or PLe, in which the archangel’srole, rather than that of a psychopomp, is that of intercessor to grant thesouls respite on Sundays.
It seems clear that Bergr Sokkason might have taken this exemplum
from any one of a variety of other sources that describe the travel of a goodsoul to Paradise, and the possibility cannot be excluded that the version
of Speculum historiale he was consulting already included this passage inthe form of an interpolation or perhaps as a marginal gloss. Whatever thecase may be, the text of the VP or PLe cannot be credited as the immediateor the ultimate source for this passage in Mikjáls saga.
Christology
After Paul and Michael deliver their intercessional prayer, the voice ofChrist the Lord is heard from heaven above (34b).144 In the Latin text hefirst asks the sinners, in a reproachful tone, the reason behind their request
for a respite from the anguish and misery of Hell if they have wilfully
conducted an earthly life of sin and perdition (34b), then proceeds in bothtexts to list the offences he suffered during his crucifixion (34c; 34d/add).
Ek var krossfestr fyrir yðrar sakir ok ek var þremr nǫglum negldr. Mér var
gefit eitr at drekka ok ek þoldi háðuligar hrakningar ok ⟨varð⟩ við verði seldr.
Síðan þoldi ek drap ok dauða fyrir yðr at þér skylduð vera með mér í eilífum
fagnadi . . . / . . . Ek léða yðr allt þat er þér þurftuð at hafa en þér villduð ekki
142 On the subject see especially Mertens 1975, 77–92. For an overview of thebody–soul literature of the Middle Ages, see the collection of essays in Boitani
Torti 1999.
143 L12 ‘O beata anima, o felicissima sponsa, o beata in Christo, letare, quia
fecisti hodie voluntatem Dei tui!’ It is only alluded to in PLe: ‘Gleðsk þú hin helgaþví at þú gørðir þíns Dróttins vilja ok alldri skáltu þína samvist við hana skilja.’
144 ‘Ok þa svarar dróttinlig r†dd svá mÌlandi.’

Introduction

xxxv

gefa til minna þakka hvorki mat né drykk. Óverðugr er sá at þiggja miskunnina
seigir bókin er ǫngva vill ǫdrum veita.

While PLe essentially retains the most salient elements of Christ’s
rebuke, it also adds some highly significant idiosyncrasies that reflect
contemporary christological precepts and provide invaluable insights
into the type of impression the Norse compiler wished to imprint on thevernacular text. For example, Christ testifies to having been nailed to thecross with three nails (‘ek var þremr nǫglum negldr’) rather than with four;a reading that seems to be unique in the Old Norse corpus. The only otherinstance of specification of the precise number of nails employed in the
Crucifixion is found in the Purificatio sanctae Mariae sermon of the IHB
for the 2nd February Candlemas festivity. Here four nails are counted;
two of them fastened his hands and two his feet, which inflicted four ofthe holy wounds in addition to the fifth in his side where he was pierced
by Longinus with his lance (IHB 39r/20–24):
Drótte˜ váʀ ìat gyþingom morg méinmÌle oc ìáran bardaga. ìtórlega píning.
eì ha˜ lét ìic negla a cros fiórom nǫglom tueim í hendr. oþrom tueim í fǿtr. til
hialpar os ìkírþom mo˜om. ha˜ vaì ìÌrþr a croììe eno fimta ìáre meþ ìpióteeinì ríþera. þes eì longinuì heiter.145

It is perhaps significant that in the corresponding text of the NHB no mention
is made of the four nails.146 In a second example, within the In inventione
sanctae crucis sermon, the NHB seems again to avoid mentioning the
precise number of nails employed in the Crucifixion and simply gives anallegorical explanation of the different parts of the cross: the arms symbolise
love towards God and men, whereas the lower part of the cross, onto which
the two feet are nailed, represents the steadfastness of the good deeds ofhumanity during the worldly life.147 No mention is made of the numberof nails in AM 234 fol. (c.1340), transmitting Maríu saga II, in which thecompiler reminds the reader that the blood of Christ was shed five times
in all: during his circumcision (Luke 2:21), when his sweat turned intoblood in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:44), when he was scourged
145 Bede’s Homilia 18 In purificatione beatae Mariae and Ambrosius Autpertus’s
Sermo in purificatione sanctae Mariae have been identified as possible sourcesof the homily. The texts are edited in CCSL 122, 128–33 and PL 89, 1291–1304
respectively. See discussion in McDougall 1983, 381 n. 40.
146 The homily is edited in NHB 66/21–69/22.
147 ‘En armaʀ croìì-ens merkia tvinna èìt við guð ok menn. Sa lutr croììenì
er hæìtr er. merkir en guðì èìt. en armarnir nèngì ælìco bÌðe við víni ok óvini.
Føtr ero ender licams. þvi iartæinir ìa lutr croìì-enì er føtr hans vµro á negldirìtaðfeìte goðra verka alt til enda lífs’ (NHB 104/14–18).

xxxvi

Páls leizla(Matthew 27:26), when he was crucified and his feet were nailed on the
cross (Matthew 27:35), and when his side was pierced (John 19:34).148
In medieval Latin literature, the first occurrence of a three-nail Cruci­
fixion is found in Sermo 166 (in uigilia paschatis) by William of Auvergne(† 1249), theologian and bishop of Paris from 1228, who compares thethree nails to monastic observance, which comprises the vows of poverty,
chastity and obedience.149 Around 1236, in the second book of his De
altera vita, the first treatise against heretics in medieval Spain, Lucasde Tuy († 1249) takes a stern tone when mentioning the twelfth-century
Albigensian heresy, which contemplated three rather than four nails andasserted that the fifth holy wound was on Christ’s left rather than on his
right side.150 Towards the end of the thirteenth century in his Rationale
divinorum officiorum, a treatise on the symbolic elements of churches
and church ornaments, Guillaume Durand († 1296) attests the existenceof both traditions, and asserts that while the four nails symbolise the four
virtues of justice, fortitude, moderation and prudence, the three nails
are allegories of the Passion in the body, in the mind and in the heart.151
148 ‘Fyrst er hann var skirðr vmskvrðar skirnn; ok vm nottina, aðr at hann værihandtekinn, þaa svettiz hann bloði aa bæn sinni; hit þriðia sinn, þaa er hann var
bvndinn við stolpann ok barðr; fiorða sinn, þaa er hann var krossfestr ok fætr vorv
neglldir a krossinn; hit fimta sinn, þaa er Longinvs lagði spioti i siðv honvm, ok
rann a sarinv bloð ok vatnn’ (Maríu saga, 386/30–387/6). The same section is
also found in the encyclopaedic material of AM 731 4to (c.1600–50) under the
rubric Af gráti Christi (Alfræði íslenzk III, 1918, 8/11–19).
149 ‘Mortui debent esse omnes mundo et peccatis, ita quod nulla uita quantum
ad hoc in eis appareat, uel sic mortui cum Christo, id est simili morte in cruce,
scilicet crucifixi tribus clauis, uoto paupertatis, castitatis et obedientie. Crux ipsa
obseruancia claustralis est’ (Guillelmus Alvernus, Sermo 166 (in uigilia paschatis)
2001, 132/9–13).
150 ‘Fecerunt tunc temporis supradicti haeretici crucem cum tribus brachiis
tantum, in qua erat imago uno pede super alio, tribus clauis eidem cruci affixa,
quae brachio eminentiori carebat . . . / . . . Similitudo autem crucis illius, quam
tribus clauis et tribus brachiis non sine scandalo mutarunt animarum, in quibusdam
ecclesiis pietatis studio adoratur . . . / . . . Sufficit ad salutem Christum credere
crucifixum et pro indifferenti habere in cruce illum quatuor uel trium brachiorum
fuisse positum, quatuor uel tribus clauis confixum et dextrum uel sinistrum latus eius
lancea uulneratum’ (Lucas Tudensis, De altera uita 2009, 121/155; 122/1; 132/152).
151 ‘Quatuor clavi sunt quatuor principales virtutes, scilicet justitia, fortitudo,
temperantia, et prudentia . . . / . . . Alii tamen dicunt quod Christus tribus duntaxat
fuit clavis affixus, significantibus tres cruciatus, quos in Cruce sustinuit, videlicet
passionem in corpore, passionem in mente, et passionem in corde’ (Durandus,
Rationale divinorum officiorum 1859, 537/1–2; 14–16).

Introduction

xxxviiSubsequently, around 1300, Ramón Llull († 1316) also describes Christ
crucified with three nails in his Liber de homine.152 Besides these sporadic
occurrences in thirteenth-century sources, the work that influenced the later
decision to portray Christ with three nails was the Pseudo-Bonaventure’s
Meditationes vitae Christi, of debated authorship, but certainly connectedto the Franciscan circle since it is addressed to a Poor Claire, written innorthern Italy during the middle of the fourteenth century. The author
describes a violent crucifixion in which Christ suffers greatly, affixed sotightly to the three nails of the cross that he can move neither his bodynor his head and bears unbearable agonies.153
The visual representation of the three nails of the Passion, which
subsequently prevailed throughout the later Middle Ages, seems tohave originated in the first half of the thirteenth century as a stylistic
development of the older crucifixes. Two feet fastened to the cross with
one nail, a position that required bent legs and a collapsed body, cameto replace the older, more composed Christ suspended with parallel feetand four nails. The new excruciating posture of the crucifix conferred an
impression of great sorrow and moved devotees all the more with pity
and compassion towards the sacrificed Christ.154 Significantly, alongwith the three nails, in the same decades the crown of thorns describedin the Gospels (Matthew 27:29; Mark 15:17; John 19:2; John 19:5) was
introduced and replaced the old diadem, a symbol of royalty worn by the
victorious King of kings and sovereign ruler depicted in the Apocalypse(Revelation 19:12).155 In Norway in particular, three-nail crucifixes start
making their appearance along with the crown of thorns in the second half
152 ‘Domine Iesu Christe, tu cum tribus clauis fortissimis clauatus fuisti et interram euersus, ut crux supra te foret, in qua claui fuerunt replicati, ut plus fores
derisus et tormentatus’ (Raimundus Lullus, Liber de homine, 281/316).
153 ‘Ecce crucifixus est Dominus Iesus, et sic in cruce extensus quod dinumerariomnia ossa eius possunt, sicut per Prophetam ipse conqueritur. Fluunt undiquesacratissimi sanguinis riuuli ex illis magnis scissuris. Sic que coangustatus est
quod se mouere non potest nisi in capite. Illi tres claui sustinent tocius corporis
eius pondus; dolores acerbissimos tolerat et ultra quam dici uel cogitari possit
affligitur’ (Iohannes de Caulibus, Meditaciones vitae Christi 1977, 53–57).
154 On three-nail crucifixes, see especially Wirth 1958, 524–25 and Wirth 1953.
155 In 1238 Louis IX († 1270) purchased the Crown of Thorns from the Emperorof Constantinople Baldwin II Porphyrogenitus († 1273) and placed it in the royalchapel (Sainte-Chapelle) of the Île de la Cité. The relic soon became widely
venerated in Paris and throughout western Europe and the cult greatly influenced
the visual arts. On the historical acquisition of the relic, see for instance Nicol
1998, repr. 1999, 169–70.

xxxviii

Páls leizlaof the thirteenth century in crucifixes ascribed to the English craftsmenof the time.156
Along with the crown of thorns, the holy lance, the holy sponge andother instruments of the Passion, the three nails began to be included
among the arma Christi and their veneration became commonplace in latemedieval popular piety. It is very likely that the Norse compiler had oneof these representations in mind when he listed Christ’s abuses prior to the
Crucifixion.157 One such depiction is extant in AM 683 d 4to, a fragment
leaf of Norwegian provenance, dated c.1385–99, which preserves a moving
illumination of the Man of Sorrow, with hands bound together before hischest and a cruciform halo. Six instruments of the Passion are portrayed:
the holy grail, which collects the blood running from his wounds, the crownof thorns, a three-tongued scourge, a reed sceptre, a hammer and the three
nails.158 This image of the Vir dolorum, which became particularly popular
156 It should be noted that while the Norwegian Balke, Fåberg, Tretten, Kjose,
Hedal, Heggen, Trondheim, Bergen, Solum, Rødenes, Hølandet, Elverum,
Hamre, the Swedish Mofalla, Tossene, Rännelanda, and the Danish Bellinge
crucifixes from the second half of the thirteenth century all depict a crown ofthorns and three nails, on the Norwegian Fresvik and Østsinni crucifixes, datingfrom the first half of the same century, Christ is crucified with three nails but
wears a royal crown and thus seem to constitute an intermediate stage of the
iconography. See the excellent survey by Andersson 1949, 130–31; 142–45;
185–99; 244–47; 259–63.
157 During proofreading, I discovered that f. 14v of AM 673 a III 4to, better
known as Íslenska teiknibókin, the Icelandic Model-book, preserves a faded
depiction of John the Evangelist and Mary attending the crucified Christ framedby twenty-two compartments containing the arma Christi with the corresponding
Latin titula: ‘lanterna’ (the lantern); ‘calix’ (the Holy Grail); ‘veronica’ (the veilof Veronica); ‘pellicanus’ (the pelican); ‘vrceus’ (the pitcher); ‘tunica’ (the tunic);‘corona spinea’ (the crown of thorns); ‘malleus fustes’ (the hammer, the clubs);‘spongea’ (the sponge); ‘claui’ (the nails); ‘cutellus’ (the knife of the circumcision);‘forceps’ (the tongs); ‘monumentum’ (the tomb); ‘velum templi’ (the veil of thetemple); ‘serpens’ (the serpent), ‘triginta argintei’ (the thirty slices of sliver);‘flagella’ (the scourges); ‘lancea’ (the lance); ‘gladij’ (the swords); ‘sckala’ (theladder), ‘cholumpna corda’ (the pillar), ‘arundines’ (the reeds). The holy nails,
which occupy the second compartment from the bottom right side of the folio,
are three in number. The depiction was executed by the so-called C-Artist around1450–75 in a yet unidentified scriptorium of Northern Iceland. A brief description
and reproduction of f. 14v are available in Guðbjörg Kristjánsdóttir 2013, 134–35.
158 The fragment was used as a flyleaf and glued together with AM 683 c 4to, asingle Norwegian leaf transmitting a Jólaskrá. For the date and provenance of themanuscript, I rely exclusively on http://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/da/AM04-

Introduction

xxxix

in northern Europe after 1350, is often included in the Book of Hours,
where it precedes either the Hours of the Holy Cross or the Penitential
Psalms.159 Indeed, the Latin text that precedes the illumination is theconcluding section of the Deus qui pro redemptione mundi prayer to the
crucifix, which is otherwise known under several other titles.160 The text
relates how Christ was fully aware and willing to be betrayed by Judas,
bound in fetters, sacrificed like an innocent lamb, insulted and spat upon,crowned with thorns, wounded with a spear, pierced with nails, forced todrink vinegar and gall, and to die for humanity.
⟨Deus qui pro redemptione mundi voluisti nasci circumcidi a iudeis reprobaria iuda traditore osculo tradi vinculis alligari sicut agnus innocens ad victimam
duci atque conspectibus anne caiphe pilato et herodi indecenter offerri a falsis
testibus accusari flagellis et opprobriis vexari sputis conspui spinis coronari
colaphis cedi arundine percuti facie velari vestibus exui cruci clavis affigi incruce levari inter latrones d⟩eputari felle et aceto potari et lancea vulnerari. Tu
domine per has sanctissimas passiones tuas quas ego indignissimus peccator
recolo et per sanctam crucem tuam libera me de penis inferni et perducere
digneris quo perduxisti tecum latronem crucifixum et confitens tecum ad deo
patre et filio et spiritu sancto vivis et regnas in secula.161

In the right margin, a later text in Old Danish reports the legend of theMass of St Gregory, according to which Gregory had a vision of thesuffering Christ in the Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome,
who appeared to him above the altar with the instruments of the Passion,
displaying his holy wounds.162
0683-d, accessed on 2 February 2017. The ONP does not list the manuscript andKålund gives only a summary description (Kålund 1889–94, II 99).
159 See Kamerick 2002, 169 and Jacoby 2005, 604.
160 See Leroquais 1927, 45. A variant text of the prayer is edited as oratio 2315
in Corpus orationum, III, D pars altera, Orationes 1708–2389, 1993, 277. See
also Kamerick 2002, 169.
161 The lost section has been integrated from oratio 25 in Enchiridion
indulgentiarum: preces et pia opera 1952, 131–25/–132/7.
162 ‘Enn tiid sanctus gregorius pawe sang messo j eno kirkio j Rom som kalles
porta crucis widhrd eth altarem som kalles iherusalem oc hann hadhe wigt gudz likame
j syntis hanom war herre ihesus christus j blodugs man liknilse oc thii effter messone
leth han giør[e] eth swodant bel[et] oc gaff allum them som retscriptad[e] ære [o]canger fore s[inæ] synder haffwe hwart sinne [the] meth kneffal læse v pater [noster]oc v aue maria fore tolikæ bilæte xiiiim aar afflat effter hanom ga[w]e xii [p]awehwar there vi aar afflat sidhen gawe [x]xx p[aw]e hwar there ii dagh[a] afflat æff[terthem] gawe xl biscope hwar [there] xl dagha aflat sum offuer.’ I have been unable todecipher the last two lines. On the formation of the legend, see for instance Meier 2006.

xl

Páls leizla

Fig. 1. Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 683 d 4to, f. 1r (c. 1385–99).
Photograph by permission of the Arnamagnæan Institute, Copenhagen.
Photograph: Suzanne Reitz.

Introduction

xli

The Christ in scenes 34c and 34d/add in PLe should be identified withthe aforementioned Vir dolorum of the later Middle Ages, and certainly
not with the older Christus victor, which is most commonly found in
the literature and visual arts of the twelfth century.163 This correlation iseven more evident if the following quotation from PLe is examined in
more detail. After Christ’s lamentations towards the sinners, the Norse
compiler adds that a specific book, referred to in its definite form as ‘thebook’, instructs Christians to be merciful, since ‘the book says’ (‘seigir
bókin’) that whoever is unmerciful towards others will in turn not be
granted mercy (‘Óverðugr er sá at þiggja miskunnina er ǫngva vill ǫdrum
veita’). The precise source of this passage has not yet been identified. Jonas
Wellendorf has noted that the practice of referring to a specific ‘book’ or‘books’ in the Middle Ages did not necessarily imply that the underlying
Latin source included that reference, and has turned to examples of AngloSaxon homilists who often referred to ‘books’ that were not mentioned in
the underlying Latin texts they were consulting.164 He has further rightly
maintained that although the sentence finds a thematic counterpart in the
Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:15),165 it should not be considereda direct citation from the Scriptures (Wellendorf 2009, 138). There is,however, reasonable evidence to suggest that the Norse scribe is indeed
referring to a specific text and that ‘the book’ is in the definite form sincehere it means the actual manuscript from which he was copying.
Within the first collection of Ǽfintýr translated from Middle English in
AM 624 4to, exemplum 29, rubricated as af einum rikum manni (37v–38v),
relates the story of a profane swearer, a liar and blasphemer, to whom theVirgin Mary appeared in the form of a beautiful woman with a mangled
163 The latter victorious Christ is suitably invoked in Niðrstigningar saga, which
departs from the original Gospel of Nicodemus in quoting Revelation 19:11–17
nearly verbatim, and portraying a warrior-king bright as the sun ready to harrow
Hell. He is said to be clothed in royal vestments, wearing a kingly crown, riding awhite horse and leading a great army of angels towards the destruction of Hell. On
this interpolation see most recently Bullitta forthcoming. On the last interpolationof the text, which describes Christ’s defeat of Satan through the hidden divinityof the Cross, see most recently Bullitta 2014, 129–54.
164 See Wellendorf 2009, 138–39 and references there.
165 ‘But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your offences’(‘si autem non dimiseritis hominibus nec Pater vester dimittet peccata vestra’). The
citation might ultimately also echo the admonishing aphorism concerning judgmentof James 2:13: ‘For judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy. And
mercy exalteth itself above judgment’ (‘iudicium enim sine misericordia illi qui
non fecit misericordiam superexultat autem misericordia iudicio.’)xlii

Páls leizla

child on her lap.166 The child had a broken head, arms and legs, and hiseyes had been drawn out of his body. Mary asks the swearer what would
the man who inflicted such horrible injuries on her child deserve and heanswers that the abuser should be accorded all the evil one can bear. Mary
replies that he should account for having dismembered her child with hisgreat oaths and life of sins but also adds that regardless of his cruelty,
she has prayed for Christ to come before him so that the man could ask
him for mercy. Upon Christ’s appearance, the swearer admits that hefeels unworthy to be heard and Christ replies that while he is ‘unworthy’(‘óverðugr’) to be heard for his sins and has forsaken him [i.e. Christ]
through sinning, Christ has never forsaken the swearer and has instead
proved his immense love by suffering the great abuses of the Passion
for him. The swearer replies that he will not ask for mercy even though
Christ might want to save him, since his righteousness will not permit it(‘hann segir nei til þo þin miskunn uili þiggia mig þa segir þin rettuisinei’). Nevertheless, Christ insists a second time that he should ask formercy. Subsequently, when the swearer refuses again, Christ puts a hand
into his pierced side, takes out blood, throws it into the sinner’s face andsays: ‘This blood shall bear witness against you at Doomsday that I haveoffered you mercy’ (Ǽf 87/44–53; 88/60–63):[Þ]ui so segir uorr herra at eg se ouerdugr at uera heyrdr segir hann. ef þu ert
ouerdugr segir uorr herra at uera heyrdr fyrir þinar syndir og hefir fyrir lated
mig enn alldri þui helldr fyrir læt eg þig. þui eg hefi þig so dyrt keypt med
minni pinu er eg þolldi fyrir þig. og þar fyrir beidztu miskunnar. og þu skallt
hafa miskunn. hann segir nei til þo þin miskunn uili þig⟨g⟩ia mig þa s(egir) þin
rettuisi nei. Huersu skyllda eg hafa miskunn þar sem eg hefi alla mina daga
lifat j syndum . . . / . . . og þa segir at worr herra liet sina hond j sitt sidusar ok
tok vt sitt blod og kastar framan j anndlitid ª honum so segiandi. þetta blod
berr uitni ª moti þier ª doms degi at eg byd þier miskunn.

Thereafter Christ and Mary ascend into heaven, while the profane swearer
is taken to the devil to dwell in the everlasting wretchedness of Hell.
It is clear that the author of PLe alludes to this exemplum of the Gesta
Romanorum at the most appropriate point within the original Latin text,that is after Christ’s rebuke to the sinners (34c; 34d). By including thisquotation as the very last words of Christ (34d/add), he is consciously
adding a final admonition to the sinners, and by extension a warning to
166 The exemplum is edited in Ǽf 84/1–88/66 with the corresponding Middle
English text, rubricated as Of the Death-Bed of a Profane Swearer. In the following
discussion, I refer to the sinner as ‘the profane swearer’ as he is called in theoriginal Middle English text, rather than with the Icelandic rubric ‘a rich man’.

Introduction

xliii

the audience to repent and beg for mercy before it is too late. It is impliedthat Christ would grant mercy to anyone who asks for it, unless like theprofane swearer they persevere in sinning during their lives, thus extending
the atrocities of the Passion, since Christ, like the mangled Child, pays
daily for the sins of humankind. In this respect, the sinners of PLe meet aslightly more fortunate fate than that of the profane swearer: after they have
begged for mercy through Paul and Michael’s intercessional prayers, inthe following scene (34g) God grants them a Sunday respite, sparing themfrom the horrible tortures of Hell one day every week until Doomsday.
A second reference to ‘the book’, the material manuscript consulted andcopied by the Norse compiler, is found in the vernacular text just after the
Sunday respite has been granted to the sinners (37). The complier notes
again that ‘at this point [the] book says’ (‘Nú mǽlir svá bókin’) that God
pronounced these words: ‘Sá er heldr vel hina helga dróttinsdag ok hinn
helga píslardag Vors Herra Ihesu Christi ok gengr réttiliga til skrifta hannskal réttliga með Guði vera utan enda.’167 There is an exact counterpart tothis sentence in the Latin VP, although there, rather than being pronounced
by God, these are the words of the omniscient narrator since they refer to
God in the third person and can be attributed to neither Paul nor Michael:‘Et qui custodierunt hunc sanctum diem habuerunt partem cum angelis
Dei et vitam sempiternam.’168 As well as the observance of Sunday as
the day of the Lord, the Norse compiler also notes Easter Sunday (‘hinn
helga píslardag’) along with the practice of a good confession (‘ok gengr
réttiliga til skrifta’), which requires the intention to ask for mercy for andacknowledgement of one’s sins. This specification further confirms theprominence given in the vernacular text to the internalisation of Christ’s
suffering and the contemplation of the Passion for the redemption of sins.
ProvenanceThis survey of the Latin and vernacular material consulted for the compositionof PLe has revealed that its text cannot be regarded as the scholarly productof twelfth-century Norway, as Tveitane suggested in his first edition of thetext (En norrøn versjon av Visio Pauli 1965, 20). Conversely, combinedinternal and external evidence indicate unambiguously that the text of PLe
is nearly contemporary to the two late fifteenth-century Icelandic codicestransmitting it: AM 624 4to and AM 681 c 4to.
167 ‘The one who holds well the holy day of the Lord and the holy day of the Passionof Christ and justly confesses oneself, he shall justly be with God without end.’
168 ‘And those who kept this day holy, have had part with the angels of God
and eternal life.’xliv

Páls leizla

First, the numerous agreements of the Norse text with L12, a theologicalmiscellany written in the West Midlands around 1400, demonstrate that thelost Latin source text accessed by the Norse compiler was indeed one of theimmediate ancestors of L12, in all probability a codex that was in circulationin the same region in the late fourteenth century. Second, amongst his
subsidiary amplifications, the compiler seems to make explicit reference
to several ‘sins of the tongue’, offences that had not been classified ascapital vices before the middle of the thirteenth century when a wholechapter in William Peraldus’s Summa de vitiis et virtutibus, the standard
handbook for confessors that had become extremely popular in the late
Middle Ages, was dedicated to them. Third, the vernacular text expresslyrefers to heretics burnt at the stake, a capital punishment that became legal
only in the late Middle Ages, towards the end of the thirteenth century inFrance and in the first years of the fifteenth in England.
It appears that the redactor of PLe also made abundant use of vernacularsources. He was certainly acquainted with at least two sermons of the
NHB, De nativitate domini and In die omnium sanctorum, which areechoed in the additional passages that report Christ’s poignant speech
to the sinners. The former is evoked within the list of sins committed byhumanity and the latter by the expression ‘þremr n†glum negldr’ in his
description of the Crucifixion. That the compiler of DLe had knowledgeof the NHB—and not the other way around, as Tveitane believed—isfurther confirmed by the fact that Tveitane’s most decisive argument for
the latter dependence rested exclusively on the employment of the Virgiliancliché for the hundred tongues of iron in De nativitate domini and PLe.
As Abram has recently demonstrated, however, De nativitate domini is,
ultimately or directly, indebted to the Anglo-Saxon BHH homily, withwhich it shares numerous details, including similar wording and indeed
the use of the Virgilian cliché (Abram 2004, 442–43). Also very unlikely
is the dependence, again suggested by Tveitane, of sections of Páls saga
postola II and Mikjáls saga on the texts of either PLe or VP (En norrøn
versjon av Visio Pauli 1965, 21–23). As a matter of fact, the two passages
he refers to are more likely derived from disparate texts that treat similareschatological themes and allegorical topoi and it is not necessary to
postulate a direct borrowing from either text. Such evidence naturally
corroborates the supposition that neither PLe nor VP was circulated inthirteenth- and fourteenth-century Iceland, and that Icelanders of that time
had only a cursory knowledge of them, if any.
The christological conceit underlying PLe also seems to speak for a latemedieval composition. The crucified Christ was not portrayed with threeIntroduction

xlv

nails until the second half of the thirteenth century and the three nails cameto be repeatedly described and portrayed among the other instruments of
the Passion in representations of the Man of Sorrow that are typical of thelate Middle Ages. Moreover, allusions to DLe and to exemplum 29 of thefirst collection of Ǽf—which relates to a scarified Christ suffering for thecruel sins of humanity and yet still willing to grant mercy to it—revealthat the text of PLe could not possibly have been composed before these
two texts were available in the same scriptorium. The first collection ofǼf in AM 624 4to is believed to have been translated from Middle English
at Hólar during the episcopacy of the English Bishop Jón Vilhjálmsson
Craxton († 1440) by Jón Egilsson, who was well versed in the English
language and served the bishopric as notarius publicus between 1429
and1434.169 Consequently, these years could be taken as a reasonable
post quem date for the composition of PLe in the form we know it today.
It has also been noted that the three manuscripts that transmit the Middle
English version of the Gesta Romanorum that best represent the Icelandic
Ǽf were all written in dialects of the West Midlands,170 and it is perhaps
not a simple coincidence that L12, the closest possible Latin text to PLe,
was also copied in the West Midlands, only two decades before the arrivalin Iceland of Bishop Jón Vilhjálmsson Craxton from England in 1426.171
While its acquisition from England puts it in the diocese of Hólar
during the second decade of the fifteenth century, its translation could
be placed sometime later in the same diocese. As a matter of fact, there
are indications that the compiler of PLe may have been working at Hólar
or in the vicinity in the second half of the fifteenth century, during theregency of the Norwegian Bishop Ólafr Rögnvaldsson († 1495), who held
the northern diocese in the years 1450–95. Indeed, the above-mentioned
formula blífa ok vera, in the infinitive form, is first found in the Andsvar
Norðlendinga um presta og kirkna skyldur, a document written in 1482
and addressed to Bishop Ólafr Rögnvaldsson (DI, VI 462/9–10), and thecompound adjective forst†ðulauss is first recorded in a tylftardómr from
Saurbær, about 50 km from Hólar, dated 24 May 1486 (DI, VI 570/1).
In the second half of the fifteenth century, Ólafr was undoubtedly themost influential bishop in Iceland and boasted a prestige that greatly
169 See discussion in Ǽf, xciv–xcix and The Story of Jonatas in Iceland 1997,

xciv.
170 London, BL, Additional 9066, Cambridge, University Library, Kk.i.6 andHarley 7333. See discussion in The Story of Jonatas in Iceland 1997, xciv n. 56.
171 On Jón Vilhjálmsson Craxton, see especially Björn Þorsteinsson 1970,
144–47.

xlvi

Páls leizla

overshadowed that of his contemporaries at Skálholt. Nephew of his
predecessor at Hólar Gottskálk Keniksson and grandson of the Norwegianknight Kenik Gottskálkson, he had strong connections to the archbishopricat Nidaros. He was granted the privilege of sitting on the NorwegianCouncil of the Realm (Riksrådet) and in 1459, the same year as he waselected bishop, he was appointed syslumaðr of the Hegranesþing by
Christian I of Denmark († 1481), then King of Norway and Denmark. After
his election, Ólafr imposed severe punishments on transgressors against thelaw and promoted a firm policy of reformation and reorganisation of the
diocesan economic system.172 A great dispute, testified to by the abovementioned Andsvar Norðlendinga, arose in 1482 between Ólafr and thenortherners, who were unwilling to finance further the travel costs of thebishop and his retinue and, in general, were tired of bolstering Cathedral
funds at the expense of their own parish churches (DI, VI 458/9–468/13).
Among the lay people Ólafr’s arch-enemy was Hrafn Brandsson the Old(† 1483), chieftain and lögmaðr in the north and the west, who in 1481
was involved in the so-called Hvassafellsmál in which Bjarni Ólason, a
farmer at Hvassafell, was accused of incest with his daughter Randíðr,who then sought protection from Hrafn (DI, VI 377/1–379/2). Hrafn was
excommunicated by Bishop Ólafr for offering Randíðr protection anddied before recanting and repenting of his sins, thus meeting all possible
preconditions for an afterlife of eternal damnation.
It is highly likely that the translation of PLe was undertaken at Hólar
during this period of turmoil and discontent between the Church,
represented by Bishop Ólafr, and the irate northerners. This might
explain some additional references in the text that are either absent
or highly elusive in the Latin texts of the VP: women who defiled
themselves under their male relatives (20c); excommunicated men who
did not wish to repent and be reconciled with God (28g/add); sinners
who made money in an evil manner and pillaged churches (14d/bis),
perhaps by refusing to pay tithes to the Cathedral; or even an allusion
to the discontent among the northerners who, dissatisfied with therecent administration of their diocese, were disruptive at church while
the bishop and his priests sang mass (14a). Moreover, the reading of
the Latin text describing the soul of a condemned bishop (26a) remains
unmentioned in the Norse text.
Ólafr himself might have requested a translation of the VP, after his
return from Norway in the winter 1482–83, from Latin manuscript material
172 On Ólafr Rögnvaldsson see especially Líndal 1974, 126–34.

Introduction

xlvii

of English provenance that had been deposited at the Hólar scriptorium
during the episcopacy of Jón Vilhjálmsson Craxton.173 The hand of a
Norwegian scribe working within the bishop’s retinue might indeed
explain the peculiar choice of legal vocabulary of ultimate Norwegian
provenance that is so typical of PLe. The Latin text of the VP was in allprobability translated and associated with the collection of the Icelandic
Ǽf, which was already available at the scriptorium. The same homiletic
procedure found in the moralised exempla of the Gesta Romanorum
was followed for the compilation of other texts that were non-homileticin origin, among them PLe. Hence in ‘the book’, a fine vernacular
miscellany that is twice referred to in PLe, one of the immediate ancestorsof AM 624 4to, was prepared for the confessors of the diocese to readat communal gatherings perhaps with the intention of preventing thenortherners from sinning by showing them all the atrocities that await
the souls of unrepentant sinners in Hell for specific trangressions. This
very codex might reasonably have been acquired by Jón Þorvaldsson (†1514) at Hólar between 1495 and 1498—that is just after the death ofÓlafr Rögnvaldsson—while he was serving there as officialis and thentaken by him to the monastery of Þingeyrar, where he became abbot andwhere AM 624 4to was copied.
Edition and Translation
The text of PLe transmitted in Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonarí íslenskum fræðum, AM 624 4to, ff. 147r–149r (A), here presented
in a normalised form, has been divided into the same variants, withcorresponding reference numbers employed, as in the transcriptions of theLatin manuscripts of VP (see Jiroušková 2006). In order to highlight thetranslation procedures and creative re-elaboration of the Latin apocryphon
in the edited text, I have noted all secondary additions, repetitions,anticipation and postponement of the original readings with the sigla
add, bis, inc, des. Variant readings of Copenhagen, Den Arnamagnæanske
Samling, AM 681 c 4to, f. 1r (B), which contains less than one-tenth ofthe original text, are noted in the footnotes.
The Latin text on which the Norse translation is based is composed of acollection of variant readings that best represent the vernacular rendition,
which as shown above, seem to be mostly indebted to manuscripts of
the C/spec type. When possible, I have included the readings of L12, the173 Ólafr had been away for three years, as can be gathered from a letter from
Hólar dated 18 April 1486 (DI, VI 564/10–565/9).

xlviii

Páls leizla

codex that shares the highest number of variants with PLe. Whenever L12
presents deficiencies or divergent readings, I have used the readings ofthe other manuscripts pertaining to the C/spec group, particularly thoseof M5, P6, P7 and P8, and referred to the corresponding reading of L12
in the footnotes for purposes of comparison. As to the Latin text, I haverelied entirely on the transcriptions available in Jiroušková, Die Visio
Pauli (Jiroušková 2006, 510–931), and for the sake of consistency, I haveadopted the same conventions of modern capitalisation and punctuation
as those followed for PLe.
In order to facilitate readability and comparison with other vernaculartranslations, the text of PLe has been normalised according to the editorialconventions of the ONP, which reconstructs a stage of the language fromc.1200–50. Accordingly, differentiation has been made between themutated vowels ǽ and ǿ, which at that stage represented respectively thephonemes /æ:/ and /ø:/. However, in order to present the reader with animpression of the character of AM 624 4to, some of its later features havebeen retained. Most notably, the manuscript cluster vo has been maintained
throughout, as in voru, vors for váru, várs, rather than being normalised
into vá; a shift that is observable in manuscripts from the first half of the
fourteenth century up to the late Middle Ages. Nevertheless, since thescribe has consistently employed the adverb svá in its older form, thisconservative trait has been preserved in the edited text. The verb gøra
and its inflected forms, represented consistently in the manuscript withthe digraphs io, have been transcribed with the front rounded vowel ø. The
only exception to this convention is represented by the very last sectionof the edited text (41/add), in which the verb is found twice written withthe palatal vowel e as gerum, gera. Since the palatalisation of ø might
indicate that this reading was added during a second stage of the textual
transmission, the two forms of AM 624 4to have been retained in theedition. Supplied text is indicated within open angle brackets (⟨⟩). Barely
legible words are placed within square brackets ([ ]), whereas secondary
scribal insertions are placed within single quotation marks (‘’). All holes
in the manuscripts have been indicated in the footnotes (foramen in cod.).
Foliation of the manuscript is given within the transcription. Manuscript
punctuation and capitalisation of personal names and place names havebeen normalised according to modern practice. Direct literal quotations
from the Bible are highlighted in italics, whereas allusions to the NHB, the
IHB, DLe or Ǽf have been left in roman type and are noted in the footnotes.
All editorial interventions are signalled in the first person (emendavi,conieci). Whenever a given reading differs from the texts available inIntroduction

xlix

Tveitane (Tv) or Wellendorf (We),174 I have noted it in the footnotes.
I have attempted to offer a close translation of the Norse and Latin
texts and have departed from the originals only when the sense in modern
English would have been compromised. I have also decided to make fairly
literal translations of the hapax legomena that occur in the text and haveleft the reference to the soul as a feminine being, ‘she/her’, as is customaryin Norse and Latin (sál/anima). Direct quotations from the scriptures aretaken verbatim from the Douay–Rheims Bible.
List of Abbreviations
add. = addidit [scribal addition]
bis = bis scripsit [scribal repetition]cod. = codex [manuscript]
conieci [editorial conjecture (present editor)]coniecit [editorial conjecture (previous editor)]corr. = correxit [scribal correction]
des = desinit [end of a variant]eras. = erasit [scribal erasure]e. g. = exempli gratia [for example]
emendavi [editorial emendation]
foramen in cod. [hole in the manuscript]
inc = incipit [beginning of a variant]lect. dub. = lectio dubita [dubious reading]om. = omisit [scribal omission]

174 En norrøn versjon av Visio Pauli 1964, 8–13 and Wellendorf 2009, 411–15.

lPáls leizla

(On) The Vision of Saint PaulPÁLS LEIZLA
DE VISIONE SANCTI PAULI

THE VISION OF ST PAUL
ON THE VISION OF ST PAUL1

2

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Pauli⟨PÁLS LEIZLA⟩DE VISIONE SANCTI PAULI1

12a[147r] ⟨Ok brú liggr yfirá⟩na ok ganga þar yfir góðra
manna sálir án allri hrÌzlu ensynðugra manna sálir ganga
mj†k hrÌddar ok skulu þÌr
af falla brúni ok ganga sumar
lengra en sumar skemmra.

12b

Ok skulu1 í þeirri á brenna í Ibi sunt mansiones multeeldi líkr meðr líkum en illr preparate sicut dicit Domimeðr illum.
nus in Evangelio. Ligate perfasciculos ad comburendum5
id est similes cum similibus
adulteros cum adulteris raptores cum rapacibus iniquos
cum iniquis.6

14

Sumir standa2 í þeirri á til
nafla eða til knjá sumir undir hendr sumir undir h†ku
sumir til varra en sumir til
brúna ok hvern dag eru þeireilífliga píndir.

Ibi vidit Paulus multas animas
demersas. Alias usque ad
genua alias usque ad umbilicum alias usque ad labia alias
usque ad supercilia et cotidie
perhenniter cruciantur.7

14aÞa komsk3 Páll postoli við okkl†kk ves†ld þeirra ok eymd
ok spurði engil hverju þetta
gegnði eða sÌtti. En eingillsagði honum. Þeir menn sem
standa til knj[á]4 eru þeir sem
bakmálugir 5 voru ok góttþótti6 margt at mÌla um aðraEt flevit Paulus et suspiravit8
interrogans angelum qui essent qui mersi fuerant usquead genua. Cui angelus ait. Hii
sunt qui inmittunt se sermonibus alienis alios detrahentes.9

pons

mansiones

dimersidimersi ad
genua[Et super illud flumem est]pons et super2 illum transiunt
anime iuste sine ulla dubitacione et peccatrices unaqueque secundum meritum.34

1 L12
2 super] per C/spec

1 skulu] emendavi skal, skal

Tv, We2 standa] emendavi standa
til, standa We, standa til Tv
3 komsk] komz Tv, komsk We
4 knj[á] foramen in cod.
5 bakmálugir] bakmálgir We
6 þótti] þótti Tv, þóttu We

3 post meritum add. suum C/
spec
4 L12
5 Mat 13:30
6 L12, L9, M5 P6, P8
7 L12, M5, P6, P7, P8
8 suspiravit] om. C/spec
9 L12

(On) The Vision of Saint Paul

3

THE VISION OF ST PAUL

ON THE VISION OF ST PAUL

12a

[147r] And a bridge lies over
the river and the souls of goodpeople walk over it without
any fear whatsoever and thesouls of sinful people walkmuch afraid, and they shall
fall off the bridge and somewalk a greater distance andsome a shorter.

And over that river there isa bridge and the righteous
souls cross over it without
any uncertainty and [so do]
the sinful, each according
to merit.

12b

And in that river they shall In that place many abodes
burn in the fire, like with like are prepared, as the Lordand evil with evil.
says in the Gospel: Bind it
unto bundles to burn, thatis like with like, adulterous
with adulterous, thieves withthe greedy of plunder, unjust
with unjust.

14

In that river some stand up to
the navel or up to the knees,some up to the armpits, someup to the chin, some up to
the lips and some up to theeyebrows, and every day they
are tortured eternally.

In that place Paul saw manysouls plunged: some up to
the knees, others up to thenavel, others up to the lips,
others up to the eyebrows,
and every day they were
tortured perpetually.

14aThen the apostle Paul was
moved and sobbed for theirmisery and wretchedness andasked the angel what was thecause and the reason for it.
And the angel said to him:‘Those people who stand up
to the knees are those who
were backbiters and thought
it good to speak with howls
about others and they madeAnd Paul wept and sighed
and asked the angel who
those were, who wereplunged up to their knees, towhich the angel said: ‘They
are those who joined in otherpeople’s conversations andslandered others.

bridgeabodesplungedplunged up to
the knees

4

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Paulimunskvaldur ok [ó]hljóðun7gørðu í kirkju þá er hin helga
messa var sungin.

14b

En þeir menn er til nafla
standa voru hórd[ómsmenn]8ok átu ofmikit ok drukku okeigi vildu láta hungra sik fyrirGuðs sakir.

14c

En þeir er undir hendr standa Qui ad labia12 hii sunt quirÌntu ok stálu jafn­kristna sér. faciunt lites in ecclesia inter se
non audientes verbum Dei.13

14d

En þeir er undir h†ku9 standa Alii usque ad supercilia hii
svíkja annan til lífs ok fjár. sunt traditores14 qui gaudent
super malicia proximorum.15

14c/bisEn þeir er til munns standa Qui ad labia hii sunt qui falifðu10 eftir munaðarráði11 ciunt lites in ecclesia inter seok ei þyrmdu f†ður ok móður non audientes verbum Dei.16
í illum orðum ok fyrirlétuGuðs orð ok helga trú.

14d/bisEn þeir ⟨er⟩ til brúna standa Qui ad supercilia hii sunt quib†rðu f†ður sinn ok móður gaudent super malicia proxiok sóru eiða ranga ok myrðu morum.17
menn til fjár sér ok tóku fé
illa eðr rÌntu kirkjur ok eigi
villdu fyrer­gefa †ðrum okeigi vildu til skriftar [gangané yf⟨irb⟩êta].12

18a/inc⟨Ok svá⟩13 sagði engill.

dimersi adumbilicum

dimersi ad
labia (!)

dimersi ad
supercilia (!)

dimersi ad
labia

dimersi ad
supercilia

peccata(usurasquerunt)

7 [ó]hljóðun foramen in cod.

8 hórd[ómsmenn] foramen

Qui ad umbilicum sunt fornicatores et adulterantes qui
postea non redeunt10 ad penitenciam.11

De quibus ait angelus.18
10 redeunt] recordantur C/spec

11 L1212 labia] C mss. cf. e.g. brachia L5
in cod.
9 h†ku] supercilia C mss.
13 L12, M5, P6, P7, P8
10 lifðu] emendavi lifði, lifðu
14 hii sunt traditores] om. L12
15 M5, P6, P7, P8
We, lifði Tv
11 munaðarráði] múnaðar
16 L12, M5, P6, P7, P8
17 L12, D2, M5, P6, P7, P8ráði We, Tv
12 yf⟨irb⟩êta foramen in cod.
18 De quibus ait angelus] 20c,
13 ⟨Ok svá⟩ om. Tv, We
24a C/spec

(On) The Vision of Saint Paul5noise in church while the holymass was sung.
14b

And those people who standup to the navel were adulterers
and ate and drank excessively
and were not willing to go
hungry for the sake of God.

14c

And those who stand up to Those who are up to their
the armpits pillaged and stole lips are those who fightfrom their fellow Christians. with each other at Church
not listening to the Wordof God.

14d

And those who stand up to Others up to their eyebrowstheir chins cheat other people are traitors who rejoice inof life and property.
the wickedness of neighbours.

14c/bisAnd those who stand up to
their mouths lived according
to the counsel of desire andthey would not spare [their]
fathers and mothers from evilwords and abandoned theWord of God and the Holy
Faith.

Those up to their lips arethose who fight with eachother at church not listening to the Word of God.

14d/bisAnd those who stand up to theeyebrows beat their fathers
and mothers and swore false
oaths and murdered people
to gain wealth for themselves
and took money in an evilmanner or pillaged churches
and were not willing to forgive others and were notwilling to confess and do
penance.’And so the angel said.

Those up to their eyebrows
are those who rejoice in thewickedness of neighbours.’

plunged up to
the navelplunged up to
the lips (!)

plunged up to
the eyebrows(!)

plunged up to
the lips

plunged up to
the eyebrows

18a/incsins(seek to obtain
usuries)Those who are up to thenavel are fornicators andadulterers who thereafter
did not turn to penance.

To these things, the angel
said.

6

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Pauli

18

Því nÌst komu þau í þann Deinde vidit alium locumstað [er]14 ⟨menn ok konur⟩15 tenebrosum plenum viris etátu tungur16 sínar.
mulieribus commedentibus
linguas suas.19 20

18a

peccata(usurasquerunt)Þessir eru þeir <. . .>17 er seldu á leigu orð sín ok tóku við
mútum ok voru ómiskunn­
samir við þurfamenn blótrífir
ok gauðrífir eru.

Hii feneratores pecuniarum
qui usuras querunt et non suntmisericordes proptea sunt inpena.21

20

Nú komu þeir í þann staðEt vidit alium locum in quo
omnes pene erant.22

20a

er konur ungar ok margar
voru. ÞÌr voru í bikaðum
[ky]rtlum18 brunnu þÌr innan en frøru útan ormar okp†ddr hrøktu [þ]Ìr19 sárliga.

Et ibi puelle nigre habentes
nigra vestimenta indute pice etsulphure et draconibus igneis
serpentibus atque viperis circa
colla sua.23

20b

En fjándr st†nguðu þÌr með Et erant quattor angeli maligni
spjótum en sumir b†rðu með ibi increpantes eas habentesv†ndum.
cornua ignita qui ibant incircuitu earum dicentes. Agnoscite Filium Dei qui redemit
mundum.24

20c

Þá spurði Páll postoli hvat
þÌr h†fðu gørt til svá mikla
písla. E⟨n⟩gill svarar honom.
Þessar saurguðusk undirfrÌndr sína ok gørðu hórdóm
undir bêndr sína ok drápu á

viri et mulieres linguas
comedentes

omnes pene
puelle nigre
indute pice etsulphureangeli quattor

peccata(castitatem
non servantes
infantesnacaverunt)

14 [er] foramen in cod.
15 [er]Et interrogavit Paulus que­essent. Tunc respondit angelus.
Hee sunt que non servaverunt
castitatem usque ad nupcias et maculaverunt se cum
parentibus suis et necaverunt
infantes suos et dederunt porcis in escam vel canibus et⟨menn ok konur⟩]
19 Deinde vidit . . . / . . . linguas
conieci viris et mulieribus, er[menn] Tv, We
suas] 20c, 24a C/spec
16 tungur] emendavi tungar,
20 L12, L4, Sch
21 L12, L4, Sch, Br
tungar We, tungur Tv
17 <. . .> 18a/inc.
22 L12, Sch, Br
18 [ky]rtlum foramen in cod.
23 L12, L9, M5, P7, P8, L4
19 [þ]Ìr foramen in cod., om.
24 L12, D2, M5, P6, P7, P8, Sch,
4Tv, WeL , Br(On) The Vision of Saint Paul

7

18

Thereafter they arrived in that Thereupon he saw anotherplace where men and women gloomy place full of men andate their own tongues:
women eating their [own]tongues:

18a‘These are they <. . .> 1
who hired out their words
and took bribes and were
unmerci­ful towards needymen; they are eager for curseand eager for abuse.’

20

Then they arrived in that And he saw another place inplacewhich there were all punishments.

20a

where there were many
young women. They wereclothed in pitch tunics; theyburned inside and froze
outside. Snakes and toads
persecuted them sorely.

20b

And devils goaded them with And there were four wicked
spears and some beat them angels rebuking them holdwith wands.
ing ignited horns who wentaround them in a circle saying: ‘Acknowledge the Sonof God who has redeemed
the world!’

20c

Then the apostle Paul asked
what they had done to [deserve] such great tortures.
The angel answers him:
‘These defiled themselves
under their male relatives andpractised adultery against
their husbands and secretly
killed their children and aremen andwomen eating
their tongues

sins(seek to obtain
usuries)

all punishments

black maidens
covered withpitch andsulphurfour angels

sins (did not
maintain chastity, murdered
new-born)

1 <…> 18a/inc‘They are usurers of money
who sought usuries and are
not merciful; for this reason
they undergo punishment.’

And there were black maidens [clothed] with blackvestments covered with pitchand sulphur and with fierysnakes and serpents andvipers around their necks.

And Paul asked who they
were. Then the angel replied: ‘They are those who
did not maintain chastity
until their marriages anddefiled themselves with theirrelatives and murdered their
new-borns and gave [them]as food to swine and dogs

8

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Paulilaun b†rn sín ok þÌr ⟨eru⟩20[147v] konur er fé tóku á
sér. Þat voru pútur ok eigiiðraðusk fyrir dauðan.

proiecerunt in fluminibus etin aliis perdicionibus et postea
penitenciam non egerunt.2526

28f

Þá komu þeir í þann staðer menn átu forska p†ddur
ok n†ðrur 21 ok allskyns
kvikvendi.

Et vidit in alio loco viros ac
mulieres et vermes et serpentes
commedentes eos. Et erant
anime vive27 <. . .> alteram
quasi oves in ovili.28

24aÞá spurði22 Páll postoli hvat
þÌr h†fðu gørt. Þá svaraði
engill: Þessir menn átu ok
drukku á hátíðum ok sátu ím†rgum drykkjum ok vildu23
eigi hlýða þá er hin helga
messa var sungin ok vildu
eigi fasta ok voru offastir af
fé sínu við fátêka menn okhelga staði. ⟨Þ⟩á gengu þau
en ok fundu hús mikit24 ok
sá í því menn marga ok alla
nøkta ok voru sumt konur ensumt karlmenn ok voru illapíndir af frost[i]25 ok eldi.
Paulus spyrr. Hvat gørðu
­þessir menn til svá mikla písla.
Engill svarar. Þessir menn

Et interrogavit Paulus qui
essent. Et dixit angelus.29 Hii
sunt qui ieiunia ante tempus
despiciunt. Et postea vidit
Paulus viros et mulieres inloco glaciali et ignis urebat
mediam partem eorum et alia
pars frigescebat. Et interrogavit Paulus qui essent. Et dixit
angelus. Hii sunt qui orphanis
et viduis iniuste nocuerunt
ac etiam eos contra iusticiam
opresserunt et postea cum eis
non concordabantur.3031

viri et mulieres nudi etvermespeccatores

20 ⟨eru⟩ om. Tv, We

21 forska p†ddur ok n†ðrur] cf.
ormmum pauddum ok froskum
DL 4/21 (A)22 spurði] emendavi spurðu,spurðu Tv, We
23 vildu] emendavi vildi, villdi
Tv, vildu We
24 Þá gengu þau en ok fundu
hús mikit] cf. þa syndiz þeim hus
opit ok suo mikid sem hit mesta
fiall DL 47/12-13 (A)25 frost[i] foramen in cod.

25 add. 18a C/spec
26 L12, Sch

27 vive om. C/spec
28 L1229 Et interrogavit . . . / . . .
­angelus] Et de illum dictum est L1230 ac etiam . . . / . . . non concordabantur] om. C/spec
31 D2

(On) The Vision of Saint Paul9[those] women who tookmoney for themselves. These
were harlots and did not repent before death.’and abandoned [them] inrivers and [in] other [placesof] perdition and thereafter
they did not do penance.’

28f

Then they arrived in thatplace where people ate frogs,
toads and adders, and all kindof living creatures.

And in another place hesaw men and women andworms and serpents eatingthem and the souls were
living [one above] the­other almost like sheep ina sheepfold.

24a

Then Paul the apostle asked
what they had done. The angel answered: ‘These people
ate and drank on feast days
and sat at many banquets andwere not willing to harken
while the holy mass wassung and did not wish to fast
and were too tight with theirmoney towards poor men
and holy places.’ Then they
proceeded further and founda great house and in it theysaw many people all naked,
some were women and somemen, and they were badly tormented by frost and fire. Paulasks what these people did [toearn] such great tortures. Theangel answers: ‘These people

And Paul asked who they
were. And the angel said:‘They are those who disdained fasting before time.’
And thereafter Paul saw
men and women in an icy
location, and fire burnt themon one side and the otherside grew cold. And Paulasked who they were, andthe angel said: ‘They arethose who did harm to orphans and widows unjustly
and also oppressed them[going] against justice andthereafter would not cometo agreement with them.’

naked men andwomen andworms

sinners

10

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Pauli
vildu eigi gefa fyrer Guðs26
sakir klÌði né skúa ok eigi
mat né drykk ok létusk eigi
sjá né vita ves†ld né eymðfátêka manna f†ðurlausra
barna ekkna ok kvenna
forst†ðulausra ok ekki vildu
hjalpa frÌndum sínum okvísuðu ór herbergjum sínumþurfam†nnum.

26⟨Þ⟩á komu þeir í þann stað er Mox vidit in alio loco unummaðr stóð við stiku ok tunga senem inter quatuor diabolos
hans ⟨var⟩27 dregin út ˋinn um plorantem et ululantem.
kverkr honumˊ ok negld við
stikuna ok stóðu við fjándr okb†rðu hana meðr járnv†lum.

26a/des

Þá spurði postolinn. Því sjá Et interrogavit Paulus quismaðr þoldi svá mikla pínu. esset.32

26aEngill svarar. Þessi28 maðrinn
ok hverr annara e⟨r⟩ svá eru
píndir voru illir í tungu ok29
báru skjótvitni ok þeir er því†llu er frÌndr urðu fjándmenn ok vínir [hró]parar 30
voru af hans róg[i]31 ok margyrðum ok svá gramdi hannGuð at sér með sinni tunguþá er32 hann sór ósêra eiðaok mÌlti ⟨illt⟩ við f†ður sinn
ok móður brêðr ok sýstur
eða presta eða kennimenn
þá er messur syngja ok fóru

senex interdiabolospeccata eiuspeccata eius

Et dixit angelus. Episcopus
negligens fuit non custodivit
legem Dei non fuit castus
corpore nec cogitacione nec
verbo nec opere sed fuit avarus
et dolosus atque superbus.33 34

26 Guðs] Guð, Guðs Tv
27 ⟨var⟩ om. Tv, We

28 þessi] emendavi þisse
29 ok] um Tv, We

30 hró]parar eras. in cod.
31 róg[i] eras. in cod.
32 er] om. Tv, We

32 L12, D2, P6, P7
33 post superbus add. ideo sustinet innumerabiles penas usquein diem iudicii C/spec
34 L12, D2, L9, M5, P6, P7, P8

(On) The Vision of Saint Paul

11

were not willing to give­either clothes or shoes for thesake of God and either foodor drink and would not allow
themselves either to see or tobe conscious of the misery or
the wail of poor men, fatherless children, widows andwomen without protection
and were not willing to help
their relatives, nor did theyshow needy men [the way]out of their lodgings.’
26

Then they arrived in thatplace where a man stood bya stake and [had] his tongue
drawn out through his throat
and nailed to the stake andthe devils stood by and beather [the soul] with iron rods.

26a/des

Then the apostle asked why And Paul asked who he was.
this man endured such a great
torture.

26a

The Angel answers: ‘This
man and all others who arepunished in this way were
evil in tongue and bore
hasty witness. And they arethose who made relatives
and friends [their] enemies
and they were defamers of
his slander and calumny.
He [this man] made God so­angry against himself withhis tongue when he commited perjuries2 and spoke evil

an old man
among devils

his sins

his sins

2 Literally ‘he swore unswearable oaths’

Afterwards in another place
he saw an old man crying
and howling among four
devils.

And the angel said: ‘He wasa careless bishop. He did notobserve the Law of God. He
was neither pure in the bodynor in the thought.’

12

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Paulimeð lygi ok lausung manna í
millum.

26a/add

En komu þeir í þann stað [er]33
menn voru grafnir ⟨í⟩ j†rð niðrundir hendr ok var lagðr áherðar þeim eldr ok á ketill okvoru þar í sálir kristna manna
ok vall sem mátti. Þá spyrr Páll
postoli hvat þessir menn hefði
gørt. Engill svarar. Þeir voru
Dróttins svíkarar rÌntu heilaga
kirkju drápu biskupa ok lÌrða
menn aðra34 ok b†rðu f†ður okmóður eða systkin eða skylda
fr[148r]⟨Ì⟩ndr sína ok fóru
með galdra ok gørningar eða
fyrirgørðu m†nnum eða búfé
af fjándans krafti.

27aÞá mÌlti Páll postoli. Vei Tunc flevit Paulus et dixit. Ve
vei yðr syndugum m†nnum. ve peccatoribus. Ut quid natiÓsýnju voru35 þeir bornir í sunt.35 36
heimin.

27b

Þá svaraði engill. Því lÌtr þú Et dixit angelus. Quid fles,
svá aumliga at þessara manna Paule. Nondum vidisti maiosálum ok píslum. Eigi hefir þú res pęnas inferni.37 38
en sét þeirra manna píslir er
mestar eru í helvíti.

peccata eius

Ve ve peccatoribus!

Quid ploras?
Nondumvidisti maiora
supplicia

33 [er] foramen in cod.

34 rÌntu heilaga kirkju, drápu

biskupa ok lÌrða menn aðra] cf.
þa mællti salin huad kallar þu
kirkiu stuld eingellinn mællti þad
35 Tunc flevit . . . / . . . nati sunt?]
sem stolid er ok uikt til *Gwds
þionozstu er haft. Bækr edr messo Et flevit Paulus et suspiravit C/klædi ok kalekar edr annad þess spec, om. L12
36 D4, C6
konar pijng edr þo at oheilagt
37 Et dixit angelus . . . / . . .
sie þegar ur kirkiu er stolid DL
42/10-14 (A)maiores pęnas inferni] om. L12
35 voru] voro Tv, váruð We
38 M5, P6, P7, P8

(On) The Vision of Saint Paul13

against his father, mother,brothers and sisters or to
the priests who sing masses.
And [men like him] went
about with lies and falsehoodamong people.’
26a/add

Then they arrived in thatplace where men were buried
beneath the earth up to theirarmpits and on their shoulders was laid a fire and on[it] a cauldron and in it there
were the souls of Christians
and it bubbled mightily.
Then the apostle Paul asks
what these people had done.
The angel answers: ‘They
were betrayers of God, theypillaged the Holy Churchand killed bishops and otherlearned men and beat theirfathers and mothers or siblings or they oppress [their]
relatives. And they practised
spells and sorcery and bewitched people or livestockby the power of the devil.’

27a

Then the apostle Paul said: Then Paul wept and said:‘Woe, woe to sinners!
people! Unfittingly they were Wherefore are they born?’born into the world!’

27b

Then the angel answered: And the angel said: ‘Why
do you wail, O Paul? You
have not yet seen the greaterpunishments of Hell.’his sins

Woe woe to the ‘Woe, woe to you sinful
sinners!

Why do you‘Why do you suffer so miserwail? You have
ably for the souls and tortures
not yet seen thegreater punish- of these people? You have
not yet seen those people’s
ments

tortures that are the greatest
in Hell.’14

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Pauli28⟨Þ⟩á leiddi hann postolan
at sjá einn brunn með VII
innsiglum. Þá mÌlti engill
við postolan at hann skyldi
standa langt frá at hann mÌtti
standask þá hinu mikla 36óþefan er þaðan er laust órþeim hinu fúla brunni.

28a

En ór þessum hinum fúla pytt Tunc aperto puteo surrexit
ok illa þá laust svá illum þef fetor malus superans omnes
at hann var verri en allar aðrar penas inferni.4142
helvítis kvalar.

28d

Ok en sagði engill svá at Et ait angelus. Si quis inci­
hverr þeirra er í þenna pytt derit 43 in puteum istum
fellr sá á aldri von til Guðs. numquam erit commemoraciode eo in conspectu Dei.44

28eÞá svarar Páll postoli. Hverir
eru þeir er svá eru aumir.
Michael engil⟨l⟩ svarar.
Þeir sem eigi vildu trúa áGuð almáttigan ok þeir semt†luðu lygi at Guð vÌri Faðir
ok Sonr ok Heilagr Andi okþví at hann sé af Helgum
Anda37 ok borinn af Maríu
meyju ok ei trúðu burð Krists
né upprísu hans ok því athann vÌri krossfestr ok þeirer ⟨eigi⟩38 tóku við trú ok
kristni ok heldu eigi síðan okeigi vildu taka hold ok blóðDrottins Vors Ihesu Christi
ok ⟨eigi⟩ vildu til skriftar
ganga.

puteus sigillatus

fetor

commemoracio Dei

peccata

36 mikla] emendavi miklu,

miklu Tv, mikla We
37 Anda] Tv anda, We andi,
38 ⟨eigi⟩ om. Tv, We

Et ostendit puteum septem
sigillis signatum et ait illi. Sta
alonge ut possit39 sustinere
fetorem.40

Et ait Paulus.45 Qui sunt qui
mittuntur in eo. Et dixit angelus. Hi sunt qui non credunt
Christum Filium Dei venissein carne nec nasci de Maria
virgine et qui non sunt baptizati nec communicati decorpore et sanguine Christi.46

39 ut possit] ut possis C/spec
40 M5
41 superans omnes penas infer-ni] et multa vilia eiecit horribilia
C/spec mss
42 L12, L4
43 inciderit] mittutur C/spec,om. L1244 C6, D4
45 Paulus] angelus L12
46 M5, L9, P8

(On) The Vision of Saint Paul

15

28

Then he led the apostle to seea well with seven seals. Thenthe angel told the apostle thathe should stand far awayfrom [it] so that he could
bear the great stench thatcame from there, out of thatfoul well.

And he showed a pit sealedwith seven seals and said tohim: ‘Stay far off!’ so that hecould bear the stench.

28a

And from that foul and evil
pit came such an evil stenchthat it was worse than all theother pains of Hell.

Then once the pit was
opened there came up a bad
stench, which exceeded all
the pains of Hell.

28d

And then the angel said thateach of those that fall intothat pit will never have hopeof God.

And the angel said: ‘If anyone falls into this pit there
shall never be any remembrance of him before God.’

28e

Then the apostle Paul answers: ‘Who are these whoare so miserable?’ The angel
Michael answers: ‘Those
who were not willing to believe in God Almighty andthose who called it a lie that
God was the Father, the Son
and the Holy Spirit, and that
He proceeds from the Holy
Spirit and [is] born of the Virgin Mary. And they did not
believe in the birth of Christ
nor in His resurrection andthat He was crucified. And[they are] those who did not
accept the faith and Christianity or that subsequently
did not maintain it and did
not wish to take the flesh
and blood of Our Lord Jesus
Christ and were not willingto go to confession.’

And Paul said: ‘Who arethese who are sent into it?’And the angel said: ‘They
are those who do not believethat Christ the Son came in
the flesh nor that He is bornfrom the Virgin Mary andwho have neither been baptised nor taken communionof the Body and Blood of
Christ.’a sealed pit

stenchGod’s remembrance

sins

16

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Pauli
Et vidit in alio loco viros
ac mulieres 47 et vermes etserpentes commedentes eos.
Et erant anime vive <. . .>alteram quasi oves in ovili.48

28f/bisNú komu þeir í þann staðer voru konar ok karlar okþoldu illar píslir êptu semhÌst ok h†fðu mikla r†dd okhrÌðiliga. Ok var þar leiði­ligr krytr ok grátr óp ok gabb
ok gnístan tanna.39

28f/addÞeir menn voru brendir ábáli ok sindranda grjóti okaumliga veldir ok barðir
með sleggjum. En suma rífu
vargar ok hundar í sundr.
En suma hjoggu ormar okn†ðrur40 ok svá illa kvaldar
at þat fÌr engi talit né tínt
mannligri tungu at ei þyldi
þat folk fleira ok verra.

28g

Ok voru þÌr sálir í svá Et erat profunditas loci49 quadjúpum stað sem er í milli si exaltantur celi a terra50 et
audivit gemitum et suspirium[h]imins41 ⟨ok⟩ jarðar.
magnum quasi tonitruum.51

viri et mulieres nudi etvermesviri et mulieres nudi etvermesprofunditasloci28g/addprofunditasloci

Ok sagði engill at þat voru
bannsettir menn þeir sem
Guð píndu ok í h†fuðsyndum
ok glêpum voru ok vildu
eigi afláta né yfirbêta né

39 ok gnístan tanna] cf. og
tanna skialfti DL 50/13 (A)40 En suma rífu vargar ok
hundar í sundr. En suma hjoggu
ormar ok n†ðrur] cf. þar þolde
sw enn auma saal. hunda bit
ok warga slit. barnijngar okbiarnar bit ok leona ok fleiri
annara dyra. orma haugg okeitr naudror ok margra annara
grimligra ok ogurliga dyra DL
36/21-37/10 (A)41 [h]imins foramen in cod.

47 Et vidit in alio loco viros ac
mulieres] Postea Paulus aspicebat in celum et in terram et vidit
alium locum tenebrosum plenum
viris et muliribus. Et una anima
super aliam volutabatur quasi
oves in ovile C/spec
48 L1249 lacus in cod.
50 Et erat profunditas locus
quasi exaltantur celi a terra] om.
C/spec51 L12, L4

(On) The Vision of Saint Paul1728f/bisNow they arrived in the place
where there were womenand men who endured terrible tortures and screamed
loudly and had loud andfrightened voices. And therewas ­horrible murmuring andweeping, cries, jeers andgnashing of teeth.

28f/add

These people were burnt at
the stake and on a glowing
stone, sorely boiled and beaten with sledge-hammers. And
wolves and hounds rippedsome asunder and snakes
and adders bit some [others]
and tormented [them] soseverely that nothing so bad
can be told or recounted withhuman language that thesepeople did not endure more
and worse.

28g

And these souls were in a And the depth of the location
place so deep that it is be- was as if the heavens deepened on earth, and he heard
tween heaven and earth.
a groan and a great sigh as if
it were thunder.

28g/add

And the angel said that thosewere excommunicated people who had tormented God
and engaged in capital sinsand misdeeds and wishedneither to remit nor repent

naked men andwomen andworms

naked men andwomen andworms

depth of thelocation

depth of thelocation

And in another place hesaw men and women andworms and serpents eatingthem. And the souls werealive <. . .> [one upon] theother almost like sheep in asheepfold.

18

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti PaulisÌttask við Guð. Ok þeir erørvilnaðusk Guðs miskunna
ok aldri vildu fyrirgefa †ðrum
misgerðir.

30

Ok þá sá postolinn [148v]
borna sál syndogs manns til
helvítis ok fylgðo VII englar
fjándans ok fóru með hanailla ok b†rðu hana ok brugðu
brigslum.42

Et postea aspisciebat inter­celum et terram et vidit animam peccatoris52 ululantem
inter septem diabolos deducentes eam cotidie de corpore
egressam.53

30a

Ok mÌltu svá við hana. Vei
verði þér syndug sála aum okves†l ertu. Á vorrar fort†lurhlýddir þú þér mj†g óhagligar
ok eigi gørðir þú þurftir þínar
meðan þú máttir bjarga þér
hér í v[er]†ldinni.43

Et clamaverunt contra eam
angeli male dicens. Ve ve tibi,
anima misera. Que operata es
male in terra?54 55

32

Þá sá hann aðra sál borna til Post hec vidit Paulus angelos
himinríkis.
ducentes animam cuiusdam
sancti sacerdotis in celum decorpore tunc exeuntem.56 57

32a

Ok fylgðu henne VII englarGuðs með s†ng ok dýrðligrir†dd ok óumrêðiligum fagnaði ok gleði ok mÌltu þeirvið sálina. Gleðsk þú hinhelga því at þú gørðir þínsDróttins vilja ok alldri skáltuþína samvist við hana skilja.

anima peccatoris

clamorangelorum

anima iusti

vox angelorum

42 b†rðu hana ok brugðu brigslum] cf. hurfo þeir um hana ok
brixlodo henne synda brixle DL
50/8-10 (A)43 v[er]†ldinni foramen in cod.

Et audiunt vocem milium
angelorum 58 letancium etdicencium. O beata animao felicissima sponsa o beata
52 animam peccatoris] animam

peccatricem C/spec
53 L12, L4, Br
54 Que operata es male in terra?] om. C/spec
55 L12, P6, Br
56 Post hec vidit Paulus angelos. . . / . . . tunc exuente] Post hec
adduxerunt angeli animam iusti
de corpore portantes eam ad celum C/spec
57 L1258 vocem milium angelorum]om. C/spec

(On) The Vision of Saint Paul19

nor be reconciled with God.
And those who [now] despaired of the mercy of God
and were never willing toforgive the offences of others.
30

And then the apostle saw
the soul of a sinful man being brought to Hell and sevenangels of the devil accompanied it and treated it badly,
beat it and upbraided it withreproaches.

And thereafter he looked
between heaven and earth
and he saw the soul of asinner, which stepped dailyout of the body and howled
among seven devils, whowere leading it away.

30a

And they spoke thus to it:‘Woe to you, sinful soul,
you are poor and miserable!
But you have given heed toour exhortations much less
opportunely and you did not
fulfil your obligations while
you could have saved yourself here in this world.’

And against it the angels
cried out cruelly saying:‘Woe, woe to you, miserable
soul! Why have you acted
wickedly on earth?’

32

Then he saw another soul Thereafter Paul saw angels
being brought into heaven.
leading a soul of a certain
holy priest into heaven,which was then departingfrom the body.

32a

And seven angels of God
accompany her with song
and a glorious voice and anindescribable joy and happiness and they said to the soul:‘Rejoice, you holy one, since
you have done the will of
your Lord and your dwellingwith it shall never be parted,

the soul of asinnercry of theangelsthe soul of ajust manvoice of angels

And they hear the voice ofa thousand rejoicing angels
saying: ‘O blessed soul, ohappiest bride! O blessed in

20

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Pauliin Christo letare quia fecisti
hodie voluntatem Dei tui.59

32a/add

Því at þú skildir líkam þinnfrá m†rgu því er honom þótti
gótt at hafa ok gørðir þat fyrirGuðs sakir. Þess skaltu núnjóta ok taka þá sÌlu á móti
er engi kann frá at segja ok er
sú sÌla endalaus.

33bÞá êptu syndroga mannasálir er í helvíti voru með
aumligri r†ddu ok mÌltu svá.
Miskunna miskunna.

33c

Michael ok Páll postoli heyrðu Et ait angelus. Nunc flete ettil hversu aumliga þessar sálir flebimus vobiscum et qui
grétu ok báðu.
­mecum sunt angeli cum dilectissimo Paulo ut forte
miseratur vestri Deus et donet
vobis refrigerium.6263

33dSíðan báðu þÌr þessumorðum. Michael ok Páll
postoli. Miskunna miskunnaGuðs vesligum sálum okveit þeim n†kkra hjálp ok
miskunn.

vox angelorum

miserere I(Michael etPaule)

angelus ait

miserere II(audientes
hec)

Et clamaverunt peccatores ininferno60 dicentes. Miserere
nobis Michael a­ rchangele
et tu Paule dilectissime
Dei intercede pro nobis ad­Dominum.61

Audientes autem hec qui­erant in penis exclamaverunt
una voce dicentes. Michaelarchangele et Paule apostoleet mila milium angelorum
laudancium Deum intercedite

59 L1260 peccatores in inferno] om-

nes qui erant in penis C/spec;
peccatores qui erant in penis L12
61 L4, L12
62 ut forte miseratur vestri deus
et donet vobis refrigerium] ut
suis orationibus det deus vobis
refrigerium C/spec
63 L12, L4

(On) The Vision of Saint Paul

21

Christ, rejoice, since today
you have done the will of
your God!’
32a/add

since you parted from muchthat your body liked to haveand you did that for God’s
sake. You shall now bene­
fit from this and receive in
return the bliss that none
can tell of, and that bliss isendless.’

33b

Then the souls of the sinful And the sinners in Hell criedpeople who were in Hell out saying: ‘Be merciful on
cried out with a miserable us! O Archangel Michael andvoice and spoke thus: ‘Have you most beloved Paul, intercede for us with the Lord!’mercy, have mercy!’

33c

Michael and the apostle Paul And the angel said: ‘Now
heard how miserably those weep and we shall weep withyou. The angels and the mostsouls wept and begged.
beloved Paul are with me sothat perhaps God may havemercy on you and grant you
a respite.’

33d

Then they begged with these Hearing them, those whowords: ‘Michael and Apostle were in pain exclaimed with
Paul, have mercy, have mercy one voice saying: ‘O Archon God’s poor souls and grant angel Michael and Apostle
them some help and mercy.’ Paul and the thousands ofthousands of angels praising God, intercede for us

voice of angels

Be merciful I(Michael andPaul)

the angel said

Be merciful II(hearing this)22

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Pauli
pro nobis miseris64 dicentes.65
Ihesu Christe miserere filiis
hominum. Tunc audite sono
eorum in quarto celo.66

34b

Ok þá svarar dróttinlig r†dd Et vox Filii Dei67 audita est
svá mÌlandi.
eis per omnes penas dicens.
Qui bene non fecistis quarepostulastis a me requiem.68

34c

Ek var krossfestr fyrir yðrar
sakir ok ek var þremr n†glum
negldr.44 Mér var gefit eitr at
drekka ok ek þoldi háðuligar
hrakningar ok ⟨varð⟩45 viðverði seldr. Síðan þoldi ek
drap ok dauða fyrir yðr at
þér skylduð vera með mér íeilífum fagnadi.

Ego crucifixus fui pro vobis lancea vulneratus clavis
confixus acetum cum felle
mixtum dedistis mihi bibere.
Ego me ipsum dedi pro vobis
in martyrium ut viveretis
mecum.69 70

34d

En þér létud í móti koma lygi
ok lausung dramb ok manndrap
ok ágirni ok †fund skr†kvitni
ok munneiða hórdóm ok lostasemi hlátr ok skelki, ofát46 ok
ofdrykkju, leti ok líkamsmunuð,mikillÌti,47 blót ok bann ok

Et vos mendaces in vita vestra
fuistis et fures et avari et invidi et superbi et maledicti etodium habuistis contra proximos vestros nec decimam
rectam dedistis nec sanctam

vox Christi I

vox Christi II

vox Christi III

64 laudancium Deum inter44 þremr nauglum negldur]cf. þrimr naofnum næmdr NHB
144/5, IHB 18v/16
45 ⟨varð⟩ coniecit Tv, We
46 ofát] ófátt We
47 lygi ok lausung dramb ok
manndrap ok ágirni ok †fundskr†kvitni ok munneiða hórdóm
ok lostasemi hlátr ok skelki ofát
ok ofdrykkju leti ok líkamsmunuð
mikillÌti] cf. e.g. við mandrape
ok við hordome. við ſtuldum. við
ſcrøcvitnum. við mæin-æiðum. við
ráne. við raongum dome . . . / . . .
við lygi við laſung . . . / . . . við

cedite pro nobis miseris] om. L12
65 Audientes autem haec . . . /. . . intercedite pro nobis miseris
dicentes] Hoc audientes qui
erant in penis, una voce exclamaverunt. Miserere Christe fili
hominis C/spec
66 L4, L12
67 vox Filii Dei] vox eius C/
spec mss, vox L4
68 L1269 Ego crucifixus sum pro vobis . . . / . . . ut viveretis mecum]
Ego vero in mortem dedi me
ipsum ut viveretis mecum L12
70 M5, P6, P8

(On) The Vision of Saint Paul23

wretches saying. O Jesus
Christ, be merciful with thesons of men! Then hear theirsound in the fourth heaven!’34b

And then a voice from the And the voice of the Son
Lord answers, thus speaking: of God is heard by themthrough all pains saying:‘If you did not do good,wherefore do you ask me
for a respite?

34c‘I was crucified for your sake I was crucified for you,and I was nailed with three wounded with a spear, fasnails. I was given vinegar to tened with nails. You gave
drink and endured scornful me vinegar to drink mixed
mistreatments and I was sold with gall. I gave myself in
for a price. Then I endured martyrdom for you so you
slaughter and death for you would live with me.
so that you would be with mein eternal joy.

34d

And you responded with false- And you were liars in yourhood and lying, arrogance and life and thieves, greedy andhomicide and cupidity and envious, proud and slandermalice, false witness and ous, and you felt hatred for
spoken oaths, adultery and your neighbours and you
lust, laughter and mockery, neither gave the tithe nor
overeating and excessive honoured the holy Church of
drinking, sloth and carnal lust,
pride, swearing and cursing,the voice ofChrist I

the voice ofChrist II

the voice ofChrist III

24

34d/add

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Pauliómiskunnsemi viðr þá er yðarþurftu. Þér f†stuðuð illa minnpíslardag ok helduð illa heilagt minn upprísudag ⟨ok⟩48
hinn helga dróttinsdag.

Dei ecclesiam honorastis nec
quidquam fecistis nec penitentiam nec elemosinam sed
mendace in vita vestra fuistis
et dolosi fuistis.7172

Ek léða yðr allt þat er þér

vox Christi III þurftuð at hafa en þér villduð

ekki [149r] gefa til minnaþakka hvorki mat né drykk.49
Óverðugr er sá at þiggja
miskunnina seigir bókin er†ngva vill †ðrum veita.50 Þávarð illr rytur í þeim ves†lum
sálum ok bádu en myskunnar.

34g

Christus dat
refrigerium

Þá [svar]aði 51 Guðs r†dd Et ait Dominus. Propter Miok mÌlti. Fyrir mína mikla chaelem et Paulum et omnes
angelos meos et maxime
gaoldrum. við gerningum. við propter bonitatem meam etmisericordiam 73 do vobis
mykillæte NHB 87/23-30
48 ⟨ok⟩ om. Tv, We
requiem ab hora nona sabbati
49 en þér villduð ekki gefa
usque ad horam primam ferie
til minna þakka hvorki mat né secunde.74
drykk] cf. e.g. hvat gerðu þer
fyrir mic á veroldo ſiðan ecþolda ſva mykit fyrir yðr. Ec
gaf yðr ſol-skín. ok rægn. okiarðar blóm. mat ok clæðe. lif okhæilſu. en þér kunnuð mer ængaþoc NHB 34/25-28
50 Óverðugr er sá at þiggja
miskunnina seigir bókin er†ngva vill †ðrum veita] cf. þui sosegir uorr herra at eg se ouerdugr
at uera heyrdr . . . /. . . þui eg hefiþig so dyrt keypt med minni pinu
er eg þolldi fyrir þig. og þar fyrir
beidztu miskunnar. og þu skallt
hafa miskunn. hann segir nei
til þo þin miskunn uili þig⟨g⟩ia
mig þa s(egir) þin rettuisi nei Ǽf
87/44-45; 48-51 (A)51 [svar]aði foramen in cod.

71 Et vos mendaces . . . / . . .

et dolosi fuistis] Sed vos fuistis
furti avari invidi atque superbi etmaledicti nec ullum bonum egistis nec penitenciam nec ieiunium
nec elemosinam sed mendaces
fuistis in vita vestra L12
72 P6, P7, Br
73 misericordiam] om. C/spec
74 L12

(On) The Vision of Saint Pauland lack of mercy to those
who needed you. You fasted
badly the day of my Passion
and did not keep holy the
day of my Ascension and theHoly day of the Lord.
34d/add

I granted you all that you
needed to have but you were
not willing to give me inthanks either food or drink.
‘Unworthy to receive mercy
is he,’ says the book, ‘who
will not grant any to others.’
And then there was an evilrowting among those wretched souls and they begged
again for mercy.

34g

Then the voice of God answered and said: ‘Throughthe voice ofChrist III

Christ gives a
respite25

God nor did you do penanceor give alms, and rather you
were liars and lived yourlives with cunning.’

And the Lord said: ‘ThroughMichael and Paul and all
my angels and especiallythrough my benevolence
and mercy, I concede you a
respite from the ninth hourof Saturday until the firsthour of Monday.’

26

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Pauli
miskunn ok bênn Michael engils ok Páls postola. Þá gef ek
yðr hvíld frá nóni laugardagsins
ok til fyrsto tíðar mánudags.

36

Þá gl†ddusk allar kristnirsálir við þá gj†f en þÌr hinar­vesligu sálir hrygðusk við þá
gj†f ok hvíld er †ng[va]52 vonnáttu til Guðs. En mÌltu53 kristnir sálir. Blezaður sértu Guðs⟨Sonr⟩54 er þú gaft oss hvíld
þessa. Er oss ok meiri hvíld atþessum helgum dêgrum en at†llom d†gum lífs vors.

Et laeti sunt qui crucibantur ininferno et clamaverunt dicentes. Benedicimus te Fili Dei75
excelsi qui dignatus es nobis
dare refrigerium in spacio
unius diei et unius noctis. Plus
valet nobis refrigerium unius
diei quam omne tempus vite
nostre super terram.7677

37

Nú mÌlir svá bókin af Guðsorðum. Sá er heldr vel hina
helga dróttinsdag ok hinn helga píslardag Vors Herra Ihesu
Christi ok gengr réttiliga til
skrifta hann skal réttliga meðGuði vera utan enda.

Et qui custodierunt hunc sanctum diem habuerunt partem
cum angelis Dei et vitam
sempiternam.78 79

39a

Páll postoli spurði eingil Et interrogavit Paulus anhversu margar píslir55 voru gelum80 quot pene essent iní helvíti.
­inferno.81

39b

Eingill svarar.56 Þó at vÌri Cuis ait angelus. Sunt pene
hundrað tungna ok vÌri centum quadraginta tria†r­talin57 þá vinnask þÌr eigi til mila. Et si essent centum viri

Benedicimus

Beati qui custodiunt diem
dominicum

Quot sunt
pene?

numeruspenarum

75 Fili Dei] Fili David C/spec
76 Plus valet nobis refrigerium. . . / . . . super terram] qui dedisti
nobis refrigerium in spacio unius
diei et duarum noccium super
52 aung[va] foramen in cod.
omne tempus vitae nostre C/spec
77 L1253 mÌltu] mÌlti We
78 et vitam sempiternam] om.
54 Guðs ⟨Sonr⟩ conieci fili dei,C/speclect. dub. Tv, [sonr?] We
79 L1255 píslir] inc. B
80 angelum] om. C/spec
56 svarar] sagði B
81 L12, L4, P6, P7
57 †rtalin] †rtali B

(On) The Vision of Saint Paul27

my great mercy and theprayers of Angel Michaeland Apostle Paul, I give youa respite from the none of
Saturday until the prime of
Monday.’36

Then all the Christian souls And those who were torrejoiced over that gift and tured in Hell became joyful
the wretched souls grieved and cried out saying: ‘Blessat that gift and respite since you, Son of the highest God,
they had no hope of God. you deigned to concede us
And the Christian souls said: a consolation lasting one‘Blessed be thou, Son of God, day and one night! For us afor having granted us this respite for one day is worth
respite. And we have more more than the entire time ofrest in these holy days than our life on earth!’in all the days of our lives!’

37

Now the book says this of thewords of the Lord: ‘The one
who holds well the holy dayof the Lord and the holy dayof the Passion of Christ andgoes properly to confession,
he shall justly be with God
without end.’

39a

The apostle Paul asked the And Paul asked the angel
angel how many tortures how many pains are in Hell.
there were in Hell.

39b

The angel answers: ‘If there
were one hundred tongues
and they were quick ofspeech, they will not be able

Bless thee

Blessed arethose who keep
the day of the
Lord

How many are
the pains?

number of thepains

And those who kept thisday holy have had sharewith the angels of God andeternal life.

To this the angel said: ‘The
pains are one thousand four
hundred and three. And
if there were one hundred

28

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Pauliat telja allar píslir er í helvíte ­loquentes ab inicio mundi eteru.58unusquisque centum linguas
ferreas haberet non possent82
dinumerare83 penas inferni.84

39b/add

Ok þÌr s†mu tungur vÌri59
fyrr mêddar máðar ok móðar
en fengi talt alla þá hlutigêzku ok sÌlu er með Guðieru í himnum ok hans helgumm†nnum.

41

Nú h†fum vér heyrt hversu Nos igitur fratres karissimi
mikit skilr eilífa sÌlu ok ei- tanta mala85 audientes conlífa kval gørum sem David vertamus ad Dominum Ihesum
segir í Psalterium.60 Dec- Christum qui nos amantissime
lina a malo61 et fac bonum. redemit per suum sacrum sanLátum af íllu ok gørum62 guinem ut regnamus cum ipso
gótt.63 Þá eigum vér vist in secula seculorum. Amen.86
hjá Kristi ok erum þá við
skildir þessar64 píslir65 sem
nú hefir verit frá66 sagt oknumeruspenarum

Audientes
convertamur

58 þó at vÌri hundrað tungna

ok vÌri †rtalin. Þá vinnask þÌr
eigi til at telja allar píslir er í
helvíte eru] cf. þoat c tungnauæri þar j hueriu hofdi þa mundi
eigi geta up talt *fatt er þat sem
hann sagdi oss DL 74/14-15(AM 681a)59 post vÌri add. en B
60 psallterium] psaltarnum
Tv, We61 malo] male B
62 gj†rum] gj†r B
82 post possent add. enarrare
63 Declina a malo et fac bo- nec C/spec
83 post dinumerare add. minum. Látum af íllu ok gj†rum
gótt] Ps. 36:27
nores/peiores C/spec
64 þessar] þessum B ante
84 L12, L4, P6, P7
85 tanta mala] ista mala C/þessum add. frá B
65 píslir] píslum B
spec mss
66 frá om. B
86 L12, M5, P8

(On) The Vision of Saint Paul39b/add

number of the
pains

41

29

to count all the pains that are men talking from the beginin Hell.
ning of the world and eachof them had one hundred
tongues of iron, they would
not be able to count the painsof Hell.’
And before they could countall those things of grace andbliss that are in heaven with
God and His holy men, thosesame tongues would be torn,
worn out and exhausted.’
Now that we have heard how Therefore, dearest brothers,
after hearing so much evil,
let us turn towards the Lord,
us do as David says in the Jesus Christ, who redeemed
Psalter: ‘Decline from evil us through His blood, so thatand do good, forsake evil we reign with Him throughand do good.’ Then we can out endless ages. Amen.
dwell with Christ and arethus separated from the pains
which have been related here.

Hearing this we much separates eternal bliss
convertfrom eternal torment, let30

Páls leizla. De visione Sancti Paulisá er Ì sÌll er þar skal blífa
ok vera.

41/addAudientes
convertamur

Nú gerum af því þ†rf vorra
ok nauðsýn ok látum eigi
ganga á oss órêkt ok hirtunarleysi sem67 flesta menntÌlir. Þá hina litlu stund er
vér erum hér í heimi. Núeigum vér svá at gera sem vér
viljum þessa hina litlu stundat vér séum utan enda sÌlir
með Guði. Þat vill hann okhans helgir menn. Per omnia
secula seculorum. Amen.

67 sem] en B

(On) The Vision of Saint PaulAnd he is forever blessed,
the one who shall remain
and be there.
41/addHearing this weconvertNow let us fulfil our obligations and necessities and let
not illegitimacy and the wantof punishment overtake us,
as happens to many men during this little while in which
we are here in this world.
Now we must do that which
we want in this little while,so that we may be blessedwith God without end. That
is what He and His holy men
wish. Throughout endlessages. Amen.

31

32

Páls leizla
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviations
BHH = Teresi, Loredana, ed., 2003. ‘Be Heofonwarum ⁊ be Helwarum: A Complete
Edition’.
BL = British Library.
BnF = Bibliothèque nationale de France.
CCCM = Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaevalis. Turnhout, 1966–.
CCSL = Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina. Turnhout, 1954–.
DI = Jón Sigurðsson et al., eds, 1857–1976. Diplomatarium Islandicum. Íslenzkt
fornbréfasafn.
DLe = Cahill, Peter, ed., 1983. Duggals leiðsla. Reykjavík.
DN = Diplomatarium Norvegicum. Oldbreve til kundskab om Norges indre og
ydre forhold, sprog, slægter, sæder, lovgivning og rettergang i middelalderen
1847–1995. Christiania.
HMS = Unger, Carl R., ed., 1877. Heilagra manna sögur. Oslo.
IHB = de Leeuw van Weenen, Andrea, ed., 2003. The Icelandic Homily Book.
Reykjavík.
NGL = Keyser, Rudolf and Peter A. Munch, eds, 1846–95. Norges gamle Loveindtil 1387. 5 vols. Christiania.
NHB = Indrebø, Gustav, ed. 1931. Gamal norsk Homiliebok. Cod AM 619 4to.
Oslo.
ONP = Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog 1989. Copenhagen.
PL = Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina 1844–65. Ed. Jacques-Paul
Migne et al. Paris.
PLe = Páls leizla.
PS = Unger, Carl R., ed., 1874. Postola sögur. Christiania.
VT = Visio Tnugdali.
Ǽf = Einar G. Pétursson, ed., 1976. Miðaldaævintýri þydd úr ensku. Reykjavík.
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IndexINDEX OF SCRIPTURAL QUOTATIONSGenesis 2:10–14, vii n14
Matthew 27:26, xxxvi
Matthew 27:29, xxxvii
Matthew 27:35, xxxvi
Mark 15:17, xxxvii
Mark 16:1–5, x
Luke 1:28–38, xxvii
Luke 2:21, xxxv
Luke 22:44, xxxv
John 19:2, xxxvii
John 19:5, xxxvii
John 19:34, xxxvi
2 Corinthians 11:24–31, xxxi
2 Corinthians 12:1, v n1
2 Corinthians 12:2–4, v
2 Corinthians 12:2–6, xxxi
2 Corinthians 12:5, v n1
2 Corinthians 12:7, v n2James 2:13, xli n165
Revelation 7:4, xxvi n115
Revelation 14:1, xxvi n115
Revelation 19:12, xxxvii

39

Páls leizla

40

INDEX OF MANUSCRIPTS
Brno
Státní Vědecká Knihovna, Mk 99 [I. 29] (Br), xiii n43
Cambridge
Corpus Christi College, 302, xxviii n123
Saint John’s College, Ms. D.20 (95) (C6), xiv n43
University Library, Harley 7333, xlv n170
University Library, Kk.i.6, xlv n170
Copenhagen
Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 234 fol., xxxv
Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 58 4to, xxiii n92
Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 60 4to, xxiii n90
Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 619 4to (NHB), x n28
Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 657 a–b 4to, ix n23
Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 681 a 4to, ix n23, xxvii n118, xxviii,
Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 681 b 4to, ix n23
Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 681 c 4to, ix, ix n23, xi, xii, xxvi, xliv
Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 683 c 4to, xxxviii n158
Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 683 d 4to, xxxviii, xl
Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM 31 8vo, xxiii n91
Det Kongelige Bibliotek, GKS 1155 a fol., xxiii n93
Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Kall 616 4to, xxiii n96
DublinTrinity College, TCD 277 (D2), xxiv n43
Trinity College, TDC 519 (D3), xxiv n125
Leipzig
Universitätsbibliothek (Bibliotheca Albertina) 1608 (Le), viii n18
LondonBL, Additional 9066, xlv n170
BL, Cotton Faustina A.IX, xxviii n123
BL, Harleian 2851 (L4), xiii n43
BL, Royal 11.B.III (L9), xiii n43, xxix n125
St Paul’s Cathedral Library, Ms. 8 (L12), xiii n43
MunichBayerische Staatsbibliothek, clm 14348 (M5), xiii n43
Oslo
Norsk Riksarkivet, 50 c, xii n83
OxfordMerton College, Ms 13 (O5), xxix n125

Index

41

Padua
Biblioteca Antoniana, 473, Scaff. XXI, ff. 147v–149r (Pa), xxix n25
Paris
BnF, lat. 3528 (P6), xiv n43
BnF, lat. 3529A (P7), xiii n43
BnF, lat. 5266 (P8), xiii n43, xix n125
BnF, nouv. acq. lat. 1631, vii n11
Reykjavík
Landsbókasafn Íslands – Háskólabókasafn, JS 43 4to, x n26
Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, AM 347 fol. (Belgdalsbók),xxii n84
Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, AM 350 fol. (Skarðsbók or
Codex Scardensis), xxii n85
Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, AM 238 4to, xxiii n99
Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, AM 279 a 4to (Þingeyrarbók),xi n33
Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, AM 624 4to, ix, ix n24, x n26,
xi, xii, xxvi, xli, xliv, xlv, xlvii, xlviii
Sankt Gallen
Stiftsbibliothek, 682 (StG1), viii n18
Stadtbibliothek (Vadianische Bibliothek), 317 (StG L), xviii n70
SchläglPrämonstratenser-Stiftsbibliothek, Cpl. 226 (Sch), xiii n43
Stockholm
Kungliga Biblioteket, Cod. Holm Perg. 3 fol (Reykjahólabók), xxiii n95
Kungliga Biblioteket, Cod. Holm. Perg. 15 4to (IHB), x n29
Uppsala
Universitetsbiblioteket, C 22 (U1), viii n20
Universitetsbiblioteket, C 77 (U2), viii n21
Universitetsbiblioteket, C 212 (U3), viii n21
Vatican City
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 216 (V2), viii n18
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 220 (V3), viii n18
ViennaÖsterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Ser. Nova 388, xxxiii

42

Páls leizla
GENERAL INDEXAbram, patriarch (7th c. BC), xxviii, xliv
Adam, Bishop of Melrose († 1222), xx n78
af einum rikum manni, exemplum 29 of the Ǽfintýr collection, xli
Albigensian heresy, xxxvi
Ambrosius Autpertus, Frankish Abbot of San Vincenzo al Volturno († 784),
xxxv n145
Amos, minor prophet (8th c. BC), vii n13
Andsvar Norðlendinga um presta og kirkna skyldur, xlv, xlv
angel(s)———, a great army of, xli n163———, a multitude of, vii———, unidentified, vi, xxxiii, xxxiv
Anglo-Saxon———, homilists, xli———, text, xxviii
Apocalypse see Doomsday
Apocalypse of Paul———, Coptic, vi———, Greek see Apocalypsis Pauli
Apocalypsis Pauli———, Greek, first redaction, vi———, Greek, second redaction, vi———, Latin, Heaven-Hell redaction, vi, vii, viii———, Latin, Hell redaction, see Visio PauliAugustine of Dacia, prior of Dacia, Denmark († 1282), xxxii
Austin Friars, xv
Baldwin II Porphyrogenitus, Emperor of Constantinople († 1273), xxxvii n155
Be heofonwarum and be helwarum, Anglo-Saxon homily (BHH), xxviii, xxix, xliv
Bede, doctor of the Church in Monkwearmouth-Jarrow († 735), xi n32, xxv n145
Bergr Sokkason, Abbot of Munkaþverá († c.1370), xxx, xxxii, xxxiv
Bernard of Clairvaux, doctor of the Church († 1153), ix
Bible———, Douay-Rheims, v n1, xlix———, Vulgate, v n1
Bjarni Ólason, a farmer at Hvassafell, Iceland (15th c.), xlvi
blífa ok vera, xi, xxiii, xlv
Book of Hours, xxxix
Borgarþingsl†̨g, see laws
British Isles, viii
Brother Robert of Norway, Norwegian cleric (13th c.), x n26, xxi
Caithness, Scotland———, farmers of, xx n78

IndexCampania, Italy, vi n10
Carolingian———, manuscripts, viii
Christ———, abuses, xxxviii, xlii———, arma Christi, xxxviii———, blood, xxxv, xxxviii, xlii———, bound in fetters, xxxiv———, bright as the sun, xli n163———, Christus victor, xli———, circumcision, xxxv, xxxviii n157———, City of, vii,———, crown of thorns, xxxvii, xxxviii, xxxix———, crucifixion, xxx, xxxiv, xxxv, xxxvii, xxxviii, xliv———, defeat over Satan, xli n163———, descending from heaven, vii———, feet, xxxv, xxxvi, xxxvii———, five holy wounds, xxxv, xxxviii, xxxix———, hammer, xxxviii———, Holy Grail, xxxviii———, holy lance, xxxv, xxxviii———, holy sponge, xxxviii———, innocent Lamb, xxxix———, instruments of the Passion, see arma Christi———, King of kings see Christus victor———, kingly crown, xxxviii n156, xli n163———, lamentations, xiv, xli———, the Lord, vii, xxvi, xxxiv———, the man in, see Paul of Tarsus———, the Man of Sorrow, see Vir dolorum———, as a mangled child, xlii, xliii———, mercy, xli, xlii, xliii, xlv———, the Messiah, xvi———, mildness, xxx———, on the altar, vii, xxxix———, the Passion of, xxxvi, xxxvii, xxxviii, xxxix, xlii, xliii, xlv———, the pierced side of, xxxv, xxxvi, xlii———, reed sceptre, xxxviii———, reproaching speech to humanity, xxxiv———, the Resurrection of, xviii———, riding a white horse, xli n163———, righteousness, xlii———, sacrificed, xxxvii, xxxix———, scourged, xxxvi———, sovereign ruler, see Christus victor

43

44

Páls leizla———, suffering, xxxix, xlii, xliii, xlv———, sweat of, xxxv———, three-tongued scourge, xxxviii———, the Trinity, xviii, xxx———, vinegar and gall, xxxix———, Vir dolorum, xxxviii, xli———, visions of, see Christophanies———, voice of, xxxiv———, warrior-king, see Christus victor
Christian——— communities, v, vi——— literature, v
Christian I, King of Norway and Denmark († 1481), xlvi
Christophanies, v
Church———, Eastern, vi
confessors———, Dominican, xix, xxxii———, handbook for, xix, xliv
Constantinople, vi, xxxvii
Copenhagen, Denmark, xlvii
the Creation, xxvii, xxxi
the cross———, agonies on, xxxii, xxxvii———, arms of, xxxv———, four nails of, xxxv, xxxvi, xxxvii———, hidden divinity of, xli n163———, Hours of the, xxxix———, lower part of, xxxv———, three nails of, xxx, xxxv, xxxvi, xxxvii, xxxviii, xlv
crucifix(es)———, Balke, Norway, xxxviii n156———, Bellinge, Denmark, xxxviii n156———, Bergen, Norway, xxxviii n156———, collapsed body, xxxvii———, crown of thorns, xxxvii, xxxviii, xxxviii n156, xxxviii n157, xxxix———, Elverum, Norway, xxxviii———, four-nails, xxxvii———, Fresvik, Norway, xxxviii n156———, Fåberg, Norway, xxxviii n156———, Hamre, Norway, xxxviii n156———, Hedal, Norway, xxxviii n156———, Heggen, Norway, xxxviii n156———, Hølandet, Norway, xxxviii n156———, Kjose, Norway, xxxviii n156

Index———, Mofalla, Sweden, xxxviii n156———, old diadem, xxxvii———, Rännelanda, Sweden, xxxviii n156———, Rødenes, Norway, xxxviii n156———, Solum, Norway, xxxviii n156———, suspended body, xxxvii———, three-nails, xxxvii, xliv———, Tossene, Sweden, xxxviii n156———, Tretten, Norway, xxxviii n156———, Trondheim, Norway, xxxviii n156———, Østsinni, Norway, xxxviii n156
crucifixion, see Christ
Cynegius, praetorian prefect and consul of the Eastern Empire († 388), vi
Danish———, loan word, xxiii
David, King of Israel and major prophet (10th c. BC)———, with a psaltery and a harp, vii
De altera vita, Lucas de Tuy, xxxvi
De haeretico comburendo, xx
De natiuitate domini sermo, sermon in the NHB, xxvii, xxviii, xxx
Denmark, viii, xlvi
Deus qui pro redemptione mundi, see prayer(s)devils———, black, xxxii———, group of, xiii, xviii, xxiv
Dialogi, Gregory the Great, xii, xiii n39
Doomsday, xxvii, xxxi n133, xlii, xliii
Droitwich Priory, Worcestershire, xv
Duggall, xxvii, xxix
Duggals leizla, ix, x, xi, xii, xxi, xxiv, xxv, xxvii, xxviii, xxix, xliv, xlv, xlix———, prologue, ix n23
Early Middle High German———, verses, xxxiii, xxxiv
earth, vii, xv, xxvii
Egypt, v———, Upper, vi
Eilif Arnesson Kortin, Archbishop of Nidaros († 1332), xxii
elldligr himinn see emphyrium caelum
Elucidarium, Honorius Augustodunensis, xxxiv
emphyrium caelum, see paradise
England, xiv, xv n46, xxix n125
fifteenth-century, xliv, xlv———, South-east, xxvii n123———, Western, xvi

45

46

Páls leizla

English———, craftsmanship, xxxviii———, Parliament, xx———, texts, ix
Établissement de Saint-Louis, Louis IX, 20 n76
Europe———, early medieval, viii, xx n80———, medieval, viii———, ninth-century, viii———, Western, vi, xvi, xxxvii
exempla, x, xi, xiv, xv, xlvii———, moralised, ix, xlvii
Ezekiel, major prophet (6th c. BC), vii n12
Fleury, Benedictine Abbey in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, France, vii n11
forstǫðulauss, xxiii, xlvi
Fourth Lateran Council, Rome 1215, xx, xxi
France, xiv, xv, xx———, thirteenth-century, xliv
Franciscan———, order, xxxvii
Frostaþingsl†̨g, see law(s)Gabriel, archangel, xxvii
Garden of Eden, vii
Garden of Gethsemane, xxxv
German———, loan word, xxiii
Germany, xiv, xv, xx
Gesta Romanorum———, Middle English, x, xlii, xlv, xlvii
Gildisskrá, see laws
God, v, vii, xiii, xv, xvii, xviii, xxvii, xxxv, xliii, xlvi———, the mercy of, xv
the Gospel of Nicodemus, xli n163
the Gospels, xxxvii
Gottskálk Keniksson, Norwegian Bishop of Hólar (15th c.), xlvi
Gregors saga byskups, xxiii n95
Gregory Barhebraeus, Syriac bishop of Gubos, Melitene, Turkey († 1286), vi n5
Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church († 604), x, xii, xiii, xxxix
Gregory of Tours, bishop of Tours († 594), xiii n39
Guillaume Durand, Bishop of Mende (†1296), xxxvi
Handlyng Synne, Robert Mannyng, x n26
Hákon Erlingsson, Bishop of Bergen († 1342), xxii
Hákon Hákonarson, King of Norway († 1263), ix, xxi, xxii

Index47

harrowing of hell, see Christ
heaven, see paradise
hell, vi, vii, xiv, xv, xxvii, xxxi, xxxii, xli———, abysmal pits, vii———, Bridge of, xii, xvi———, destruction of, xli n163———, evil of, xxvii, xxviii———, fire of, xxvii, xxviii———, five locations of, xxxii———, a great house in, xxv———, harrowing of, xli———, hreinsanastaðr, see purgatorium———, hundred tongues of iron, xxvii, xxviii, xliv———, icy location of, vii———, infernal beasts, xiii, xvi———, inhabitants of, vii———, limbus inferni, xxxii n134———, the misery of, xxxiv———, the pains of, see punishments———, the pit of, xxxii———, purgatorium, xxxii n134, xxxii n137———, the river of, vii, xii, xiii———, the six locations of, xxxii———, the tortures of, xiii, xvi, xix, xxvii, xliii———, worms and serpents in, vii, xiv, xxv
Henry IV, King of England († 1413), xx
Historia Francorum, Gregory of Tours, xiii n39
Hólar, episcopal see, Northern Iceland, xi, xlvi———, Cathedral funds, xlvi———, fifteenth-century, xlv———, the northerners at, xlvi———, parish churches, xlvi———, reformation of the diocese, xlvi———, scriptorium, xlv
Homilia de assumptione Mariae, Ralph d’Escures, x
Homilia 18 In purificatione beatae Mariae, Bede, xxxv
Honorius of Autun, German theologian († 1154), xxxiv
Hrafn Brandsson the Old, chieftain and lögðamaðr in North-west Iceland († 1483),
xlvi
human speech, xxvii
humanity,———, ingratitude of, xxx———, sins of, xliv, xlv
hundred tongues of iron, see hell
Hvassafellsmál, xlvi

48

Páls leizla

Iceland, viii, xxi, xlvi———, fourteenth-century, xlv———, North-west, xii, xlvi
Icelandic———, census, xii n35———, codices, ix———, diplomas, xi, xxiii, xxiv———, false letters, xi n33———, Homily Book (IHB), x, xxv, xlix———, original letters, xi n33———, sources, xxi
In dedicatione templi sermo, homily of the NHB and IHB, x
In die omnium sanctorum sermo, homily of the NHB and the IHB, xxx, xliv
In die sancto pasce sermo ad populum, homily of the NHB, x
In inventione sanctae crucis, sermon of the NHB, xxxv
Insular———, homiletics, xxviii———, homily, xxviii,———, monastic colonies, viii
Irish———, tradition, vii n13
Italy———, Northern, xxix n25, xxxvii———, Southern, vi
Isaac, patriarch, vii n14
Isaiah, major prophet (8th c. BC), vii n13
Job, patriarch, vii n14
Jacob, patriarch, vii n14
Jeremiah, major prophet (7th c. BC), vii n13
Joca monachorum, xJólaskrá, xxxviii
Jón Haraldsson, Jarl of Orkneys (c. 1231), 20 n78
Jón Vilhjálmsson Craxton, English Bishop of Hólar († 1440), xlv, xlvii———, episcopacy, xlv
Jón Þorvaldsson, abbot of Þingeyrar († 1514), xi
Jónskirkja, Benedictine house in Bergen, Norway, xxvi n112
Judas Iscariot, disciple and betrayer of Christ, xxxix
Kenik Gottskálkson, Norwegian knight (14th c.), xlvi
Konstanz, Baden-Wüttemberg, Germany, viii
Latin———, body-soul literature, xxxiv———, books, xli———, homilies, xxxiv———, medieval literature, xxxvi

Index49———, texts, ix, xxxiv, xli, xlvi
law(s)———, Borgarþingsl†g, xxiii———, Christian, xxi———, Frostaþingsl†g, xxiii———, Gildisskrá, xxii———, Magnus Lagabøters Norske Landslov, xxiii———, Norwegian, xxii———, Réttarbœtr Magnúss Hákonarsonar, xxiv———, Ripuarian, xxi n80———, Salic, xxi n80———, Textus Roffensis, xxi n80
Liber de homine, Ramón Llull, xxxvii
Longinus, Roman soldier who pierced Christ’s side, xxxv
Lorsch, Hessen, Germany, viii n18
Lot, patriarch, vii n14
Louis IX, King of France († 1270), xx
Lucas de Tuy, Bishop of Tuy († 1249), xxxvi
Lucifer, xxvii
Magnus Lagabøters Norske Landslov, see law(s), xxiii
Maríu saga, xxxv
Marsirium, legendary King of Spain (8th c.), xxxii
Meditationes piissimae de cognitione humanae conditionis, Pseudo-Bernard, ix
Meditationes vitae Christi, Pseudo-Bonaventure, xxxvii
Micah, minor prophet (8th c. BC), vii n13
Michael, archangel, vii, xiii, xxvii, xxxii, xxxiii, xxxiv———, intercessor, xv, xvi———, psychopomp, xxxiv
Middle Ages, xxvii n116, xxxiv———, High, xix, xx———, later, xxxvii, xli, xliv, xlv, xlviii———, Norse, xxi
Midlands, xvi———, the West, xliv, xlv
Mikjáls saga, ix n23, xxx, xxxii, xxxiii, xxxiv, xliv
monastic vows, xxxvi———, of chastity, xxxvi———, of obedience, xxxvi———, observance of, xxxvi
Monkwearmouth-Jarrow, double monastery in Northumbria, England, xi n32,
xxv n145
the moon, vii
Munkaþverá, Benedictine monastery in Eyjafjörður, northern Iceland, xxx
Munkeliv Abbey, Benedictine Abbey in Bergen, Norway, xxvi

50

Páls leizla

Nag Hammâdi———, library, vi
New Testament———, Apocrypha, v
Nidaros, archbishopric in Sør-Trøndelag, Norway, xxii, xlviNiðrstgningar saga, xli n163
Nomocanon, Gregory Barhebraeus, vi n5
Norway, viii, xlvi, xlvii———, thirteenth-century, xxi, xxvi, xxviii, xxxvii, xxxviii———, twelfth-century, xliii
Norwegian———, Council of Realm, see Riksrådet
———, diplomas, xxi——— , Homily Book (NHB), x, xxii, xxvi, xxvii, xxviii, xxix, xxx, xxxv,
xliv, xlix———, laws, see laws———, legal vocabulary, xlvii———, letters, xxiii———, manuscripts, xxii———, sources, xxi, xxii, xxiv
Nuper huiuscemodi visionem somni, xxvi
Oddur Sigurðsson, Icelandic varalögmaður († 1741), xii
Odo of Cheriton, English preacher († 1246/47), x n26
Of the Death-Bed of a Profane Swearer, xlii n166Ólafr Rögnvaldsson, Norwegian Bishop of Hólar († 1495), xlv, xlvi, xlvii
Old Danish———, Mass of St Gregory, xxxix———, Visio Pauli, viii
Old East Norse, viii
Old English, xxviii, xxix
Old West Norse———, corpus, xx n79, xxi, xxxv———, lexicon, xxi, xxviii———, translations, ix, xlviii
ordeals———, by fire, xx———, by hot iron, xxi n80———, by water, xx———, járnburðr, xx———, ketiltak, xx———, sindranda járn, xx
Origen of Alexandria († 253/254), theologian, v, vi
Páls leizla, viii, ix, x, xi, xi, xiv, xv, xxi, xxiii, xxiv, xxvii, xxviii, xxix, xxx, xxiv,
xxxv, xli, xlii, xliii, xliv, xlv, xlvi, xlvii, xlviii

IndexPáls saga postola II, xxx, xxxi, xxxii
paradise, v, vii n12, xxxi, xxxiv———, ascension to, v———, festingarhiminn see firmamentum———, firmamentum 31 n133———, four rivers of honey, milk, oil and wine, vii———, hvilldarstaðr, xxxi———, second heaven, xxxi———, spheres of, vi———, tenth heaven, vii———, third heaven, v, vii, xxxi
the Passion, see Christ
patriarchs, vii
Paul of Tarsus———, apostleship, xxxi———, house in Tarsus, vi———, journey to hell, vi, xxvii, xxxi———, journey to paradise, v, vi, vii, xxxi———, the man in Christ, v———, the Revelation of, vi———, visions and revelations, v n3
peccata linguae, see sins of the tongue
piety———, popular, xxxviii
place between heaven and hell, xv
Poor Claires———, order of the, xxxvii
Prague, Czech Republic, viii
prayer(s)———, choral, xvi———, Deus qui pro redemptione mundi, xxxix———, Mary’s prayer to Christ, xliii———, Paul and Michael’s intercessional, xv, xxxiv, xliiii
the profane swearer, see sinners
prophets, vii
Psalms, vii———, Penitential, xxxix
Pseudo-Bernard, ix n25
Pseudo-Bonaventure
punishment(s)———, beating, xxi———, eaten alive by hounds, wolves, worms and adders, xxv———, boiling in cauldrons, xx———, burning at the stake, xix, xx, xliv———, capital, xviii, xix, xx, xliv

51

52

Páls leizla———, carrying a fire and a cauldron on the shoulders, xviii, xix———, eating of tongues, xiv———, eating worms and serpents, vii, xiv, xxv———, eating toads, xxv———, everlasting, vii, xlii———, glowing stone, xix, xx———, húðlát see beating———, immersed to the chin, xvii———, immersed to the eyebrows, vii, xvii———, immersed to the hands, xvii, xxxviii———, immersed to the knees, vii———, immersed to the lips, vii, xvii———, immersed to the navel, vii———, interred to the hands, xviii———, legal, xxii, xliv———, measure-for-measure, xvi———, nailing of tongues, xviii, xviii n70, xx———, public execution, xx———, temporal, xix
Purificatio sanctae Mariae, sermon of the IHB, xxxv
puteus inferni see pit of hell
pyttr helvítis see puteus inferni
Ralph d’Escures, Archbishop of Canterbury († 1112), x
Ramón Llull, Franciscan writer in Mallorca († 1316), xxxvii
Randan Abbey, Auvergne, France, xiii
Randíðr, daughter of Bjarni Ólason (15th c.), xlvi
Rationale divinorum officiorum, Guillaume Durand, xxxvi, xxxvii n151
Rauðimelursyðri, Hnappadalssýsla, Iceland, xii n36
Rekaskrá, xi n33
Regensburg, Germany———, fourteenth-century, xx
Reims, Champagne-Ardenne, France, viii n18, xxxii
Réttarbœtr Magnúss Hákonarsonar, xxiii
Riksrådet, xlvi
Ritning Bernharðs, ix
Rivers, vii
Robert Mannyng, English chronicler († 1338), x
Roland, Charlemagne’s chief paladin († 788), xxxii, xxxiii
Roman———, soldier, xii
Rome, Italy, vi n10, xxiv
Rotulus pugillaris, Augustine of Dacia, xxxii
Sainte-Chapelle, Île de la Cité, Paris, xxxvii n155
Sancti Albani, Benedictine Abbey in Selja, Norway, xxvi n112

IndexSanta Croce in Gerusalemme, basilica in Rome, xxxiv
Satan———, defeat of, see Christ
Saurbæ, Skagafjörður, Northern Iceland, xlvi
Scandinavia———, medieval, viii, xx
Scandinavian———, vernaculars, viii
Scotland———, fourteenth-century, xx———, thirteenth-century, xx
Sermo ad populum, sermon of the NHB, x, xxii
Sermo in purificatione sanctae Mariae, Ambrosius Autpertus, xxxv
Sermo necessaria, sermon of the NHB, xxii, xxx
Sermo 166 (in uigilia paschatis), William of Auvergne, xxxvi
Sermons, xv, xxx, xliv
Skálholt, episcopal see, Southern Iceland, xlvi
sinner(s)———, betrayers of God, xviii, xx———, blasphemers, xx, xlii———, capital, xxxii———, conspirators, vii———, counterfeiters, xx———, detractors, vii———, dishonourers of parents, xvii———, excommunicated, xv n47, xix, xx, xlvi———, false swearers, xx———, heretics, vii, xx, xxxvi, xliv———, illir í tungu, xix———, liars, xliii———, profane swearer, xlii, xliii———, robbers of churches, xxv———, slayers of orphans and widows, vii———, sorcerers, xx———, traitors, xx———, unbelievers, vii, xviii, xxxii n134———, unchaste in words, xvii———, unrepentant, xv n47, xlvii———, usurers, vii
sin(s)———, abuse of language, xix———, adultery, vii, xiv———, bilinguium, xix———, blasphemia, xix———, blasphemy, see blasphemia

53

54

Páls leizla———, calumny, xvii———, convicium, xix———, cursing see maledictio———, earthly life of, xxvii———, false witness, xviii, xx, xxii———, fornication, vii———, gluttony, vii———, homicide, vii———, hypocrisy, see bilinguium———, incest, xiv, xlvi———, inobservance of fasting, xvii———, loquaciousness, see multiloquium———, lust, xiv,———, luxury, vii———, lying, see mendacium———, maledictio———, mendacium, xix———, multiloquium, xix———, of the tongue, xviii, xix, xx, xliv———, overdrinking, xviii———, overeating, xviii———, periurium, xix———, perjury, see periurium———, skr†kvitni, see false witness———, slander against the King, xxi———, sorcery, vii, xx———, theft, vii, xx n80———, unmercifulness, xviii, xli———, unrepentance, xv n47, xlvii———, verbal, xix———, witchcraft, xviii———, wrangling, see conviciumsoul(s)———, a good, xxxiii, xxxiv———, an old man’s, vii———, as an angel’s bride, xxxiv———, blessed, vii———, of a condemned bishop, xlvii———, of a good man, xxxiii, xxiv———, lustful, xiv———, sinful, xii, xiv, xv, xvi, xix, xxiv, xxv
Speculum historiale, Vincent of Beauvais, xxxii, xxxiv
the stars, vii, xxxi n133
Statuta Eilífs erkibyskups, xxii
Stave Church Dedication Homily, see In dedicatione templi sermo

Index55

Summa de vitiis et virtutibus, William Peraldus, xix, xliv
the sun, vii, xli n163
Sunday———, Easter, xliii———, the Holy day of the Lord, xliii, xliii n167———, respite, vii, vii n16, xv, xxxiv, xliii
Sunniulfus, abbot of Randan Abbey (6th c.)
Tarsus, city in Anatolia, Turkey, v, vi———, preface, vi
tertium caelum see third heaventext(s)———, catechetical, ix, xvii———, homiletic, ix, x n32, xiii, xxviii———, theological, ix, xv, xxxii———, moralising, ix
Textus Roffenis, see laws
Theodosius the Calligrapher, Byzantine emperor († 450), vi
the Trinity see Christ
Tristrams saga ok Ís†ndar, Brother Robert of Norway, xxi
Turpin, Archbishop of Reims († 800), xxxii, xxxiii
Twenty-first Easter homily, Gregory the Great, xtylftardómr, xlvi
Un samedi par nuit, xxvi
Vadstena Abbey, Bridgittine Abbey, Uppland, Sweden, viii
vice(s)———, capital, xix, xliv———, eighth capital, xixViðey, Augustinian monastery in Kollafjörður, Iceland———, máldagi, xxiii
Viðrǿða líkams ok sálar einn laugardag at kveldi, xxvi
Viðrǿða lærisveins ok meistara, x
Vincent of Beauvais, biblical scholar († c.1264), xxii
Virgilian cliché, see hundred tongues of iron
the Virgin Mary, xxxviii n157———, as a beautiful woman, xlii———, Annunciation, xvirtue(s)———, fortitude, xxxvi———, justice, xxxvi———, mercifulness, xli———, moderation, xxxvi———, prudence, xxxvi
Visio Pauli (VP), viii, xiii, xiv, xvi, xviii, xxiv, xxv, xxvi, xxviii, xxix, xxx, xxxi,
xxxii, xxxiii, xxxiv, xliii, xliv, xlvi, xlvii

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Páls leizla———, A redaction, viii, xxxi———, B redaction viii———, C redaction viii———, C1 redaction, xiii, xiv———, C2 redaction, xiii———, C3 redaction, xiii———, C/spec redaction, xiii, xiv, xv, xvi———, Old Danish, see Old Danish———, Old Norse, see Páls leizla
Visio Tnugdali (VT), ix, xxiv, xxv, xxvi, xxvii, xxix
Von der Zukunft nach dem Tode, xxxiv
William of Auvergne, theologian and bishop of Paris († 1249), xxvi
William Peraldus, Archbishop of Lyon († 1271), xix
William II de Soulis, Butler of Scotland († 1321), xx n78
Þingeyrar Abbey, Benedictine Abbey in Austur-Húnavatnssýsla, Iceland, xiǼfintýr (Ǽf), ix, x, xli, xlii, xliii, xlv, xlvii, xlix
Zachariah, minor prophet, vii n13